Dear Editor, I write with a frustration that has grown with a lack of action. Two and a half years ago a house owned by KCDC in Te Miti Street Paekākāariki was vacated by our then treasured village caretaker Graham Carlsen. It has, with one brief exception, been left vacant and to deteriorate since. At the same time right now we have people who have given huge…
Open Letter to The Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister Dear Prime Minister, We are writing to you on behalf of the independent butchers of New Zealand to urgently reclassify local butcheries as essential services in line with dairies. Like dairies, local butcheries have been the foundation of Kiwi communities for decades and are entwined in our community fabric. They proudly provide consistent, quality, nutritious products to…
Editor, As we watch the world struggling to cope with Covid 19 we should be thankful it was handled well here.Not that long ago we were stuck indoors and made tentative trips to the supermarket and feared for our community.Many people were critical of the government and demanded we all return to normal despite the obvious dangers.We have just had 100 days with no community transmission and…
Dear Mayor, Thank you again for taking time to reply in the attached letter to my further questions relating to the Rates increase for funding KCDC Annual Plan 2020/21.I am not an accountant but I am skilled in household / business finances and it is clear that Council thinks it did a good job in hoodwinking ratepayers that the percentage rates increase for 2020/21 has been reduced…
EditorKāpiti has one of the highest Council debts in the whole country which means Council is already living beyond its, and our means.Talk of spending over $5 million for a flashy new building at Paraparaumu Beach is madness in the current financial climate.Just because the government might give KCDC half the money is not a good reason to burden us with the other half.Pay back the current…
Editor,KCDC had a meeting among themselves. There has been no public meetings about this proposal. No proper communication, no community involvement activated, no consultation with our community, even though some councillors may disagree.Have some councillors and the mayor forgotten about their obligations as elected members, yes elected members, WE PUT YOU THERE, have you forgotten I ask again?Why is it so easy for some elected members to…
EditorLetter sent to KCDCDear Mr Mayor and CEO,I note you have the Te Rauparaha statue in your district in Ōtaki. Why are you celebrating a murderer, cannibal and rapist? Are you proud of this sorry sick human? He decimated and hammered the poor Maori people of Ngai Tahu North Canterbury and his affect right across the South Island is still felt today.I look forward to you removing…
To TVNZRecently, you chose 5 of the 9 small, registered political parties to interview for your news item. Your commentary announced that they would all love people’s vote. You explained they all face an enormous hurdle because they must win over 5% or gain an electorate seat.Unfortunately, leaving out 4 parties increases the hurdle for them, as they are missing out on vital coverage. It’s the case…
Editor,Whilst welcoming Martin Lowis as the new owner of Raumati Pharmacy, I must record our sincere appreciation of Simone Greig, David Brazier and their wonderful staff at the pharmacy over the last two decades.They have brought a friendly, warm atmosphere to what must be a demanding and exacting job and, in the process, made their customers relaxed and happy to have them as their local pharmacists. The…
Editor,The Mayor is promising an outstanding new “gateway to Kāpiti Island”. In his column of 13 May he says that for decades a gateway has been sought. He says: (1) it will only cost $4 million; (2) will create local jobs andstimulate the economy; and (3) will provide the poor Department of Conservation with a “proper facility” to manage bio-security for visitors.Let us remember this Council believes…
Editor,I am very disappointed in the renderings of the proposed Kāpiti Island Gateway building.What a totally uninspiring structure. There is no relationship between this building and the Island itself.Lacking in beauty or relevance, if built as proposed it will represent a missed opportunity.In two minutes with my pen I beleive my humble sketch has more appeal, relevance and relationship to Kāpiti Island than the proposed box.The structure/lines…
EditorCan someone tell me and the people of Kāpiti why our Council does not fly the New Zealand flag from the Council building. The Council buildings of our neighbours Horowhenua District Council and Poriria City Council both proudly fly the New Zealand flag from their publicly owned and built Council buildings. The Kāpiti Council does not and that is not acceptable. We should take pride in our…
Dear Kāpiti community, this is a letter from me to you. 💙 The past few months have been extremely challenging for so many people. We have seen people struggle to put food on the table, to work from home while also looking after their kids, to have to stay at home when home might not be the best space for them to be in. Then we’ve had…
Editor,It is very good news to see Air Chathams back flying from Kāpiti. I see they are flying to and from Auckland and it would be good for Kāpiti if they had flights to the South Island. The ski season will be starting soon and now that overseas travel is not happening there could be a lot of people wanting to fly south for a winter break.RegardsJane…
Editor,A big shout out to Air Chathams. My son is coming down to see his dad and had to change his flight date and times. Air Chathams couldn’t have been more helpful and the customer service was outstanding. Kāpiti Coast residents, we need to support these guys, use it or lose it!Karen HenryKāpiti
Editor, With the Coronavirus starting to take hold in New Zealand I would like to suggest public gathering places take sensible precautions. Petrol stations, Bank ATMs and supermarket checkout EFTPOS machines should all have hand sanitiser available and should be regularly cleaned.Our public libraries should also have sanitiser available for those sensible enough to use it. The libraries should regularly sanitise keyboards on the publicly available computers.Stay…
