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    • App enables people to find one another to share rides
      • ‘Rides’ is social enterprise created to provide conscious, cheaper, and more convenient transportation for people. It will work with a mobile application that enables matching people for sharing rides, which means instantly finding a ride or people to share your ride. You will be able to get a ride anytime, anywhere, without the commitment of carpooling.  By using ‘Rides’ you will help improve traffic, reduce carbon emission and save money! Visit their site and sign up at ridesnz.com to support this idea, so they can let you know when it is up and running for you to use. ‘Rides” is under development and will be available soon. ridesnz.com

    • Thorndon Fair
      • Thorndon Fair is coming up on Sunday 7th December. 20,000+ Wellingtonians will attend Wellington’s iconic street fair along Tinakori Rd and Hill St in Thorndon. Opening hours for the 250+ stalls are 10am-3pm. It is run by Thorndon School as their main fundraiser. www.thorndonfair.nz

    • Resource Consent Application for non-residential land use cnr Tinakori Rd & Park St
      • WCC have publicly notified an application for resource consent to build a commercial building on the corner of Tinakori Road (92,& 96-98) and Park Street (3-5). The proposal is to construct a three-story commercial building (up to 11.95m high) comprising office, retail and cafe activities (i.e. all non-residential), and includes associated earthworks, signage and parking. Notification documents are accessible from these links:  1. Public Notice and instructions to submitters2. Section 95A-95F notification decision report3. WCC Advisors Assessments:    a. Earthworks    b. Contaminatamination    c. Transportation    d. Noise    e. Vehicle access    f. Urban Design4. Cardno’s response to Section 92 Letter (further information provided)5. Further Information6. Application document7. Application drawings/plans

    • Thorndon / Pipitea Community-driven Response Planning
      • Community-driven planning, using the world cafe meeting style, held on Tuesday 9th September 2014, at the Pipitea Marae and Function Centre. Another engaging Thorndon community meeting coordinated by the Thorndon Residents' Association. Community-driven response planning  (click here to view more photos) Link to the draft community response plan.

    • Special Community Meeting - resilience against natural events & community development
      • A community-led emergency response plan in Thorndon/Pipitea is this year’s major project for the Thorndon Residents’ Association. As residents we need an approach that works for our community, driven by our community, in partnership with the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO), WCC, local businesses and other stakeholders. Many Thorndon/Pipitea residents attended a community briefing in September 2012. Scientists and Council officials cautioned against complacency. The message was clear: to get through a major natural event such as a major earthquake, our community needs to not only be adequately familiar with our surroundings but especially about one another, so that we can better look after ourselves. In a major event we could need to do this for many days, in trying conditions, before any official emergency response could fold into action to assist us. The 2012 meeting made it clear that we needed to step up to the challenge.  As an inner city suburb Thorndon has some interesting characteristics, which make our scenarios unique –  astride the major fault line, an inner-city gateway suburb, through which all the region’s lifeline services pass –  water, sewerage, electricity,  road, rail and sea transport. Thorndon is also uniquely fortunate in hosting many especially valuable organisations within our community. All our special neighbours have their insights to share too, and strengths and skills to help in developing an approach to growing community resilience. It is time for the community to meet and talk about how we'll grow our resilience against natural events. It's really about the community coming together, getting to know more about ourselves, and knowing how to act, before anything happens. Please spread the word as we not only need to meet you and hear your views also views but from as many others as we can from across Thorndon / Pipitea. Your contributions on how to enhance our community's vibrancy and preparedness are a necessary and valued part of growing community resilience. This specially facilitated meeting has been designed to be both informative and enjoyable. You are invited to the Pipitea Marae and Conference Centre  on Tuesday 9 September 2014, arrive from 6:30pm for a 7 - 9pm meeting.  Please RSVP for this public meeting to assist catering (entry is free). Just click on the button above to RSVP online. Share this information with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours and invite them to also consider participating in this special meeting. If you know someone unable to RSVP online please advise them to call 934 6888. Acknowledgements The TRA is collaborating with the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) on this project. The community meeting and related initiatives are actively supported by WCC, Thorndon New World, Pipitea Marae and Conference Centre, and numerous other local entities and stakeholders.

