12 October Wainuiomata News

Another

By Frank Neill

Wainuiomata will have four residents

around the

City Council table following this

Gabriel Tupou has been elected as a city-wide Councillor and will join the Mayor, Campbell Barry, Wainuiomata Ward Councillor Keri Brown and city-wide Councillor Josh Briggs, who were all re-elected this year.

The four Wainuiomata residents on the newly elected Hutt City Council (from left) Josh Briggs, Keri Brown, Gabriel Tupou and Campbell Barry.

Supplied.

local

create

dream!

Diverse and competent councillors

Bingley, Leah Clark and Tamsyn

Harker.

“The people of Lower Hutt wanted a diverse set of councillors who are competent in governance and connected to the community,” Gabriel says.

“I will bring another perspective to the table and look forward to representing our city alongside council colleagues, all whom I have known over the years.

“I am grateful to the Wainuiomata community where I was raised, educated, volunteered and worked. I am thankful to my supporters, volunteers and wh nau.

“Ward Councillor Keri Brown will continue to do a great job and I am excited about the fantastic team of people on our Wainuiomata Community Board,” Gabriel says.

The first Hutt City Councillor of Tongan descent, Gabriel is the M ori Wardens Wellington District Commander.

This was Gabriel’s second bid for a council seat after he came close to being elected in 2019.

He was, however, re-elected for a second term on the Community Board, which he chaired for more than half his six years’ service.

He has also represented the Lower Hutt community on the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Te Whanganui-a-Tara Committee, which made recommendations for the integrated management of land and water.

“It’s a true privilege to be reelected as Mayor,” Campbell says.

“I’m looking forward to bringing the diverse talent of our new council together, and continuing to make progress on the big issues we face in Wainuiomata and across our city.”

“I am over the moon to be reelected to represent and champion the Wainuiomata community at the council table,” Keri says.

“To have been voted with such a majority is also really pleasing and drives me to keep advocating positively for Wainuiomata.

“It’s great to see local Gabriel

Newly elected Hutt City Councillor Gabriel Tupou – the first Hutt City Councillor of Tongan descent. Photo: Supplied.

Tupou gain a council seat, which now means we have three councillors from Wainuiomata and the Mayor.

“I am excited at the makeup of the new Wainuiomata Community Board. Their diverse skills and experience will serve the community well.

“I will continue to listen and progress in making Wainuiomata the best suburb in the region and country.

“My immediate focus continues to be completing the Queen Street upgrade and realising the communities’ vision of a vibrant, safe and accessible town centre.

“As always, please get in touch with me if you have any questions, ideas or concerns at keri.brown@huttcity.govt.nz, or you can meet with me at my regular catch-ups at the Wainuiomata Community Hub,” she says.

Wainuiomata will have an almost completely new Community Board following this year’s election.

Only one member of the previous Community Board, Gary Sue, has been re-elected.

The five new Community Board members are Te Awa Puketapu, Daniel Chrisp, Lesa

Te Awa (Te Atiawa, Tuhoe and Ng ti Ruapani) is the mother of two teenagers and has lived in Wainuiomata for 40 years.

She is currently completing a Masters degree in indigenous social equity and leadership.

A member of the Pukeatua Kohanga Reo and Wainuiomata Intermediate School Board, Te Awa has worked in the education sector, child rights and advocacy, and youth justice.

Daniel is a cemeteries manager, having worked in the sector for more than six years. Before that he was a school caretaker for three years and volunteered for nine years as a youth pastor for his church.

He helped start the Poole Crescent community gardens and enjoys golf, woodworking and gardening in his spare time.

Of Tokelauan, Samoan and European descent, Lesa is a stayat-home mum. Before that she worked in the insurance industry for 10 years.

She recently organised a petition opposing the opening of a new bottle store in Queen Street, a petition that attracted around 900 signatures.

Leah is married with four children and six mokopuna. She moved to Wainuiomata in the 1960s and attended Wainuiomata College.

