Louise Askin - Whaitua Te Whanganui-a-Tara Committee
Kia ora koutou, I’m Louise from Makara, and a co-chair of the Whaitua Te Whanganui-a-Tara Committee. We are a community committee tasked with making recommendations to Greater Wellington Regional Council and our city councils on the future of water quality and its use in Wellington, Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt (our Whaitua). Our waterways are precious and our water networks (freshwater, wastewater and stormwater) are vital for our community’s wellbeing. Recently, we have been learning about the state of water in our area and gathering community input on how water is valued and what should be done to look after it.
I live with my family beside the Makara Stream and we follow its path each day, winding from the beach up toward the headwaters above Makara Village or Ohariu. Our rural communities value their waterways and we want their input on how to best achieve reductions of sediment and pathogens in our rural areas. In town, there is a huge job ahead in upgrading the piped water networks and lessening our three cities’ impact on water quality - while also planning for population growth. Our region must meet national water quality requirements within a few years so we want to find solutions that reflect our communities’ views and are informed by good evidence and information.
Get in touch with us to give us your thoughts. You can reach us at whaitua@gw.govt.nz. To see what we have been doing visit our Facebook page. To share what you value about our water and your solutions, have your say here.
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!
Get up to $30,000 back* with your new home
Sign up to an independent apartment or townhouse at a participating Ryman village by 31 March 2026 and receive a $30,000 credit on settlement or sign up to a serviced apartment and receive a $10,000 credit on settlement*.
Imagine a new smart TV, your next getaway or furniture for your new home. With more money staying in your pocket, it’s yours to spend!
Discover the lifestyle that awaits.
*Participating villages only, Terms and conditions apply.
🎉 Riddle me this, legends! 🎉
He/She who makes it, sells it.
He/She who buys it, doesn't use it.
The user doesn't know they are using it.
What is it?
(Shezz from Ngāruawāhia kindly provided this head-scratcher ... thanks, Shezz!)
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Loading…