    • Village precinct enhancements
      • Pavers are going to feature quotes from creative people from Thorndon, such as Rita Angus, Katherine Mansfield and Douglas Lilburn. Other maintenance such as  footpath resealing and new sections of kerbing in some streets is also included in the project. Read more here: http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/news/2014/08/improvements-to-tinakori-village

    • Mary Potter Hospice Shop
      • Donation of goods Here's a great idea to consider as part of a cleanup or clear out. The Hospice relies on the generosity of people like you to donate goods. They're very appreciative of donations of good quality items, from clothing to household items, to furniture, nick-nacks and treasures. The are also grateful to receive large household lots, including furniture and whiteware in good working order. The shop is an important part of fundraising activities for the Hospice. It carries a wonderful variety of second-hand and new stock. The shops have regular customers spotting items just in! Thorndon Shop 95 Thorndon Quay Ph (04) 472 5819 Co-ordinator: Bernie Munn 10am - 4pm Monday - Friday 10am - 2pm Saturday FREE PICKUP If you are unable to drop them off, arrangements can be made to pick-up larger items, or house lots, free of charge.

    • Report: TRA Annual General Meeting
      • This evening the Annual General Meeting of the TRA was hosted by the  Kingsgate Hotel. Members, neighbours, friends and Councillors (City and Regional) enjoyed the opportunity to mix and mingle during a networking hour prior to the AGM. Everyone appreciated both the hospitality of the Kingsgate team and their support of the Association. The meeting venue was perfect and this considerably assisted a smooth navigation through the agenda prepared by Sadie Laurenson (Secretary), and led by William Neal (Chair). The meeting relaxed into productive discussion, focused on reports from Committee Portfolio leads. Matters arising were considered and helped identify priority issues for the Association to focus on during  2013-14. Here are some of the resources from this evenings' meeting: Agenda and outline of the meetingMinutes from the AGM 2012  (adopted)Report from the Community Safety PortfolioReport from the Planning & Environment PortfolioSubmission on Regional governanceOfficers and Committee of the TRA (confirmed)Draft Minutes of AGM 2013

    • Have you been tagged ?
      • Emma wrote to us ... As summer kicks in we sometimes see an increase in graffiti and tagging in our communities.  It is highly frustrating and can leave people feeling victimised and unsafe.  I have attached a flyer that gives some information on how to remove graffiti and a voucher for free and/or discounted paint at Resene to help paint out graffiti/tagging.  I thought you could put this (or the information contained in it) in your next residents association e-newsletter or let residents know that they can pick a flyer up from their local library. Click here for an online version of the flyer. Working together and getting everyone on board is the most effective way to get rid of graffiti in our communities.  Every little bit helps. If you have any questions around graffiti do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks Emma Titcombe City Safety Advisor, City Safety City Services and Events Wellington City Council P 803 8200       F 801 3681 E emma.titcombe@wcc.govt.nz

    • Free online access to property valuation records
      • Here's an online resource that may interest Thorndon residents  http://www.watchmystreet.co.nz/ An excerpt from the site ... The vast majority of council rating valuation data in New Zealand is controlled by Quotable Value Limited (QV) - a New Zealand State owned enterprise who does most the the valuation work for councils in NZ and charges for that service. Essentially they have the monopoly on council valuation work in NZ. QV and their Australian joint venture company PropertyIQ Limited (a company owned by QV and RP Data), obviously want to maximise profits and so they also license the use of council data and resell it to banks, real estate agents and the like - if you go to their website, they'll even resell your rating data back to you! (Remember you paid rates so that your council could pay for these valuations). It does seem a bit bizarre that an Australian company to some degree controls access to New Zealand property data, but there you go. The NZ Government has been promoting open access to government data, making it more available, allowing companies and individuals to add value and reinterpret the data - this is known as “Open Data”. Unfortunately to date it looks like the area of property data is outside this arrangement. Some councils understand the value of providing their data in order to allow people like us to innovate, build cool tools, and provide useful or interesting information to ratepayers - including the Wellington City Council, who provided us with their District Valuation Record (all we had to do was pay for their time in extracting it). Big thumbs up to WCC!