She is very involved in a number of community groups, including Love Wainuiomata, Friends Who Care and Empower Tangata.

Tamsyn owns the business Flow Life Coaching & Counselling. She has a Diploma in Counselling and Psychology and a Certificate in Life Coaching.

Outside her work, Tamsyn is assisting a neuroscientist to develop an industry-leading resilience and mental health programme.

She is a volunteer with Kaibosh Food Rescue and Love Wainuiomata.

This will be Cr Keri Brown’s second term as the Wainuiomata

Ward Councillor. Before that she served on the Wainuiomata Community Board.

The Mayor will serve a second term, following his two terms as the Wainuiomata Ward Councillor from 2013 to 2019. He was elected to the Wainuiomata Community Board in 2010.

Cr Josh Briggs has been elected for a third term as a city-wide Councillor. Before that he served one term on the Wainuiomata Community Board.

Ken Laban was re-elected to the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and will represent the Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt constituency.

This is the fourth time Ken has been elected to the GWRC. Before that, he served as the Wainuiomata Ward Councillor on the Hutt City council from 2010 to 2013.

Electors also had the opportunity to choose the voting system they would prefer. They could choose between First Past the Post (FPP) or the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.

Under FPP electors vote by indicating their preferred candidates with a tick. Voters must not tick more than the number of places to be filled.

Under STV voters rank the candidates in order of preference, giving a “1” to their most preferred candidate, then a “2” and so on. Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they wish.

Voters overwhelmingly opted for FPP, with FPP gaining 19,481 votes while STV gained 8,475 votes, with special votes yet to be counted.

With special votes yet to be included, voter turnout was 40.21%. This was higher than the national average of 36% on provisional results. Special votes could take the national average to 39% and will also increase the Hutt City percentage.

The final election result is due later this week.

Queen Street coming along

By Frank Neill

People visiting Queen Street can now get a glimpse of what the area will look like when work is complete.

The footpath work at the Fitzherbert Road end of Queen Street is now nearing completion.

The paving has been laid, and garden areas planted.

Work on Queen Street has taken much longer than originally anticipated.

The two main reasons for this have been the very wet weather recently, and the fact that the water main and links from the main to various premises needed replacing.

A good indication of just how much rain has affected the works can be seen from the rainfall recorded in just three days this winter.

Metservice data shows that 18 to 20 August was particularly wet in Wainuiomata. On 18 August 40.8mm of rain was recorded by Metservice, with 63.6mm on 19 August and 47.0mm on 20 August.

That gave a total of 151.4mm for the three days, compared with an average August rainfall of 101.73mm.

In addition to that particularly rainy three days, there have been significantly more wet days over the last three months than usual. This is a direct result of our changing climate.

The footpath at the Fitzherbert Road end of Queen Street. Photo: Frank Neill.

Masonic village grand opening

By Frank Neill

The Wainuiomata Masonic Village will hold its grand opening, together with a stone laying ceremony, this Saturday, 15 October.

This will be a climax to a decade of work by the Masonic Village Trust and local politicians – including National list MP Chris Bishop, Former Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace and the current Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry. Both Mr Wallace and Mr Barry are Wainuiomata residents.

Wainuiomata did not have a retirement village, and clearly needed one, in 2012. Mr Bishop met with the Masonic Villages Trust, which operates both retirement villages and care facilities throughout New Zealand.

This was the first of a series of meetings between Mr Bishop, Mr Wallace and Mr Barry which led first to the Masonic Villages Trust buying the land in The Strand and

then building the new retirement village there.

“Its exciting,” Mr Bishop commented on Saturday’s opening.

Before the Masonic Villages Trust constructed the new village, Wainuiomata needed such a facililty, but did not have one, he said.

Mr Bishop echoed the statement the trust has on its website: “At long last, our respected older residents will be able to retire in comfort in Wainuiomata, near their friends and family.”

