Weaving the Harakeke - Minutes 2nd Dec 2024
- NZ Empowered
- Jun 1, 2024
- 6 min read
Minutes from 2nd December 2024
Attendees - 11 People.
Apologies - Judi
Major Takeaway
Appeal to PC49v1 by Guildford Timber Company
The last day to make a submission to the Environment Court is the 9th of December 2024.
Upper Hutt City Council has until the 16th of January to respond to the Appeal from Guildford Timber Company.
Local Water Done Well - Information Sharing Sessions
- 3rd Dec 10:30am - 11:30am UH Library
- 8th Dec 10:00am - 12:00pm Brewtown
- 16th Dec (To Be Confirmed)
Update on actions from last week
- Larger room availability at marae (Heather)
Kereru Room has been secured.
- Percentage of user pays vs rates for Maidstone Facilities (Hellen)
80% to 20% (Outside of Upper Hutt users pay more)
Dylan – Getting the right balance is key to how much locals pay and how much external users pay.
Hellen – What it the best platform to engage with community?
Heather – Could there be a person/people in council who can direct to the right area of council for issue or queries.
- Have been told the Blue Toby’s that are being installed to accommodate meters are not suitable and have a rather high failure rate and cannot be replaced fast enough due to supply issues.
Geoff will take it and ask some questions (Geoff)
Leaving it with Geoff to investigate.
- Geoff and Hellen understood issues with Traffic management humps on the road
and were going to look into it further. (Geoff and Hellen)
Geoff took it back to check ..
Hellen - The Council were piloting these and have provided feedback. The humps were designed by GNS.
Total review of the road user numbers is underway as Waka Kotahi has reduced funding to councils for roading etc.
New Discussion points
Spur
The decision by Upper Hutt Council with respect to the Silverstream Spur and Plan Change 49 has had an appeal lodged.
Dylan - Section 274a of the resource management act 1991 – any person who put in a submission and has an interest greater than the normal public interest can add to their submission.
GTC challenging the roading corridor.
Paul – can additional submitters add to the submission.
Dylan - I believe so. But will check (AP)
With regards to the timing, the last day to make a submission to the Environment Court is the 9th of December 2024
Upper Hutt City Council has until the 16th of January to respond to the Appeal from Guildford Timber Company.
Kate - Asked when that date was and was advised it was on the council website.
Longhorn Corner
The post on Facebook regarding the Longhorn corner was put up to highlight the information that is out in the community. Or lack of it and the views people have without any clear information from the council about what is happening
Comments showed all sorts of views and opinions. From anger at spending money to views and opinions on what is going on, to acceptance and happiness that there is something there.
Hellen - The pots were something the Council already had so used them.
There was no confirmation on whether the Council is still looking for expressions of interest on use for the land.
Heather – Some Council posts seem condescending. Lets start being more constructive.
Hellen – Sometimes officers feel challenged by the questions which Councillors are asking, others are quite open to answering the questions.
Heather - Having a dedicated person(s) who actively engaged in social media and directed people to the right person or department for action. There was a staff member who did this well in the past, but for some reason it stopped.
Hui
Heather - Is this the last hui for the year or do we want one more on the 16th?
Agreed that we restart next year in February.
There are a lot of topics that we can start the new year with.
Hellen - Suggested that Councillors may wish to go on a Roster to attend the Hui in the New year.
Heather - Explained that the Hui was just in its early planning stages and she wished to see if people wanted and wished to attend before expanding it out to more councillors and public. It has not been advertised in other areas like The Upper Hutt Connection.
Local Water Done Well
After the Council made the decision to continue to work with other local councils on options for Local Water done Well, there have been several information sessions from Council on Local Water Done Well arranged for pubic to attend.
Information Sharing Sessions
- 3rd Dec 10:30am - 11:30am UH Library
- 8th Dec 10:00am - 12:00pm Brewtown
- 16th Dec (To Be Confirmed)
Here is the Councils Local Water Done Well Information Page
Paul – Asked could there be an evening session?
