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Most new home builders have a long list of questions...what building materials should we use? How can we include energy-saving features? How (and when) will the final price for my home be determined? How can we minimise unexpected costs and what warranties and guarantees will my new home have?
… View moreMost new home builders have a long list of questions...what building materials should we use? How can we include energy-saving features? How (and when) will the final price for my home be determined? How can we minimise unexpected costs and what warranties and guarantees will my new home have?
Questions like these are exactly the sort of questions we answer at our FREE Jennian New Home Builder Info Sessions. We invite you to come along, meet your local Jennian team and join us for an informative evening which will cover off these common questions and more.
Want to find out the answer to these key topics and more? Book a FREE complimentary seat at our next info session in your area.
Hi Neighbours
Consider this heating option for your home...
MODERN VENTILATION SYSTEMS
These are not usually heating systems, unless those add-ons are included, but may help heat your home through replacing moisture-filled atmosphere. Modern construction seeks to seal a home to increase … View moreHi Neighbours
Consider this heating option for your home...
MODERN VENTILATION SYSTEMS
These are not usually heating systems, unless those add-ons are included, but may help heat your home through replacing moisture-filled atmosphere. Modern construction seeks to seal a home to increase energy efficiency which means you may need to have a system installed. “Heat Recovery Ventilation” refers to having warm, stale air being removed and replaced with fresh. This aids energy efficiency but works better when it’s already warm, which is just when you don’t want more heat.
Hi everyone, thanks for your discussion and some great ideas! Comments are now closed.
What would it take for Upper Hutt to be the best it can be? Let your imagination run wild and tell us what you would love to see in Upper Hutt. Comments may be used in print unless stated otherwise with NFP … View moreHi everyone, thanks for your discussion and some great ideas! Comments are now closed.
What would it take for Upper Hutt to be the best it can be? Let your imagination run wild and tell us what you would love to see in Upper Hutt. Comments may be used in print unless stated otherwise with NFP (Not For Print)
Smart Travel is a new platform here to help friendly Wellingtonians like you get to where you’re going in a better way, making your travel cheaper, more social, and easier on the environment. By registering and creating a profile with Smart Travel, you can use the website and app to find other … View moreSmart Travel is a new platform here to help friendly Wellingtonians like you get to where you’re going in a better way, making your travel cheaper, more social, and easier on the environment. By registering and creating a profile with Smart Travel, you can use the website and app to find other commuters to carpool with, or offer your services as a driver. Sign up today and start logging your journeys and you could be in to win rewards like Prezzy Cards and vouchers.
ONGOING
Director Community Services UHCC – Mike Ryan re: UHC Library
I wrote to M. Ryan on 2/4/17 asking for the statistics and data from other NZ Libraries using this ‘fiction non genre philosophical trend’ and how many there are, how it was working for them and how many were still … View moreONGOING
Director Community Services UHCC – Mike Ryan re: UHC Library
I wrote to M. Ryan on 2/4/17 asking for the statistics and data from other NZ Libraries using this ‘fiction non genre philosophical trend’ and how many there are, how it was working for them and how many were still operating it?
I quote word for word a part of his 11/4/17reply to me:
“we have subsequent to your letter asked libraries throughout New Zealand to provide an indication re the non-genre based philosophy’’
His reply to me of 28/4/17 began by largely repeating the (now discredited) research mantra and also had list of sources of their information, not anything new, no stats, no data, no comparisons, in effect nothing)!
I quote again verbatim:
“This was qualitative research and this indicated very clearly that New Zealand Libraries had largely moved away from the genre based classification system’’
“The subsequent poll undertaken that I referred to in my letter off the 11/4/2017 was done to provide you with specific figures/statistic (quantitative) data”
What followed in that letter was a list of 38 libraries 32 who run non genre adult fiction and 6 who don’t.
• Not one figure, not one comparison, not one enlightening comment not one of my questions answered. Just a list of names!
I believe there are some 300 libraries in NZ, which was also not mentioned, so more non research.
I had also asked the Mayor, Mr. Ryan and the Library if the Library was logging/registering/counting
• Over the counter requests for help?
• Over the counter/verbal complaints?
I have never even had those questions acknowledged or answered.
I have now requested all the above information under THE OFFICAL INFORMATION ACT – so we will see! I requested the UHCC by mail on the 28/7/17. I have not had an acknowledgement to date.
