Stormwater upgrade planned for Margaret Road

Council will shortly commence work to upgrade stormwater network capacity in Raumati. The upgrade will involve replacing a section of pipe below the ground on Margaret Road between the southern end of the Raumati Village shops and Victor Grove. 

Access and Transport Manager, Glen O’Connor, says the Council had originally scheduled the stormwater upgrade for the year 2023/24, but has brought it forward to accommodate future property development in the area.  

“The Raumati Pump Station and other storm water infrastructure was upgraded in 2013 to improve drainage on Margaret Road and around the village centre. The upcoming works will extend the upgrades further along Margaret Road and will enhance stormwater network capacity.   

“At the same time, we’re upgrading the footpath on the eastern side of Margaret Road, from just south of Reddins Restaurant to Kapiti College. This will provide a safer and wider pedestrian link to and from the village.”   

Mr O’Connor says the works are expected to take about six weeks to complete and traffic management will be in place. 

“Stormwater projects require extensive excavation work, so we’ll be closing Margaret Road from south of the shops to Victor Road, with a detour for through traffic via Rosetta Road and Victor Road.”

“Residents will still have access to their properties, but there will be no on-street parking within the work zone. Margaret Road businesses will be accessible, with all but the three southern-most parallel parks available as normal.”

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Kites, kai and local kōrero receive support through 2019 Kāpiti Major Events Fund

The Kāpiti Coast District Council has awarded $175,000 to five local events that showcase a distinctly Kāpiti flavour and provide return on investment for the local economy.

Trail running event XTERRA Wellington, Māoriland Film Festival, Kāpiti Food Fair, FFFLAIR and the Ōtaki Kite Festival will each receive support through the 2019 Kāpiti Major Events Fund to deliver their events within the next year.

“We were really impressed by the quality of applications we received through this funding round,” says James Jefferson, Group Manager Place & Space.

“This year we added additional funds and clarified application criteria regarding what types of events might be successfully selected for financial support. This has resulted in some fresh ideas as well as continued support for events that have already proven themselves iconic to Kāpiti.

“Hosting a diverse calendar of events attracts visitors to our district, allows us to celebrate what we love the most about Kāpiti and is a key driver in delivering long-term economic development.”

2019 Major Events Fund recipients:

Event/Funding in 2019/2020/Event date

XTERRA Wellington / $20,000 / 19 May 2020 at Whareroa Farm, near Paekakariki.

Māoriland Film Festival / $55,000 / 18-22 March 2020 in Ōtaki.

Kāpiti Food Fair / $25,000 / 30 November 2019 at Mazengarb Reserve in Paraparaumu.

FFFLAIR / $50,000 / 26 February to 1 March 2020 at Otaraua Park, between Waikanae and Otaihanga.

Ōtaki Kite Festival / $25,000 / 8 February 2020 at Ōtaki Beach. 

The Kāpiti Major Events Fund was established by the Council in 2016 to help promote and grow a vibrant major events portfolio that brings economic benefit to the district.

Find out more about the Fund here: www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/majoreventsfund

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Kāpiti Coast District Council wins Excellence in Climate Action award

Innovative work by the Kāpiti Coast District Council to reduce its emissions by 76% over the last 10 years has been recognised in the 2019 Enviro-Mark Solutions Awards.

The Awards are a biennial celebration of businesses certified under the CEMARS and carboNZero programmes that have shown exceptional leadership in climate change mitigation and environmental action.

This morning, the Council took out the Excellence in Climate Action (medium organisation) category at the Enviro-Mark Solutions Awards breakfast in Auckland.

This isn’t the first time the Council has been recognised by Enviro-Mark Solutions for managing its carbon footprint. In 2017, it received the Overall Award for Outstanding Performance in Carbon Management and in 2018, was confirmed as the leading certified CO2 equivalent emission reducer in the CEMARS programme.

“This award is fantastic recognition of our commitment and perseverance in reducing our emissions,” says Sean Mallon, Group Manager Infrastructure Services.

