24 May Wainuiomata News

By Frank Neill

The government’s axing of the $5 prescription fee has been wholeheartedly welcomed by Wainuiomata’s two independent chemists. Both Clive Cannons of Clive Chemists and Ron Chin of the Wainuiomata Pharmacy say the move will improve health and well-being both in Wainuiomata and in New Zealand generally.

Continued on page 2.

Clive Cannons and Ginny Andersen give the “thumbs up” to the Budget announcement that the $5 prescription charge will be done away with, Photo: Supplied.

How to reach us

Local chemists welcome Budget move

Continued from page 1

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“I’m absolutely delighted about it,” Clive says.

“I know it is a popular move and we wholeheartedly welcome it.”

The abolition of the $5 charge would have four major benefits, he says.

Firstly it will improve health and well-being, particularly for people on lower incomes who struggled with the part payment.

Secondly it will reduce hospital admissions, and that would – in turn – reduce the amount of money the government spent on health.

Thirdly it supported the sustainability of community pharmacies, “which will help us provide more and better services to the community”.

And fourthly it will help with the cost of living crisis New Zealand was currently facing.

“It also takes away our role as tax collectors on behalf of the government, rather than being health providers.

“That means we can spend more time with customers talking about health issues,” Clive says.

“We think it is wonderful news,” Ron says.

“We have been lobbying for the removal of this co-payment fee for some time, and I’m glad to see the back of it.”

Removal of the $5 prescription fee, which was in fact a secondary tax the government had imposed, “is going to help with prescriptions for the good people of Wainuiomata.”

Because people were able to

take the medications they needed, rather than having to miss out because they could not afford the fee, the government’s move will keep people out of hospital as well.

“In the medium and long term it will save the government money by keeping people out of hospital,” Ron says.

In a report released this month, the Independent Community Pharmacy Group said that “pharmacists told us that the patient co-payment prescription fee has contributed to:

stroke, heart attack, sight loss, failed kidneys, and amputations (including amputation leading to job loss).

pital due to breathing problems, mental health crises and infections requiring IV antibiotics.acerbating abuse and violence; and (separately) families having to choose between medicines and food.

whakam about not being able to afford the fee.

making treatment decisions without receiving vital information about how prescribed medications have been taken, if at all.

“Even for patients who can afford the fee, pharmacists reported the fee and its complexity led to deterioration of patient-healthcare professional relationships, and negative patient experiences of the health system (associated with

-

worse outcomes for patients).”

The report also noted that “experiences of the temporary fee waiver in cyclone-affected areas show that removing the prescription fee for everyone immediately increases access to basic medicines, producing rapid positive effects for community health and well-being.”

The government’s latest budget, announced on 18 May, has some “really good news for Wainuiomata,” Hutt South MP Ginny Andersen says.

One piece of good news was the fact that the government is going to do away with the $5 prescription fee.

“I talked to Clive the Chemist today {18 May] and he is over the moon about it,” Ginny says.

This was one of a number of budget initiatives that would benefit Wainuiomata people.

“I welcome the Government’s focus on the bread and butter issues and the things that matter most to New Zealanders – tackling the cost of living.

“This Budget delivers by providing cost of living relief across key expenses families’ experience – childcare, healthcare, transport and power bills,” Ginny says.

“I know it’s tough for families in Wainuiomata right now.

“That’s why this Budget adds to the cost of living support we have already put in place by introducing a number of new targeted measures that will also deliver long-term results.

“Families will have access to

cheaper childcare with two-yearolds now eligible for the 20 hours free ECE subsidy, saving up to $133.20 a week for parents.

“We’re helping out with health costs by making most prescriptions free. An estimated 3,000,000 people across New Zealand will no longer have to worry about the cost of collecting medication including the 770,000 over the age of 65 who received prescription medicines in the community last year.

“More than 1.6 million New Zealanders in total will now benefit from free or half priced public transport; with 774,000 additional children and young people now eligible for the Community Connect discount scheme.

“We will help to reduce power bills by hundreds of dollars a year through the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme.

