Recent News
This page has the content from the latest media releases or news issued by Porirua City Council.
For previous media releases in pdf format, please refer to the Media Releases page.
On this page:
CITY FOCUS GOES ONLINE FOR LONG TERM PLAN
1 February
A new interactive online City Focus newsletter about Porirua's Long Term Plan will be launched next week.
"It's great that we're using new technologies that make keeping in touch with our communities easier," says Councillor 'Ana Coffey who holds the Community Empowerment portfolio.
"We're launching the online newsletter to coincide with the review of our Long Term Plan. There are some tough decisions to be made this time round with rising costs for everyone. So the more we hear from our communities the better the decisions we will make for the city."
The first three editions of the online City Focus will feature the Long Term Plan, including a summary of the draft and online submission form.
"I think people will find this new platform easy to use and fun. It has turning pages, moving images, video clips, polls and feedback forms so people can communicate back to us. I'd really like to encourage everyone to sign up to the newsletter and keep up to date with the LTP and other Council news."
Once you subscribe to the newsletter you will receive an email alert each time it's published. The newsletter is tailored to both dial up and broadband and is viewable on desk tops and mobile devices including phones.
"The whole process is efficient and the feedback we get in surveys, polls and general comments are automatically analysed and reported. It also enables us to send people the information and news they are particularly interested in," Cllr Coffey says.
City Focus is the Council's regular newsletter to residents that's normally published in Kapi-Mana News once a month.
Sign up to the on-line City Focus from Friday 10 February on the Council's website www.pcc.govt.nz to find out more about the Long Term Plan and other Council news.
MORE FLEXIBLE PARKING OPTIONS COMING TO PORIRUA CBD
30 January
New Pay & Display parking areas on Hagley Street will provide medium-term parking giving visitors longer to do business or shop without worrying about being ticketed.
Apart from one car park, it has been free to park in Porirua but with a time limit of up to 120 minutes. Now the Council is turning two car parks at 2 Hagley Street (in front of the Porirua Police Station), and 10 Hagley Street (currently paid parking on a weekly basis), into Pay & Display car parks.
These will become operational from 7 February 2012 between 8am – 5pm, Monday to Friday. Parking will cost $1 per hour with a maximum charge of $5 per day.
David Rolfe Environment and Regulatory Services General Manager says the change will enable people to park for medium time periods or all day.
"This will address the concerns from the public that there is no medium term parking in the CBD. It also gives greater flexibility by enabling people to park on a daily basis rather than having to pay for a week at a time."
The Pay and Display machines will accept coins only and although people may park prior to 8am, the coupon issued won't start until 8am.
For example if someone arrives at 6am and pays $3, the machine will issue a coupon allowing parking until 11am.
Flyers are being put on the windscreens of cars currently parking in these areas to alert them to the imminent change. Signage is also going up to advise drivers of the new system, charge costs and other conditions for parking in these areas.
The parking areas will be patrolled by PCC Council Parking Officers and vehicles parked over the time on their coupon or without a coupon will be issued with an infringement ticket. Any cars parked for longer than 8 hours without payment, or cars parked incorrectly, will be towed.
FUTURE OF COUNCIL BUILDING TO BE DECIDED IN LONG TERM PLAN
20 January 2012
The estimated cost of quake-proofing the Porirua City Council building is twice the value of the building itself, Deputy Mayor Liz Kelly said today.
"This news pushes the question of the Council's accommodation to the top of the agenda in this year' Long Term Plan review.
"Under the Building Act, the property at 16 Cobham Court is required to meet so-called Category One standards given the Council's post disaster response and recovery functions," Cllr Kelly said.
The Council has until 2014 to complete the strengthening work necessary to bring the building up to Category 1 requirements.
"The costs associated with upgrading the building to meet those standards, estimated to be at least $10 million, forces the Council to urgently contemplate alternative approaches," she said.
If the Council operated from a different building, then 16 Cobham Court would revert to a Category Two classification and would be suitable for offices.
"Given the especially stringent Building Act requirements that apply to Council structures, 16 Cobham Court would become suitable as office accommodation without requiring multimillion dollar strengthening works."
Aside from funding the upgrade, alternative options include the construction of a purpose-built facility owned by the Council; to enter a new building as an anchor tenant or to find space within an existing property that meets category one requirements.
"The clock is ticking, but we mustn't address this dilemma in isolation. Instead, by considering our options as part of the Long Term Plan review process, the Council is able to take into account broader implications such as the impact of a new building on city centre revitalisation," Cllr Kelly said.
"The council needs to be prudent and transparent," Cr Kelly said.
"We want to make the right decision on behalf of ratepayers as well as meet our responsibility for post-disaster management in the city. At all points, we will seek community input and ideas to assist us in coming to a balanced and sustainable long-term solution."
DOOR CLOSED ON DREDGING IN PORIRUA HARBOUR
19 January 2012
A recent report that looked at options for dredging Pauatahanui Inlet has found that this would not resolve sedimentation in the harbour.
Porirua City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council commissioned research group DHI Water and Environment Ltd to investigate whether strategic localised dredging in the inlet would improve the flushing of the estuary's mud and sand.
The report "Porirua Harbour – Assessment of Effects on Hydrodynamics from Proposed Dredging" can be viewed and downloaded from the Council's website www.pcc.govt.nz.