• Councillors McArthur and Gwilliam - I believe have not met their obligations to me as they have sworn to do. Councillors Lambert, Wheeler and Griffiths have been demonstrably derelict in their sworn duty.
I first contacted my elected representatives by email on the 24/4/17 the last time 1/8/17
• I will not contact them again, instead I am now going to research all my lawful options on how to redress this situation in regard to their failure and repeated refusal to engage with me or willingly represent me.
I am assuming that Angela McLeod is still not well or catching up from the backlog being unwell created. Get well soon – we need you to represent out issues and concerns to Council.
As an aside, the Core business of Libraries is books, publications and a reading room etc.
• Being a drop in centre is (since the internet) a relatively new incarnation.
DVDs. Public Computers, reading only and other diversions such as Wi-Fi are counted as visitors and people who take out books as issue numbers – issue numbers were not dropping at the same rate as visitor numbers which declined some 3% more than books. (If you can trust them, who knows how they collected and collated and then measured it?).
• Surely a Library should be only counting books issued to borrowers?
A member is not a visitor - regardless of whether they study, read only or just come in out of the cold.
Other groups who share the space are visitors and co use the Library space but are not the Library and may not even be members – and as such should be counted as a group on their own?
• Either we have a Library that is one accessible by all as before or we don’t have one, what we have now is not a Library as Librarians would understand them!!
A cherry-red quad bike taken from a therapeutic riding group has left people "gutted".
The Hutt Valley Riding for the Disabled organisation in Silverstream lost their quad bike after it was stolen from their arena overnight on July 24.
Administration manager Bronwyn Hussy was … View moreA cherry-red quad bike taken from a therapeutic riding group has left people "gutted".
The Hutt Valley Riding for the Disabled organisation in Silverstream lost their quad bike after it was stolen from their arena overnight on July 24.
Administration manager Bronwyn Hussy was disappointed they ...
Exercising doesn't have to be a slog! You can make getting fit and healthy great fun, especially doing it with your best bud! Click through to SuperValue's Facebook page and TAG a fitness buddy to go in the draw to WIN a Fitbit for you and your friend.
Kia Ora Neighbours!
Enjoy our heating option number 4!
HEAT PUMPS AND AIR CONDITIONING
Correct sizing is crucial for long-term trouble-free and economical running of your heat pump. If it is too small in capacity (kW), it may be cheaper to buy initially, but it will struggle to heat the … View moreKia Ora Neighbours!
Enjoy our heating option number 4!
HEAT PUMPS AND AIR CONDITIONING
Correct sizing is crucial for long-term trouble-free and economical running of your heat pump. If it is too small in capacity (kW), it may be cheaper to buy initially, but it will struggle to heat the area, resulting in the unit having to work much harder, making it less economical to run, and dying early. Options run to wall units, floor units, ceiling units or fully ducted – choose the most suitable for your space and house design. You don’t need a building consent to add a heat pump to your home but this must be installed by a qualified installer.
Garage sale
this Saturday (12/8/17)
... from 9:00am
See you here
I am starting up my Monday morning art tuition classes again beginning Monday. If you're keen or would like to just have a go, then you can contact me via Neighbourly or check out my website: www.teresasecker.co.nz......... classes run from 10-12pm. If you recommend someone and they sign up … View moreI am starting up my Monday morning art tuition classes again beginning Monday. If you're keen or would like to just have a go, then you can contact me via Neighbourly or check out my website: www.teresasecker.co.nz......... classes run from 10-12pm. If you recommend someone and they sign up for the term, then I will gift you a free lesson.
UPDATE
I have had a reply to my request for the research quoted as the authoritative basis for changes to the Library: I was forced by UHCC to request it under the Official Information Act!
• My question was that I be given the research statistics/data that the following statement refers to.
… View moreUPDATE
I have had a reply to my request for the research quoted as the authoritative basis for changes to the Library: I was forced by UHCC to request it under the Official Information Act!
• My question was that I be given the research statistics/data that the following statement refers to.
