Weaving the Harakeke - Minutes 7th Oct 2024
- NZ Empowered
- Jun 1, 2024
- 9 min read
Minutes from the 7th October 2024 - Upper Hutt
Hui Details
Hosted by: Ōrongomai Marae
Location: Ōrongomai Marae - Tui Room
Chair: Heather Blissett
Attendees
15 People.
1 Apologies
This Hui has been established by Heather Blissett to foster open and transparent communication between community and the Upper Hutt City Council. Thanks to Heather for all the work she has done to make this happen, Sammie for organising the space and others behind the scenes. A special thanks to the atendees and those from the Council who gave up their time to attend.
Opened and closed the meeting with a Karakia.
Hui Rules
The Hui is a Community Lead discussion, which is presently complemented by some council members.
This a community discussion collaboration.
Be respectful and polite to others.
Be mindful of time and allowing others space to talk.
No Recording (Audio or Visual) unless agreed to.
Remember this is a safe space.
Agenda items sent prior to the hui will be addressed first, as some require prior work to ensure agenda items are answered.
Agenda for this Hui
Major Takeaway
There has been so much interest in the recent fast track. We have people working on how we can make the most of the below to have the most impact. This was provided by Hellen.
Each project will be reviewed by an expert panel, which will assess its environmental effects. The panels will contain expertise relevant to the project. environmental issues., and Treaty considerations. They will balance environmental protection with the need for growth, and if the environmental impacts are deemed excessive the panel can decline the project.
Items Carried Over from 23rd Sept 2024 Hui
Summary of Discussion regarding the Commissioners Report on Plan Change 47, Plan Change 49 and Variation 1.
The retention of Council Land on the Silverstream Spur to remain classified as an Open Space.
Info on Plan Change 49 https://www.upperhutt.govt.nz/Services/District-Plan/PC49
There is 30 Days which ends on Friday the 4th Nov to object to the decision, even though this was discussed and voted on at the council meeting on the 25th Sept there is a 30 day stand down from when the Minutes are accepted.
Next District Plan to be reviewed and updated is the transport plan. This has been requested to be put on the next agenda.
Sub Hui.
Discussion needs to be had with Marae around availability of rooms.
Discussions have been had with Hellen and Tracey about attendance.
Further work on when and where will progress with more information to come. At this stage Heather would like to keep all Hui at the Marae.
Current Business
- H2O Xtream costs and timeline. (How did we get to $84.59m total in the 2024 Long-Term Plan.)
This was answered by Hellen. The Pool items are discussed in the City planning meeting at council.
2018-28 after consultation there was a capital budget of $16m and operating budget of $8.89m
2021-31 Long-Term plan provided changes to the brief. Costs were going up and needed to be contained. At this point the Capital budget was up to $27m Capital. 55% was going to be from rates and 45% from Recoveries (Pool Usage)
When work started there was Covid and the price went up to $51m. A review was done, and a 1 stage delivery was chosen which was the cheaper option, there was a 2 stage deli very option which was not chosen.
When the work started, they found the issues with the roof. Costings were between $2m and $4m. On 13/12/2023 extra increase of $4m was approved by council. So cost was then $55m excluding the hydrotherapy pool and Cafe.
The $84.59m cost in the Long-Term Plan included operating costs.
The point was raised from the community. If they overspent, they could not spend on other non-essential things.
Another point raised by a community member was that the council had been approached about the use of solar panels on the pool’s roof. The answer provided was that there was no use of solar panels. It has been confirmed at this Hui, that “Yes” there will be solar panels used on the roof of the Pool.
- Bumps/Devices put on the road in Silverstream.
These bumps on the road in Silverstream are roading count Traffic Management.
This is a cyclic activity (e.g. done on an regular basis) for Management of traffic and planning. They do not count Motorbikes, walkers, cyclists only vehicles.
- Totara Trees (Notable tree and be protected)
There will be an update of the tree register and Tracey has been looking into the requirements required by UHCC to protect them.
Heather suggested community to be able to do an audit of the trees.
Previously one protected tree which was lost and caused a bit of an issue was around Exchange St.
It was asked if any of the notable trees are in Guildford Area, which there apparently aren’t
- Community Engagement
There were 6 groups identified to engage more with community. 18th October elected members will sit with the Upper Hutt Council Mayor and on the agenda is to get him to appoint Chairs for each group to own and engage with different subsections of the community. E.g. Sports, Elderly etc.. Hoping to provide a full list soon
There was a suggestion from an attendee to add a disability group which was agreed to and noted but was discussed that there may be one already.
AP – Hellen to provide list of groups - DONE
Information provided by Hellen post the hui.
Current Focus Groups
- Cemetery.
Resource consent applied to Greater Regional Council (GRC) to clear vegetation for phase one of the Akatarawa Cemetery expansion.
Hellen is at the meeting and is alternate to chair. A plan was drawn up in 22/23 on how the cemetery would be extended to allow for 50 yrs of further use. Taita Cemetery cannot do any more burials as it is out of space.
When reviewed there was issues with the area with Significant Natural Areas and other protections on place. When working around these, the plan was reduced to 42 years of extension to the Cemeteries lifespan.
The extensions are planned in 3 phases of growth to get to the 42 years.
It was discussed about using Wainuiomata as a possible Cemetery but unfortunately it sounded like the landfill was an issue and so was more economical to continue with previous plan.
