Media Releases
March 2002
27 March 2002
It's time for the Pacifica Living Arts Festival
21 March 2002
Hunt for the West's outstanding senior volunteers
21 March 2002
Biggest penalty yet in NZ for felling trees without consent
20 March 2002
Waitakere's Draft Annual
Plan
20 March 2002
Organics industry set to grow out west
13 March 2002
Restricted Fire Season
12 March 2002
Draft Budget Out
11 March 2002
Weedy Invader Wipe out!
6 March 2002
Councillors reject kura idea
5 March 2002
Positive response to transport package
4 March 2002
Library move confirmed
27 March 2002
It's time for the Pacifica Living Arts Festival
Many entries have already been received for Waitakere City's 7th Pacifica Living Arts
Festival, running from 27th April through to the 4th of May 2002 at Corban's Estate Art
Centre, Great North Road, Henderson. This year's theme is "Safety through Pacifica Living Arts".
With interest mounting weekly, this event is now a permanent fixture amongst notable events in Waitakere City. It brings together the richness and diverse cultures of the Pacific peoples, which are blended with the indigenous Polynesian Maori culture and other ethnic communities. This makes Waitakere a thriving cultural hub of Auckland.
This event will certainly benefit from the generous sponsorships from Safe
Waitakere, Pacific Business
Trust, South Pacific Trade
Commission, Creative Communities
NZ, the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA), Helios Graphics and Rocon.
Pacific people have contributed significantly to arts and cultural development in the city. The Pacifica Living Arts Festival will continue to showcase the arts and cultures of the different Pacific communities. The aim is to strengthen our city's many cultures and to improve understanding and relationships between them. It is also intended to be a platform from where different cultures and artists can develop their cultures as a financial asset to themselves and their communities.
This is a golden opportunity for community groups, art groups, schools and individuals to participate as exhibitors to either sell their artistic/cultural products or to display artistic work or other items.
Pacific performers are also urged to enter and put their unique skills and cultures on display though stage and informal performances. Groups are encouraged to be extra creative by incorporating a safety message through their performances and displays, to support this important theme.
The festival will offer music, food, a market-type atmosphere, traditional dancing, performances, drumming, workshops and an exhibition of visual arts and crafts from each Pacific ethnic group represented in Waitakere i.e. Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Fiji and Maori of Aotearoa.
Simultaneously with this festival Lopdell House Gallery will present three exhibitions from 26 April to 2 June 2002. The official opening will be on 25 April, from 6 - 8pm.
The Pacifica Living Arts Festival is presented by the Pacific Islands Advisory Board (PIAB) and supported by Waitakere City Council.
Interested artists, performers and stall holders should apply now for their registration
form by calling Arlene Fredericks, telephone 836 8000 ext. 8401, fax 836 8057, e-mail: arlene.fredericks@waitakere.govt.nz.
21 March 2002
Hunt for the West's outstanding senior volunteers
Waitakere City's dedicated senior volunteers can now be nominated for a special national award that recognizes their commitment to helping others.
The new Age Concern Senior Achievers Awards mark a nationwide effort to promote pride in the voluntary contributions of older New Zealanders. The Awards are open to any New Zealand citizen over 60 who has made an outstanding voluntary contribution to their community.
"Throughout New Zealand, there are people working tirelessly keeping the bonds of community strong, many behind the scenes and without any demand for reward," says Garth Taylor, Age Concern Chief Executive. "Many of these essential volunteers are older people, who help provide services and activities that might otherwise not happen.
"The Awards are about valuing and recognising older people's contribution. They undertake work in community services that help people keep up a good quality of life, and are often advisors and mentors within business. They volunteer as coaches and members of sporting organisations, contribute within the arts, administrate and serve on boards that keeps services and groups functioning, and help save and pass on cultural traditions to future generations."
The new Age Concern Senior Achievers Awards (previously the Senior Achievers Charitable Trust Awards) feature six regional awards, sponsored by MASS Healthcare. The regional ceremonies will be held in August - the winners to attend the national awards at Government House in Wellington in October.
