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Welcome
to the Community issues
and information forum for
Whaingaroa - Raglan ,
Aotearoa - New Zealand
This page is being added to and updated on a regular basis. - Constructive
comments and contributions to any issue raised in this forum will
be welcomed (and just might be responded to).
Click Here to download the proposed Wainui Reserve Brochure (Caution it is nearly 3mb so may take some time to download)
Report on the proceedings of the
Wainui Reserve Management Committee 21 July 2005
Clean Harbour
Raglan Deviation
Upgrade SH 23
Raglan - Hamilton
Bus Service
Raglan Recreation Steering Group
Raglan Sewage
(Waste Water)
Raglan Ward
Councillor Dr Lesley Syme said..
- Archive of Councillor's Column
Whaingaroa Environment
Centre
- Click
Here for the Port Waikato Electoral Results
- Click
Here for the Tainui Electoral Results
Raglan
Sewage
This might be truly "the never
ending story" of sewage
(The latest information is at the
top of this column)
Breakthrough in stalled negotiations.
At meeting at Ngaruawahia on Thursday 14 November between negotiators
for Waikato District Council, Raglan Community Board and representitives
negotiating on behalf of Tainui Hapu substantial progress towards
settlement in principle was reported to have been made. Details
are not public as of 16 November.
12
November
At the monthly meeting of the Raglan Community Board, by a vote
of 4-2 the Board passed a resolution recommending that support not
be given for the Waikato District Council's Community Assets Committee
recommendation for withdrawal from mediation, until progress on
further planned negotiations had been assessed.
From:
Marnie Johnson <Marnie.Johnson@waidc.govt.nz>
Date: Wednesday, 6 November 2002 14:55
Subject: MEDIA RELEASE: Council to be asked to withdraw
6 November 2002
Council
to be asked to withdraw from Raglan wastewater mediation
Waikato District Council's Community Assets committee has recommended
that Council withdraw from mediation with appellants to the Raglan
wastewater upgrade.
The
committee has decided that a resolution to the resource consent
issues can't be reached and that the issue should proceed to the
Environment Court.
The
court ordered mediation with four appellants over Council's plans
for a $3.5 million upgrade of the Raglan's wastewater treatment
system has been an ongoing for the last two and a half years.
Council
has been seeking a solution for Raglan wastewater for over ten years,
and has spent around $900,000 to date on mediation, land purchase,
and system design.
After
an agreement in principle was verbally agreed in July, the appellants
came back to Council seeking a five year consent term, rather than
the 15 year term previously agreed, as well as an additional penalty
clause requiring Council to pay an unspecified amount for every
year that land based disposal was not implemented.
Waikato
District Mayor Peter Harris today said he was disappointed with
the result considering that the Council had made considerable changes
to its proposal to appease the appellants.
"The
Council is committed to the principles of mediation, and my door
is still open to the appellants, but we're at a stage where we have
to balance what's practical, achievable and affordable for the Raglan
community."
In
proceeding to the Environment Court, the Council will still be committed
to shellfish quality treatment - at a cost of $650,000 plus annual
operating costs - and removing the front treatment pond and restoring
the area to natural wetland. The existing outfall pipeline will
be retained.
The
Council will meet on 26 November to decide whether to formally withdraw
from mediation and head to the Environment Court.
An
Environment Court hearing is likely to be next year, and is estimated
to cost $150,000.
END
For
further information please contact
Peter Harris, Waikato District Mayor
Phone 07 824 8633
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Marnie Johnson
COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER
Waikato
District Council
Private Bag 544
Ngaruawahia
New Zealand
Phone
07 824 8633
Fax 07 824 5892
Email marnie.johnson@waidc.govt.nz
www. waikatodistrict.govt.nz
Letter from Gary Allis, 8 August
2002
Community Assets Group Manager
Waikato District Council
"Hamilton
Press Article - 7 August 2002
An article appeared in the Hamilton Press on 7 August 2002 regarding
progress on the Raglan waste water consent. The article took information
from the report to the Council meeting of 23rd July and a telephone
conversation between a reporter and myself. These took place prior
to the postponement of the 4th August Raglan Waste Water Resolution
Agreement signing meeting. Therefore what was reported in the Hamilton
Press was in error and I apologise for any misunderstanding that
may have occurred
Council
continues to be committed to the Resolution Agreement and is looking
forward to a formal signing once the details of the consent order
and legal agreement have been finalised"
Click
here to go to top of page
Whaingaroa Environment
Centre Inc
Some background history Click
here
Web site: http://www.whaingaroa.org.nz
Clean Harbour
Raglan Recreation Steering Group
From Hamilton Press 24 July
Plans
for Raglan's recreation hinge on extra land
A draft sports and recreation plan for Raglan will be available
for public comment next month, says Waikato District Council environmental
planner Allan Turner.
