Feb 17: Raglan Community Board meeting

This summary of the Raglan Community Board Agenda was prepared by John Lawson of Whāingaroa Environmental Defence Incorporated, 51 Cliff St, Raglan 07 825 7866 email johnragla@gmail.com

The next Board meeting is Wed 17 Feb at 1.30pm in the Community House basement meeting room. The public forum will be part of the formal meeting, giving the usual opportunity to discuss issues. You can also contact the Community Board members:- Bob MacLeod, Chris Rayner, Dennis Amoore, Gabrielle Parson, Lisa Thomson, Satnam Bains and Tony Oosten.

Wednesday’s agenda includes –

1. Bus survey “stop location, routes, and scheduling appear to be barriers . .. . an internal service may provide an opportunity to encourage more people to use bus services, as feedback suggests increasing the number of bus times, as well as a later return time from Hamilton, may assist with future uptake. Furthermore, Raglan’s traffic congestion and parking issues over the summer months may also be alleviated somewhat with the introduction of an internal bus service and an enhanced service to Hamilton. . . Funding has been set aside in the next LTP for bus service changes. . . Next stage is to work with regional council for tender of service and costings.” Bus shelter by Fire Station complete.
2. Climate Response & Resilience Action Plan approved by WDC in December – on agenda for RCB “to consider”. “initiatives to incentivise green thinking – e.g. e-bike programme, renewable energy, sustainable transport options . . low priority”.
3. Parking “Progress on hold for parking by dog area, as this is parks and reserve not road reserve.” Also Freedom Camping there “being managed by our reserves team”. Parking signs “have been ordered; awaiting installation date”. Calvert Rd parking “Appears to be working”. Rose St parking “demands on staff for the LTP process has delayed action”
4. Footpaths –“Put on hold to be considered as part of longer term planning for Cliff St”. “Greenslade footpath Design complete, pricing in place and funded. Plans to be shared with RCB.” No mention of when. “path from Raglan west shops to Marine Parade will commence in March”. December’s agenda said the path from Aerodrome Bridge to the footbridge was fully funded. This one says “funding is being sought”, but will extend to the skateboard area. Park Drive/John St crossing planning with RCB to improve safety, but no mention of wider consultation. “Main Rd crossings to be pedestrianised before school returns in Jan 2021. . . Main Road crossing pints, kerb build outs and median refuges at 2 locations identified and to be installed in March.”
5. Greenslade Rd junction safety “WDC are as frustrated as the community with the lack of traction to undertake interim safety improvements”.
6. Government Rd/Bayview – “change giveaways to Stop signs – Instruction given to Alliance, programmed for first week of March.”
7. Innovating Streets – Bow St parklets have “gone out for tender prices”.
8. Wharf Pontoon “A stand-alone pontoon to east of the slip pier with a walkway to the shore is the option that is preferred by stakeholders. WDC and the project manager are working to have a specification for this work available to go out to the market for a design build tender in late February.”
9. Wharf west walkway – “sketches on a design based on the feedback from stakeholders has been passed onto the project manager to prepare a package of information to go suppliers to seek pricing for the design of a walkway from the existing walkway to the wharf on the west side.”
10. Whaingaroa Harbour study – “We are looking to send notice to interested parties in next couple of weeks to seek interest”.
11. Wharf Hazard Review Final structural report awaited – inspection of underside of the wharf on 25-6 Jan.
12. Gilmour St “A meeting with local residents will be organised to let them know exactly what’s planned and to discuss how the work will affect them. To avoid the peak summer holiday period in Raglan, work is scheduled to start in Autumn”
13. Disabled parking – restored as previously.
14. Manu Bay Breakwater – “Email sent 13 January” – no other detail!
15. Service Requests – Sep-Dec overall 83.96% (down from previous quarters of 89.59% and 92.63%) dealt with on time. 1 of 4 Wastewater Overflow or Blocked Pipe complaints weren’t dealt with on time.
16. Discretionary fund has $15,108.
17. Whaingaroa Raglan Affordability Project – “Nil to report” again.
18. Raglan Naturally finalising trust deed wording.
19. Wainui Rd wooden footbridge is back on the agenda with a suggestion of a culvert.
20. Fire Station – Clearway Road Markings painted.

WDC emergency meeting 21/12 – Staff acknowledged that the position reached with Audit NZ for the 2019/20 Annual Report would not be able to continue for future years. Improvement required on how the organisation managed and recorded against mandatory Key Performance  Iindicators. Staff were aware of what was required for measurement and reporting against all KPIs and would ensure processes were refined as needed. Staff would communicate outcome to the Waters Governance Board to ensure there were no issues with the KPIs in question in future years.

• In respect of one lease with a force majeure clause, we actioned a 50 per cent rent reduction for the duration of the Level 4 and 3 lockdown (Raglan Harbour Board Reserve)

Finance 9/2 list of Long Term Plan workshops – Userpays, Partnership Funding, Population Projections and Capacity Modelling, Feedback was sought and received via interactive polls on the areas the Council is most interested in for Levels of Service on Facilities, Open Spaces, Solid Waste, Transport. Maaori Participation in Decision Making.

Infrastructure 10/2 Playgrounds – Lorenzen Bay – Budget to be spent prepping the site for a playground as currently the reserve is undeveloped. Playground will be incorporated into Playground contract which is currently in the market. Replacement of old/damaged public litter bins as budget allows. Prioritised list at Raglan. 2020/21 budget $15,667. Construction date for the playground is July 2021.

Report on sewage preferred options – 100% land based $46.8m, summer to land/winter to harbour $22.1m, move harbour outfall to centre of channel and use Wainui Reserve, airfield and golf course $5.5m.

Policy 3/2 The Soundsplash event at Raglan had been well-managed but there had been poor behaviour in the Raglan township following the event.

Regional Land Transport Plan budgets still spending 19% on new roads, but only 5% on new bus, walking and cycling infrastructure. The Plan notes “public sector to be carbon neutral by 2025 .. . . A challenge will be securing funding to address the national climate change emergency and to enact real change in emissions from the transport sector.”
Other issues missing from the agenda are Te Uku Recycling, stormwater, Whāingaroa Catchment Management Plan, dog & horse issues, Rangitahi, Hills Rd water tower, glyphosate, volunteer worker safety, coastguard lease, Puriri Park, weedbusters, Joyce Petchell and Puriri Park toilets to be wrapped with environment messaging, Manu Bay planting, Town Hall Building Warrant of Fitness valid to 23 July 2020, RCB Website (still showing October 2020 as next meeting), etc. Should WED be taking up these or other issues?