    • WCC Revists Earlier Assessment Not to Provide RECYCLING WHEELIE BINS to Hobson St
      • Recycling wheelie bins were introduced across the city in 2011; but not to the properties in Hobson St, situated on the Thorndon Flat. Residents from Hobson St recently re-approached the Council regarding the earlier assessment of their street as being not suited to Council supplied recycling wheelie bins. The early assessment had indicated that Hobson St had a high volume traffic flow (similar to Tinakori Rd), and that due to the road width there was potential to block access to emergency services.  Recently CitiOperations revisited Hobson St. The results of the re-assessment are that: sidewalks are of sufficient width for wheelie bins - allowing for easy pedestrian flow,road width - with vehicles parked either side - had between 5 and 5.5m clear for two large vehicles to pass,other than during the school drop-off period, the vehicles per hour was as low as 60. Part of this re-assessment included following both Refuse and Recycling trucks during collections in Hobson St to confirm they posed no risk or significant vehicle delays.  With new data to hand, the Council confirmed that for a number of properties that were located near breaks between residents' parking bays, recycling wheelie bins would be suitable.  The archive call-log for Hobson St was revisited to re-assess previous requests for recycling wheelie bins that had earlier been declined. Those residents will be receiving a letter in the week commencing 5 November to offer them the option of a recycling wheelie bin and need not re-request an assessment. Properties that are still considered as not suited include:  - multi-unit dwellings, - shared drives of more than 5 properties, and  - properties that are not used as residential. Hobson St residents who feel that they would benefit from a Council supplied recycling wheelie bin and have not already called-in, are now invited to log a request for re-assessment by telephoning the Council on 499 4444. Zac Jordan, Manager CitiOperations M. 021 227 8356 or E. zac.jordan@wcc.govt.nz Older TRA posts about mobile recycling bins: - who-binned-our-recycle-bins (May 2011) - private-roads-and-recycling (June 2011)

    • Still confused by Thorndon New World's Layout ?
      • After 14 years of operation the supermarket recently installed new shelving. Are you one of the Thorndonites still unsettled by the change to a decade-old shopping habit? Brian Drake, Owner/Operator, says the new product layout reflects customer requests and feedback over the years concerning how most of us want to shop.  The new shelving is also much stronger, providing the latest in safety and improvements in product accessibility. Product sidestacks that were located at the ends of each aisle have been removed to create more space for customers.  Store Maps remain available at the entrance and around the store, and of course staff are available to assist. Click this link to view a copy of the Store Map. 

    • What do we want?
      • The Rotary Club of Wellington is hosting this one day forum. A chance to hear a top line up of speakers and to make your own point.  25 October 2012 at the VUW Pipitea Campus The registration of $55 includes teas and lunch. All details here:   rotaryforum.org.nz   Wellington is what we make it and you can be part of shaping it. Now in its second successful year, this highly topical community forum asks; what kind of city and region do we want? How should community views be expressed in local government? What are the initiatives by business and communities that will help Wellington become the place we want to live and work in? What can you do to influence it? 