“The changes were well researched and based on successful similar libraries both in New Zealand and overseas”
I quote from the letter to me from Karen Patterson, Registered Legal Executive – UHCC
“The research completed prior to the Library changes being implemented was not by way of formal written statistical data. The research carried out by the Library Manager and the library leadership team included reading articles, attending conferences and meetings, carrying out fact finding visits to other libraries and discussions with the library fraternity looking at trends of libraries nationally and internationally and is in part summarised in the attached document ‘Proposed Library Layout and Shelving changes’. This information was presented and discussed with Upper Hutt City Councillors”
How do you feel about that? (I now understand why they withheld it)
• The attached document describes ratepayer/members/owners(us) as customers
• It compares the Library to retail spaces and purchases and describes what the Library offers as products
• Apparently only 1 in 3 of us is looking for something specific (so we don’t count?)
• Issue numbers are dropping (so I am right when I supposed this is a number crunch-no mention made of the fact real books and reading is on the rise and ebooks are on the decline- in fact no mention of a negative to their agenda at all)
• The shelving needing updating to comply with earthquake standards
• It also says it will leave science fiction/fantasy and romance in genre sections (that didn’t happen)
This revelation was followed by a list of websites, and Libraries that the Library team accessed. Some of which I have looked at and all are blatantly bias for the changes - all pros and no cons to impede their agenda for change, as such it is simply not credible. I also believe it to be incomplete.
I have looked at a few sites on the list of ‘sources’ that our Library Manager and team use as an authority opinion basis for the changes and despair of how limited, unprofessional and self-serving it is of the new Library Management changes agenda and Councils preoccupation with cost to benefit ratios through number crunching.
• I am shocked that an unbiased professional researcher was not engaged for such big changes to such an important ratepayer funded public service.
• There was no discernible credible research of the market(us) either
I have been a researcher in my working life and a bias body of opinion is NOT research. They also do no have an in depth documented analysis of their findings, just a document that supports in every way their desire for that set of changes.
• What a waste of ratepayers money to not do a proper job before making such big changes to a ratepayer funded public service – to institute such changes on personal opinions and limited bias toward desired outcome loaded information
• What an insult to our intelligence to claim a professionalism where none exists
• What an insult to literate, articulate people to render their local library inoperable to a large group of people who had no previous trouble accessing the Library fiction content before removing genre sections – I suspect because they had no idea we existed
To apply a market driven, commercial model to a ratepayer funded and owned public service is inappropriate and a flawed premise!
A modern healthy civilised community promotes literacy through public libraries, physical health and wellbeing through it children’s play grounds, sports ground and parks, healthy mind through all of those and the Arts and other cultural activities.
• They are not expected to return a monetary gain and nor should they be measured by numbers in a ‘cost to benefit’ manner, they are a ratepayer funded service, not a commercial enterprise. Accessibility and wellbeing should be what counts!
If we are as a community to fund a public Library it must be one that everyone can access, not one that excludes groups of people who have paid through their rates for a Library but are now denied equal access, their search patterns not being accounted for!
• If we are to provide library services that all ratepayers contribute to, then it needs to be accessible by anyone who can read, traditional genre sections provide that opportunity! (by the way - provision of a public Library is core business)
I don’t know about you, but I will be very sceptical of any ‘statistics’ that the Library or Council state in support of the changes. I would have to know what questions were being asked, what parameters and variables were included and their context, before I would find them credible!
I have let Angela McLeod know the outcome of my request and she is still interested in supporting and representing those of us who have been disadvantaged by the changes and those of us who are now excluded from our library by our search styles and by removing genre sections. Angela is our point of contact and is keeping Ros Connelly and Helen Swales informed as well, as they are also interested in supporting and representing us and our concerns (doing their jobs).
I have for the third time emailed the Councillors who are ignoring me and our concerns, Chris Carson, John Gwilliam, Glenn McArthur, Paul Lambert, Dave Wheeler and Blair Griffiths.
• Despite the fact they have sworn to engage with ratepayers, to represent ratepayers and to facilitate the democratic process by engaging with ratepayers
I have now received replies from John Gwillian, who says he didn’t get my earlier emails, funny that, others got theirs. I have also heard from Glenn McArthur who apologises because he thought he had replied, I don’t know which reply appals me more. Both are offering me ongoing dialogue, I will consider it.
Oh well, it is what it is and I will continue to lobby for genre to be reinstated to the Upper Hutt City Library, our Library, and to support anyone who finds they are disadvantaged in any way by the unprofessional lack of research leading to unprofessional changes to our Library.
