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Current
Newsletter - May 2009
In
this issue... TRA AGM, Thorndon’s Heritage Project, Cleaning up
Graffiti & much more...
THORNDON
RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION AGM
Come
and meet your Thorndon neighbours, enjoy a glass of wine and hear
what’s going on in Thorndon at the:
TRA
Drinks & AGM
7pm, Wednesday 27 May
The Thorndon Tennis Club
1 Katherine Ave, Thorndon
Drinks
will be served from 7-7:30pm. AGM
will commence at 7:30pm. Juice
and nibbles are complimentary but wine is $5 a glass. Please rsvp to the
Secretary (see below for contact details).
Speakers
include:
· Jamie
Delich, WCC Recreation Manager – plans and possibilities for Thorndon
Pool; and
· Mark
Farrar, WCC City Communities Officer – on Building Community Profiles
Vivien
Rickard, WCC’s Principal Heritage Adviser, will also be available to
answer your questions regarding the proposed Heritage Area options for
Thorndon (see below for more information about the Heritage Project).
We
are keen to have some fresh ideas and faces on board the TRA committee
and are seeking nominations for committee members and officers
(elections will be held at the AGM).
Please contact the Secretary if you are interested in being
involved.
The
following people have been nominated for roles on the committee so far:
Jo Freeman (Secretary), Raquel Jensen (Treasurer), Tim Arbuckle, Pip
Taylor, Wilf Haskell (only until 5 June), William Neal, Carolyn Shields,
Richard Murcott (committee members).
Contact the Secretary if you would like further information about
the nominees or an AGM agenda.
WCC’S
LONG TERM COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLAN– HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THORNDON
RESIDENTS?
The
Long Term Council Community Plan for 2009-2019 (LTCCP) is the WCC’s
long-term plan which outlines all of its intended activities over the
next three years and documents how rates will be spent over this period.
The
document and associated information can be
found
at
http://www.wellington.govt.nz/haveyoursay/publicinput/ltccp/2009ltccp.html
There
are a large number of important issues for you to consider, including:
· Real
rates will be set at 2.38% for 2009/2010, 5.48% for 2010/11, 3.67% for
2011/2012 and between 1-2% for the following years. Some people
will pay more depending on the effect of the rating differential.
· Funding
is allocated for the Indoor Community Centre at Cobham, but you may want
to consider whether you want the centre funded now or in the future.
· There
will be cuts to the library budget affecting security and marketing but
not core services or the collection.
· The
Heritage grants will be reduced from $329,000 to $200,000 rather than
being deleted all together following feedback from the public.
· There
is only new funding for one community centre (at Khandallah).
· Small
increases in user charges for things like rubbish bags, DVD books and
audio books at the library as well as entry to recreation centres.
· Reducing
opening hours at swimming pools which are underused and partnership
arrangements to increase capacity
The
WCC is also consulting on how we collect and pay for our recycling.
At the moment, use of the green bins is the preferred option after
strong feedback from the public.
Come
along to a public meeting at 7:30pm, on 11 May, (venue tbc) to find out
more and relay your views on the LTCCP directly to our Deputy Mayor Ian
McKinnon. Please contact
the TRA Secretary asap if you would like to attend.
It’s
vital that you have your say.
You
have until
5pm on 18 May to
make a written submission.
Or you can comment online at www.Wellington.govt.nz/LTCCP.
The TRA can also communicate your views to the WCC in its
submissions. The final LTCCP will be signed off on the 24th of June and
take effect from 1 July 2009.
THORNDON HERITAGE AREA: THIS WILL AFFECT YOU!
A study
in 2008 confirmed something we as residents know ... that
Thorndon has unique heritage and character. The WCC now has
to decide how these heritage values might be best managed and wants
to hear residents’ views. The
Council has proposed three options for changing the District Plan
residential rules to ensure that a balance is struck between protecting
Thorndon’s heritage values, and allowing residents to reasonably
undertake works on their properties without undue regulation. These are:
Option
1 –
creating a heritage area for most of Thorndon.
Option
2 –
creating a mix of heritage areas and a modification of the existing
pre-1930 demolition rule.
Option
3 -
Status Quo
If
your property is in a heritage
area,, you will need to get resource consent for any changes to the
exterior of your building above and beyond general repairs and
maintenance. This includes any additions and alterations (e.g.
putting in skylights, changing windows, reroofing with a different
material). If you own a newer building in a heritage area, it is
likely you will be recognised as a non-contributor
t to the heritage values and while you would not have to get a consent
to demolish your building, any new works would require a resource
consent to assess the impact of the proposed work on the heritage values
of the areas as a whole.
WCC
has two funds available for owners of heritage properties.