The village has 80 single-storey units that come in single, two bedroom and three bedrooms options, all built in the latest style. They cater for more than 100 residents.

The units also have either carports or garages.

“Our Wainui retirement village has been carefully designed to create a warm, supportive and welcoming community, one in which you can enjoy your leisure time, either kicking back and relaxing or

Snapper coming to trains

Wainuiomata commuters will soon be able to use their Snapper cards on suburban trains. Electronic ticketing will be available across Metlink’s entire rail network by 27 November.

Snapper payments will be accepted on the Hutt Valley, Melling and Wairarapa Lines from 27 November and on the K piti Line from 12 November.

Greater Wellington councillors are thrilled that electronic ticketing will soon be available on both buses and trains, Metlink General Manager Samantha Gain said.

“The success of the Snapper on Rail Pilot on the Johnsonville line has given us the confidence to roll out electronic ticketing across the entire rail network.

“Supporting customers ahead of this exciting change is key,

and we’ll be keeping them up to date through our website and Facebook page.

“We’ll also have staff across the rail network able to help customers with any questions related to the change,” Ms Gain added.

Transport Committee Chair Roger Blakeley said customers and the climate would benefit from Snapper on Rail.

“Modernising our rail network’s fare collection system will make payments more convenient and support patronage growth.

“Snapper on Rail will help Greater Wellington achieve our goal of a 40% increase in public and active transport modes by 2030,” Mr Blakeley said.

Rail passengers can keep up to date with Snapper on Rail at metlink.org.nz/snapper-onrail.

filling up your social calendar with new adventures and new friends,” the trust says.

“Each villa will have its own garden area for residents to personalise.

“The village will also have the

village hub, communal spaces, gardens and pathways. Within the village hub there will be a small village library space, reading area, get-together spaces for cards, games, and for arts and crafts.

“The hub will also host movie

nights, fitness and wellbeing classes and other village activities.

“Consideration is being given to building an aged care facility once the retirement village has been completed, although this is yet to be confirmed,” the trust says.

Q: What is your favourite band or music group, and why do you like them?

Lucretia Delmundo

UB40. I love listening to reggae. It’s very relaxing.

Paula Nathan Kolohe Kai. They’re a Hawaiian band. They are a reggae-pop band, with quite a mix of genres. They cater for all ages.

Jackson WhiuRaymond Barrett

Dave Dobbin. He’s been around a long time and he’s quite relevant.

Jackie Bewley

Jacey Nicholas

BTS. They are a Korean group and they are good at singing.

ACDC. They’re a good heavy metal band. I’ve always liked them.

Metallica. They are inspirational – a good heavy metal band.

The

new Wainuiomata Masonic Village. Photo: Frank Neill.

Successful driver training

GARDENING THIS

Things we might miss or forget : By Wally Richards

By Frank Neill

Youth Inspire ran a very successful course where seven young people gained their learner driver’s licences in Wainuiomata from 3 to 7 October.

Called Road Ready Rangatahi, the five-day course was open to young people between 16 and 24 years old.

Of the 22 who started the course, seven chose to sit for their learner’s licence and all seven passed – a 100% success rate.

The Wainuiomata News spoke with course participants Veda Patel, Ethan Neru, Shane Leo’o, Britney Herlihy, Ishika Patel, Denika Harper and Nikita Uppalapapi.

They all agreed it was a “very good course” – one that they would recommend to their friends.

“It’s more interesting than reading the road code,” Britney said, adding that it meant you learned better.

“It’s engaging,” Ethan added. It’s interactive, so you can understand it more,” Denika said. “Most of it’s not pen and

paper.”

”Road Ready Rangatahi is important because the absence of a [driver’s] licence is a huge barrier to employment and education for young people,” Youth Inspire’s Relationship Manager, Sally-Ann Moffatt, told the Wainuiomata News.

This was the third Road Ready Rangatahi course held in Wainuiomata this year.