• Remember we pay all these people wages/salaries/stipends, we pay for the building and its contents, we already pay for the Library, Parks, Playground, Sportsground, Art Gallery and every other ratepayer funded public service. It is all ours!
Please, please, all of you that share my point of view, contact your representatives and let them know how you feel about that the methods used to make a case out for the current changes to our Library which are not valid, due to lack of proper process and lack of transparency due to no statistical or shareable information.
Share with them that you are as appalled as I am that we had to compel our public servants, Mayor and Council to share with us such unprofessional processes and decision making, let Mayor and the Councillors and the Director of Community Services know how you feel.
Back up yourselves and me!
• Remember they count numbers and I am seen as only one voice.
You also might consider requesting Council to supply you the same information that they supplied me with, so you can follow it up yourself, rather than relying on my interpretation.
A chicken apocalypse in Levin, a furry glove thief in Woolston and a bit of graffiti-proof kiwi ingenuity in Dunedin.
We've found a small selection of goodies from this month that we just couldn't help but share with you all. Click on the titles to see the original posts!
Did you … View moreA chicken apocalypse in Levin, a furry glove thief in Woolston and a bit of graffiti-proof kiwi ingenuity in Dunedin.
We've found a small selection of goodies from this month that we just couldn't help but share with you all. Click on the titles to see the original posts!
Did you know that you can browse posts from neighbourhoods across the country on our Public Notices tab? Any content shared to these public pages are posts that have been made with the "Public Post" box ticked.
I do newborn photography and usually purchase carded wool batting/fleece from overseas to use in my baby photoshoots however, they often get a bit destroyed and need to be re-carded. I would love to find a local supplier and someone who can redo my my ones that have been a bit pulled apart and have… View moreI do newborn photography and usually purchase carded wool batting/fleece from overseas to use in my baby photoshoots however, they often get a bit destroyed and need to be re-carded. I would love to find a local supplier and someone who can redo my my ones that have been a bit pulled apart and have holes torn in them. Thanks
Hello Neighbours!
Read on to find out about our heating option number 3!
UNDERFLOOR HEATING
These work with any floor type but care should be taken with wooden overlays as there is potential for shrinkage. Electrical systems are cheap to install but the running costs are higher. The high … View moreHello Neighbours!
Read on to find out about our heating option number 3!
UNDERFLOOR HEATING
These work with any floor type but care should be taken with wooden overlays as there is potential for shrinkage. Electrical systems are cheap to install but the running costs are higher. The high cost of gas in the South Island also makes these systems more expensive to operate there. Running pipes in your concrete floor slab even if you don’t intend to use them initially, will future-proof your home and may add resale value.
Two new websites, developed by the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO), were launched last week.
One helps people find out what’s happening in their communities during and after an emergency. The other helps people prepare before the big one hits.
The two new websites … View moreTwo new websites, developed by the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO), were launched last week.
One helps people find out what’s happening in their communities during and after an emergency. The other helps people prepare before the big one hits.
The two new websites provide reliable information for people across the region.
www.wremo.nz... - provides local information when an emergency happens and is also the corporate site for WREMO.
www.getprepared.nz... - contains everything people across our region need to get prepared before any emergency occurs.
“The two new websites, along with our Facebook page, are our key communications channels for the people of our region. During an emergency we need people to quickly understand what is happening in their area and how it might affect them, so they can make the best decisions for them and their families,” says Bruce Pepperell, Regional Manager at the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office.
“Working with local councils’ communications people, we know that if an earthquake, tsunami or any other emergency happens, the new WREMO website can be updated quickly and easily. This will be a reliable source of information giving people of the region more certainty about what they need to do”.
"People need specific, targeted and correct information they can follow. We need people to follow official warnings, and it’s imperative they use a credible source for disaster information. These new websites, along with our Facebook page, are those credible sources,” says Mr Pepperell.
“Plus by having information to help people get prepared separated from operational information, means we can best meet the needs of both types of users. It gives us flexibility and our region certainty.”
Following extensive feedback after November’s earthquake, the need to provide localised information became a key priority for WREMO.
Last Novembers’ event saw an increase of 76.9% new users come to WREMO’s website for information, particularly to find tsunami evacuation zone information. Over 160,000 people accessed WREMO’s emergency information within the first hour of the 14 November earthquake. By making these two websites mobile friendly means clear information gets out to where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
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