KARRA Archive

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Open Forum, Thursday 14th July, 8.00pm at the Kaukapakapa Hall

Is Kaukapakapa merely a place to drive through on the way to somewhere else or is it a place to enjoy seeing... being in... living in?

Your chance is here to put forward YOUR ideas and YOUR VISION FOR KAUKAPAKAPA at a public meeting on Thursday, July 14 at 8:OO pm in the Kaukapakapa hall.

Ralph Martin, the new Chairperson of the Kaukapakapa Residents and Ratepayers Association has scheduled this meeting specially to hear your views and ideas about how a programme of enhancement of our environment can be achieved.

If you want to live in a beautiful village; if you want to be proud of where you live; if you want to help make a difference, then your help is needed to make this happen.

Your association wants to make Kaukapakapa a pleasant place to live in - a beautiful place that showcases the area, its physical attractions and the lifestyle enjoyed. To do this effectively the committee needs to hear your vision and ideas on how this can be achieved. How do you see the organization reaching these goals? Also needed is your input on the structure, funding and aims of a committee which works to represents you.

Here is your chance to have your say and put forward your views.

Kaukapakapa needs you.

History tells us that those communities who pool their ideas and resources survive, and that apathy can spell the death knell of places like ours.

There are many examples both in New Zealand and throughout the world of what can be achieved when people pull together either to make their environment a better place for living or, as in the disasters that are currently plaguing Christchurch, how they can help when fellow citizens are suffering.

In Kaukapakapa we need both an Ideas and Vision Army as well as one willing to pick up Spade and Shovel.

Archived from Home page, 15 September 2011.

Kaukapakapa Structure Plan

Kaukapakapa is a unique rural village that is experiencing growth pressures. To assist in managing these pressures, Rodney District Council is undertaking a Structure planning exercise for Kaukapakapa to confirm the vision and develop a spatial plan to guide growth over the next 10-20 years.

The Kaukapakapa community's thoughts and feedback over the past few years has helped to shape the final draft Stucture Plan and implementation strategy.

At KARRA's AGM on 22 April 2010 Cr Grev Walker advised that the draft Structure Plan has now been prepared and will be considered at a Council workshop on 8 May. It is proposed that the draft Structure Plan will be adopted by the Rodney District Council at its Full Council meeting on 27 May 2010, and public submissions will be sought in June. Copies of the draft Structure Plan will be made available in the village and at the local RDC service centres. More information will be posted here as it comes to hand.

Archived from Projects page, 21 March 2011.

Kaukapakapa is a unique rural village within Rodney District that is experiencing growth pressures. To assist in managing these pressures Rodney District Council is undertaking a Structure planning exercise for Kaukapakapa to confirm the vision and develop a spatial plan to guide growth over the next 10-20 years.

Your thoughts and feedback will shape the final Stucture Plan and implementation strategy.

An Open Day will be held in October 2009 so members of the public can drop in to see a display of more information and ask questions of Council staff.

The Open Day will be held in the village, further details to be advised soon.

Additional information on the project will be available from the Rodney District Council website: click here. It will contain further information including previous background studies.

Please contact Yvonne Rust at the Council's Policy and planning Department Phone 0800 426 5169 for more information.

Archived from News page, 21 March 2011.

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Road Closures at Punganui Bridge (SH16)

Project Manager, Ashley Cooper, gives an explanation of the work that is being carried out on the Punganui Bridge, near Inland Road:

The Existing Bridge is actually sitting in the tidal flow, & reinforced concrete & salt water with repeated wetting & drying isn’t a good mix, requiring a lot of maintenance to the structure. To overcome this, we’re building a new wider bridge at a higher elevation, to keep it out of the stream. The new bridge will be between 1.5 & 2 m higher than the existing bridge with a 3.5m carriageway & 1.5m shoulder in either direction, with a 2.2m Footpath/ Cycleway on 1 side.

