Makererua St steps closed for repairs

The walkway at the end of Makererua St leading up to Heke Street is having a make-over.

Contractors are building new steps and installing a new handrail. The path at the bottom of the steps will also get some attention.

The walkway will reopen on 15 May – all going well.

Overhanging vegetation

Members of Ngaio Progressive Association are checking local streets  for pedestrian hazards.  This is our  regular  “street audit”.

Potholes, drainage problems, overhanging vegetation, broken steps and non-working street lights are all on our hit list.

Once we know what  the problems are, we will let Wellington City Council know.

Nairnville Park macrocarpa hedge

Wellington City Council will remove the hazardous macrocarpa hedge from the western edge of Nairnville Park soon.  Work begins on 3 May and finishes three weeks later – weather permitting.

The trees have to go because:

• they are mature and in poor condition
• they are close to houses and the sports field
• several trees have already failed.

Council is  working on a landscape plan to replant the area this winter.

Council says the park will still be open for sport but walking tracks around the site will close during the project for safety reasons.  They will sell the useful timber and wood and mulch the rest.

A new bus route through Ngaio began at the end of February.

Route 47 runs between Johnsonville and Newtown.  It passes through the Khandallah and Ngaio shopping areas, Otari Wilton Bush,  Zealandia, Victoria University’s Kelburn campus and the dance school on John St.

Buses operate during university trimesters 1 and 2 on weekdays.  They do not run on the weekend.

Download the No. 47 timetable (PDF)

A Ngaio historian wants public feedback on a proposal to give the reserve in Tarikaka Street the name ‘Carran Park’. Bruce Carran was the lawyer who played a major role in helping railway settlement tenants buy their homes from NZ Railways in 1989.  However, he was later linked with the collapse of the Druids Friendly Society.

City Life-Independent Herald ran the story this week and sent us a copy.

Scoundrel or Hero? Page 1 Independent Herald 17 February (PDF)

Scoundrel or Hero? Page 15 Independent Herald 17 February (PDF)

The paper wants your feedback.  So do we!  Send your comments to:

editorial@citylifenews.co.nz

Wellington City Council is planning to classify 37 sites around Wellington as reserves to give them more protection.  They are places that most of us already regard as reserve or wilderness  but they lack official reserve classification.

Two of these sites are in the Outer Green Belt near Ngaio.

• Awarua Street Reserves – above Awarua Street and Vasanta Avenue
• Kilmister Tops – part of the main ridge behind Crofton Downs and Otari-Wilton’s Bush

“It is all good news as far as Ngaio Progressive Association is concerned.  We feel passionate about our backdrop and skylines. they are part of our identity.”

The Council wants your ideas, and is calling for submissions by 12 February.

Read more on the Wellington City Council website.  This includes maps of the sites and brief descriptions of them.

Wellington City Council is planning to upgrade two of the tracks up Mt Kaukau -  the Northern Walkway route and the Summit Track from Woodmancote Road.

It is replacing eroded steps, upgrading sections of the track and improving drainage.  This means the tracks will be closed from time to time for safety reasons.

Council says to watch out for signs indicating track closures and alternative routes to use.

Read more: Press release, Wellington City Council, 15 Dec 2009

There is now a new dog exercise area in Ngaio’s Chelmsford Reserve, and an extended off-leash area in Trelissick Park in Ngaio Gorge.   The City Council made changes to its dog policy in early December 2009.

Read more: Press release, Wellington City Council, 15 Dec 2009

The main sewer between the Ngaio Town Hall and 45 Waikowhai Street has a history of blockages.  Tree roots intruded into it and it overflowed during heavy rain.  Manholes popped up and spilled sewage into the streams and into some Waikowhai Street properties.  Sometimes it smelled.

Wellington City Council  decided to renew the existing trunk main sewer by diverting part of the wastewater catchment along Waikowhai Street.  This was easier to construct and easier to maintain.

The work involved laying 660m of 600mm diameter concrete pipe, 50m of 630mm PE (plastic) pipes, 57m of 500mm PE pipes, and 15m of 457mm steel pipes.  This was constructed using open trenching.  The work was started in March 2009.

The existing trunk main sewer along the stream will be relined and will now only serve the local catchment. This work should start in December 2009.

Waikowhai Street sewer renewal

(Photo courtesy of Wellington City Council)

Our Annual General Meeting will be held in the town hall on 15 October at 8:00 pm.

There will be no guest speaker this year so it should be a short meeting.  Local residents are most welcome to join the committee.