The Post article - Ultimately there is no quick fix
Terminology Glossary
Geoff has taken this onboard and will be looking into delivering something to provide this capability.
Water
Roz - Long-Term Plan - Pg 73 Average usage of water usage 415L per person per day.
Roz – How do we get back to world average.
Paul - We have to understand that it an average of the total water used by Upper Hutt including any leaks and business usage. As this has been reported at 52% so divide the 415L by the potential 52% water loss due to leaks and we are around 200L per person.
Hellen – Education around water usage and saving techniques.
Water Meter Assessment by Council.
Grey water harvesting which needs submissions to Govt to put it in the Building act.
Kate – At around $3200 per system, its nothing for developer to include into a development.
Angele – Local water solutions and education we can do.
Dylan – Campaign from Wellington Water about "Look after our Wai". Hard when the leaks are there.
Water meters are a good help to help people to save water, and be more aware of what is being used.
Kate – raised that other water entities have letters out that they are increase water cost by up to 25% per year.
Kate – suggests education at school is a good method.
Budget Numbers sent by Heather.
Pg. 23. Subsidized roading
Budgeted quarter is $1,657,720. Budgeted annual is $8,680,828
$1,657,710 × 4 = $6,630,840
the difference is $2,049,988.
Dylan – the budget is not split evenly as seasons can affect spend amounts. Summer spend is larger due to work being easier to undertake then.
Roz – Communication/Education should be joined together so we are communicating and educating.
Waste
Annie – There needs to be education on how to manage your recyclable waste.
Hellen – Recycling bins will be removed from Maidstone Park. We believe these are the recycling bins around the playground. There are three. One rubbish and other two recycling. But awaiting confirmation from Hellen. (AP - Hellen to supply which ones) This is not to be confused with the Recycling Station in Park St which stays and NOT AFFECTED.
Hellen – Have someone at Recycling station doing education.
Transport
Margaret – Raised the accessibility of dedicated lanes for Mobility scooters.
Hellen – There is a minimum size of the footpaths and suggest putting in a submission to the Annual Plan process in March 2025.
Simplified language
Deferred to 2025
Submitting at Council
The process and possibly the opportunity to visit Chamber outside a meeting open to public.
Deferred to 2025
Governance and Council - how it works
Deferred to 2025
Closed Door Workshops
Deferred to 2025
Submitting Toitu te tiriti
Deferred to 2025
Weaving others into hui, e.g. GWRC
Deferred to 2025
The sharing of Kai after the Hui is well received and Thanks to those who have provided Kai.
Upcoming Meetings
Wednesday 4th Dec 4:30pm - Finance and Performance Committee
Wednesday 11th Dec 4:30pm - Council Meeting
Action Points:
- Tracey and Heather to check the Totara Tree Status for the Gibbons St Roundabout
- Provide information and reference on how they believe PC50 cannot be changed by Fast Track
(Mary Beth/Jason)
- Next Tender ensure the recycling is included. (Roz/Annie)
- Check to see if additional submitters add to the submission (Dylan).
- Which Recycling bins will be removed from Maidstone Park (Hellen)
Email for Hui feedback - weavingtheharakeke@gmail.com
What’s Next
Next Hui: February 2025 (Specifics yet to be determined.)
Please forward any agenda items or questions to weavingtheharakeke@gmail.com at least 5 days before the Hui so we can create the agenda and allow respondents to find info to respond.
Please be aware as the Hui are only one hour in duration, questions may not always be answered on the night but will do our best to follow up.
This Hui is getting through an amazing amount of information and discussion in one hour. The amazing amount of work and effort going into this by attendees is not un-noticed. Thanks to all who are attending, discussing and finding/sharing information.
Any questions, concerns, feedback or you would like more info, please email them to weavingtheharakeke@gmail.com and we will do our best to have them answered.
We also have a Facebook Page which is for the community to discuss these kind of topics openly and respectfully. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1160276101835948
This was a very active and lively Hui. We apologise if there is anything we have missed or not recorded quite correctly.
Minutes are created best we can as a representation of the discussions had at the Hui