Youth Inspire is a not-forprofit organisation that works with Lower Hutt businesses, support services and government to realise better lives for young people and the communities they live in.

Its mission is “to see all young people under 25 engaged in meaningful education, training or employment”.

It headlines its operation “Rangatahi mai ki te rangatira – Our youth our future”.

As well as the driver’s licence programme, it also runs a youth employment programme. More information is available at https://youthinspire.co.nz/. People can also book a place on the next Road Ready Rangitahi course at Youth Inspire’s website.

It is an very interesting spring and start to the new season.

Most of us are saying where is spring? It is already into October and not much springy in the air.

Mind you before the Polar Blast that had us adding another layer of clothes and lighting the fire we did have some not too bad days.

Hopefully those mild days were sufficient to bring some of the pests out of their winter hiding places to be stuck dead by the cold blast.

If in spring we have an early start with sunny days and warm temperatures, then it turns to custard with a few days of bitter cold then all the pests that came out will shiver to death and our pest problem will be significantly reduced.

It then will be into the new year before their numbers multiply and cause problems.

It is now not long before Labour Weekend arrives and that is the New Zealand Traditional time for planting out the tender plants such a tomatoes and Impatiens.

More tender plants such as cucumbers should not be planted till the weather really settles otherwise they just sit there and sulk.

If you do early plantings of nonhardy plants then only do a couple or so and then two to three weeks later another little planting.

Follow that pattern and you cant go wrong.

It is a timely reminder to check grafted fruit trees, ornamentals and roses.

Grafted means they are growing on a similar family plant’s root stock.

This is done for several reasons such as preventing suckering, giving what is supposed to be a better plant such as High Health in Roses and also to determine the end result size of the tree.

The root stock can and often does start producing foliage and if that is allowed to grow then the energy from the roots is grabbed by the root stock’s development and likely at some time the tree that is grafted onto the root stock will fail and die.

Normally it is fairly easy to see the union where the tree is connected to the root stock.

So any foliage that appears there on the root stock should be rubbed off or cut off to prevent it growing bigger.

Sometime the foliage may appear from under the soil near the trunk. Once again remove.

I have come to understand that

grafted stone fruit trees are very likely to have curly leaf disease as the graft is a weakening aspect of the tree’s health and vigor.

I learnt this week an interesting thing; apparently if a person receives a transplant organ then over time that person may start to develop characteristics and even memories of the donor.

Which makes me wonder if a grafted tree starts to show aspects of the tree it is grafted too?

Dwarf stone fruit are the worst to have curly leaf problems.

If you grow a peach, nectarine or plum from a stone then apparently because it is on its own root system it will be far less likely to have curly leaf disease and maybe also less or none of other problems.

With roses we some times see what is often called a water shoot which is a strong upward shoot from near the base.

I think the recommendation is to cut them off but on one occasion I let it grow and with some cosmetic pruning over a couple of seasons turn a bush rose into a standard.

A reader today asked about her compost bins which are made out of tanalised timber.

She asked ‘Would the tanalised timber be harmful to the compost and would it be ok to use the compost on the vegetable garden’?

Tantalized timber has some nasty chemicals in them (Ask any older builder that has worked with tantalized timber for years about how they are faring)

I also learnt from a building inspector that tantalized fence palings that I screwed to my steel warehouse

(To attach steel cages onto for gas bottles and instant gas hot water unit) would overtime eat into the steel and cause corrosion.

So if the chemical can do that to colour steel what are they going to do to your food crops that will take up the chemicals that leach into the soil/compost?

Not a healthy outlook for sure.

The answer is to give the tantalized wood that has been cut to the right size a couple of coats of acrylic paint before assembling to seal the chemicals in.

This is also applied to raised gardens when using tantalized timber.

Container plants indoors and outdoors over winter required much less water but now as the day light hours increase and temperatures rise they

will require more moisture.

