17 May 2012

Clean conscience

23/11/2011 10:52:00 a.m.

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They cleaned up the beach; you clean up your act.

They cleaned up the beach; you clean up your act.

Four wheel drivers were told face to face on Saturday that the Wellington City Council has made up its mind to control vehicle access to the south coast if reckless driving in the area does not stop. A big group of four wheel drive enthusiasts gathered at Owhiro Bay on Saturday for the Cross Country Vehicle Club (CCVC) annual south coast beach clean-up. Capital Times’ Jennifer Niven went along for the ride.
The CCVC has run a beach clean-up event every year for 11 years but this year the purpose was to clean up some of the tonnes of rubbish washed up or dumped on the coastline every year, and to let track users know that the problem of irresponsible use will be solved one way or another.
Amber Bill of Wellington City Council told drivers the council is considering a permit system or restricting access to particular days of the week. Though she acknowledged she was probably “preaching to the converted,” Bill’s message was: it’s time to be sensible driving around Wellington’s fragile south coast.
Describing the area as “the jewel in the crown” of the 4,000 hectares of open space she manages as the Manager of Community Engagement and Reserves, Bill spoke of the council’s campaign of “social pressure” to end the actions of a small group of reckless drivers ruining the fun for everybody else.
Trail bikes and four wheel drive vehicles straying from the tracks damage the area, destroying native plants that take a long time to grow in the harsh coastal environment and spoiling the home of insects, lizards, birds and seals. On Saturday signs warning the public to avoid driving up and down the delicate hillside had been knocked over.
Clean up organiser Barry Insull invited several Wellington four wheel drive clubs to the clean-up to spread the message.
“Hopefully we can get on top of stupid behaviour by a small element who show little regard for property and the environment,” says Insull.
Insull led the convoy of about 30 vehicles, from the Owhiro Bay information centre just after 10am, driving up through the steep, bumpy back hills from the Tip Track that begins at Happy Valley until they reached the coastline past Red Rocks.
Due to regular clean ups on the private land, there was not as much rubbish as expected.
After donning gloves and gumboots and filling bags with what was there - including a large amount of plastic and abandoned, half-empty beer bottles - the group finished with sausages on the barbecue in the sun at one of the historic Red Rocks baches
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

  • A question of nutrition

    Controversial Washington-based nutritionist Sally Fallon-Morell is to speak in Wellington on March 29.
    Fallon-Morell is the co-founder of the American food lobby group the Weston A. Price Foundation and the author of Nourishing Traditions. She advocates for the consumption of nutritionally dense foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, stocks and broths, and whole raw dairy products.
    Fallon-Morell will speak at St Patrick’s College Hall on March 29.

  • Relay for cancer

    Organisers say Sunday’s Relay for Life is full to capacity with hundreds of Wellingtonians registered for the event.
    A total of 88 teams, made up of 10 to 500 members, plan to take part with a further 25 teams on the waiting list.
    The 24 hour relay, the Cancer Society’s biggest fundraising event of the year, takes place at Frank Kitts Park from 4pm on March 31.

  • Osteoarthritis awareness

    Arthritis New Zealand has launched a nationwide campaign raise awareness about osteoarthritis. 
    Arthritis is New Zealand’s leading cause of disability, affecting 305,000 adults, and osteoarthritis is its most common form.
    The campaign features television commercials and an interactive website.


  • Wild walk

    Take part in the Big Walk at Zealandia on March 31.
    Walkers can choose a two, five or 10 kilometre walk catering to all fitness levels.
    Money raised will go to the Foundation for Youth Development.

  • School pool

    The opening of the new Khandallah School pool this week means hundreds of children will be able to continue their swimming lessons.
    The pool was the first to receive a grant from Wellington City Council’s Schools Pools Partnership Fund, a fund set up in 2010 to help schools improve their pool facilities.
    Grants from the fund have also been made for pools at Wellington East Girls’ College, Barhampore School and Tawa School.

  • Easter bikers

    Motorcyclists are invited to get on their bikes and collect Easter eggs for families support from the Wellington City Mission.
    The charity run on April 1 is organised by motorcycle lobby group BONZ.
    Eggs can be donated at Red Baron Motorcylces in Alicetown. The registration fee for bikers is $10, plus the cost of Easter eggs.

  • Crafty

    Made on Marion opens on the site of the former Golding Handicrafts site in Marion St, from April 1.  They will continue to supply craft materials.

  • Ze upgrade

    Taranaki Street fuel users will notice that the Z Energy’s former Shell Service Station is closed.  Z are doing a “total revamp”.
    The job will take four weeks.

  • Newlands Moves

    Developer Ayal Aharoni has agreed to build only 90 instead of 220 houses on his six and a half hectares above Ngauranga Gorge in Newlands.  Only low density occupation will be allowed on the remaining 8.4 hectares.


  • Baring Head

    There's a new  draft plan out for what should happen at Baring Head.  It outlines how the Greater Wellington Regional council would like to manage the newest addition to its regional parks network. Grazing animals will go, motorised vehicles will be prohibited, predators will be controlled, and the lighthouse will be preserved. Submissions are invited.


  • It’s a wonder

    A new childcare centre in Newtown says it is dedicated to helping kids grow up healthy in mind, body and spirit. Little Wonders Childcare on Rintoul Street is an independent early childhood education and learning centre, the sixth centre to be opened by its Auckland-based owner. It caters to 100 children aged between three months and five years old and has been open for a little more than seven weeks.

  • Festival treats

    CHILDREN have not been forgotten by organisers of the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
    For a perfect first theatrical experience White tells the story of friends Cotton and Winkle who live in a world where there is no colour and everything is startlingly white. That is until a brightly coloured egg tumbles out of the sky and changes their world for ever.
    White plays at Capital E from March 7-11.
    The tale of Peter and the World also promises to be a magical night for all ages. Sergei Prokofiev’s classic children’s tale is told through film and live music from the NZ Symphony Orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre on March 9.
    March 11 is Young Writers and Readers Day and readings from children’s writers and illustrators Lynley Dodd and Gavin Bishop.

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