    • Earthquake Resilience Briefing for Thorndon Residents - 5 September
      • The Thorndon Residents' Association has been collaborating with the Wellington City Council (WCC). You are invited to register for the Thorndon earthquake briefing, 7PM, Wednesday 5th September at the Kingsgate Hotel (24 Hawkstone Street). The briefing is for residents living in Thorndon / Pipitea and surrounding areas. The details of the meeting are now on WCC's website where you can register.  Click here for free registration. WCC has coordinated with GNS Science to provide this community briefing about earthquakes.  The briefing is designed to give you a better understanding of the earthquake risk. Wellington has already experienced four significant earthquakes since 1840. Our city survived those quakes with minimal casualties. The presenters will talk about what has been learned from these events, what the learnings are from the Canterbury earthquake sequence and what has been revealed by recent research by GNS Science. The briefings will give you an overview of what has already been achieved to make our city safer and the work that is planned to improve infrastructure resilience.  You will also find out more about what you can do to make sure you and your family are ready for an earthquake and you will have the opportunity to talk to experts about earthquake issues over a cup of tea afterwards.  Actions  1.  Decide This is your invitation to the Thorndon Earthquake Briefing, hosted by the Kingsgate Hotel, 24 Hawkestone Street, at 7.00pm on Wednesday 5 September 2012.  2.  Register Please Register for the briefing session. Entry is free. Open the form. If you are unable to register online you can also phone (04) 801 4219 to register.   3.  Share Please share this information with your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours and invite them to either register for the Thorndon meeting, or another across the city (see below). WCC and the Thorndon Residents' Association wish to encourage all Thorndon residents to get a better understanding of the earthquake risk to our community. TRA Members are aware of some of the seismic issues revealed over recent years. Here is an aggregation of related posts on the Association's blog: http://thorndon-residents.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/earthquake  Perhaps these may help frame-up further questions and exploration of the issues that are particularly pertinent to Thorndon residents. What are the questions you would like answered? Post them in the comment box for this blog. These will help the presenters prepare.  There are also other opportunities across the city. Other earthquake briefings will be held on these dates and locations: ·        Newtown – 7.30pm, Thursday 30 August (St Anne’s Parish Hall, 22 Emmett Street) ·        Thorndon - 7.00pm, Wednesday 5 September (General Public) Kingsgate Hotel, 24 Hawkestone Street ·        City –  7.00pm, Tuesday 11 September for Body Corporate members (Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall, Wakefield Street) ·        Vogeltown – 7.45pm, Wednesday 12 September (Vogelmorn Hall, 11 Vennell Street) ·        Island Bay – 7.30pm, Tuesday 18 September (Island Bay School, Clyde Street) ·        Kelburn - 7.30pm, Wednesday 19 September (General Public) Kelburn Normal School Hall, 16 Kowhai Road ·        Mount Victoria – 7.30pm, Thursday 27th September (The New Crossways Community Centre, 6 Roxburgh St) ·        Karori - 3.00pm, Sunday 30 September (General Public) Victoria University of Wellington Campus, Donald Street ·        Tawa - 7.30pm, Wednesday 3 October (General Public) Tawa Community Centre, 5 Cambridge Street ·        Kilbirnie -  3.00pm, Sunday 14 October (General Public) Matairangi Room, ASB Sports Centre, 72 Kemp Street ·        City - 7.30pm, Thursday 18 October (General Public) Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall, 109 Wakefield Street ·        Oriental Bay - 7.30pm, Thursday 25 October (General Public) Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, 103 Oriental Parade ·        Miramar -  7.30pm, Tuesday 30 October (General Public) Miramar Community Centre, 27 Chelsea Street ·        Seatoun - 7.30pm, Wednesday 31 October (General Public) Seatoun School, 59 Burnham Street ·        Aro Valley - 7.30pm, Thursday 1 November (General Public) Aro Valley Community Centre, 48 Aro Street

    • Issues for Residents raised at TRA 2012 AGM
      • A range of important issues for residents emerged at the Thorndon Residents' Association Annual General Meeting. If you have an interest in: - earthquake prone buildings - traffic and parking  - when someone (or something) damages your connecting sewer pipe (lateral) beyond your boundary, buried under the street, who is responsible? - regional governance then, take a moment to read the draft minutes from the TRA AGM

