Nigel Clarke, senior advisor to the Porirua City Council
This week’s speaker was Nigel Clarke, senior advisor to the Porirua City Council on harbour and catchment.
Porirua is defined by its spectacular two-armed harbour, but keeping it healthy has become a serious challenge. It is surrounded by roading and housing, and there are fifteen catchments feeding into it, some of them rising in neighbouring jurisdictions.
Long ago, and before the 1855 earthquake, ships could sail into the Pauatahanui arm to discharge at Ration Point. The harbour is shallow now, averaging one metre in depth, and vulnerable to silting.
The health of the harbour has been in decline for some time, with a 50% loss of birds and 80% of seagrass from the 1978 benchmark. Pollutants such as heavy metals, chemicals and plastics flow into the waterways when wastewater overflows occur.
Reversing these problems will take a long time- perhaps 40 years.
Nigel talked us through the bureaucratic maze which he has to navigate: reports, committees, monitoring and collaboration with numerous other agencies, leading to strategies and action plans.
In the end, the tools available to the Council are limited. Engineering works are in hand to contain wastewater, trees can be planted and by-laws tightened up. Major developments like Transmission Gully, and the work of building contractors can be monitored. But the underlying issue is that much pollution is caused by the actions of thousands of householders around the city, and their lifestyles are not easily changed.
Nigel stressed the importance of education and awareness, and community action such as the protection of Taupo Swamp, in which the club is involved already.
Editor's note: Nigel has been kind enough to share his presentation for those who would like to go through it again more slowly.
Poll: Would you use a pet cemetery?
Dave Stephens has created a pet cemetery on his land.
The 10-acre site in Albany, Auckland, features graves nestled among beautifully manicured gardens and unique art pieces, offering a serene space where visitors can pay their respects in their own way.
Is this something you think you would use? Share your thoughts below.
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26.3% Yes
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72.6% No
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
NZSQ to play in Paekakariki
Paekakariki's Mulled Wine Concert series has been presenting top-class music in Kapiti for nearly twenty years. Organiser Mary Gow says she is really excited to be bringing to her home region one of the most well known and highest quality groups of classical musicians.
The New Zealand String Quartet is probably the best loved chamber music ensemble in the country. It is made up of talented musicians who are all dedicated performers and mentors to students across the country. The longest-serving member of the Quartet, violinist Gillian Ansell, was awarded the MNZM (Member of the New Zealand Order of
Merit) honour for services to music in New Zealand. The other permanent member is violinist Peter Clark.
As an exciting development in their history, and for the first time ever, the NZSQ have announced that two other positions in the group - violinist and cellist - will be filled by invited guest artists The invited musicians for the Paekakariki concert will be violinist
Monique Lapins, who was previously a member of the NZSQ. The other invitee - who will be of great interest to followers of the Mulled Wine Concert series - is Andrew Joyce, dynamic first cellist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Andrew is no stranger to Kapiti audiences, having played in many concerts here.
As a group, the quartet promise that their 2025 season will be an epic one.
The rest of 2025 will be filled with toe-tapping, awe-inspiring, boundary-pushing chamber music. From epic works for chamber orchestra by Shostakovich to the premiere of a brand-new New Zealand piece; from dancers to poets; from your local community centre to the depths of
space, we’re bringing the music to you they say.
The Paekakariki concert will take place at St Peters Hall on 16 March 2025 at 2:30PM and will feature works by Haydn, Dame Gillian Whitehead, Dave Flynn, Dvořák String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, the American Quartet and excerpts from the Danish String Quartet Wood Works The Last Leaf. A concert not to be missed, indeed!
===ENDS===
Mulled Wine Concerts presents the New Zealand String Quartet in concert
Sunday 16 March 2025 at 2:30PM
St Peter Community Hall, Beach Rd, Paekakariki
Tickets $35, Students $15.
Online sales: marygow@gmail.com. Tel: 021 101 9609
Info: www.mulledwineconcerts.com... or on FaceBook: Mulled Wine Concerts.
Ticket outlets: Magpie Paremata, Mana Esplanade; Finns Hotel, Paekākāriki; Moby Dickens Bookshop, Paraparaumu Beach; Jenoa, 2 Mahara Place, Waikanae.
Haydn String Quartet, Op. 64, No. 5, 'The Lark'
Dame Gillian Whitehead, Poroporoaki
Dave Flynn, Slip
Dvořák String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, the 'American Quartet'
Excerpts from Danish String Quartet's Wood Works / The Last Leaf
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