There is extensive replanting of appropriate vegetation on the new embankment approaches to the bridge, with the structure itself supported on 4 piles to each of the 2 piers, giving the bridge 3 spans each of around 20m. The bridge is being constructed in 2 halves across the width in order to maintain an open route, all be it at a single lane for a few months.

The programme for the work is to be finished before Christmas, with the aim of getting the first half of the bridge, & the road back open to 2 lanes by the middle of July. Prior to that we will need occasional overnight closures, but they are likely to be for only 1 or 2 nights at a time after the Easter break. We are installing additional signage to sit next to the Traffic lights, to inform local traffic of when the next closure is due, as communication through the press doesn’t seem to be that effective to local residents.

ROAD CLOSURE NOTICES

Fletcher Construction and Brian Perry Civil are keeping the KARRA Committee informed of upcoming works at Punganui Stream Bridge.

As part of the bridge upgrade works, full road closures are required. This will involve closing the section of SH16 from Inland Road to approximately 300m northeast of Punganui Bridge. Detour routes will be in place during these times to allow traffic to pass around the road closure.

When advised that closures are scheduled, KARRA will post that information on this page.

9 December 2010

Fletcher Construction and Brian Perry Civil wish to inform you of the upcoming traffic layout change at Punganui Stream Bridge.

As of the 17th of December Punganui Bridge will be open to two lanes of traffic. This will remove the need for the traffic lights at either end of the site. A reduced speed limit will remain in place for a short period of time.

We thank you for your patience over the past 12 months.

BRIAN PERRY CIVIL
Ashley Cooper 0276545329 AshleyC@fcc.co.nz

Archived 21 February 2011.

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South Kaipara Forum

The South Kaipara Forum is the consultation board that Rodney District Council uses to convey projects and issues with interested South Kaipara people (Kaukapakapa, Helensville, Woodhill, Parakai, South Head). It is also an opportunity for forum attendees to bring up any strategic issues which they are concerned about, before the meeting. Council officers and invited guests will attempt to address their concerns.

The meetings are held quarterly, with an advertisement posted in the Nor West news on the meeting details and agenda. All meetings are held in the meeting room of the Helensville Community Hall (next to the library). Local residents are welcome whether they represent a community group or not. For further details please get in touch with the meeting convener - gavin.flynn@rodney.govt.nz.

Archived from home page 23 March 2011.

River Clearance Update September 2010:

Completion of an initial log clearance programme has been confirmed by RLM and East Coast Towing and Salvage. Work was done between 5th April and 9th May, and immediate flow improvement was evident. A build-up of mangrove seedlings has been noted and KARRA will be seeking assurance that the clearance work and weedspraying will be continued by the SuperCity.

Archived from Projects page 24 March 2011.

Kaukapakapa School Golf Fundraiser

Information Flier and Entry Form now available.

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Rodney Coast Challenge - Support the Kaukapakapa Scout Group

Run by the Kaukapakapa Scout Group as their major fundraiser for the year, this year’s Canoe & Kayak Rodney Coast Challenge will be held on Sunday 14th November. A great entry level multisport event with a fantastic family atmosphere, the course begins on Muriwai Beach at the end of Rimmer Road with a 10km forest run followed by a 30km road cycle to Makarau, a 24km mountain bike over the hill to Puhoi and a 8km kayak to the finish at Wenderholm. For further information see our web site www.rcc.org.nz.

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KARRA AGM, Community Service Award & Public Meeting 22 April 2010

KARRA's AGM was held on Thursday 22 April. Committee members are delighted that Dr Neville Miller has agreed to continue in the position of Chair for the 2010/11 year. Two new committee members were warmly welcomed on board - Shirley Forde Radford and Ralph Martin.