Nomination forms are available by contacting:
21 March 2002
Biggest penalty yet in NZ for felling trees without consent
More than $46,000 in total fines and costs (believed to be the largest total penalty yet upheld by the Courts in New Zealand for a vegetation clearance charge) have been imposed on a Waitakere subdivision company, the couple that owns it and a forestry contractor.
The penalty was imposed on G&A Developments Ltd, both its directors, and forestry contractors Kane Holdings Ltd by District Court Judge Fred McElrea after they felled at least 50 large trees in Waitakere City without resource consent.
It is understood the total penalty is more than twice the highest penalty previously imposed by the Courts for a tree-felling offence.
The case chiefly involved the felling of 40 metre tall, 60 year old, eucalypts growing on undeveloped land that G&A Developments proposed to subdivide into residential housing.
Mayor Bob Harvey has applauded the judgement saying that it was the latest in a number of cases where the courts had handed down stiff deterrent penalties.
"This city is defending the environment for the good of everybody and I'm delighted that these days we have the backing of courts with the same resolve as ourselves," he said. "Personally I think their destruction was an act of vandalism. I hope this case will teach people that taking liberties with the environment has become a very expensive pastime."
The court acknowledged that the trees were a significant amenity feature for the neighbourhood. A leading expert described them as some of the largest and best specimens in New Zealand.
Judge McElrea found that the defendants had taken matters into their own hands by felling the trees before the resource consent they applied for had been processed. He said that the Court could not allow developers to act first and later pay a fine from their substantial profits.
For felling the gum trees, G&A Developments Ltd was fined $20,000, its directors $5,000 and $2,000 each, and Kane Holdings Ltd $5,000. Kane Holdings was fined a further $2,500 for the clearance of 6 tree ferns destroyed in the gum-felling operation. G&A Developments Ltd and its directors were collectively fined a further $1,000 for felling a tulip tree on the property. The defendants were ordered to pay a further $9,962.23 for expert witness and solicitors' costs.
Court costs were $650, bringing total fines and costs to $46,112.23.
20 March 2002
Waitakere's Draft Annual Plan
Waitakere City Council today finished deliberations on its draft Annual Plan for 2002/03.
Councillors have signalled a rates rise of 9.19% (or around $2.30 a week for the average ratepayer), which will be confirmed at a special meeting next Monday (March 25). That draft budget will then go out for public comment and submission.
The single biggest reason for increased costs is depreciation. That accounts for almost all (8%) of the proposed rates increase for next year.
Funding for depreciation on its assets (roads, pipes etc) is a legal requirement and each year Waitakere has to
find more than $23 million.
Unlike other Councils in the Auckland region, in an effort to keep rates low in recent years Waitakere has not put all of this money aside- instead it decided to sell shares in the UnitedNetworks power company, in 2004.
The Council's own costs account for just 0.97 % of the proposed increase, which is below the rate of inflation. Nine months of intensive reviews lie behind the draft budget.
The proposed increase also takes into account external costs, which are outside of the Council's control (such as levies from the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Watercare Services Ltd and MOTAT). The Auckland Regional Council is yet to set its levies for 2002/03.
Councillor Janet Clews chairs the Annual Plan Special Committee, which deliberated on the budgets. She says that the Council was determined to tackle the depreciation issue once and for all.
"By not fully funding depreciation, rates have been kept artificially low for three years, and we are now paying the price for that decision," she says.
"This Council is clearly signalling that kind of approach is just not smart. We have to face up to the financial facts now- and not hope that we'll get a windfall (from the UnitedNetworks shares) in a few years' time. Unless we face up to the depreciation issue now we will be forced to sell those shares regardless of their value. This allows us to retain some flexibility into the future."
Key aspects of the proposed budget include:
- new libraries for New Lynn and Glen Eden
- planning for when the Hobsonville Airbase is disposed of by the Government
- No increase in water charges
- detailed planning for a new library in Henderson
- More Council run events and more support for community events
- Facilitating a tertiary institute in Henderson
- A start on physical work on the "People's Park", in Te Atatu
- $100,000 to implement Stage 1 of the Glen Eden town centre plan (signage, planting, a heritage trail etc).
