Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association

We are heading into the last couple of months of the project and the interior of the buildings are mostly complete. The scaffolding has been removed and the landscaping work is progressing around site. The driveway is advancing well, with the exit ramp now in use.

The number of subcontractors on site will continue to decrease over the next month. This will mean less deliveries and fewer trucks causing traffic disruptions.

Unfortunately, we have had some security issues over the last month and now have a full-time guard based on site to monitor the building.

On Wednesday 17^th November there will be some after-hours work, this will not be noisy works, as we will be completing the line marking of the driveway.

This petition has been brought to our attention, with the suggestion it is something our members should be aware of. NCDRA has no view on this matter, nor any association with the organisers. We are however happy to make our members aware of it so they can take any action they wish to.

The petition is that the House of Representatives pass legislation requiring all domestic cats to be registered via microchip to their legal owners, and to be desexed unless kept contained by registered cat breeders.

The petition has been raised with the aim that requiring cats to be registered and desexed will reduce their populations, enforce responsible cat ownership, and protect our wildlife.

Follow this link to the petition if you want more information – https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/petitions/document/PET_102570/petition-of-erica-rowlands-mandate-the-registration-and. the petition closes 31 October 2021.

Under alert level 2 we are able to run our recycling days, but there are protocols to be followed.

Please wear a mask, as you will be inside, and observe social distancing if others are recycling at the same time. There is a QR poster to scan in, or an attendance sheet to sign. A pathway is marked, to exit through the back door.

We strongly recommend sorting your recycling at home so that at the church you are able to quickly transfer it to the buckets.

Ian

Our September recycling day became a victim of the increase in Wellington’s Covid-19 alert level, but the good news is we are back again this coming Saturday, the first Saturday of the month – 2 October, from 10am to noon. At the Ngaio Union Church, Crofton Road.

It is probably a good time to refresh what this programme is about – the original post on this programme is here – Ngaio Crofton Downs Going Carbon Neutral | Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association, with more detail on what can be collected.

We are working with the Sustainability Trust to collect the items below:

• Plastic lids – The Tiny Plastic Factory recycles these – please read the note below about plastic lid recycling.
• Metal Lids – these go to McAuley Metals, and include for eg Crown caps, metal screw tops, sparkling wine wires, metal jar lids, Ring-pull caps.
• Razors etc – The Trust is a drop off point for the Gillette and Terracycle Recycling programme
• Oral care – The Trust is a drop off point for the Colgate and Terraycle Oral Care Recycling programme. Make sure all excess product is removed, and that recycling is dry
• Curtains – The Wellington Curtain Bank upcycles pre-loved curtains for those who need them. Must be mould free.
• Wool – unwanted and untangled balls of wool are sent to Crafty Volunteers, who knit, crochet and sew for charity

Unfortunately, the Trust is now unable to accept pens for recycling as Terracycle are closing that option.

We also need to be more careful about what goes into the plastic lid collection. All items need to be type 2, 4 or 5 because of the recycling process, and unfortunately the amount of contaimination is increasing. The items below can not be recycled – so please make sure all caps are stamped with the numbers 2, 4 or 5.

Plastic lids that can’t be recycled:

– Any other small plastic items e.g. food pouch lids, dip lids, coffee cup lids ❌

– Lids with a thermal seal inside (often looks like a blue or white layer inside the lid) ❌

– Waxy paper inserts (please remove if you can, we can still recycle the lid) ❌

Good news:

We are able to make our monthly collection work with other collections that are already going on in our community. We collect

• Bread bag tags, and
• Dominion Post rubber bands

Which do not go into the Trust, but are passed directly on to local residents who are already collecting these items.

Community Fruit

We are really pleased to be able to support Community Fruit, who rescue backyard fruit, distributing it to those in need, through Kaibosh Food Rescue and local Foodbanks. We can collect glass jars on their behalf, but if you have any to bring in please make sure they are of the size below and resealable. For example –  marmite, vegemite or mustard jars all have plastic lids which can’t be sterilised. Baby food jars are a great size but the metal lids don’t reseal unfortunately.

The jars that Community Fruit have found to really hit the mark are those like PICs or Fix & Fogg peanut butter jars (380gm size or smaller), Countdown Signature range, Rose’s jam or marmalade jars (500gm) or Craig’s jam jars (375gm).

Drop them off at our recycling days, and they will get to Community Fruit to support their programme.

Ngaio Union Church is holding a drop-in collection station to help restock DCM’s Foodbank after Covid increased the number of food parcels it distributes each week to four times the usual level.

Bring non-perishable food or basic toiletries to Ngaio Union Church on Saturday 25^th September, 10-12. 

Some of the items most needed are ready meals, soup, tinned fish, biscuits and crackers, tinned fruit, shampoo and conditioner, toilet paper – but any non-perishable food or basic toiletries are very welcome.