The KARRA Committee for 2010/11 will be:
Dr Neville Miller (Chair), Rodney Pomfrett, Bruce Cowan, Hugh Maclennan, Athol McLachlan, Dennis McAulay, Colin Beddow, Crispin Caldicott, Nigel Bennetts, Megan Paterson, Judi Candy, Paul Candy, Norman McLachlan, Shirley Forde Radford and Ralph Martin.

It was with great pleasure that the Community Service Award was presented to Isla Willis of Amenbury Farm. Isla has been involved with the Helensville & Districts Historical Society for about 20 years. As a committee member she has organised some major events such as the 'Century of Fashion' parade, and the parade of pioneer‘s descendants at the opening of the re-sited Helensville Museum. Isla is currently involved in compiling histories of local families in the district and co-authored “Pioneering Women of the South Kaipara”. She has been sexton of the old Kaukapakapa Cemetery for 15 years and is one of the long time stalwarts of Kaukapakapa's St Cuthberts Church.

A public meeting followed the AGM, with updates and discussion on the Kaukapakapa Structure Plan, Auckland SuperCity, and other matters that KARRA has been involved in over the last year. Our thanks to Councillors Grev Walker and Suzanne Weld for their attendance, and in particular to Cr Weld for her presentation on the SuperCity changes and how they might affect the Kaukapakapa community.

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Bus Trial Cancelled

Disappointingly, KARRA has to advise the community that the trial bus service between Kaukapakapa and Silverdale will not be going ahead. 36 people signalled in the online survey that they would use the service every day, yet only five confirmed they would take part in the trial starting 15 March. We do encourage local residents to make use of the park and ride facilities at Silverdale and Albany, or register with Rodney District Council's online carpooling scheme. More information on 'Take a Mate' can be found here, or you can phone Claire Flattery at RDC 0800 426 5169

For information on the proposed White Hills Road Cleanfill click here.

Proposed Gas-fired Rodney Power Station

'STOP RODNEY POWER STATION' campaign

State-owned electricity generator Genesis Energy is proposing to build a 480MW gas-burning CCGT power station in Kaukapakapa. The joint ARC/RDC hearing for Genesis Energy's resource consent, plan change and variation applications concluded on 31 October 2008. Dr Neville Miller, Bruce Cowan and Pip McAlwee gave a three and a half hour presentation to the hearing panel on 6 October. A further submission from KARRA, responding to supplementary evidence from Genesis Energy, was presented to the hearing panel on the final day of the hearing.

The Auckland Regional Council commissioners granted thirteen resource consents for the project on 11 December 2008. Genesis Energy appealed some consent conditions to the Environment Court. On 26 March 2009 the Rodney District Council commissioners approved the special zone plan change and variation to the District Plan, and two further resource consents. KARRA sought legal advice on appealing the decision to the Environment Court, and presented this advice to residents at a community meeting on 23 April 2009.

The parties involved in the appeals were Genesis Energy, Vector Limited, Auckland Regional Council, Rodney District Council, local iwi Ngati Whatua Nga Rima o Kaipara - and a local couple who live in Abel Road, near the site. The latter withdrew their appeal after reaching a private agreement with Genesis Energy. Following negotiations between the remaining parties, consent orders were signed in October 2009 and this brought both Environment Court appeals to an end.

The decision to build the Rodney Power Station has not been made. In December 2009 Genesis Energy's CEO told a Parliamentary select committee that there is no construction timeline for the power station, they have no contracted gas supplies to run the plant, and that other development opportunities Genesis have in renewables may present better options than building another gas-fired plant.

At an Environment Court hearing on 21 April 2010, the CEO gave evidence that "We have not made a decision on the construction of Rodney yet" and "We have not contracted a gas supply for Rodney".

He also said the company is carrying out technical studies on the Rodney Power Station project and a recommendation will be put to their Board by the end of this calendar year. But the CEO also emphasised that this didn’t mean a decision to proceed would be made then, and it may be that they recommend further technical studies are carried out. The Court was told that he "couldn’t give any assurance when a decision will be made".