“We are nearly doubling the existing retrofit programme that has reduced electricity use by on average 16 percent over the winter months.

“In addition, the Government is continuing to deliver on our ongoing commitment to improve housing for M ori in Budget 2023 with a $200 million investment through the Whai K inga Whai Oranga programme, for long-term housing supply, capability building and whare repairs.”

Budget 2023 also builds on the Government’s record public housing programme with funding to deliver 3,000 additional public homes by June 2025, Ginny says.

More support to restore public transport services

Affordable home project starting soon

By Frank Neill

New Zealand’s first private development dedicated to getting first home buyers on the property ladder is about to be constructed in Wainuiomata.

Called Koru K inga, the new development is being built by Koru Homes New Zealand.

The development will deliver 51 new homes in Gawler Grove and ground work is scheduled to start soon.

“We are just waiting for Greater Wellington Regional Council to give us winter works approval for the ground work,” says Adrian Chooi, the founder of Koru Homes NZ.

“As soon as that come through we will be started,” he says, adding that the council had said it would happen by the end of the month.

“If they grant us consent we will be really grateful because then people will be able to move into the first homes by the end of the year.”

It will also bring to an end “all sorts of delays – from councils, civil works contractors and building contractors” for a project that has been two years to date in the making.

Mr Chooi’s main aim is to provide housing for people who otherwise could not afford to buy.

The 51 homes in Koru K inga will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and parking. They are 118 square metres.

They will feature spacious open floor plans and quality liveable indoor and outdoor spaces.

They will go on the market with an asking price of $650,000.

Local real estate agents had told him that these new homes are the “best value in Lower Hutt,” Mr Chooi says.

“There are so many people who can’t afford to buy a home.

“We want to help them build equity and build their future. I’d like as many people as possible to get that opportunity.”

The project, he says “is community focused. It is first home buyer focused.”

Two new streets are part of Koru K inga, and they were given names by the Wainuiomata Community Board at its 19 April meeting.

One street will be named Maria Lomax Way, after the prominent Wainuiomata resident who, among other things, was among the original group of volunteers that established Te Pukeatua, New Zealand’s first K hanga Reo.

The other street will be named Te Ara o T pokopoko, named after two prominent peaks that separate the Wairarapa and Te Whanganui a Tara.

Once the regional council’s consent to carry out the earthworks during winter is finalised, Bryce O’Sullivan Contractors (Bosco) will begin the first stage of the Koru K inga development.

Susie Innes

Rowena Naimana

Abhi Kasarla My boy being born. He’s

three and a half.

Shelley Anderson

Bronson Pona

Going to Alaska with my husband.

Being

An artist’s impression of Koru Kāinga, aimed at getting first home buyers on the property ladder. Image: Supplied.

An artist’s impression of Koru Kāinga viewed from the Hair Street side of the development. Image: Supplied.

GARDENING THIS WEEK

With some areas experiencing a lot of rain lately it is a good time to look at how to prevent damage and losses in your gardens. There is a range of plants we call bog plants and they just love living in wet soil and even in water which makes many of them suitable to use in aquariums for your fish to enjoy. But even in an aquarium oxygen is needed so we place a air stone connected to an air pump to bubble away under water and aerate the water. If we did not do this the oxygen in the water would be used up and then the fish would suffocate and likely even the plants would die as the water became stagnant.

By the way if you want to remove the chlorine from a bucket of chlorinated water simply put a air stone connected to a air pump and let it bubble away and within about 12 hours or less the water will be free of the poisonous chlorine. Very wet soil loses the oxygen and that becomes deadly for the roots of plants. Some plants are fairly hardy against wet feet where others soon have root rot happen and when enough roots are damaged the plant dies. It does not matter if some of the roots are in very wet soil or water as long as there are more roots that are above the wet area. I can give a good example of this as one place I lived in years ago would be a lake of water in the back section during wet winters. Many attempts of growing ornamentals were hopeless so I planted a twisted willow in the corner which was the wettest area and it very quickly grew.