A problem arises though in that the growing medium, when it became dry causes tension that does not allow the water to penetrate.

So when you water not all the mix/ root system gets any moisture and you have a dry spot.

Water rather than staying in the mix a lot of it will run out into the saucer.

There are two ways to solve this problem.

Container that are not too large should be taken and plunged into a tub of water submerging the whole pot. It will start to bubble away which is the air being forced out of the medium as the water replaces the dry air pockets.

When the pot stops bubbling lift up and let the surplus water drain out before returning to its saucer.

That means next time you water the plant will get all the benefit.

If you have a large container that you cannot plunge into a tank of water then what you do is this.

Fill your watering can with warm water and then give a good squirt of dish washing liquid into it.

Lather up with your hand to make the water nice and soapy.

Water the soapy water into the container mix and this will break the tension and allow water to wet the whole mix till the same happens again.

Hanging baskets are prone to having tension and not getting a proper drink. This is especially so with hanging baskets outdoors.

Plunge into a tub of water and watch them bubble. During the summer outdoor baskets should be plunged once a month.

Another big problem with container plants is root mealy bugs and the easy way to fix is to sprinkle a little of Wallys Neem Tree powder over the mix then cover with a little more potting mix.

The powder with become mouldy as it breaks down and look unsightly.

Under a layer of fresh mix you will not see it.

Something extra which I received this week that you may find interesting/shocking?

source=taxpayers

Someone has to pay for this and its not the ones that have caused this debt.

Ruca Malika (left) and Estha Simi-Sikuvea playing “Driven for Success” – a fund driving theory game – during the Wainuiomata Road Ready Rangatahi course. Photo: Supplied.

By Frank Neill

Ikaroa-R whiti MP Meka Whaitiri received something of a surprise when she met with Wainuiomata resident Bruce Walker and his wife Catherine on 4 October to talk about his recent ex gratia payment for having served in the Vietnam war.

Mr Walker presented Ms Whaitiri with a special book, “A Soldier’s View of the Vietnam War”.

This book tells the story of Victor 4 Company of the ANZAC Battalion during its operations in Vietnam.

Mr Walker received his ex gratia payment of $40,000 in June, and the main reason for meeting with Ms Whaitiri was so that he could thank the government for the payment.

Service personnel who served in Vietnam qualify for an ex gratia payment of $40,000 if they have been diagnosed with one or more of seven conditions by an appropriately qualified medical professional.

These conditions are: soft tis-

sue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, chloracne, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia—including hairy-cell leukaemia and other chronic b-cell leukaemias, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, or hypertension.

Not everyone who would qualify has received the ex gratia payment of $40,000, and Vietnam veterans can check if they qualify by visiting https://www.veteransaffairs.mil. nz/a-z/support-if-you-served-inviet-nam/.

Spouses, partners or children may also be entitled to an ex gratia payment or other support. Information about this can be found on the Veteran Affairs website at https://www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz/a-z/support-for-families-of-those-with-service-in-vietnam/

Ikaroa-R whiti is the M ori electorate that includes Wainuiomata. Ms Whaitiri won the seat in 2013 and has held it since then.

Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri (right), holding her copy of “A Soldier’s View of the Vietnam War” with Catherine and Bruce Walker. Photo: Supplied.

Newspaper

Competition for local photographers

Photographers from Wainuiomata have the opportunity to show off their picture taking skills in the Real Fresh Hutt Valley Photo Competition.

Five prizes of $500 and five of $100 are up for grabs, for the winners and runners-up in each of five categories people can enter.

Entry is free and open to all ages, from casual smartphone photographers to creative photographers with all the gear.

The competition is being run by award winning Lower Hutt-based image library Excio and HuttValleyNZ – a destination promotion partnership between Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council.