- A 7% increase in funding for the mowing of parks and other public areas
- An extra $195,000 for new library books ($1.112 million in total)
- Continued "revitalisation" of the Ranui and Swanson town centres
- An annual inorganic rubbish collection, rather than twice yearly. This move will save an estimated $120,000 a year.
- A start on the new indoor stadium complex in Central Park Dr, Henderson
- $450,000 for new footpaths
Submissions on the draft budget open on May 1 and close on May 31. The Council will then make its final decisions and set its rates for 2002/03.
20 March 2002
Organics industry set to grow out west
More than 50 businesses are joining forces with the Waitakere City Council in a bid to grow the area's organic food industry.
Waitakere City Mayor, Bob Harvey, is hosting an inaugural Organics Business Cluster Forum on March 27, pulling together organics producers, manufacturers, retailers, researchers and exporters from as far
a field as Warkworth and Te Puke.
Businesses will be talking with each other and Council staff about the future of the organics industry in both Waitakere City and the Rodney District, and the potential for adding strength to the sector with the development of an organics business cluster.
The organics market is becoming increasingly important to New Zealand. The industry's total production last year was around $120 million, with an estimated $70 million coming from exports. The domestic organics market is growing at 50% a year, with some growers and companies opting to supply locally rather than export.
Mr Harvey says there is huge potential for growth in the organics industry, both locally and internationally, and that the time is right to turn Waitakere City into a national centre for organic food production.
"Going GE Free as a city late last year showed our serious commitment to developing a sustainable economy," he says.
"By helping our organic producers develop their own business cluster in this city, as we did with marine manufacturing and film production, not only will we be strengthening the local economy and creating jobs for local people, but we'll be supporting an environmentally sustainable industry as well."
For further information contact us.
13 March 2002
Restricted fire season
Each year, between 1 December and 30 April, there is a restriction on the lighting of open-air fires in Waitakere City's rural areas.
This means that anyone wishing to light an outdoor fire during this five-month period must have the fire site inspected by a council officer before a permit can be issued.
Phone the Council's 24-hour Call Centre
to book an inspection. There is no extra charge for this service.
The exact boundaries of the City's rural areas can also be checked with a phone call to the
Call Centre, but in general the restricted areas are:
- Huia
- Cornwallis
- Whatipu
- Karekare
- Bethells
- Waitakere Village
- parts of Piha and the Scenic Drive neighbourhood
There are also five noticeboards located around the rural fringe, which indicate the day's fire danger.
Please help us protect Waitakere City's bush areas.
12 March 2002
Draft budget out
Waitakere City Council begins deliberations on its budgets (for 2002/03) this
week.
Based on preliminary (draft) budgets, the average residential ratepayer in the City faces an increase this year of 8.7% (or just $2.20 per week).
That follows three years of rates being held at between zero and 3 per cent.
Mayor Bob Harvey says that this year the Council must tackle some key financial issues.
"Rates have been kept artificially low for three years, and we are now paying the price for holding things back," he says.
"We have so much to do. We have to both catch up and move forward. This rate is a sensible, sustainable move, where we bite the bullet now to keep moving ahead for the future."
"Waitakere is one of the fastest growing Cities in New Zealand. With that growth comes increasing costs and more and more demands for basic services such as libraries, roads, parks and so on," he says.
The single biggest reason for increased costs is depreciation. That accounts for almost all (8%) of the proposed rates increase this year.
Funding for depreciation is a legal requirement and next year Waitakere has to find more than $23million to fully fund depreciation on its assets (roads, buildings, pipes etc). Unlike many other large Councils, such as Auckland City, in an effort to keep rates low in recent years Waitakere has not put all of this money aside- instead it decided to sell shares in the UnitedNetworks power company, in 2004.
"This Council is clearly signalling that kind of approach is just not smart," says Mayor Harvey. "We have to face up to the financial facts now- and not hope that we'll get a windfall in a few years' time."
Councillor Janet Clews, chairs the Annual Plan special committee, which will consider the budgets. She says that the draft budgets also reflect in excess of $2 million of internal savings and efficiencies.
"Staff have worked hard to get the Council's own costs down," she says. "At the same time I'm pleased that we are continuing to deliver on key projects in key areas."