Then I also planted a couple of cabbage trees both of which took off and as these and the willow grew they helped greatly in taking up the surface water. After a season I was able to plant a few other native plants that were able to survive as the area was less wet.

My citrus were a problem so I cut some 200 litre drums in half, drilled some large 4-5cm holes in the sides about 10cm above the base. This meant in dry times there would be a nice reservoir of water to keep the citrus happy.

I then dug a hole so the bottom third of the drum would be buried in the surrounding soil. This made them stable in windy times when the citrus gained some height. It also allowed the roots later on to venture out of the drum and into the surrounding soil. The result of this was that in the middle of winter when the back yard was a a lake of water the citrus were happy as Larry. When I came to move to another place I lifted the drums (with a lot of effort) and was surprised at the large roots that had grown out of the holes on the sides. As a good part of the root system was above water the citrus was not affected by wet feet. The alternative to this would have been to make mounds about half a metre tall and plant citrus trees in these. Years later after another move to where we are now in Marton the same citrus trees are happily living in the same drums sitting either on soil in the lawn or on concrete. Of course every few years

Wet feet: By Wally Richards

I need to take them out of the containers and root prune them. That would not be needed if you had the roots venturing out into surrounding soil. The very worst thing that you can have in wet winters is any type of mulch around any plants that dont like wet feet. Mulches are great in dry summers to conserve soil moisture but deadly in winter as the soil can not breathe and too much wetness is retained. I remember a few years ago having a phone call from a lady who wanted to know why her very expensive ornamental trees were dying. She planted then in the spring and in summer she had a pile of old carpet after re-carpeting the home. So she put that on the soil under her precious ornamentals to suppress weeds and retain moisture. Worked a treat till the wet times came and the soil became saturated and the expensive plants started to die. I told her that she had to quickly do two things which was firstly remove the carpets and then spray the foliage with Wallys PerKfection at the high rate 9 mils per litre of water and then at 4mils per litre a month later and repeat once a month till into spring making a total of 6, once a month sprays. Perkfection assists in recovery from/or prevention of, the following problems, Black spot, Downy Mildew, Phytophthora Root rot, Canker, heart rot, damping off, crown rot, leaf blight, silver leaf, late blight, collar rot, pink rot, brown rot, Armillaria, and gummy stem rot. It is magic on Buxus for the dreaded

Buxus disease that kills the plants. It has brought back Buxus from near dead to their formal glory and after which I would suggest a maintenance spray bi-monthly at 5 mils per litre of water. Perkfection is systemic so you dont need full coverage of foliage just a good amount of it. Another way of improving drainage is like we used to do in days gone by when gardeners would in winter dig their vegetable garden over, mounding up the clods as they went leaving a ditch around the garden about one and a half spade deep. They would then sprinkle garden lime over the clods for the frosts to take in and break the clods down. In spring when it was time to plant, the clods would break up into a fine tilth with little effort using a rake. Now days we dont dig but the idea of a trench around the garden or around a citrus tree just about 12 cm out from the drip line is very practical. This allows excess water to drain into the ditch were sunlight and

wind will evaporate it quickly. An interesting thing happens sometimes where a water sensitive plant like a citrus, years old suddenly one season shows signs of wet feet. The reason is often a result of a change of direction with surface water flows which maybe caused by some construction or even a new concrete path or driveway. The previous flow place is changed to where the citrus is growing and the soil is much wetter than previously. Remember to frost protect sensitive plants with spray on frost protection, Vaporgard. I read an interesting article on the Net which you may also find interesting; whether its true or not is up to you to determine. https://truthwatchnz.is/all-categories/agenda-21-30/hawke-sbay-is-apparently-in-need-of-amanaged-retreat-agenda-2030-andthe-depopulation-of-the-east-coast Problems ring me at 0800 466464 Email wallyjr@gardenews.co.nz Web site www.gardenews.co.nz

First ever Restoration Week

By Frank Neill

The first ever Restoration Week is currently under way in the Wellington region.

The week began on Sunday 21 May and runs to Saturday 27 May.

For more than 20 years, Restoration Day has given people the opportunity to learn restoration skills from experts and each other.

