A Manakau District Community Page has been formed on Facebook: This group is a gathering place for the residents of Manakau (Horowhenua), or anyone interested in the happenings within our lovely area. It serves as a digital town square where we can distribute news about our community, orchestrate and publicize local events, offer mutual aid, share services and items, look out for our neighborhood, our furry friends, and our natural surroundings, and, most importantly, foster connections among us all.
Glossy Ibis feeding in a lake. Photo by Kezna Cameron and used with permission. Published on 28 November 2023: Waikawa Newsletter November 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.
The Second-hand Clothing Sale fundraiser for Wild Cats of Waikawa was held on Sunday 26 November 2023, 10 am - 2pm at Hank Edwards Reserve. Organiser Kezna Cameron reported a steady flow of customers all day and that about $500 was raised to fund the work of the group. There was a lot of clothing and a few other items available, thanks to the generous donations of community members. Many thanks to all those who came along and supported the Wild Cats of Waikawa work.
Today I had it confirmed that the Proposed Freedom Camping Bylaw would allow for camping at two spaces at Hank Edwards Reserve. The arrow on the map below points to the area where vehicles could park. This comes under the heading Restricted Areas and would allow a maximum of 2 vehicles to stay for 1 night. This is the only place at Waikawa Beach where Freedom Camping would be allowed.
On 01 November 2023 HDC Councillors attended a 'Proposed Beach Bylaw' workshop. The public were able to attend, but not to ask questions or make comments. The roughly 1 hour Workshop was held at Foxton and so was not live-streamed. I attended and have asked for a PDF of the slides but haven't yet received that. Update, 19 November 2023: Beach Bylaw presentation Council workshop 1 November 2023 (1.6 MB PDF).
Update, 13 November 2023: I've asked for clarification on whether the Draft Bylaw allows freedom camping at Hank Edwards Reserve or not — the document itself is unclear. I'll post separately once I know the definitive answer. On 16 November 2023 I had it confirmed that the Proposed Freedom Camping Bylaw would allow for camping at two spaces at Hank Edwards Reserve. See Freedom Camping proposal would allow for 2 parks at Hank Edwards Reserve.
In a Facebook post HDC have shared this info about a proposed beach bylaw workshop on Wednesday 1 November 2023. Members of the public are welcome to attend. Council Workshops - Proposed Beach Bylaw, LTP & Governance Structure Horowhenua District Council will be holding the following workshops on Wednesday 1 November 2023: 12 noon to 12.30pm - Proposed Beach Bylaw Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom, 92 Main Street, Foxton … [other workshops] Due to another scheduled event taking place in Council Chambers on Wednesday, these workshops will be held at Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom.
A roughly 2 metre drop as at 21 October 2023. Note: the telephoto lens makes things look closer together — the chain and cones are further away than they seem. Published on 24 October 2023: Waikawa Newsletter October 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.
Horowhenua District Council are looking for feedback on their proposed Rates Remission & Postponement Policy. If you have trouble paying your Rates then this policy will affect you. Visit letskorero.horowhenua.govt.nz/RRPP to learn more and make a submission. Abbreviated info below. Consultation opened on Monday 20 October 2023 and closes at 5pm on 20 November 2023. Submissions will be heard on 29 November and Council will prepare to adopt the final Rates Remission & Postponement Policy on 13 December 2023.
Early engagement for the Horowhenua District Council's Long Term Plan 2024-2044 (LTP) is now officially open … This is the community's opportunity to actively mould our district's future and influence Council's focus and budget for the next two decades before we draft the next Long Term Plan. Now is your chance to help influence the LTP early in the process, before the Plan has been drafted. In this way, we can ensure the community's voice helps shape the LTP from the beginning and determine the key issues we ask you about during formal community consultation.
In the election on Saturday 14 October 2023 the results on the night show that Tim Costley for National will be the new MP for Ōtaki. Check official results at Ōtaki Electorate Status. Preliminary results give Tim Costley (National) 19,546 votes. Terisa Ngobi (Labour) gained 13,795 votes. With a margin of 5,751 votes the candidate is unlikely to change with the final result. Party results also gave National a clear lead — 14,416, with Labour at 11,811.
Horowhenua District Council has drafted a Freedom Camping Bylaw, as can be seen at Agenda of Council - Wednesday, 11 October 2023. This draft will go out for public consultation. This report is to provide a draft of the Freedom Camping Bylaw, and seek approval from Council to undertake a public consultation on this document, with the aim of reviewing all feedback provided in order to adopt this bylaw by 31 December 2023.