Those include new libraries for New Lynn and Glen Eden, planning for when the Hobsonville Airbase is disposed of by the Government, community events, and a tertiary institute in Henderson.
Mrs Clews also endorses the move to fully fund depreciation and not rely on the sale of the UnitedNetworks shares. "Unless we face up to the depreciation issue now we will be forced to sell them (shares) regardless of their value. This allows us to retain some flexibility into the future."
Councillors will debate the draft budget over the next three weeks. The public will then have the opportunity to make formal submissions (in May), before the Council makes final decisions and sets its rates for 2002/03.
*Auckland City has signalled a 9% rates rise for next year.
For further information contact us.
11 March 2002
Weedy invader wipe out!
With four seasons in one day - our summer has provided a great place for weeds to wander in set up home and spread. So this year Keep Waitakere Beautiful, the ARC and the Waitakere City Council are getting ready for battle with a war on weeds.
The War on Weeds campaign will run for a whole month this year from 9 March to 9 April with 26 bin sites throughout Waitakere for free disposal of these fast spreading invaders. War on Weeds in it's first year in 2001, after being Ginger Out for over 6 years, extended to focus on 8 other weed nasties too. In the 10 days of the campaign last year over 87 tonne of weeds went through the bins.
As KWB chairman Dennis Finn says "It was such a success that in 2002 we have decided to extend the campaign for four weeks to allow people to utilise the long weekends to rid their gardens of these foreign
invaders".
There are nine nasties that the 2001 campaign will focus on: Ginger, Moth Plant, Smilax, Tradescantia (Wandering Jew), Blue Morning Glory, Japanese Honeysuckle, Plectranthus, Jasmine and Privet.
Why be wary of a weed?
Many plants that were introduced into New Zealand as garden plants due to their beauty are now recognised as having a detrimental affect on our native bush.
A weed is any plant growing in the wrong place. Weeds are a problem because:
- They stop native plant seedlings growing, by smothering the ground (Wandering Jew, Ginger, Blue Morning Glory , Plectranthus, Japanese Honeysuckle)
- They can kill existing plants including large trees by smothering or strangling them (Blue Morning Glory, Japanese Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Moth Plant)
- They deny native animals a valuable food source - native plants
- They can clog streams promoting flooding and erosion (Privet, Wandering Jew, Smilax)
- Some weeds promote allergies (eg Privet, Wandering Jew for cats and dogs)
- Some weeds promote fire (eg pampas has lots of dead flammable material)
What can you do?
- Learn to recognise weeds - we will be holding Weed ID days - bring along your questionable plant and we can tell you what it is, what it does and how to get rid of it and what to replace it with! Just call us and we can tell you which library, on a given day, will be hosting the ID workshops.
- Bin It! 26 bins will be placed in suburbs throughout the city for free disposal.
- Replace weeds with plants that are native to your area. You can call for advice or assistance with replanting or pick up a flyer at your local
library.
What is Waitakere City Council doing on control of weeds on reserves and roadsides?
There are over 500 parks in Waitakere, a big battle front! , but there is an eight year plan on weed control
- New environmental weed control programmes commencing at Laingholm Scenic Reserve, Te Henga Park and Swanson Scenic Reserve to protect ecologically sensitive
- Ongoing control at Green Bay Scarp, Henderson Valley Scenic Reserve, Seibel Scenic Rserve, Moire Park, Manutewhau, Chorley & Colwill Esplanades, Kowhai Reserve wetland, Rahuikahika Reserve.
- Most of the important bush/wetland reserves in Waitakere City are being targeted for on going control of weeds) over the next three years.
And on Roadsides, weed spraying in:
- Areas neighboured by bush - spraying of Gorse,
- Areas without kerbs or channels: Woolly nightshade, Ginger, Honeysuckle Sweet Pea Shrubs, Pampas
- Citywide: nutgrass. Weed species eradication will be extended over the next four years.
So mark the calendar with 'Battle Day', rally the troops, don your protection and gardening weapons and wage war on your backyard!
