Introduction
On behalf of the Committee it is my pleasure to report to you on the many and varied activities undertaken in the past year. As has become usual a deal of our time was taken up with contributing to important policy formation by the city and regional councils. Many public meetings were attended by committee members and our responses to the councils were truly produced by team work. Similarly, we have scrutinised the several proposals for large scale development in the catchment to ensure as best we can that full attention is paid to the necessity to protect the values on the Inlet – social, cultural and environmental – as development occurs.
Our other important function continues to be to publicise these values and to encourage members and the general public to contribute in practical ways to foster and protect them. In this respect I draw you particular attention to the continuing success of the annual photocompetition. While the four-fold growth over two years in entrants and photographs submitted must partially be due to the growth of digital photography we believe that it also indicates an increasing awareness of the heritage of the Inlet in the local community and their desire to protect and enhance its values.
I am pleased to report an ongoing influx of new members, many directly attributable to these community activities.
Officers and Management Committee
The Management Committee for 2006-2007 comprised:
Chairperson John Wells
Secretary Ken Rae
Treasurer Barry Turfrey
Committee Miles Deck
Alastair Harray
Priscilla Isaacs
Susan-Jane Owen
Ken Rae
Janet Ryan
Tony Shaw
Ex-officio Beverly Fairfax (Webmaster)
Russell Morrison (observer – Paremata Residents Association)
Barry Turfrey and Miles Deck are not seeking reelection. Barry has been Treasurer for five years and Miles a committee member since 2005. Both have contributed enormously to the work of the Committee and will be sorely missed.
Community activities
Cockle Counting
Preparations for the 7 th Cockle Survey are well under way. It will be done in November 2007 and will be financially supported by Greater Wellington Regional Council and the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
Stream monitoring
The Stream Monitoring Programme is now in its sixth year and continues to provide Greater Wellington Regional Council with data on the health of all four major input streams of the Inlet. GW staff this year have confirmed its value to them. They have pointed out ways by which we can improve how we collect data and they encourage us to continue for the foreseeable future.
We are always looking for more volunteers. The tests take about two hours and are conducted four times a year. Further details can be obtained from our web site.
Inlet Clean Up Day
More than 50 people took part in the annual Inlet Cleanup in October, despite very unpleasant weather. As in previous years the Guardians received invaluable assistance with logistics from Keep Porirua Beautiful, Porirua City Council who arranged for collection of the rubbish by truck and Plimmerton Rotary, who provided a barbecue lunch and also helped with rubbish collection. Mana New World once again very generously donated a $50 voucher for a lucky draw prize.
7 th Annual Photographic Competition
There was an outstanding response -70 entrants submitted 271 prints. The winning photos were displayed for a week at Whitby Mall, followed by a week at Porirua Public Library in Pataka and two weeks at Palmer's Lifestyle Centre, Plimmerton. There was a pleasing number of entrants for the Youth Awards, where Adele Lambie of Whitby won four awards.
Prize winners were - Nature: 1st Kevin Corrie, Whitby; 2nd Adele Lambie, Whitby; 3rd Peter Hunt Tawa; Youth Award - Adele Lambie. Recreation: 1st Graeme Press, Paremata; 2nd Mike Gits, Paremata; 3rd Maxine Olsen, Paremata; Youth Award Natalie Walker, Elsdon. Human Impact: 1st Brady Dyer, Whitby; 2nd Adele Lambie, Whitby; 3rd Bill Gilbert, Whitby; Youth Award - Adele Lambie, Whitby. Reflections: 1st Heather Chambers, Plimmerton; 2nd Ross Williamson, Papakowhai; 3rd Derek Fitzgerald, Whitby; Youth Award - Jonathan Edwards, Camborne.
We believe that the competitions have raised awareness among the public about the Inlet and have generated goodwill for actions to preserve its special character and its benefit to our city. This was reflected in the almost $1000 in support from our local business sponsors, and over $1200 worth of free printing by Harvey Norman - and from the comments of those viewing the quality prints on display.
Competition Judge Geoff Marshall commented that “the overall standard is very encouraging and the high number of entries is a compliment to all the people who went to the effort of taking photographs for this competition.” We endorse his wish that “entrants continue to get out and enjoy the beauty of the Pauatahanui Inlet, an area which we are all lucky to live near and have easy access to, and to make compelling images of the Inlet.”