The five categories people can enter are: the great outdoors – our parks and green spaces, trails, beaches, outdoor adventures, picnics;

hidden gems – little pockets of awesome, your secret spots, from cafes to swimming holes;

Hutt life – summing up our lifestyle, backyards, and suburbs; made in the Hutt – celebrating all things locally made; and people in action – at work, at recreation, at sport, at home.

One of the three competition judges, Ana Lyubich is a Wainuiomata resident.

Ana is Excio’s founder and is developing a new generation New Zealand image library that has recently won awards for recognising its new community-driven membership model of building a library that is fair by providing photographers with sustainable and fair income opportunities.

“We’re excited by this opportunity to grow our community of photographers and are offering 100 free memberships to be part of our community of photographers,” Ana says.

James Lamb, HuttValleyNZ’s destination marketer, says it’s a chance to celebrate what people love about the Hutt Valley, its beauty and creativity.

“This is a way of sharing stories about our place through photos.”

James adds ‘“alongside our own promotional work, we’re often asked by local businesses, organisations and event managers for images of our city, and this is a great way to grow a community of local contributors to create a go-to resource of fresh, authentic, high-quality images of the Hutt Valley everyone can use.”

Entries close on 30 November and the winners will be announced online on 15 December,

For more information and to enter online visit https://community.excio.io/huttvalley.

Phone Situation Vacant

Photo: Palliser Photography.

Black Ferns prove a point despite stage-fright

The Black Ferns saved their own blushes on Saturday night, overcoming stage fright at a packed Eden Park to start their World Cup campaign with a 41-17 win over Australia.

The scoreline flattered the women in black, who trailed 17-0 after 30 minutes and looked completely shocked to be playing in a stadium with 40,000 people in it.

Eventually, they got things right and out-muscled Australia, who

must have thought their first win over the Black Ferns was going to come on the biggest stage possible.

The Black Ferns have been passed in the world ranking by France and England and with their off-field issues over the past 12 months, a semifinal finish would probably be considered an acceptable outcome to many fans.

Now, it wasn’t all bad, wingers Ruby Tui and Portia Woodman showed they were genuinely world

class and Amy du Plessis was a star in the midfield.

However, one of New Zealand’s brightest rugby minds, Wayne Smith, has a job on his hands turning this team into a contender.

The Black Ferns must be flag bearers for gender parity in sport.

A strong performance on home soil will do a lot to improve the game for girls and women in the years ahead.

The first 30 minutes of that trans-

Love makes All Blacks XV after strong showing

Wainuiomata utility back Ruben Love has been named in the new All Blacks XV for a European tour.

The side will become part of the high-performance pathway for the All Blacks.

Love has been a regular at fullback during their NPC campaign which continues with a semifinal against Auckland this weekend.

Coach Leon MacDonald (Blues) will have Clayton McMillan (Chiefs) and Scott Hansen (Crusaders) as his assistants and said he was excited about the squad.

The tour would showcase the depth available in the game in New Zealand while also giving the players a lift up to challenge for All Blacks berths.

MacDonald said he had seen Hurricanes utility back Ruben Love, 21, over the last two years and his selection was a reward for how he had been playing.

The side assembles on October

28, after the completion of the Bunnings NPC, and will travel to Dublin to play Ireland on November 4 and against the Barbarians in London on November 13.

MacDonald said all of the eight All Blacks selected would be keen to show the selectors their worth ahead of the World Cup, and they had also indicated their preparedness to help the younger players named in their development.

The All Blacks included are: captain and lock Patrick Tuipulotu (29), props Aidan Ross (26) and Angus Ta’avao (32), hooker Asafo Aumua (25), loose forward Luke Jacobson (25), halfbacks TJ Perenara (30) and Brad Weber (31) and first five-eighths Damian McKenzie (27).

While the All Blacks selectors chose the squad, MacDonald was involved in discussions.

“It gives this tour even more meaning knowing that the All

Blacks selectors have these players in their sights. It gives them [the players] a boost, and the opportunity to perform in front of them.”

