a progress report on the petition and hikoi
Kāpiti ‘Hikoi On Homelessness’ Highlights The Housing Crisis
Motorists tooting support outnumbered marchers highlighting the plight of Kāpiti’s homeless yesterday, but their cause was strengthened by Cr Sophie Handford walking the walk with them.
And, Felicity Stacey-Clark, reports the ‘Hikoi on Homelessness’ made its mark on public consciousness by highlighting the housing crisis threatening local society.
About a dozen people paraded down Kapiti Road from McLean St to the Paraparaumu Library, drawing a chorus of supportive toots from passing cars.
The Hikoi on Homelessness was organised to raise awareness of the shortage of affordable accommodation in Kāpiti — with large numbers of homeless being put up in motels and other temporary accommodation because they can't find suitable or affordable rental homes.
“Not just a big city problem’
Speakers at the rally at the Library pointed out that homelessness is not just a big city problem.
They spoke about living in emergency housing for more than a year; and being moved on at short notice to another motel because their motel was taken over as a MIQ facility.
Others pointed out the difficulties in accommodation which was not designed to cater for people with disabilities, or for family groups.
Several spoke of the toll taken on the mental and physical health of the displaced people. One person spoke of five moves in three years between properties that landlords had then rented out as long term.
It was also pointed out that younger homeless people were often missed in statistics because they were couch surfing, living in cars, or sleeping rough.
Councillor Sophie’s support
Councillor Sophie Handford joined the marchers from the start, while local MP Terisa Ngobi and Mayor K. Gurunathan met the group at the Library.
A petition is being circulated to raise the issue at Parliament, and those gathering were also urged to support a KCDC survey on homelessness in Kāpiti.
This is available online from the KCDC site — or from the Kāpiti Libraries and Council offices.
kapitiindependentnews.net.nz...
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.6% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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29.9% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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