This year, in a collaborative effort, Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), mana whenua, territorial authorities and conservation partners will provide an entire week of free events dedicated to helping curious conservationists make a difference.

Local communities can have a huge impact on conservation

progress, Jo Fagan, Senior Biodiversity Advisor at GWRC, says.

“By sharing skills and stories, conservationists can support each other in revitalising our region.”

The week's events include wananga-waimaori, a day of talks, workshops and fieldtrips focussed on restoring local waterways.

This event will begin at Takap w hia Marae, Porirua at

8:30am on 25 May, and field trips will be held at various locations.

For more information and to register for the event visit www. gw.govt.nz/your-region/eventsand-meetings/restoration-weekwananga-waimaori/.

There will also be a Fish Passage Field Trip where people can learn about New Zealand’s native fish species and how their

pathways through Wellington waterways are being improved. This event will be held at the Ramaroa Centre, Queen Elizabeth Park, from 9:30am to 3pm on 27 May.

People need to register for this event, and can do so at www. gw.govt.nz/your-region/eventsand-meetings/restoration-weekfish-passage-field-trip/.

Lanes to be resurfaced

By Frank Neill

Community feedback through the Maru – Streets for People project has identified uneven surfaces in four lanes in Wainuiomata.

Following this feedback, Hutt City Council will undertake maintenance work, starting this month, to repair the uneven surfaces.

Four laneways will be resurfaced:

New Pasifika class a big success

Crescent and Konini Street.

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By Frank Neill

The new class for Pasifika students at Wainuiomata Intermediate School is receiving a lot of very positive feedback, the teacher Eleanor McLeod says.

Called Tamaiti o le Pasifika – Children of the Pacific, it is the school’s first special purpose class with a focus on Pasifika culture and one of the very few in the Wellington region.

“Our focus is around building Pacific Island culture and identity,” Ms McLeod says.

It is not a language nest, mainly because the 26 year 7 and 8 students in the class are from eight different Pacific Island ethnicities. That makes the class very representative of people from the Pacific Islands in the Wainuiomata community.

One of the reasons the school leadership and Board of Trustees wanted to have a Pasifika class was “because they had noticed that a lot of Pasifika students had been awarded prizes at the end of year prizegiving.

“If they had an environment where their success was rewarded even more, what would that look like down the track in terms of success.

“If we can nurture and hone the knowledge and skills these children have, who knows where it will lead to,” Ms McLeod says.

Tamaiti o le Pasifika aimed to do “whatever we can do so the students build a strong sense of identity in who they are, so they can stand in their own skin and succeed at whatever they want to do.”

Early in the year, as part of building a strong sense of identity, the class had an assignment where children built their family trees and presented them to the class.

“The family trees assignment was a biggie

52. type of edible nut (5)

53. Eternity (11)

54. Confused (7)

DOWN

1. Precipice (5)

2. Hold back (7)

3. ‘... The Hun’ (6)

4. Memorandum (8)

5. Most supple (7)

6. Earth; terra (5)

7. Snakes (6)

8. Dredged (8)

9. Atrocities (11)

10. Restrict (5)

16. Found (7)

18. More discourteous (5)

20. Disloyalty (7)

21. Bishops diocese (3)

22. Insect (3)

24. Rural in manner (11)

25. Soak up liquid (3)

27. Praise highly (5)

28. Chatter (3)

31. Member of upper classes(sl) (3)

33. Put on clothes (3)

that my students really took to,” Ms Mcleod says.

“What they presented were beautiful pieces of work.

“And they had a lot of support from their families.”

One of the initiatives Ms McLeod has been working on is bringing people from the community into the class – for example someone with expertise in Cook Island headwear accessories.

“Because this is a brand new class I have had to work on networking and bringing in various providers.

“I do believe it takes a village.

“We have so many people in our community who are able to nurture these students.

“It’s not just me at the head of the classroom.”

Ms McLeod has, for example, secured a tutor to work with the Pasifika performance group – a recent performing arts graduate.