“As a coastal district, climate change is a particularly significant challenge for our communities and for us, this means committing to tangible actions now that contribute to the safety and wellbeing of current and future generations.

“Simple changes can have big impacts. A great example of this was converting 4,700 of the district’s 4,786 sodium vapour street lamps to new white light-emitting diode (LED) lights. This initiative alone avoids 1.05 million kWh of electricity use each year at a projected saving of around $130,000.

“We’ve also focused on supporting the wider community in reducing emissions through a range of collaborative projects including the installation of EV Fast Charging Stations around the district and supporting a community solar farm project at the Ōtaki Wastewater Treatment Plant that, when completed, will harvest energy from the sun to power the wastewater treatment process.”

In May 2019, the Council declared a climate change emergency in Kāpiti and committed to pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality by 2025.

“Carbon neutrality is an ambitious target but we have already proven that, by taking an active leadership role, we can achieve big things. We will continue to implement initiatives and look for innovative ways to keep reducing emissions as part of our ongoing commitment to the Kāpiti Coast community,” says Mr Mallon.

To read more about the Enviro-Mark Solutions Awards, visit https://www.enviro-mark.com/news-and-events/news/inspiring-action/e-ms-awards-2019

-KCDC

Council releases its pre-election report

The Kāpiti Coast District Council has today published its pre-election report to help inform candidate and community discussion in the lead up to local body elections in October 2019.  

Council Chief Executive Wayne Maxwell says the pre-election report provides an overview of the current position and direction of the Kāpiti Coast District. 

“Overall, the Kapiti story is one of optimisim and potential however, we have some big challenges facing our district over the coming electoral term. 

“The report highlights what we are doing to respond to those challenges and what the Council has been doing to meet the needs of the community, and position our district for growth, in the past three years.

“We’re clear about the issues we need to focus on and what we need to do to enable development on the things people want to see in our district,” Mr Maxwell says. “This includes managing our finances carefully and making good decisions about spending.” 

“We’re in good shape. Our credit rating outlook was recently revised up two grades from A+ to AA which means our community can be absolutely confident that we’re managing our finances prudently and that we’re planning well for our future borrowing needs.  

“This information is important for candidates to understand the sorts of issues they will be working through and for voters to understand what views candidates have on these issues.” 

The Council’s pre-election report can be viewed online at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/elections2019. Hard copies are available in Kāpiti Coast District Council libraries and service centres.

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High attendance at Kāpiti Beyond the Page events

Kāpiti kids experienced literature and story-telling like never before during the school holidays at this year’s Beyond the Page festival – NZ’s largest literary festival for kids. 

“Over the last couple of weeks Kāpiti libraries were abuzz with literary workshops, live-performances, creative play and interactive story-telling,” says Council Library and Arts Manager, Ian Littleworth. 

“It’s the second time Kāpiti has taken part in Beyond the Page, and it’s a great way of helping our kids connect with literature and develop a love of books and stories.   

“We had everything from interactive who-done-it murder mysteries, to stories told through ballet and mime, to live performances from NZ Star Wars costume artists, Outpost42, and Toro Pikopiko – the world’s first ever Māori rock-art puppetry group, which tells Māori legends using hand-crafted puppets.” 

“We were also lucky enough to get live interactive performances from several major New Zealand story-tellers, including award-winning kids’ authors, Donovan Bixley and Paul Beavis. 

“All in all we had 850 people attend the 22 events, which were facilitated by Kāpiti librarians in all our communities. 

“We had nearly 350 more people come along this year, so it’s definitely growing in popularity. We’d be delighted to see an even bigger turnout next year.”    

Beyond the Page is a collaboration between five Wellington region Public Libraries, Hutt City Libraries, Upper Hutt City Libraries, Wellington City Libraries,Porirua City Libraries and Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.

About Beyond the Page, New Zealand’s biggest literary festival for tamariki and their whānau!

6 – 21 July 2019 across the Wellington Region

The 2019 festival line up is the biggest yet with performers, authors and illustrators from across New Zealand arriving in Wellington in the July school holidays for the 3rd annual Beyond the Page festival.

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-KCDC