The plan will double the size of the Raglan recreation ground with
the purchase of several hectares of Crown and privately owned land
for soccer grounds and netball courts. Mr Turner said the plan,
which will be presented to the Raglan Community Board, will cater
to as many sports and recreational groups as possible. Some currently
had no proper facilities. A funding plan would address potential
problems arising from the possible loss of the WEL Energy Trust
grants program and Lotto funding.
"The challenge is do we go for a facility which is modest,
but might not cater for such a wide range of groups or do we go
for a comprehensive facility which could provide for things like
martial arts, aerobics, indoor bowls and meetings. That would give
us something which is multi use and of benefit to the whole town."
A new sports centre on the recreation ground would cost up to $1.5
million and could be self funding, Mr Turner said.
Click here to go to top of page
Raglan Hamilton
Bus Service
The following emails reflect the
latest information available on the bus service (John Lawson
is Assistant Sec for the Whaingaroa Environment Centre and Noel
Buirnie is employed by Environment Waikato)
From:
Noel Burnie <noel.burnie@ew.govt.nz>
To: 'John Lawson' <oliviaf@wave.co.nz>
Date: Friday, 1 November 2002 10:44
Subject: RE: Raglan bus service
John,
Hamilton City Buses did pretty well this morning, the drivers were
on a new service with one of the new ticket machines which they
had not used before. I finished training the driver at 7.00 pm last
night so it was a rushed job by all concerned.
HCB
have instructed their drivers to accept any passengers who still
have Pavlovich 10 ride cards, EW will reimburse the company for
any fares they lose by accepting these cards. The new Busit Cards
should be available from the driver by Monday 4th November. Passengers
will also be able [I might ask Noel how this sentence ended]
I understand that for the present the bus will be left overnight
in Raglan and the driver will travel from Hamilton in a company
vehicle, we will keep a close eye on their start time as we dont
want to get into the Pavlovich situation where the driver was always
late arriving in Raglan.
For extra services I would expect you would need $200.00 - $240.00
for a return trip so a Saturday with 2 return trips would cost about
$400 - $500. If they proved to be viable (ie 30 - 35 pax per trip
) you could expect the rate to drop to around $80 - $90 and less
if the bus was full each time.
The
last departure from Hamilton will probably be go to 5.30 pm as HCB
do not want to have to swap vehicles at the mid - point of the trip
and the extra 15 minutes would give them time to get the 4.30 bus
back into Hamilton in time to do the last trip.
I have the tenders board decision on the accepted tender, but have
yet to see the full report so I am not sure of the full cost of
the service at this time, will be able to tell you when I see the
full report. The actual cost price and the cost components from
the tender documents are considered commercially sensitive so I
cannot disclose what was in them but the tenders board report is
a public document.
Cheers
Noel
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lawson [mailto:oliviaf@wave.co.nz]
Sent: Friday, 1 November 2002 7:28 a.m.
To: Noel Burnie
Cc: Lesley Syme; Jan Mitchell; Raglan Taxi; Whaingaroa Environment
Centre
Subject: Raglan bus service
Dear
Noel
Thank you for phoning me yesterday and congratulations on the only
slightly late departure from Raglan West of the Hamilton City Bus
this morning with its very clear 'Hamilton 21' display on the front.
