Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association

Saturday 3 February will be our first recycling day of the year – 10am to noon at Ngaio Union Church, Crofton Road.

Below is a refresher on the items that we collect, and a couple of requests to make the programme more enjoyable for the volunteers:

How to recycle with us

1. If your recycling can go in the roadside collection – please use that.
2. From time to time we pick up recycling that is left at the church door. That is fine if you are unable to get to the hall during our recycling hours, but only leave there on Saturday morning, make sure it is secure (will not blow away), and that items are separated so we can tip them straight into our collection buckets.
3. Please separate the plastic lids into type 2 and type 5. Anything not marked, or other numbers will not be accepted for recycling
4. Tetrapaks have turned into our biggest collection by volume – please make sure they are clean and dry, and if possible slit open and laid flat
5. These instructions are to help everyone – recycling is not just throwing out rubbish – following these simple instructions means less work for our volunteers and makes life more pleasant (there have been  some nasty surprises amongst the tetrapaks!)

What we take each month includes:

• Plastic lids type 2. These lids must be marked with the type 2 recycling symbol.
• Plastic lids type 5. These lids must be marked with the type 5 recycling symbol.
• Metal Lids etc –including for eg Crown caps, metal screw tops, sparkling wine wires, metal jar lids, ring-pull caps.
• Household and hearing aid batteries.
• Oral care products and packaging from Colgate (is sent back to Colgate). Does not include electric toothbrush heads).
• Curtains – must be mould free so they can be re-purposed.
• Wool – balls of wool which Crafty Volunteers, can use in their knitting for charity.
• Rubber bands from delivered The Posts – which are returned to The Post

Additional Collections

Each month we have one additional collection so plan ahead for these collections for the rest of the year. The February collection will be of other small metal items. To see the complete schedule for 2024, follow this link – Recycling Schedule for 2024:

Each month this year at our recycling collections, we will also have a collection of other items that we will collect. We don’t collect these items each month to make management of the programme more simple, and make our drop off to the recycling stations more efficient.

Below are the additional items that we will be collecting each month, and the dates (first Saturday each month):

Wellington City Council (WCC) has put Wellington onto level two water restrictions. Water restrictions are enforced through council bylaws on recommendation from Wellington Water. This information below, for our members’ information, is taken from the WCC website.

Wellington’s daily water supply has a limit, as the treatment plants can only supply so much. If demand exceeds what the treatment plants can supply there’s a risk that the water levels in the storage reservoirs across the region are drawn down too low, causing water quality issues and in an extreme scenario even depressurising areas of the network. This can be dangerous as it increases the risk of contamination of drinking water, and boil water notices may need to be issued to stop people getting sick.

Finding and fixing leaks is one of Wellington Water’s top priorities, but with the resources available they can’t fix them all. They’re working on the issue, but it won’t happen overnight. The risk of a water shortage this summer and tighter water restrictions is real, and the situation may shift quickly.

To ensure there’s enough water to go around for the necessities, we need everyone to do their bit. Water restrictions help people understand how they can best save water at their place, and when to do so. If people follow the restrictions, it reduces the chance of moving to higher levels.

This means we have to be very careful to manage the daily water supply and demand, and don’t use too much. That’s where water restrictions come in. They help everyone understand how they can best manage their personal water use, so there’s enough to go round for the necessities.

Level 1 splits outdoor water use between odd and even houses, to spread the load of daily water demand. This means people can water their gardens regularly without everyone using a lot of water all at once. It also reduces waste by restricting watering to the morning and evening, when water is less likely to evaporate in the heat of the day.

Level 2 makes sure people are watering their gardens only when they really need to, with no sprinklers or irrigation systems, and only watering gardens by hand.

Level 3 comes into play when we need to take serious action, and all residential outdoor water use must be stopped. We know that people put a lot of hard mahi and love into their gardens, so consider using grey water to water your garden – just not your vegetables, or any plants you’re planning on eating.

Level 4 means we’re in a significant water shortage. On top of stopping all outdoor water use, we must reduce indoor use. This could include 2-minute showers and reducing laundry to one load per person, per week.

