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The Great Harbour Way

In the early 2000's, the Great Harbour Way Coalition was formed, initially by a group of cycling and walking enthusiasts and later with the enthusiastic support of Hutt City Rotarians and other clubs from across the region. The goal of the Coalition was to advocate for the creation of a continuous pathway for cyclists and walkers around the entire length of the foreshore of Wellington Harbour.

(Great Harbour Way Coalition supporters, including Allan Brown (2nd from left), former chair of the Coalition and Linton Adams (far right), not Hutt City Rotarians)

While work proceeded on other sections of the pathway, the missing link remained the Petone-Ngauranga section. This would always be the most challenging and expensive element, incorporating as it does both a 5 metre-wide pathway and protection for the adjoining rail track.

At a launch event on 16 March, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Michael Wood, accompanied by the Lower Hutt and Wellington Mayors, the Chair of the Regional Council and other dignitaries, celebrated the commencement of construction of Te Ara Tupua; the Petone-Ngauranga seaside path.

The pathway will link with the existing Petone-Melling section and the full Hutt River Trail. It is expected to be completed in 2026.

Supporting young people in our community

With strong support of businesses from across the Hutt Valley and Wellington, RHC has held another successful bowls event to raise funds to improve the resilience and wellbeing of young people. Eighteen teams competed for the winners' trophy, while raffles, spot prizes and the opportunity to dress up added to the fun.

The charities benefitting from the event were:

Ignite Wellbeing - an online platform providing access to resources and workshops and mental health and wellbeing coaches.
Get Comfy - bringing young people together with live music, creating a community that is supportive and comfortable with talks around mental health.
Billy Graham Youth Foundation - teaching youth life lessons and increasing well being amongst the local youth community.
PunchFit - teaching youth life lessons and increasing well being amongst the local youth community.

Agriculture in 2022

Andrew Sliper of Landcorp spoke at our meeting on 21 September on challenges facing agriculture in 2022, particularly in livestock farming. Landcorp is the largest corporate farm owner and operator in New Zealand, with 365,000 hectares of land under management.

With an ageing workforce and difficulties in attracting staff, famers are dealing with skyrocketing production costs, rising consumer expectations around food quality and traceability, and pressures to lessen the environmental impacts of farming activities.

The Future for the City

The Mayor of Hutt City, Campbell Barry, spoke at our meeting on 3 August, on the state of the city and Council’s current priorities and challenges. This continues an association between the Club and the Council that stretches back to 1943, with the then Mayor John Andrews being elected as the Club’s inaugural President. Campbell was 28 years old when first elected as Mayor - one of the youngest Mayors in NZ at the time.

The Council is grappling with the need for large investments in infrastructure because of the physical characteristics of the city (the Hutt Valley is the largest flood plain in NZ), climate change, rapid population growth, and social inequality.

Major planned investments include $587 million for Three Waters, $406 million for transport improvements, $136 million for Riverlink and $89 million for the replacement of the Naenae Pool complex.

After static or declining numbers ten years ago, the Hutt City population is today around 113,000 and is expected to reach 150,000 by 2043 (100 years after Rotarian Mayor John Andrews). As a result, very high levels of house construction are required over the next twenty years. In 2021, 1067 new residential consents were issued, including 244 houses and 544 town houses.

While the Council has concerns about the effect on heritage areas of higher density residential rules and relaxed parking requirements imposed by central government, Council is obliged to work with this changing environment.

The Council values key partnerships, with Mana Whenua represented by five Iwi organisations and two Marae, and with the Club in the ongoing development of the Hutt River Trail and Innovative Young Minds. He also noted the recently formed Wellington Regional Leadership Committee, which aims to cooperate and plan a shared approach to problems and find the best outcomes to maximize the benefits across the region.

Matariki 2022

The Rotary team arrived at Boulcott School at 6.00 a.m. on 23 June to help celebrate Matariki with marshmallow roasting.

It was pitch dark , frosty and windless---the lights on our beanies helped with the loading of the firewood into the braziers. Brian Ross arrived with his infamous "flame thrower" and seven braziers were lit, each one representing one of the Matariki stars in the constellation. By 7.00 a.m., the school community was setting up for breakfast and the Maori cultural presentation commenced with the haunting playing of a conch shell.

The corridor inside the school had been decorated with Matariki stories and the ultraviolet light provided a surreal setting.

At the end of the speeches a piper played 'Amazing Grace' and then the marshmallows were ALL ON for young and not so young.

The Matariki stars rose over the Wainui hill and were slowly extinguished by the new rising sun on a magnificent morning.

What a great event --- emotional and uplifting to experience our very first official Matariki event.

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