Thank you also for the prompt distribution of the timetables and
pens. Are you now able to say how the service will be operated (based
in Raglan overnight, change at Whatawhata on the 17.15, using the
same vehicle for each trip, etc) and how much it is costing please?
If
it were possible to raise funding for weekend or evening operation
over the summer period, would it be practicable to do it through
you and what sort of money would need to be raised please?
Thanks
John.
****************************************
This email is not an official statement of the Waikato
Regional Council unless otherwise stated.
Visit our website http://www.ew.govt.nz
****************************************
Email From: Marnie Johnson <Marnie.Johnson@waidc.govt.nz>
Date: Monday, 21 October 2002 13:25
Subject: MEDIA RELEASE: Raglan Bus Service Continues to Operate
as Normal
Raglan
Bus Service Continues to Operate as Normal
A
new contract for the Waikato District Council subsidised Raglan
bus service will be let from 1 November, and the service will continue
to operate as normal, despite claims to the contrary. Environment
Waikato, who oversees passenger transport services in the Waikato,
is currently letting a short-term contract for the Raglan bus service.
The contract will run from 1 November 2002 until 30 June 2003. Waikato
District Council's Roading Group Manager Kaye Clark says that information
circulating in the Raglan community that the bus service will discontinue
from 1 November is untrue. "This is completely incorrect information.
Raglan will not be left without a bus service." The short term
contract for the service will allow both Councils to tender a five
year contract around February next year. "We are waiting until
February so that we can review passenger numbers and align service
times with the public's needs," said Kaye Clark.
Waikato District Council contributes 30 per cent of the running
costs of the bus service.
END
For further information please contact
Kaye Clark, Roading Group Manager
Waikato District Council
Phone 07 824 8633 Mobile 0274 749 762
Marnie
Johnson
COMMUNICATION & MARKETING MANAGER
Waikato
District Council
Private Bag 544
Ngaruawahia
DDI 07 824 5884
FAX 07 824 5892
Email marnie.johnson@waidc.govt.nz
************************************
Bus Survey - by John Lawson
Raglan’s buses have only 3 months left, was the shock announcement
made at Whaingaroa Environment Centre’s July meeting by Environment
Waikato. Since then I’ve been doing some research, thinking and
negotiating to come up with the enclosed bus survey. Now is choice
time. We can either lose our subsidy, or get a service to be proud
of. Every day over 400 of us commute to Hamilton. If we all used
the bus it would justify a 5 minute interval peak service. That
is probably not possible, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t aim for
half and a 10 minute service. Just think of all the petrol and pollution
we could save, not to mention the stress of driving. In the days
when everyone walked or rode they all knew each other. Now we just
flash by in cars and rarely meet. Could we take this opportunity
to strengthen community spirit too? Buses have many environmental
benefits. Raglan has increasing parking problems; a bus occupying
2 car spaces can carry the equivalent of more than 20 car loads.
A bus passenger has about 10 times less impact than a car driver
on global warming - the thing that gives us more and more weather
extremes. Noticed the gales this year? Major Waikato floods were
in 1907, 1958, 1998 and 2002; they’re getting more frequent. That’s
why we need to reduce energy use. Changing to buses is one way to
do that. Do you agree? Can Raglan show the way again? Please fill
in this survey and let us know what you think. John Lawson.
Click Here to download
the survey form in MS Word format
From Hamilton Press 24 July 2002
Raglan Buses to Continue
Environment Waikato has confirmed that the existing Raglan-Hamilton
bus service will continue for at least the next 12 weeks. Some residents
had expressed concerns about the service and were worried it might
not continue. The councils group manager policy and transport Jeanette
Black said Environment Waikato was committed to ensuring a bus service
between Raglan and Hamilton City continued "well into the future."
In the mean time, a working group made up of the Regional Council,
Pavlovich Coachlines and Waikato District Council Community Board
would look at further services and timetables. "The working
group will need to have a good look at the number of passengers
using the services, what times services are most required,and also
the financial viability of bus routes before making any long-term
reccommendation about future services". Currently, bus services
between Hamilton and Raglan cost $45000 a year and are funded by
Transfund New Zealand, Waikato District Council and Environment
Waikato via a special passenger transport rate.
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