AP – Hellen will supply map of the phases. - DONE
Information supplied by Hellen post the meeting.
The map that talks about the options was presented to the Hutt Valley Services Committee on the 24th of November 2023. The below map is of the Alternate Viable Design.
Here is the presentation on the Cemetery provided to Hutt and Upper Hutt Councils from that meeting.
This journey started back in 02.12.2022 when Synergine Group Limited was appointed the contract to scope this project for stages 1-3. This could be found in the agenda for Hutt Valley Services committee.
- Rates
The information which was provided was also provided in the 2021 Long-Term Plan but due to staff turnover and new staff coming onboard the experience was lost when we did the 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan. It has been requested of the officers to include this type of detail in the future.
Will look to do it for the 2024 Annual Plan which is looking likely to be needed.
- Green Space where Ammu/Longhorn was. (Gibbons/Main St)
There is a plan for the straightening of the road which involved purchasing the land where Ammu and Longhorn resided. Council then put a new roof on it as it leaked like a sieve at a cost of approx. $40k
The earthquake rating was not good and because the buildings were open to public they had to be red stickered. This then resulted in the buildings being demolished.
As the road realignment is not on the near future plan and the council doesn’t have many revenue streams, it was decided to put out the EOI for the lands use.
AP – Hellen to provide a map of the proposed road realignment.
AP – Heather to investigate Motorhome usage of the land.
- Wellington Water Leak Fix Budget.
Reports in media said that Upper Hutt Council would run out of money for Wellington Water to Fix leaks. Discussed at the Hui that, Yes the council does have the budget and applies it as needed.
Also raised that Wellington Water budgets are under question and scrutiny by Hon Simeon Brown. Discussed that the cost of fixing the leaks which basically was implied that it was very expensive.
UHCC has been a vocal member of the Wellington Water committee and is the only council to be resistant to Water Meters as that is what many in the community have indicated they prefer. All other councils have put costings in their Long-Term Plans for Water Meters to be installed.
AP – Hellen to provide a summary of the current position and details so we can support council with the dissemination of facts.
- Civil Defense community involvement.
Council staff will be doing practice with Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) - https://www.wremo.nz/
In the past Hellen and Tracey have attended the WREMO activities. There is a box with roles to play and issues faced during the exercise. Passing messages through Radio as part of the emergency management exercise.
It has been suggested that it would be really good to include the community, as part of community days or other, be involved.
To be put as AP for the community meeting at Awaken Church on Wednesday – inviting Tracey to attend.
Tracey has provided thr following post the meeting.
WREMO emergency practice is scheduled for November 24th at Maoribank school hall.
These are very well done. The community will be given roles to play and a scenario to respond to.
- Cycleways.
For new suburbs or developments ensuring mandated provision for Protected cycleways for bikes and mobility scooters (13km/h), not just sections separated by painted lines. It was discussed also that it would need to be discussed what would be used as, for example, the planter boxes in Palmerston North were proven to be dangerous.
Hellen commented that Council can’t mandate that, but changes to the building act is currently underway. A suggestion was there should be a breakout group to come up with thoughts and ideas around what could be submitted to government for updates for the building act.
- Discussion about Fast Track.
This was very briefly touched on at the end as was not part of the original agenda.
It was raised that if anyone has any information which can be shared to help inform the public on this matter, please forward it through. As this had just come through in the last day through the media and Beehive Release.
A suggestion that council could now follow up their “in principle” letter with a letter stating that the public are excluding the road from the Open Space defined in Plan Change 47, Plan Change 49 and Variation 1 decision.
To learn more: https://www.nzempowered.com/post/silverstream-spur
One part of note in Hellens update :
Each project will be reviewed by an expert panel, which will assess its environmental effects. The panels will contain expertise relevant to the project. environmental issues., and Treaty considerations. They will balance environmental protection with the need for growth, and if the environmental impacts are deemed excessive the panel can decline the project.
Additional Information
Action Points:
AP – Hellen to provide a map of the proposed road realignment.
AP – Heather to investigate Motorhome usage of the land where Ammu and Longhorn used to be.
AP – Hellen to provide list of groups the council has created for community engagement. - DONE
AP – Hellen will supply map of the phases of Cemetery upgrades. - DONE
AP – Hellen to provide a Blurb and details so we can support council with the dissemination of facts.
AP – Hellen to provide % Rates vs % User Pays for Maidstone facilities
AP – WREMO engagement to be put as AP for the community meeting at Awaken Church on Wednesday – inviting Tracey U to attend
AP – Heather to see if larger space is able to be used at the Marae.
What’s Next
Next Hui: 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.
Items requested to be added to the next agenda
Local Water Done Well - Hellen to clarify exact discussion points
Transport - Hellen to clarify exact discussion points
Carry over from H2O discussion about overspend and how that consequence flows onto other council funded work/activities.
Carry over discussion on Rates distribution and is there more options of user pays for certain council funded activities. Emergency Management $0.74c vs H2O $8.84c
Concerns bought up around the number of people the room could accommodate and that having RSVP’s should be explored as well as 6pm sharp start time due to 1 hour limit on the meeting.
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 is attending, discussing and finding/sharing information.
Any questions/concerns or if 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
Minutes are created best we can as a representation of the discussions had at the Hui.