All 26 students in the class are involved in two performance groups – the Pacific Island performance group and the school’s Kapa Haka group, which is preparing for the Kapa Haka festival at the end of this school term.

“A lot of the students play and belong to sporting groups, such as Tamaiti o le Maunga – the local Samoan Rugby League Club, and playing in the Pacific Cup.

“All of this helps to bring out pride in our culture and who we are,” Ms McLeod says. One of the measures that had demonstrated the success of Tamaiti o le Pasifika has been the positive feedback.

Another is that the class had a waiting list at the beginning of the year, and looks highly likely to have a waiting list for next year’s class.

37. Injure (8)

38. Multi-skilled employee (8)

41. Rubbers (7)

43. Extreme (7)

44. Property (6)

45. Bounded (6)

46. Dispute (5)

47. Steeple part (5)

49. Ate (5)

Solution

Last Week: 17 May 2023

Wainuiomata Intermediate School’s Tamaiti o le Pasifika, with some of the flags of their countries.

Photo: Frank Neill.

the Wainuiomata News online www.wsn.co.nz

Yvan Sapele steals the show

By Ryan Imray

Yvan Sapele scored a hat trick for the Wainuiomata Reserves on 20 May, helping his team to a 7-1 victory over Victoria University.

On a wet and muddy Richard Prouse Park, the Reserves were in search of their first win of the season in Capital Football’s division 4.

With Wainuiomata leading 2-1 at half time, the game hung in the balance but five goals in 15 minutes of the second half sealed the game for the home team.

Along with Yvan, Brahian Benitez made a significant contribution to Wainui’s cause when he scored a brace and Rhys Glover and Rowan Whitfield also found the back of the net.

The premier side continued to struggle as Waterside Karori handed them their seventh defeat of the season. The Wharfies won 4-0.

The Wainuiomata Undertakers extended their lead at the top of the Masters 3 table with a 4-0 victory over Waterside Karori.

Wainuiomata Pasifika defeated K piti Coast United 2-1 and the OC’s beat Island Bay United 4-1, ensuring all Wainui Masters teams walked away with maximum points.

The Fiddick;s had a difficult day at the office after being transferred three times due to the weather, and lost 0-4 to Wellington United.

The Halfbaked drew their match with Waterside Karori 0-0 and the Roundballs also drew their match with Western Suburbs 1-1.

Puketaha presentation evening

By Frank Neill

The proposed new wildlife sanctuary in Wainuiomata – Puketah Sanctuary – will be the focus of a presentation at the Wainuiomata Primary School hall this Friday, 26 May.

The founder of Zealandia, Jim Lynch QSM, who is also the driving force behind the establishment of the Puketah Sanctuary, will deliver the presentation, starting at 7:30pm.

The Puketah proposal is to construct a 28.8km predator proof fence around 3,313 hecatares of the Wainuiomata Catchment.

It would be a major contributor to the revival of the endangeredk k p (a native parrot), as well as the threatened hihi/ stitchbird and rowi/ k rito kiwi. k k p require an abundance of rimu trees in order to breed. With its unlogged rimu forest, the Wainuiomata catchment is exactly what k k p needs.

K k p (Strigops habroptilus) has been the subject of immense conservation effort since its last

survivors were rounded up and placed on secure offshore islands in the 1990s.

Establishing the Puketah Sanctuary would result in this rare parrot making a return to the mainland. Almost all k k p are on Whenua Hou, Chalky or Anchor Islands off the southern South Island. A few live on Hauturu/Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The southern islands are at or nearing carrying capacity for k k p and new habitat is urgently needed.

Puketah would fill that need.

The ecosanctuary would also become home to a series of other birds, including kokako, saddleback, red crowned parakeet, robins and other kiwi species.

Puketah could, in fact, provide homes for “all the species that formerly occupied Wainuiomata,”

Mr Lynch says.

That would, in turn, lead to a rejuvenation of the whole Rimutaka range, as birds from Puketah started flying out from the sanctuary.