Porirua-Tawa Greater Wellington Regional Council candidate Roger Watkin says while the recently speculated rate increase for next year of 15% is likely to be well wide of the mark, it is true that there are serious political problems to be addressed.”I believe Regional councillors have been down-playing the seriousness of the current and projected situation for the region.”Mr Watkin says while the 15% is pure speculation, that…
EditorI am very pleased to see Rob McCann standing for the Kāpiti Council. I voted for him twice in the general election and I like his policies. It will be good to see some fresh faces at the Kāpiti Coast District Council.MargaretWaikanae
EditorIt is good news that plastic bags will soon be gone from our communities but what will be in their place. Before plastic bags we had paper bags in the supermarkets and that worked very well. The main reason they changed to plastic was because it was cheaper for the supermarkets but the communities have paid a high price in the pollution they and other unnecessary plastic…
EditorI have just read the story about the stolen guns and this highlights why the government is right in getting rid of them. Although having them stolen from a police station raises some big questions about the security of the guns removed from public use. It would be good to get some answers from the police about the lack of security.James Henderson Ōtaki
EditorCommunity Board Members Bernie Randall and Guy Burns have been informed that Council will recommend on Thursday to make an earlier start on the proposed roundabout at the corner of Ratanui Road and Mazengarb Road. Guy Burns will support the recommendations at the meeting on Thursday.It follows community concerns raised at the Paraparaumu/Raumati Community Board meeting about the number of accidents and traffic congestion. Mums doing the…
EditorThe Volunteers from Waikanae SPCA would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for supporting our recent garage sale. We were completely overwhelmed by the wonderful donations of goods to sell and to those who came and supported us. A fantastic $1400 was raised for animals in need. We are all grinning like Cheshire cats. We are humbled by your generosity.Annette BuckleyVolunteer Waikanae SPCA
EditorOn the day the expressway was opened we got told this was a new surface that the water went through and wouldn’t spray as usually happens. Obviously they never tried it out first, just thought it was a good idea. Maybe they would have been better to investigate the seal now being made from plastics etc that l saw mentioned recently from a country overseas.Maureen Ellis Kāpiti
EditorI enjoyed reading the article on Coastella today. It was a terrific day out for the whole family and the music, the entertainment and the food on offer was a good advertisement for the Kāpiti Coast.I think they need to make sure prices don’t get out of the range of supporters.My congratulations to the organisers who take all the risks to make this happen. Coastella is now…
www.kcnews.co.nzI only this year instructed Low Cost Bins to collect my waste and as a low user I put out approximately fortnightly. The recycling I put out monthly or less. I am on a corner between two roads but only on the second occasion I put out my bins they were left uncollected even though everyone else’s had been collected (I put them out the night before).…
EditorThis seems to be a pretty cheesy issue, sorry for the pun!Fonterra has in its marketing, come-up with a new trademark name ‘Tuteremoana Cheddar’ for its Kāpiti Cheese product.This has caused a cheesy uproar with the Maori officials stating by labelling the product with this name is inappropriate to the Maori culture.Couple of issues have come out of this: The product was named from a landmark on…
EditorOn ANZAC day I listen to our Mayor’s speech, he spoke of his home and his grandfather, paused to compose himself as he spoke, with a long dramatic silence while he fought to control his emotions while talking about his grandfather who he never got to meet. It came across heart felt, until I heard it again with the same dramatic pause while he again fought to…
EditorOpen Letter to Wayne MaxwellHi Wayne, First and foremost congratulations for being appointed the Chief Executive of KCDC, (Oh by the way I was rooting for you out in the Community to get the job and told everybody you were the most consistent of the applicants who applied, knowledge, reliability and able to change for the betterment of the Community who wants to see a different approach.…
EditorFirstly -I wish current, and departing Kāpiti CEO Pat Dougherty all the best in his new role. 1.One has to look at the process of appointment of a new CEO of Kāpiti. The KPI (Key Performance Indicators) – Do we all know what are the requirements for KPI in the Community at large. What is required? Why isn’t this out in the open for the Community to…
Dear EditorIn the last local Kāpiti Coast District Council meeting on Electoral Systems for Local Body Elections (7 September 2017) the present Council voted 6 to 3 in favour of keeping the status quo voting system STV (Single Transferable Vote).Over the number of years this STV system has taken place the average community person does not like or understand the system as to how it operates and…
EditorIs the Community occupying Council time by making unnecessary Official Information requests? Let’s look at the statistics. There has actually been a decrease in Official Information requests (246 this year versus 260 last year) since we had a new Mayor who was elected on openness and transparency.These are real facts not alternative facts. Staff are now spending less time responding to OIA requests. There are some members…
Isn’t it strange. Auckland historically has low rates increases and currently they are to be set at 2.5%. Almost everywhere else, and particularly here in Kāpiti rates are pretty high and average increases are also pretty large. Here we are used to anything between 5 and 7% increases in our rates.With the election upon us Auckland Council has it’s begging bowl out to all political parties and…