    • Thorndon on Film
      • http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/now-showing/thorndon-on-film/view/2012-06-21  Where     The Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St, Wellington Season    Thursday 21st, Friday 22 & Saturday 23 June Time        7:00pm Running time     70 minutes Tickets    $8 public, $6 concession

    • Chimney removal ... France does it
      • Recently observed; removal of a chimney at the French Ambassador's Residence, situated in Hobson St/Hobson Crescent.  The context for the Association's interest are the fundamental rights of residential property owners. The right to improve our homes, and increase the safety of our homes, without the need to navigate heavy-handed regulations or associated compliance costs.  An example of the  issues the TRA is monitoring with WCC. 

    • TRA's newsletter delivered this weekend
      • The newsletter format has been redesigned. Particular thanks to Hamish and Matthew for their efforts.  Click here to view online. Hope you enjoy the read and note the folk and organisations who support our Association.  Do you have a particular interest in Thorndon? Perhaps your have ideas and aspirations for our community? The Association comprises residents who also care to collaborate for better community outcomes.  The AGM is near. It's our next opportunity to meet up and learn what issues are concerning Thorndon residents. The AGM commences with refreshments from 6:30 for 7 pm start,  Tuesday 29 May 2012, at the Kingsgate Hotel, Hawkestone Street.                               All welcome. 

    • City Council needs to improve communication concerning planning information
      • When heritage proposals descended on Thorndon three years ago, the TRA members and Thorndon residents generally, unveiled numerous shortfalls in WCC's consultation and engagement approach especially from a residents' perspective. The Citizens Engagement Directorate had existed for quite some time. Yet by 2012, apparently the Council continues to struggle to effectively communicate with impacted communities. Refer: http://www.wellington.govt.nz/news/display-item.php?id=4928  Could this be yet another recent example? The Mayor is moved to observe "... a significant Plan Change ... may not have been sufficiently clear." That's a scenario that will resonate with many TRA members! The Mayor also refers to an unsatisfactory situation which "... highlighted the importance of how the Council communicates planning information to potentially affected communities." A number of years have passed since the Citizen Engagement directorate was established. Hasn't there been sufficient time to overhaul WCC's consultation/community engagement processes, especially when it comes to District Planning proposals?

    • Demolition of the Old Grant Road Scout Hall
      • The TRA has been advised by the Wellington City Council that they will be demolishing the Old Grant Road Scout Hall, starting Monday, 7 May. The Council was given the building by The Scout Association in early 2011. The building, which is in very poor condition, is surplus to WCC's requirements and apparently would cost a significant amount of money to repair to a suitable standard. The Association has been informed by WCC that in keeping with the Town Belt Management Plan, Policy 8 – Structures and Furniture, that any building not in use and not fit for purpose is to be removed. The building will be removed over the course of the week and the land reinstated back to grass.  The hours of work will be 8am–5pm. If you have any concerns with the work being carried out, please contact the Public Conveniences/Pavilions Contract Manager, Nia Afoa, on 021 227 8288 or 801 4312.

    • Fair Fares For Wellington
      • Tony Randle, Chair, Johnsonville Progressive Association No-one likes to raise public transport fares, especially when so many are reliant on this service.  But these costs have increased so rail users can travel in new trains on upgraded track and use upgraded stations. The approach of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) is to raise fares equally for both bus and rail users.  It seems doubly unfair in raising fares on bus users who cannot benefit from the new trains when their own service will receive little service improvement. In effect, increased bus fares are being used to pay for increased rail costs. It is equally unfair to raise bus fares when the GWRC continues to give rail users  much cheaper fares through monthly rail passes that are not available to bus users. The GWRC also appears to ignore that many bus users are our most vulnerable, the disabled, unemployed and children, who have little money and little choice.   Continuing to raise the travel costs to these people when there are fairer alternatives seems almost heartless. An increase on rail monthly passes would generate more than enough funding to  enable the GWRC to not increase the 1 – 3 Zone tickets that are used by bus  commuters.   This option was not considered . . . but it should be. It is simply not fair to increase the cost to bus users to pay for rail user costs. FAIR'S FARE !  DON’T INCREASE 1 – 3 ZONE TICKETS Make a submission to the GWRC Annual Plan and tell them what you think. Here are the facts and supporting evidence.