The side showed what the selectors were looking for in terms of depth in the side, and it was a great opportunity for players to keep the pressure on for places in next year’s World Cup squad.

He said the tour coaches would have autonomy in how they wanted to play.

MacDonald said while there were only four of his Blues players in the side, he was looking forward to working with other players who had been around the traps for some time.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to do something a little different, to travel, and experience a different culture. The games we are playing in Dublin and London are pretty amazing, so it is going to be a great tour.”

Tasman encounter did little to help that cause but the final 50 minutes had redemption elements in it.

Questions have to be asked about whether the hosts can match the physicality in the forwards needed to make the European heavyweights but perhaps with a home crowd in their corner.

Having live games on Spark Sport (replays on TV 3) does the tournament no favours in the early going.

Spark Sport isn’t a big enough platform for this emerging tournament.

With the cricket returning early this summer, I’m happy to pay the $24.95 a month for Spark Sport but I doubt many, especially the older generations, feel the same way.

Entertainment will be the key to drawing in more eyeballs to womens rugby and the opening weekend of the tournament was a great start.

New Wellington Councils set to review sports facility fees

The campaign for a review of fees charged for council sports facilities has claimed victory, with an overwhelming majority of elected Councillors in the two biggest Wellington cities pledging support for a review during the campaign.

Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy, Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, and Hutt City Council Mayor Campbell Barry all committed to a review into sports field charges.

In Wellington City Council, 87% of Councillors committed to a review, and in Hutt City Council 66% of councillors made the same pledge (4 out of 6). Only two elected

Councillors at Wellington City Council did not commit to a review; Tony Randle, and Dianne Calvert.

Affordable Sports for Greater Wellington group spokesperson Lisa Jones says players, volunteers, and parents alike are excited to see candidates deliver on their promise.

“Our sporting community is ecstatic with the results. Tens of thousands of sports players and families now look forward to reviews of sports fees being announced within the first 100 days by Councils.”

“We’re grateful for the support of all candidates, and the new

Councillors. We now need to kick these reviews off within the first 100 days of each Council.

“This campaign has shown how sport brings people together – and these newly-elected councillors will make sure cost is never a barrier to that.”

Pressure will now mount from the sport codes on Councils that are just short of a majority for a review, as no action will condemn local sports people to struggle with rising ground fees.

Upper Hutt is well positioned as returning Mayor Wayne Guppy pledged to encourage the wider

council to agree to a review. K piti results are still provisional, but the movement may need one or two more councillors to support a review to make it happen within the first 100 days. Mayor Janet Holborow regretably did not take a stance.

Only in Porirua is the situation really dire for sports players and families - with only 3 out of 10 Councillors committed to a review.

Jones say those who have not yet committed to a review will likely be in favour once they see the evidence.

“Club subs have been driven

up by the prices councils charge sports codes to use sports fields and facilities.”

“Up to 60 percent of a player’s club membership fee goes towards charges from Councils for the maintenance of grounds.

“An analysis of one sports turf showed that despite council claiming fees are subsidised, the cost of using a council owned turf is on par with privately-owned grounds,” says Jones.

“Additionally, we calculated that the Council’s initial build cost of the turf had actually been recovered, which means it’s making a profit.”

Wainuiomata’s Ruben Love has been picked for the All Blacks XV tour of Europe in November. Photo: Supplied.

Growing a strong economy for Wainuiomata

By Ginny Andersen

I did something last week that I haven’t done for a very long time – I went and saw my daughter sing. It wasn’t just her class, or just her school but it was with schools from right across the Hutt Valley. And it wasn’t postponed, or cancelled and they sang their hearts out, loving every minute of it. In that moment I felt proud and filled with hope for our kids and their future here in New Zealand. While things have been tough for everyone, New Zealand continues to do better than most. I thought I’d share a bit of an

update on the steps that we’re taking to support Wainuiomata families through this period, and to report back on some of the economic indicators that you may have missed. These give real reason to feel optimistic about the future, and the opportunities before us. While the world is facing challenging economic conditions, New Zealand is in a good position. Our economy is now 5% larger than before the pandemic. Unemployment is at a near record low and wages are up, which makes both families and our economy strong. Across the key economic measures of growth, unemploy-

Xmas present

Metlink is giving travellers on its services a Christmas present.

