Minutes meeting 28 January ’25 held at Avebury House
Present
Murray James (chair), Hayley Guglietta, Liesbeth van Bruchem, Ewout van Bruchem, Nick Hughes, David Duffy, Cheryl Doig, Jake McLellan, Ali Greening, Andrew Button, Ross Skinner, Lena Tiebosch.
Apologies
Rachel Crawford, Pauline Cotter, Kate Palmer, Chris Carter, John Miller, Emily Shine, Charlie Orr.
The minutes from the previous meeting (26 November ‘24) were moved as true and correct by Ali, seconded by Nick and accepted by all.
Correspondence
We have been invited by the mayor to a Resident’s Group Forum on the 27th of February. Murray to attend. If anyone else would like to attend, let me know and I’ll forward the invite.
We have been invited to the Richmond Community Garden’s Board meeting on the 4th of February from 5 till 7pm. What to Expect:
- Interactive workshops: Whiteboards and group discussions to gather your ideas on what’s working, what needs tweaking, and what exciting projects we should focus on.
- Delicious kai: Carlo will be treating us to pizzas, paired with drinks funded by our metal recycling efforts. Please rsvp to: admin@richmondcommunitygarden.co.nz
It’s a relaxed, open session where you can pop in for as long as you’re able. Let’s come together, connect, and spark fresh ideas for an impactful year ahead! Please let Liesbeth know if you would like the strategic impact document forwarded.
Another invite from the Richmond Community Garden, this time to participate in the Gala on the 29th of March. We need to discuss at the next meeting how WAR is going to participate.
Nick updated us on the starling situation. The season is from now till April and tens of thousands of birds come to Dudley Street and nest in the trees, which haven’t been maintained since the earthquakes and provide ample space for huge colonies.
The residents are fed up, the faecal matter is a health hazard, impacts on people’s wellbeing and damages property.
Council’s maintenance schedule to fortnightly clean the footpaths is not always on target and the toxic poo will damage the council owned streets.
Jake will take this to the next community board meeting and WAR indicated that we appreciate a big push from council.
Jake also indicated that Nick can attend the February 13 meeting to participate in the public forum and continue this conversation.
Update from the Chair
Murray updated us on the ‘spur of the moment working bee’ that was carried out in Warden street, the entrance to Pareawa Banks Ave School.
340kg of rubbish was taken to the dump. Metal and recycling was separated and disposed of by Ewout and Liesbeth and tires were put in the skip at the dump free of charge.
The rubbish disposal cost $137.96 and Nick will try and get this re-imbursed from the MOE.
Murray indicated that there are still some Shirley Boys rugby posts lying in the alleyway, which he would like to put up at Pareawa Banks Ave. Ross indicated that the Sunrise Rotary could support this, having ex Shirley men in their Rotary Club.
However, this will be on hold till we know exactly what is happening in the space.
The alleyway can be further developed, maybe add hop scotch etc on the concrete.
Hayley to work on this with the school kids.
Nick will continue to be our liaison and we will extend an invitation to the principal to come to our next meeting.
The deputy principal (Jan Thompson) emailed the following:
“Huge appreciation for the clearout of the access – it’s amazing. THANKYOU to the Richmond Community group!”
Treasurer’s report
The Richmond Resident’s and Business Association has now been restored in the companies Register. Thanks Hayley for your hard work accomplishing this.
We can now apply for funding again and the next one to apply to is the Rata Foundation for the pavilion at Petrie Park and for operational costs.
Hayley proposed to offer Nick, the artist, who will do the mural at the Richmond Village a Koha of up to $1500. We unanimously agreed to this.
The treasurer’s report was accepted as true and correct.
Working groups
Roading
David informed us of a new contact person in council to deal with transport projects.
Oscar Larson (Oscar.Larson@ccc.govt.nz).
Richmond Clean Ups
Hayley will create an event for a clean up around the neighbourhood. Starting at the Medway parklet, via North Avon Road to the Tattoo shop.
Date: Wednesday the 12th of February from 5pm. Everyone welcome!
Arts & Parks
Work is still being done at Petrie Park.
Hayley and Murray will cover up the area that has asbestos, so no planting will occur in future. Other parts of the park will be planted with plants that can absorb the chemicals from the soil.
A motion was raised for Murray to build 8 seats and spray paint the walls before the murals go up. Murray will be paid for this. Labour at reduced rate, materials at cost.
We unanimously agreed to it.
We will organise a lunchtime BBQ at Petrie Park on Sunday the 23rd of February.
Lena to ask her contact at Peter Timbs for sausages.
Keep an eye on communications to help.
Shirley Pool
Murray indicated that a lot of people are involved with the pool, so sometimes decision making is slow. The Orion Community Energy project could be something for the long term future. Murray to give us a brief overview of this project at a future meeting.
There will be a couple of working bees at the pool between now and the end of February to clean the pool and open up the fence.
Update from council
Jake McLellan was the only representative from council at the meeting and he updated us on the alcohol policy which is being discussed. There’s a proposal to reduce the opening hours to 9pm (instead of 10 or 11pm).
We are encouraged to put submissions in when consultation opens.
We also talked about the cycleway and Jake is pushing for funding to finish the remaining part (North Avon to Banks Ave).
He will also talk to Kelly regarding the intersection improvements at Fitzgerald Ave and Hills Road.
There will be a petition, plus WAR is ready to put in a submission when possible.
We briefly discussed that it is an election year, so it will be good if WAR did some out of the box thinking again with hands on activities to meet the candidates.
We can discuss at a later stage.
Website
The website crashed and it is unsure how. Hayley would like to see it restored with links to Facebook and other important events, like the pool.
Jake mentioned that Reuben’s office address has now changed, so that needs to be updated on the website.
Hayley to get in contact with Christiaan to see what happened and what needs to be done.
Constitution
When the constitution is updated, we can load it onto the Companies Register and then we can also put through the name change (from RRBA to WAR).
Murray and Liesbeth to work on this.
General business
Lena pointed out that March is Pride month and asked if there was anything we could do to acknowledge that?
Maybe at the Richmond Gala? Or talk to the library.
Hayley will present the plans for Petrie Park on the 15th of March at 4pm.
The Civil Defence Plan is underway. It will start with an audit of which organisations have what capacity and/or resources. Like meeting rooms, first aid kits, defibrillators, food parcels etc.
David pondered the questions: “What are we going to leave our grandkids? How can WAR be involved?”
It was suggested that the civil defence plan is a step in the right direction. It is also important to involve youth and other groups distribute welcome packs when new people move into the neighbourhood.
Meeting closed at 9.01pm
Next meeting: 25 February ’25 at Avebury House, 7pm
| Action Points | |
| Attend Resident’s Group Forum on 27 Feb | Murray + 1 |
| Think about WAR’s role at the Gala on the 29th of March | Everyone |
| Invite Pareawa Banks Ave principal to come to our meeting | Liesbeth |
| Help prepare BBQ and help at the event at Petrie Park on 23 Feb | Everyone who wants |
| Give overview of Community Energy Project at a date to be decided | Murray |
| Put submission in for cycleways | Murray |
| Contact Richmond Club regarding Shirley pool | Nick |
| Contact Christiaan re: website | Hayley |
| Update constitution | Murray and Liesbeth |
| History panels on corner, check with relevant people in next 2 weeks | Jake |
| Meeting with Stacey and/or Trevor | Craig |
| Hand chain to Hayley to attach to gutter at the Tattoo Shop | Murray |