Between the Aotea Quay overbridge and the Jarden Mile intersection, WCCare proposing changes to parking and the shared walking and cycling path, the introduction of dedicated bus lanes at peak travel times and new or upgraded pedestrian crossing facilities, bus stops and shelters.

WCC says “these changes aim to deliver a safer Hutt Road that caters for all ways of travelling”.

This road is out of our immediate area, but is an important road for travel into the city. We therefore want to make sure that residents are aware of the proposal, and that submissions are open. The deadline for submissions is 15 December.

Detail on the proposed changes is here – Hutt Road – Proposed Changes and at the bottom of the page are links to the submission form.

Passing on this message from Wellington City Council 

Wellington City Council is warning residents to be on the alert for a man knocking on doors and claiming to be a City Council building inspector. 

The Council has received three reports or complaints about a man door-knocking in the Karori-Kelburn area. He has asked to look around properties but has not produced documents identifying himself as a council staff member. Police have been alerted. 

Council Building Consents and Compliance Manager Chris Scott says City Council building inspectors must carry an identification card and an official Council warrant.

Building and plumbing Inspectors usually operate from a Council-branded vehicle and wear Council-branded clothing.  

“If anyone receives an unexpected knock at the door from someone claiming to be from the City Council then they should ask to see this identification. If it’s not produced then you have the right to demand they leave your property,” says Mr Scott. 

If you have concerns about the legitimacy of someone claiming to be an inspector, please notify the council on 04 499 4444. Please also notify Police. 

The Rotary Khandallah Fair, our signature fundraising and outreach event for the year will take place on Ganges Road on Sunday 10 December 2023.

We have a full house of very keen stall-holders, entertainment activities and there are excellent raffle prizes, plus a sausage sizzle.

We need YOUR HELP, especially for the set up and take down, doing bucket duty (to collect gold coin entry donations) selling raffle tickets and Christmas puddings.

Do you have family or friends with younger members who would like to be involved for a good cause?

Other ways you can assist is by donating cans for drink/bottles of water which we can have available at our BBQ Sausage sizzle.

To confirm times that you will be available to assist at the Fair please email Zai Davies (zaheda.davies@nztravelbrokers.co.nz)

For delivery or pickup of the above drinks, please contact Zai, as above or on 021 733659

Changes on Kaiwharawhara Road and Cameron Street
WCC are on schedule to complete stage 1 of the Ngaio connection by early December, with changes being made on Kaiwharawhara Road and Cameron Street.

On Kaiwharawhara Road, they will be installing:

• the uphill bike lane and no stopping lines in parts,
• a new clearway (4pm-7pm) between 1 and 25 Kaiwharawhara Road on the southern side
• a new clearway (4pm-7pm) and a loading zone (8am-4pm) outside Capital Auto Electrics and Hanging Around
• 39 spaces between Hutt Road and Cameron Street will change from P30 to P60.

On Cameron Street, they’ll be installing:

• 30km/h speed limit
• the wide shoulder for people biking uphill
• near the bottom of Cameron Street two parking spaces will be removed, four spaces will change to P60 and five to P120, and the remaining 39 spaces will become P24-hour to deter people from other suburbs parking here for long periods.  

Other lines and signs
There will be new road markings and signs installed on Kenya Street, Crofton Road, Ottawa Road, Collingwood Street, and Waikowhai Street to complete the work.

The new raised crossing on Ngaio Gorge Road, near Trelissick Crescent is now complete. The crossing is to slow down traffic, and make it to enter and exit Perth Street and Trelissick Crescent. It’s safer for pedestrians to cross.

WCC had heard comment on the harshness” of the humps in this area, and they have been adjusted.

The new raised crossing on Ngaio Gorge Road, near Trelissick Crescent is now complete. The crossing is to slow down traffic, and make it to enter and exit Perth Street and Trelissick Crescent. It’s safer for pedestrians to cross. 

WCC had heard comment on the harshness” of the humps in this area, and they have been adjusted.

For full project information, visit transportprojects.org.nz/ngaio.

If you want to contact the Ngaio Conections team, please email them at ngaioconnections@wcc.govt.nz.