Trains and buses operated by Metlink will be

free this year on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve for all passengers in the Wellington region.

Popular bus

Almost 50,000 customers have caught Metlink’s Airport Express in its first two months of service, nearly 18,000 more than forecast, Greater Wellington Regional Council says.

Patronage figures show 25,613 passengers used the bus route in August, a 5.8% increase on July when 24,219 people took

the Airport Express in its first month.

The route was forecast to be used by 15,983 customers each month in its first year.

Metlink General Manager Samantha Gain said the patronage figures showed Greater Wellington made the right decision to establish the airport route.

ment and debt we’re in a better or similar position to the likes of Australia, the US, UK and Canada. Through our strong economic management, we’ve achieved all of these positive results with a similar debt level to what the previous National Government took on as a percentage of GDP during the Global Financial Crisis – despite the COVID economic crisis being even more severe. Wainuiomata businesses have every reason to be positive. The latest tourism numbers show that more than 100,000 tourists visited New Zealand in July alone. This demand will continue to ramp up as

we look forward to a summer of big events, kicking off with the Rugby World Cup in Auckland. We’ll also see more holidaymakers and skilled migrants fill workforce gaps. While this is really good news for the economy overall, I know things still feel tough for many Wainuiomata families in the face of global pressures. That’s why we’ve rolled out a number of measures to help ease this pressure, including with our Cost of Living Payment, action on supermarkets, fuel tax cut and more. Targeting cost of living support towards those New Zealanders who need it most is not only the

right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. There’s simply no room for unaffordable and untargeted tax cuts to those who need them the least. As we’ve seen overseas, tax cuts with no plan for how to pay for them are economically reckless. There are big challenges ahead, as the world continues to grapple with high inflation, the war in Ukraine, supply chain issues and ongoing geopolitical tensions. However, there’s a lot for Wainuiomata to be optimistic about too. The latest figures show that New Zealand is in a strong position to navigate through the uncertainty, and seize the opportunities in front of us.

Check smoke alarms

By Frank Neill

Smoke alarms save lives. If you don’t have one, buy one now.

This is the main message in a smoke alarm campaign, called Museum of Fires Past, launched on 9 October by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

The campaign will feature posters, outdoor billboards and social media showing images of three artifacts burnt in New Zealand house fires.

One image is of burnt sneakers, another of a burnt teddy and the third a melted gaming controller. All three succumbed in New Zealand house fires this year.

Fortunately, due to working smoke alarms, the three owners of the burnt objects managed to escape the fires in their homes before the heat and smoke became unsurvivable.

"A functioning smoke alarm may

not have saved their belongings, but it did save their lives," Fire and Emergency Senior Risk Reduction Specialist, Luke Burgess says.

"We hope to never have people involved in a serious house fire. However we can’t stress enough the importance of having functioning smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, living area and hallway of your house," he says.

This year, Fire and Emergency has responded to around 2,800 structure fires nation-wide. Over half of these structures didn’t have smoke alarms or had smoke alarms that weren’t working.

Tragically, some of these fires resulted in loss of life.

In Wainuiomata, the Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to 15 structure fires, four vegetation fires and 36 other fires during the 12 months to 31 August.

"Too many times we’ve attended house fires where smoke alarms haven’t been installed or were installed in the wrong place.

"Property and belongings can be replaced but loved ones never can," Luke says.

You are four times more likely to survive a house fire if you have working smoke alarms. Tips on how to look after smoke alarms are available at www.escapemyhouse. co.nz/sorted.

Catch up with Ginny in October

Andersen