The competition was coordinated by Ken Rae, with support from Priscilla Isaacs and Alastair Harray in canvassing sponsorships and Miles Deck in the logistics of moving the display of winning entries among three sites.
The Committee has resolved to hold a further competition in 2008 and once again to seek funding from our principal sponsor, Porirua City Council Creative Communities Fund.
Conservation Week
The topic for the national Conservation Week in August was 'Everybody's Business - Kia ngakau nui te katoa ki te whakarato'. At the invitation of Porirua City Council we celebrated jointly with the Pauatahanui Inlet Community Trust with a poster display at Whitby Library featuring aspects of the work of the two organisations..
Selected important Committee activities
Inlet Pathway
In discussions with Porirua City Council about extending the Inlet Pathway from the mouth of the Horikiri stream to Pauatahanui village we made it clear that while the section to Ration Point was relatively uncontroversial, this could not be the case for the continuance on to Pauatahanui village. This is probably the most ecologically sensitive section of the entire Pathway and we will work in conjunction with the Pauatahanui Wildlife Reserve Management Committee to ensure that there is minimal impact on the Reserve. PCC have recently begun the extension to Ration Point, but have yet to come back to Guardians with ideas for the section to the village.
New ‘hands on’ activities
Throughout the year y our committee has been discussing with the city and regional councils the possibilities for establishing more opportunities for members and the general community to be involved in restoration and rejuvenation projects around the shores of the Inlet. In May more than 65 people took part in tree planting on the Camborne Walkwayas part of the city council’s restoration project for the Camborne escarpment.
Alastair Harray is seeking to establish a local group in Motukaraka Point to be responsible for ongoing care for the Inlet Pathway eastward from the point. The remnant salt marsh at Shell Point on the Golden Gate peninsula is identified in the Inlet Restoration Plan as possibly suitable for restoration by a local group and we are exploring this possibility with the regional council.
Involvement in Porirua City Council planning activities
We were invited to contribute through serving on several committees and planning groups. These include the PCC Wellbeing Advisory Group, which is reviewing progress towards the goals of the first three years of the Long Term Council Community Plan 2004-2014; the Rural Review Reference Group that is assisting with formulation of new concepts and ideas for the review of the Rural Zone of the Porirua District Plan, and – very importantly – the small planning group that is assisting in setting up the research and monitoring phase that will underpin the Harbour Catchment and Management Plan, which is the key component in the Council’s strategic focus on a ‘Healthy Harbour and Waterways’ in its long term plan.
Submissions and representations
In the past year the Committee has felt obliged to make submissions on local authorities draft planning and strategy documents because of potential impacts on the Inlet. We have commented on Greater Wellington's Wellington Regional Strategy, its Wellington Regional Land Transport Strategy and on the Porirua City Council's Draft Annual Plan 2007-8. In addition we made comments supplementary to our earlier submissions to both GW and PCC on their Long Term Council Community Plans for 2006-2016.
We also responded to several requests for comments on planning for subdivisions and other activities in the Inlet catchment, in particular Staithes Drive North Phase 2, Judgeford Cleanfill site, Judgeford Hills (EQM) application for a change to the PCC District Plan, renovations to properties involving machinery passage on the foreshore at Trevor Terrace, and proposals for a protective bund in front of the Paremata Kindergarten at Ivey Bay. In our judgement all of these cases have merit but we consistently found that there is still a need to stress to councils and developers that adequate provision to protect the Inlet from avoidable sediment run-off must be included in the consent conditions.
Thus there is major development occurring or planned high on the hillsides around Whitby and to the east. Our ongoing concern is for adequate provision to control run-off and restrict sediment inflows into the Inlet. While most developments are adequately controlled and developers and contractors act in full compliance with resource consent conditions, accidents due to equipment failure and human error do occur and it is becoming apparent that monitoring by officers of the local bodies requires the backup of stricter and more significant monetary sanctions in any case of repeated breaches of the agreed consent. We will continue to press for council attention to these matters.
Conclusion
In concluding I want to thank all members for their continuing support and the Committee for their hard work in progressing our campaign of care for the welfare of the Inlet.
