out & about
Take the EcoMatters challenge
EcoMatters is encouraging cyclists to discover the city’s street art scene during October, and be in to win $1,000 in prizes. The Street Art Bike Challenge, is a month-long photo treasure hunt by bike in which people are invited to look for street art across Auckland and share their photos. EcoMatters Bike Hubs manager Brent Bielby says a similar challenge in 2020, the Power Box Bike Challenge, was well received by the community. “This year we wanted to expand the event to encompass all public art, not just power boxes. “It’s amazing how much street art there is around Auckland. Once your eyes are open and you start to look around, you become hooked on trying to find different pieces, and the city never looks the same again. And it’s a great excuse to jump on your bike and explore your surroundings.” The challenge is a family-friendly event all ages can enjoy while adhering to Covid-19 restrictions and physical distancing. To enter, get on your bike and discover local street art; take a photo that includes the artwork, you, and your bike; and share your photo with the #StreetArtBikeChallenge hashtag in a public post on your Facebook or Instagram profile with the street name and suburb. Find out more at www.ecomatters.org.nz/bikechallenge.
WestWards Community Voice
Rational Planning I, like many, started September cleaning up storm debris and fixing flood damage. Again, this storm highlighted ongoing maintenance issues and shone a spotlight on Council practices. Our roads experienced multiple serious slips. Locations with poor roadside maintenance and blocked culverts and drains were particularly hard hit, while well-maintained areas came through the storm relatively unscathed. One of our Local Board Plan ‘Outcomes’ is ‘resilient communities’. Good maintenance is the basis of preparedness, and preparedness is resilience. It reminds me to keep focusing on the basics.
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The Trusts has announced that it is moving its entire workforce to a living wage, bringing forward earlier plans by almost two years. The move will cost the organisation almost $750,000 per annum and is set to benefit more than 300 staff across 35 retail stores, hospitality venues and hotels. The wage increase will be implemented ahead of schedule despite widespread disruption to the hospitality industry from COVID-19. All staff will see a new living wage rate of at least $22.75 per hour, which is $2.75 above the government’s new minimum wage level. All waged employees who currently earn above the organisation's starting rate will also receive an increase of $2 per hour. The increase will be in addition to a 10% support payment to acknowledge their front line staff working during the pandemic. Trusts CEO Allan Pollard says the living wage was originally planned for the second quarter of 2023 however new financial projections mean these plans can now take immediate effect. “It is our aim to ensure that our team members feel more valued and that this will make a material difference to their wellbeing and that of their whānau.”
service’ for example, more than doubled in cost. Of course, this also increases carbon emissions, which flies in the face of Council’s policy to significantly reduce CO2 emissions. The cost of transporting one bin or truckload of slip material 92 km (184 km round trip) easily goes unnoticed in Council’s budgets, but when big volumes are involved, the costs are breath-taking. A glaring example was the 2500m³ of slip material that fell on Te Henga Rd, Waitākere. To transport this material to Council-approved landfill (in large trucks) would have entailed 23,000 km of travel. I wrote to the Mayor and Councillors challenging this, suggesting the old Waitākere Quarry (less than 1km down the same road) could be used to process this organic material. The money saved would be significant and could be used to restore the Waitākere Quarry for public recreational use as long promised.. Council’s precautionary approach is neither rational or warranted. Kauri dieback disease is transmitted by a waterborne organism that can be carried on a single speck of soil. Floods wash vast quantities of suspended solids across the land, which makes Council’s precautionary demands ineffectual against localised spread. Moreover, Council requirements risk spreading kauri dieback further than flooding ever could. It’s impossible to reduce carbon emissions whilst demanding increased transportation, especially for questionable reasons. Council’s planning must involve practical solutions. Ken Turner – WestWards
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This storm also highlighted the inefficiencies and unwanted impacts of Council’s current approach regarding disposal of organic material in Waitākere. For two years now Council has demanded that organic material like soil and weed vegetation from the Waitākere Ranges must be wrapped in industrial grade plastic and taken to a ‘contaminated landfill’ south of Auckland as a precaution against the possible spread of kauri dieback. You might have noticed the enormous plastic bags lining community weed bins. Similarly soil from the slips must be wrapped and taken to a rural site South of Auckland. The environmental and cost impact is significant. Our community ‘weed-bins
Move to Living Wage brought forward
The Fringe OCTOBER 2021
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