‘We know the people of Ngaio Crofton Downs have big hearts and a will to help those who are struggling – why not slip a few extras into your shopping trolley or online order this weekend, and bring them down on the 25^th?  We’ll make sure they get straight down to DCM where they’re needed most’ says Sue Brown, Ngaio Union’s Minister.

Ngaio Union Church is easy to spot at the corner of Kenya Street and Crofton Road – it’s the building with the giant mural painted on the wall.

This message is from Naylor Love – their update on work on the Bupa Aged Care facility at 122 Churchill Dr.

We hope you all are keeping safe during these times. You would have seen the site reopened at Alert level 3 and is currently operating under Alert level 2 Protocols.

As we head into the last phase of the project you will see the remaining scaffold removed by the end of the month as the façade is completed. We are continuing to make progress with the landscaping in the courtyards and at the front of the building. The exit ramp has been poured; we are now working through the surrounding landscaping before it is open for vehicles to use.

Inside, the first few apartments are in the process of being signed off and we are pushing ahead with the remaining apartments and common areas.

Subcontractor numbers are steadily reducing on site and this will continue to do so over the next few months until completion.

We will send out another update at the start of October, if you have any questions, you’re welcome to e-mail us on: katie.burley@naylorlove.co.nz

Due to the move to Covid-19 Alert Level 4, we can no longer hold the lecture planned for 19 August on that date. If we reschedule, the new date will be posted here.

This year we are starting a lecture series on topics that we believe are interesting and important to our residents, and will provide some thought provoking debate.

In line with the Going Carbon Neutral project, that we and the Ngaio Union Church have begun this year, we have a loose “Sustainability” theme this year.

On 19 August, our Chief City Planner Liam Hodgetts will be talking about sustainability in city planning. This is particularly relevant with Wellington, with its long term plan recently agreed, and now heading towards consultation on the District Plan later this year. The District Plan is where the detail lies, on how the long term plan will be put into practice.

On 2 September we will be hearing from the Sustainability Trust. The Trust is where our recycling collection goes(see other posts – first Saturday each month), and they have some amazing programmes on which we hope to work with them. This is a very relevant topic given recent reports on the state of global warming.

These lectures will be held from 7.30pm at the Ngaio Union Church, cnr Kenya St and Crofton Road. Tea and coffee will be available afterwards – a good chance to mingle.

A winner from 2020, by P Moore

Last year we held our first photo competition, tied in with the AGM. It proved a success with over 60 photos submitted!, which you can view  here – Photos | Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association. because it was succesful, and good fun for everyone, we are repeating it again in 2021.

We are very lucky to have local photographer Colin McDiarmid (http://www.colin.co.nz/) as our judge again this year.

The categories for 2021 have been agreed – they will be: gardens, pets, and weather – a very wide interpretation of the categories will be accepted, and Colin will put them into one of the categories when they are submitted.

Eligible entries will need to be still photos taken in Ngaio or Crofton Downs, with no restrictions on date or type of camera. They can be taken at any time – if you have a favourite sitting in an album, then that can be entered as long as it was taken locally.

There is also no age limits on the photographer – all budding photographers are welcome to enter.

To submit your entry, email it to  photo@ngaio.org.nz and Colin will sort them into a category.  The deadline for entries will be Wednesday 10 November, with the winners announced at our AGM on the evening of 17 November.

There are prizes for the winner of each section, and all entrants will receive a one year membership of NCDRA.

We continue to post here the regular updates provided by Naylor Love for residents in the near proximity to the Bupa Care Facility being built at 122 churchill Dr

“We have now finished the structure and roof of the pool, and throughout this month we will continue to work through the landscaping in both courtyards and around the building. The scaffolding is continuing to be dismantled, the majority of the scaffolding will be gone by the end of this month as we complete the façade.

Last month, our Naylor Love team spent an hour around the Crofton Downs area, collecting as much rubbish as we could find. We managed to fill 14 bags worth of litter, and we will be organising another clean-up towards the end of the project.

At this point in the project, you will start seeing a slow decrease in subcontractor numbers on site as we get closer to the end of the job”.

The twinkling of the Matariki stars in the pre-dawn sky heralds a special celebration for young and old. Across New Zealand, people come together to remember their ancestors, share food, sing, tell stories, and play music – this is a time of looking back, of looking within, and of looking forward.

This year, Ngaio Union’s celebration of Matariki finishes on Sunday July 18^th with Stories Under the Stars – Sunday July 18th, 5:30pm–6:30pm – for children aged up to 10 to harness the power and magic of Matariki. For young families to enjoy the excitement of an adventure, and stories and songs, in the dark of the late afternoon.

Lights will shine, warming snacks will be eaten, stories will be shared, torches will be lit…