At 1 pm on 11 October 2023 Horowhenua District Council will start a meeting whose Agenda includes: 7 Waikawa Beach Vehicle Access. Councillors will be voting on whether or not to go out to the wider public for consultations on vehicle access to Waikawa Beach. This follows on from the Presentation on Waikawa Beach Vehicle Access, 06 September 2023. There’s a great deal of information in the Agenda. Following are some key points, extracted from the Agenda materials.
All terrain mobility aids. Photo from HDC web page. All Terrain Mobility Aids - Horowhenua District Council: Mobility aids are available free to hire to help people with disabilities explore hard to access areas in Horowhenua. The equipment, which was funded by a Lottery Community Grant, includes two Hippocampe all terrain beach wheelchairs, two Sandcruiser beach wheelchairs and two WheelEEZ® all terrain rollators. The all-terrain wheelchairs are suited to people of all ages, and are able to be used on surfaces which other wheelchairs can’t – sand, hiking trails, gravel, grass/turf, snow and cobblestones.
Published on 29 September 2023: Waikawa Newsletter September 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.nz. If you want to suggest others subscribe to the newsletter please send them to waikawanews.
There is an election coming up in Aotearoa. This post gives factual information for voters who are registered at Waikawa Beach. Information gathered on 18 September 2023. Updates may be made to this post.
The most important source of official information is at Vote NZ. Election dateVoting starts on Monday 2 October 2023, and you can vote at any voting place in New Zealand. On election day, Saturday 14 October, all voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm.
Kia ora koutou, an email glitch at my service provider meant those of you who subscribe to receive posts by email probably didn't see the following: For sale: 34 Manga Pirau Street, published on: Monday, 4 September 2023 Strathnaver Drive burglary 27 August 2023, published on: Monday, 4 September 2023 Join us for Starry Time on Friday 15 September 2023, published on: Thursday, 7 September 2023 Presentation on Waikawa Beach Vehicle Access, 06 September 2023, published on: Thursday, 7 September 2023 My apologies.
Published on 27 August 2023: Waikawa Newsletter August 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.nz. If you want to suggest others subscribe to the newsletter please send them to waikawanews.
Feedback on Horizons Regional Council priority areas is due by 17 September 2023. Horizons Regional Council have three priority areas: building resilience to the impacts of climate change, taking a holistic approach to natural resources from mountains to sea, and strengthening relationships with tangata whenua and want to know what we think of these areas. Early next year there will be consultation on the 2024-34 Long-term Plan. This feedback on the general direction for Horizons Regional Council will guide Councillors on what should be in that plan.
Chorus want to retire the older copper network. It’s not clear if Waikawa Beach is included in that plan. Given that the fibre installation stopped at around #24 Strathnaver Drive and numerous people in Strathnaver commonly complain about their already poor quality (copper) Internet connections, it seems there are questions worth putting to Chorus. See my note at the end of this post. On Facebook Sam Jennings, Horowhenua District Councillor, posted: ☎️Important Information From Chorus About Your Phone Lines☎️ The team from Chorus is coming to Horowhenua next week to have a chat with people in Levin, Manakau and Ohau about their phone and internet connections, with drop-in sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Published on 25 July 2023: Waikawa Newsletter July 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.nz. If you want to suggest others subscribe to the newsletter please send them to waikawanews.
In case you’re wondering why some of your devices aren’t quite as you expected … on Friday there was a momentary power cut at approx 0615 then again at approx 0715 and again at approx 1630. In our case that means resetting the towel rail timer and the oven clock. The outages were just blips, but it’s still annoying. No apparent reason … maybe it was the high winds places nearby felt (but we didn’t really).
In March 2023 the post Toilet block cost per an LGOIMA request, cited the cost expected for the upgraded facilities block at Hank Edwards Reserve: $369,687 plus GST. At the time of the request work had not even begun. I submitted a request for the figures for the now completed toilet block and on 03 July 2023 received this reply (LGOIMA Response - 2023/984): The physical construction cost for the upgraded toilet block was $406,798, which is $52,170 more than initially considered.
I believe this is an Oioi, jointed wire rush, on the stretch of sea frontage on the Miratana land. Published on 30 June 2023: Waikawa Newsletter June 2023. The monthly newsletter is based on posts I’ve written during the month, with added sprinkles. If you’d like to automatically receive posts by email as they are published subscribe. If you know of Waikawa Beach things that would interest others or if you have comments on this newsletter or the websites please let me know at kiaora@waikawanews.
Part of the original plan for updating and refurbishing the Hank Edwards Reserve toilet block was to have it painted with murals. Now, some 6 months after completion, is the time for that to happen. The WBRA is looking for a mural artist to carry out this work. The mural will be on a wall about 4 metres by 1 metre and is likely to be related to the environment and feature local birds.