Petition opposes lower speed limits

By Frank Neill

A petition opposing Hutt City Council’s plan to lower speed limits on many roads – including many streets in Wainuiomata –was launched by Chris Bishop, National’s Hutt South candidate, and Emma Chatterton, National’s Remutaka candidate, on 21 May.

“We need better roads, not slower roads,” Mr Bishop and Miss Chatterton say.

“It makes sense to lower speed limits around schools, but blanket speed limit reductions will just make it harder to get around the Hutt.”

The petition is at https://www. national.org.nz/stophuttspeedreductions.

“The Hutt City Council is currently consulting on reducing the speed limits on streets in Lower Hutt,” the petition says.

“The council has proposed that

many roads in the Hutt will be either 30 or 40km/h by 2027.”

The council is currently consulting on city-wide speed limits and details can be found on the council’s website, at https://www. huttcity.govt.nz/services/roadsand-parking/roads/speed-reviews.

Submissions on the council’s speed management plan close on 5 June.

Mr Bishop and Miss Chatterton will submit the petition to the council “and make sure your voice is heard,” they say.

The council’s plan to lower speed limits “is being forced on the Hutt by a Labour Governmentwhich has put in place regulations requiring every single council across New Zealand toreduce most suburban roads to 30 km/h.

“Chris Hipkins said he was stopping blanket speed limit reductions, but the truth is the opposite.

“Labour is treating Kiwis

A map of the Hutt showing the speed reductions being proposed by the council. The council is proposing to lower the speed limit to 30km/h in the streets marked blue. Image: Supplied.

like fools by saying one thing but doing another,” Mr Bishop and Miss Chatterton say.

“Labour should be focused on fixing and upgrading our roads, not slowing us down,” they add.

Celebrating Matariki 2023

By Frank Neill

One of the early major events that will take place in the revitalised Queen Street – town centre will be Matariki at the Hub 2023.

This four day celebration will begin on 12 July and run to 15 July.

Matariki, which signals the M ori New Year, takes place on 14 July this year. That is when the constellation of stars, also known as Pleiades, first appears in the sky above Aotearoa.

It is a time for communities to come together and celebrate, and that is exactly what Matariki at the Hub will do.

Matariki at the Hub 2023 is being organised by Louana Fruean, who has run the Wainuiomata Matariki event for the last few years.

The event will feature market stalls, performances, a free h ngi, guest speakers, workshops, activities for tamariki and Tamariki Kapa Haka performances, and will be held at the Community Centre, the hall and on the new decking outside the Community

Centre.

Supporters of Matariki at the Hub 2023 include Wainuiomata Marae, Creative New Zealand, Hutt Mana Charitable Trust, Hutt City Council and K kiri Marae Health and Social Services and Love Wainuiomata.

Matariki is an abbreviation of Ng Mata o te Ariki T whirim tea (the eyes of the god T whirim tea).

According to M ori tradition T whirim tea – the god of the wind – was so angry when his siblings separated from their parents, Ranginui the sky father and Papat nuku the earth mother, that he tore out his eyes and threw them into the heavens.

Superstars on stage

Wainuiomata Little Theatre’s brand new production of Jesus Christ Superstar hits the stage next week.

People can experience the excitement of this show from 31 May to 10 June.

A talented group of 20 performers and band will bring to life the timeless musical based on the biblical tale of Jesus Christ’s final days, as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.

The show promises to both enter-

tain and inspire, with unforgettable tunes, including the title track “Superstar”.

Performances will be held at the old Wainuiomata College Hall on Moohan Street, with evening shows at 7:30pm and a matinee on Sunday 4 June at 3pm. There will not be a show on Monday 5 June.

The $15 tickets are available online at Trybooking https:// www.trybooking.com/nz/events/ landing/9134.

Matariki shies in the sky above Aotearoa. Photo: Supplied.

A kākāpō, which could come back to the mainland with a new home in Wainuiomata. Photo: Supplied.

Yvan Sapele scores his third goal of the game with a diving header. Photo: Imray’s Snaps.

David Jiang starring as Judas in Wainuiomata Little Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Photo: Love Wainuiomata.