The Resource Consent Remission Fund (for refunds of consent fees
for proposed work on heritage area properties) and the Heritage
Incentive Fund (to which you can apply for funding to contribute to
maintenance or repair work on heritage buildings).
The
modified pre-1930s demolition rule would require resource consent for
the demolition of your building and/or the removal or demolition of
architectural features from the primary facade (usually the facade
facing the street).
In
March the TRA surveyed members views on how heritage values
might be safeguarded and got mixed feedback from members.
This has been passed on to the WCC.
The
TRA Committee now wants to ensure as many residents as possible learn
about the heritage project and have an opportunity to provide feedback. Now
is the best time to influence the District Plan custodians.
Once a draft plan change to the District Plan is approved, there
will be a formal consultation round (scheduled for August 2009). But
it is important to try to set the right balance now.
The
TRA's Action Group has been on the case; surveyed members, shared
findings, met with Council planning officers, visited the information
display in the Thorndon Village and generally kept informed. To
date, TRA has passed on the following informal feedback to Council
officers:
· Concern
about the extra cost and time delays involved in the resource consent
process and the effect on property values.
· Concern
that residents will leave Thorndon because of the extra regulation and
worry that they will not be able to alter heritage area houses to ensure
they are suitable for modern living; and that Thorndon will become a
museum as a result.
· Concern
that extra regulation will be used as justification by owners of
dilapidated houses to not maintain or improve their properties.
· Querying
the need for a Heritage Area when streetscape character could be
adequately protected under the modified 1930s rule or some other
mechanism.
· Noting
that most residents are already sympathetic to character and
architecture.
·
References to consultation with the Thorndon Society should be removed
from the District Plan.
· The
WCC cannot consider Heritage in isolation.
It needs to ensure adequate balance between managing heritage
values and managing other matters that also influence use,
enjoyment and the character of Thorndon, e.g.
traffic management, unsightly utilities infrastructure
(powerlines, traffic signs etc) and graffiti.
The
challenge facing WCC is to strike an agreeable balance between
protecting heritage values in Thorndon while not unduly regulating
householders, i.e. achieving rules that are as light as possible, but as
much as necessary.
But,
this is a numbers game. The Council needs to hear from as many
residents as possible, so the TRA is asking all members to consider this
once in 10 year opportunity (suburb reviews for the District Plan can be a
decade apart). WCC
would like to hear your views before
Friday 29 May 2009.
For a broad background piece visit Planning
our Suburbs Overview, but go to the Thorndon
Heritage Area Review for details, including Council contact
information.
Otherwise,
if you've already formed a view but haven't quite got around to
sharing it with WCC, please consider doing it now.
Here is the online feedback
form.
GRAFFITI
IN THORNDON
You
may have noticed the dramatic increase in graffiti in Thorndon of late.
The TRA Committee has been on the case and has started plotting
graffiti sites on a public google map.
To view this, please click on Graffiti
in Thorndon.
Once
plotted and reported to the WCC, Julie Evans (the WCC Online
Channel Specialist, Citizen Engagement)
updates entries with WCC job numbers for reported attacks and updates
the symbol to indicate the status of that job. We can all keep
track online, anytime, visually. Click
on any map marker to view some basic information about the graffiti site
at that location. Thumbnails of a photo appear too. If you click on a
photo thumbnail an exploded view of the photo will appear.
We've also shared this map with NZ Police and are intending to
bring it to the attention of the NZ Transport Agency ( NZTA ) who are
responsible for graffiti on motorway assets.
If
you find any graffiti which has not been identified on the map, please
take a photo and email it with location details to Richard Murcott (TRA
committee member) on richard.murcott@gmail.com.
In this way, the TRA hopes to encourage rapid responses from the
WCC graffiti clean up team. We are also working on deterrent action to
prevent further graffiti attacks and welcome your suggestions.
KM
PLAYGROUND –new picnic table
The
Katherine Mansfield Playground has been a huge asset to the community
since its installation in March 2008.
It is heavily used and has also lead to increased awareness and
general use of the park. As
you can see from below, the TRA hosted a fantastic Halloween Party at
the playground for local children in October 2008.
As a result of feedback from the community, the TRA has decided to seek
grant funding and donations for a picnic table at the park to make it
more user friendly for Thorndon families and community groups.
If the TRA is able to raise funds to buy the bench, the WCC will
install and maintain it. We would welcome any donations from Thorndon
residents or businesses towards this cause and are happy to acknowledge
contributions with a plaque on the table.
TRA
MEMBERSHIP
In
order to ensure the TRA can be a strong and effective voice for Thorndon
residents, we need to
grow
our membership. If you haven’t already joined up, please do so
by completing the attached membership form and emailing it to our
Secretary (see below for contact details).
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