It found that tidal speeds in Pauatahanui Inlet would have to increase considerably to enable sediment and sand to be flushed out and that dredging was not going to assist this. Other scientific advice the Council has received suggests that the report's findings are applicable to the Onepoto arm of the harbour and similar dredging would likewise not assist in the flushing of sediment.
Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett says it's clear that dredging is not a feasible option for helping the harbour to flush itself.
"This report firmly shuts the door on localised dredging for this reason. The Council's biggest role is to influence what goes into our harbour. Consistent with the Porirua Harbour Strategy, we are working with GWRC and the Wellington City Council to reduce sedimentation rates and we are improving in our wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Having clean waterways is actually our best investment in keeping the harbour healthy and enhancing the life within it."
DHI found that one of the options investigated for dredging would fill with sand "reasonably quickly" but that the other, off the end of Seaview Road, would be more stable. The cost to dredge the latter channel of 80,000m3 through the sandbank is roughly estimated at $800,000. Local estimates for the disposal of the sand suggest a further cost of about $4 million.
"Dredging would be literally like throwing $5 million into a hole that would be ineffective and eventually be refilled with sand. People need to understand that this is not Lake Taupo – it's a tidal estuary that's constantly moving and sandbanks and mudflats are normal."
Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Barbara Donaldson says the report confirms the need to control the rate of sediment entering the inlet from the surrounding catchment.
“Dredging won’t stop sediment coming into the inlet. And it’s important to note that we can’t stop sedimentation altogether – it’s a natural process. However, it’s currently happening much faster than it should and must be reduced if we are to succeed in revitalising the harbour," says Cllr Donaldson.“Greater Wellington is committed to supporting sustainable land management practices and ecological restoration projects around the harbour. These projects, rather than dredging, will make a sustainable contribution towards controlling sedimentation.”
The Councils will be holding a public seminar to explain this and other recent research on the harbour on Thursday 15 March 2012. The effectiveness and impacts of dredging are a complex issue and these will be discussed at this seminar.
The evening seminar will be held in the Helen Smith Community Room at Pataka at a time to be advised. Guest speakers will include:
• Dr Mal Green, Principal Scientist, Coastal Processes, NIWA
• Dr Barry Robertson, estuarine scientist and Director of Wriggle Coastal Consultants
• Peter Handford, forest ecologist, Director of PA Handford & Associates.
WELLINGTON REGION WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
20 December 2011
For the first time, Wellington region's councils have formally committed to working together to reduce environmental harm with the adoption of a joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan WMMP.
Kapiti, Masterton, Carterton District Councils and Upper Hutt, Wellington, Hutt, South Wairarapa District Council and Porirua City Councils have all adopted the joint plan.
The Waste Minimisation Act 2008 requires all councils to develop a WMMP and the eight councils are the first in the country to achieve this on a regional basis says Mayor Wayne Guppy, Chair of the Wellington Mayoral Forum.
"We have saved the region $500,000 by collaborating and producing the one joint plan instead of eight separate ones. This first plan is a key starting point for what we expect to be an enduring commitment. It builds on the considerable common ground between the councils on how to best address waste issues."
Mayor Guppy says the region's Mayors agree that sustainability is vital not only for social and environmental reasons but for economic success too.
"It's increasingly important to use the resources we have in a more coordinated fashion. The plan sets an ambitious work programme for managing and reducing waste, while recognising the need for financial prudence and to get better information upon which to base future decisions."
Porirua City Council led the development of the Plan which includes three parts: the Strategy, a Regional Action Plan and Individual Council Action Plans.
PCC Asset Management and Operations General Manager Peter Bailey says the collaborative model used to develop the WMMP will continue in the roll out of the Regional Action Plan.
Mr Bailey says the following activities are included in the Regional Action Plan:
- development of a joint solid waste bylaw
- explore shared service contracts/agreements
- development of a Regional Waste Education Strategy
- development of a subsequent regional Waste Management and Minimisation Plan
- improved data collection – e.g. joint commissioning of Solid Waste Analysis Protocols (SWAPs)
- Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) bids
- investigate and agree a process for considering waste projects for regional funding
- advocate for enhanced packaging design controls and extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging materials
- investigate and enable clean fill licensing regulation where beneficial
- investigate landfill pricing signal/disincentive
- investigate strategies to encourage industry involvement in resource recovery
- investigate council organic waste collection system to complement processing system
- investigate a consistent policy approach to kerbside collection services
- investigate regional opportunities for management of polystyrene
- investigation of further options for beneficial recovery of sewage sludge / bio-solids
- examine options for special wastes and hazardous wastes, related to environmental harm
- investigate Rationalisation of Landfill Policy
- examine alternative governance arrangements for landfills and / or solid waste services
"These actions, combined with the actions in the each council’s action plan, provide a comprehensive approach to waste management and minimisation, and a platform for initiating a regional response to waste management in Wellington region," Mr Bailey says.
NEW WELCOME SIGNS
14 December
New 'Welcome to Porirua' signs that focus on Porirua's harbour, coastline, views and water play are being installed at the four main entrances to the city by Christmas 2011.
"The signs feature real Porirua residents enjoying the lifestyle our city has to offer," says Mayor Nick Leggett. "The images have been taken on or beside the sea and illustrate how easy it is to get out and enjoy simple family pleasures in the city's outdoor environments, especially its many beaches."
Photography was taken by Nick Servian http://www.nickservian.com/index.html and design by Pogo Design http://www.pogodesign.co.nz/.
Here are the four photos:
