Jun 11: Raglan Community Board meeting – Half million dollars to be spent on Ngarunui Beach toilets

The next Board meeting is Tuesday 11 June at 2pm in the Town Hall Supper Room. The public forum starts at 1.30pm, giving an opportunity to discuss issues, but you can also contact the Community Board members. 

The agenda will not be on the Council’s website until Monday afternoon, but includes –

1. Raglan Food Waste Targeted Rate 124 of the 147 pages of the agenda contain the report put to Strategy & Finance Committee on 22 May. At that meeting 6 councillors voted for, but 8 “supported the majority community view based on the feedback – to not implement the proposed targeted rate and the Raglan kerbside food waste collection will discontinue as of 30 June 2019.” This Monday Council will decide whether or not to confirm that decision. Council’s media release says 60% of Raglan opposed continuation. The agenda includes this graph showing that 61% support the service. You might wish to discuss this with the councillors who voted for ‘the majority community view‘ – Allan Sanson 824 5847, Dynes Fulton 07 856 6481, 027 275 8892, Janet Gibb 824 6737, 027 475 3397, Shelley Lynch 07 828 9682, 027 334 7352, Frank McInally 027 475 2403, Bronwyn Main 825 4727, 027 481 2552, Eugene Patterson 824 5310, 027 448 8488 and Noel Smith 824 8300, 027 594 3895. [Xtreme has since said the service will continue without council funding.]

2. Gilmour St “to check for any existing drainage issues that can be resolved before winter. Consultation and final design work will be completed before any works next construction season.”

3. Manu Bay breakwater– voids being filled, rocks removed from ramp, relocation of rocks to be discussed with ‘stakeholders’, eCoast report on set up of video monitoring, draft consent to be consulted on in Spring.

4. Sewage – Nihinihi Av manhole damaged by H₂S gas, carrying of 85% of sewage, is the first polyethylene manhole in WDC. WWTP step screens installation tender closed on 2 April without attracting any suppliers, so 3 suppliers were invited tender by 16 May. No report on spills, etc this month.

5. Town Hall committee 28 Feb minutes – can’t find power meters, floor needs resealing, repairs to be referred to committee by council.

6. Toilet replacements – $512k of the $868k grant “The remaining funding amount is earmarked for the Ngarunui Beach site with plans for a new Onbeach Toilet Facility and to upgrade and increase capacity at the Main Car Park Toilets.” Work to begin July and be complete in October.

7. Coastal Reserves 13 May minutes – Soundsplash review, Harbour Care Wainui Reserve planting [next meeting 5.30pm Supper Rm Mon 10]

7. Warihi Park 3m wide vehicle entrance to be built to allow machinery in to replace safety woodchip.

8. Wainui Road pedestrian bridge – the wooden bridge near the sewage ponds will be replaced by extending the road culvert.

9. Holiday Park – “Kopua Holiday Park Board agreed to delay any stormwater works until Resource Consent for the discharge is achieved. High level design provided to the Board for review and detailed design now almost complete. Detailed design will be used for Resource Consent application.” Access Road and Entranceway Upgrades “project has been initiated to upgrade the existing access road and improve the functionality of the camp entrance. The access road works are also being undertaken to address existing ponding issues on site, options are currently being assessed for construction feasibility through the design process. A shared path is to be constructed running adjacent to the access road, running near to the airport boundary. This will provide further connectivity which is in line with the Trails Strategy.”

10. Raglan Naturally deadline for feedback extended to Mon 17 June. The final version of the WDC Blueprint, (also to be approved on Monday) has the top priorities as –

    • Build on the strong identity of Raglan based on the unique qualities of the local area (refer to DW1.2 to 1.4). Consider nature, regeneration, environmental initiatives, the arts, and surfing. [DW1.2 to .4 used to cover – 1 Build a strong river corridor identity, 2 Build the identity of each town under the umbrella of the entire District, 3 Strengthen cycling and walking trails along the river corridor and 4 Promote cultural tourism in the river corridor. All but 2 seemed irrelevant to Raglan and 3 has now been deleted]

    • Support Raglan Naturally in their prioritised local initiatives such as local food production, energy self sufficiency, alternatives to weed spraying, GE free approaches and education regarding climate change.

    • Partner with Raglan Naturally in respect to planning processes.

11. Public forum to be a standing item after disclosures of interest at the start of the meeting.

12. Discretionary fund has $1,373. Deadline for next fund applications 5 July.

    The Community Board agenda makes no mention of these other agenda items which seem relevant –

Regional Council 7 Jun bus agenda

“Raglan services have continued to see significant patronage growth, with figures up 24.64% compared with April 2018. Peak services on this route are frequently at capacity, and demand is likely to increase with Raglan’s population growth. It is likely that additional capacity will be needed on this route above and beyond the double decker vehicle that was deployed in January. . . If patronage on the Raglan service continues to grow there will be a need to add more capacity, potentially later this year or early next year. This will be discussed with the three service funding partners being WDC, the regional council and the NZ Transport Agency.”

Proposed fares from 21 October –

Infrastructure Committee

Learner Licence courses supported by the Council – Raglan Area School will be running a course in June.

Campground report – total July-Jan 2019 income down from $1,067,665 to $1,053,511 mainly due to drop in annual caravan leases from $181,041 to $126,252.

“During Sound Splash weekend in January we were inundated with young festival-goers and because of their and their illegal guests’ behaviour, had to employ extra security and cleaners for that weekend. Rebranding from Raglan Kopua Holiday Park to Raglan Holiday Park Papahua. This is everything from business cards, brochures, website, all signage in and outside of the park, new maps plus logo colour changes as we are no longer a Family Park, as we felt we were not getting any benefit from being a Family Park. Family Parks are an Australian-based association with little traction in NZ. Our total marketing budget is $80K for the year with an estimated cost of $15K for our total rebrand. . . The Park is also working towards its own loyalty card system which will be a community focused loyalty system encouraging our guests to spend locally.

The Board has had some problem with the way Council has made changes to the make up of the Board, the way members are relieved of their roles and how resigned members are not replaced without reason or explanation. This puts extreme pressure on the Board’s position in managing its affairs and representing the community’s interest in an appropriate and responsible way.

Further submissions for the District Plan should have closed by now, but an error occurred and no new deadline has yet been set. Here’s a summary of those most relevant to Whaingaroa. Let me know which you think WED should pursue.

WED sent this open letter about the CBD gardens to the mayor last week.

What else should WED be taking up of these or other issues missing from the agenda, such as a Coastal Hazard report, i-SITE tender (in public excluded section of Monday’s meeting), Wharf boardwalk, Hills Rd water tower, footpaths, cutting trees on reserves, glyphosate, Trails Strategy ($278,280 to be spent in 2018), volunteer worker safety, parking infringement money, harbour lease, coastguard lease, Puriri Park, cycleways, land disposal of sewage, weedbusters?

Hope to see you on Tuesday