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Contact
us for further information on this campaign, bin sites, Weed ID workshops and replanting
ideas. |
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Contact ARC for plant pest information and identification. |
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For related information see
Plant Pests. |
6 March 2002
Councillors reject kura idea
Waitakere City Councillors have come out against any more of the Harbourview land being used for anything other than park.
The Council last week agreed that 2.5 hectares of the 84-hectare Te Atatu site will be used as a community marae. But those who voted in favour of that proposal reject a suggestion, made in the Western Leader of March 5, that a further 1.5 hectares might be set aside for a Maori school.
The idea is being floated by the Ministry of Education.
But Councillors Judy Lawley (who chairs a working party on developing the "People's Park"), and Greg Presland (deputy chair of the City Development committee), say nothing more should be carved off the parkland.
"We made the decision to allocate a small piece of land for the marae on the clear understanding that it would be incorporated into the park concept," says Cr. Presland. "I haven't spoken to any Councillors who favour giving more land to the Ministry of Education or any other group."
Cr. Presland adds that the Council has received no formal approach from the Ministry.
"It's outrageous that they should float this idea through the pages of the Western Leader," he says. "There are other potentially suitable local sites not involving the People's Park land, and they should discuss these other sites with us."
Cr. Lawley says that the Ministry of Education should be talking to the Te Atatu Marae Coalition about potential sites for the kura.
"While we support development of the kura as soon as possible, I am disappointed at the Ministry's suggestion that land might be offered from the People's Park. By making statements like it has the Ministry has caused an uproar in the local community," she says.
"We are making great progress towards developing one of the finest and largest recreation areas in the Auckland Region. It's a bit late now for the Ministry (of Education) to come along and promote an idea that they haven't even spoken to the Council about."
5 March 2002
Positive response to transport package
Waitakere City Council has responded positively the government's $94 million transport package.
Deputy Mayor Carolynne Stone says that the increased petrol tax and the government's decision to spend much of that in the
region, will finally see residents of greater Auckland getting a fair share of the tax cake.
"For years we have paid petrol tax and not seen too many benefits. Auckland's millions have been spent elsewhere around the country. It's not a case of us not caring what happens South of the Bombay Hills; it's a case of Auckland finally getting the money it needs and
deserves".
Councillor Stone says that the rest of the country will see the benefits too. "It's well proven that Auckland's transport problems cost this country millions of dollars a year in lost productivity, pollution and so on. So improvements here will definitely flow on the national economy."
Councillor Stone also says that while the government's package is a step in the right direction, there needs to be a continued emphasis on passenger transport and an integrated solution to Auckland's problems.
"We would like to see real alternatives, like fast, clean and safe light rail, pursued," she says. "We understand the need to complete the motorway networks, but we are not so keen on the funding mechanisms that are proposed (toll roads). You can't charge people to travel on the roading network without offering real alternatives, such as rail, buses, ferries, general improvements to other arterials and so on. There has to be the element of a carrot- not just a big stick".
"There's no doubt that we need lasting solutions. Just as Auckland's local bodies tackled urban growth and expansion through things like the Regional Growth Strategy, we have to work with Government to solve Auckland's transport problems".
4 March 2002
Library move confirmed
From Monday 13 May, the Glen Eden Library will be in a new location - less than 200m from its current Glendale Road site.
Waitakere City Council has negotiated a short-term lease on the former Nationwide Centre building at 277c West Coast Road.
The West Coast Road location will be used for the next 2 - 3 years until the Council builds a new purpose-built library in the Glen Eden town centre.
The library will continue to operate out of the Glendale Road site until the move
- the lease having been extended past its original 31 March expiration date.
Finance and Operational Performance Committee Chair and former Glen Eden Mayor, Janet Clews, says the Council is very grateful to Westview Medical, the owners of the Glendale Rd premises, for their ongoing cooperation - especially in light of the Council's recent decision not to proceed with a proposed joint library and medical centre development on the site.
"We felt it would be unfair to delay the group's plans indefinitely while we worked through outstanding issues relating to the proposal," she says.
"But, in spite of the fact that the joint venture is no longer going ahead, the doctors have still been willing to accommodate our needs. And for that, we thank them."
The Council will make a decision on a permanent library site over the next six months, with the aim of opening the new Glen Eden Library in early 2004.
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