    • Yet Another Car Wreck in Hobson St
      • A year on, and yet another serious car accident has occurred outside #58 and #60 Hobson St.  Just after 9PM this evening a parked car was side-swipped so violently that it was shunted completely out of the marked parking space, and jumped onto the curb and into a concrete power pole.  The parked vehicle was extensively damaged on both sides; from the impacted area on its carriage-way side, as well as being seriously damaged on the left side  where it had been shunted against the curb and concrete pole.  The culprit disappeared, even before neighbours arrived on the scene after leaping out of their homes to investigate the cause of the noisy incident. In the past year residents have experienced damage (less serious than tonights) to their vehicles parked in the same vicinity. A year ago there was a serious incident when a vehicle left the road and wrecked the front fence and carport at #62.  There is an issue with dangerous driving and speeding along Hobson St. 

        • -41.27222264816815, 174.7806841135025


    • Ideas on local government reform in Wellington
      • A paper has been brought to our attention by the Federation of Wellington Progressive and Residents Associations. It proposes ideas on local government reform in Wellington. The paper is an initiative by a group of Wellington regional councillors to start a conversation in the Wellington region about our local government effectiveness and any potential changes that could be made to improve it. click here ...Some ideas on local government reform in Wellington - neighbourhood decisions with pan-regional strategy

    • No extra consent rules
      • As part of preparations to make changes to the District Plan, WCC's Strategic and Policy Committee has decided that inner residential Thorndon shall face no additional consent rules. Following three years of conversation between residents (TRA) and Council there is now increased recognition of the diversity of Thorndon's neighbourhoods and our 'living' suburb. And at least some appreciation that we need to enhance our homes with modern innovations without undue additional constraints imposed by the Regulator. Proposed changes to the District Plan will publicly consulted before Council adopt them. (click on the article to enlarge it)

    • WCC Strategy Committee to consider residential heritage in Thorndon
      • WCC's Strategy and Policy Committee is about to consider the approach to Heritage Management in the Residential Areas of Thorndon. WCC's Strategy and Policy Committee have the reports/recommendations from Officers. The Committee is meeting on Thursday 23rd June, 2011. These reports have only just become available for TRA representatives leaving little time digest the content or to consult with members. Five (5) reports have been tabled for this agenda item. Link from WCC webpages: http://www.wellington.govt.nz/haveyoursay/meetings/committee/Strategy_and_Policy/2011/23Jun0915/agenda.html

    • Alert to log removal operation by Helicopter
      • A helicopter will be used because it isn’t practical to remove it from the location marked X in any other way. The log will be lifted and processed on the ridgeline of Te Ahumairangi Hill. Work will be carried out by contractors, Treescape. This is scheduled to start on Wednesday 22 and expected to take two days, weather permitting. Work hours will be 8am to 5pm. The log will be prepped for lifting on the Wednesday and lifted out on the Thursday. Roads will remain open with traffic management in place but there may be delays at times. For safety reasons, the walking tracks around this site will be closed for the duration of the project. The work will be noisy at times If you have any questions please direct them to Julian Emeny, Arboriculture Manager, Wellington City CouncilP 389 2060, M 021 227 8210, or julian.emeny@wcc.govt.nz

    • Draft Thorndon Design Guidelines
      • In mid May 2011, WCC's urban planners convened a workshop to discuss possible residential design guidelines for Thorndon. TRA representatives participated. Here is the draft report. The revision marks are by the TRA's representatives. This report will be discussed at the WCC convened Thorndon Advisory Group meeting, Tuesday 7 June. Background to the project.

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