DEMOLITION PROJECT: Ian Young at the soccer club building, which goes in stage one of the revamp.

FEARS that plans to revamp Eastbourne Village were “all talk” have been allayed, says community board chairman Ian Young.

“The community had a fear that it might be all talk and nothing might happen,” he says.

But the board had consulted widely with community groups, residents and businesses and now he is confident of strong approval for the plans, which are nearly completed.

Mr Young says multiple plans have been drawn up before, and then cast aside, but this scheme was a completely different story.

“There’s been a big plan for Eastbourne before and there’s been very little action.”

The community is very much in favour of the current plan because people realise money has already been committed [and] they are feeling more confident the plan will eventuate.

The village redesign is scheduled to be completed by 2013 and is estimated to cost $1 million.

The proposed work will improve the Rimu St access to the village, the existing public toilet block will be replaced and a new suburban shopping complex will be built..

The first project will be to reconstruct the public toilet block, beginning next week, while the other  work will be done over the next three years.

Hutt City Council parks and gardens manager Bruce Hodgins says the planning process has not been easy because of the issues the council has encountered.

A big one was finding a new home for the soccer club, which uses a building that is going to be demolished, he says.

“We’re going to accommodate them in HW Shortt Park with the rugby and cricket clubs,” he says.

“We’ve just got to get things right so that they’re satisfied.”

Mr Hodgins says the projects will council–funded, with local service organisations (such as Rotary and Lions) possibly helping out with labour.

The council has earmarked $500,000 over the three years, and discussions are being held with Rotary, which has indicated it wants to participate.

GRAND PLAN: A look into Eastbourne's future.

By Amie Hickland & Hanna Butler

THE CLOCK is counting down to the 2010 local body elections - the chance for the region’s residents to pick their local representatives.

Nominations for council and district health board members have now opened, and close August 20 at noon.

Wellington city faces some huge challenges coming up in the next couple of terms, especially around inflation, says Council Watch engagement advisor Jim Candiliotis.

It’s time for the council to “reconcile with the community that they actually represent”, he says.

Wellington groups will meet next month to determine the issues they want to raise with candidates, says Mr Candiliotis, who is also on the executive of the Federation of Wellington Progressive and Residents’ Associations.

The federation plans public meetings where candidates will be asked to address the issues identified, he says.

While many incumbents are expected to stand, 28 Wellingtonians new to the game have shown an interest in standing for their city council. They fronted at a recent meeting on what’s involved in being a councillor.

Wellington City Council electoral officer Ross Bly says it was “a pretty pleasing turnout”.

“Being a councillor is a great way of working with and for the local community, but it’s a good idea to know what it’s all about before you put your name forward,” says Mr Bly.

He says the sessions are useful as people don’t appreciate what is involved in the role of councillor, and potential candidates get a chance to talk to current councillors.

“The work of a councillor touches people every day in every way.”

Candidates must be New Zealand citizens aged over 18 and on the electoral roll, be nominated by two locals, and pay a $200 deposit.

“It’s not complicated.  There are no qualifications or professional requirements needed to stand for council.”

The council encourages a range of elected members of different ages, ethnicities and backgrounds to represent Wellington’s increasingly diverse community.

The local elections are by postal vote, between September 17 and noon on October 9.

WHO HAS THEIR HAND UP?

Candidates already reported to be standing for various mayoralties include:

Wellington City Council

Kerry Prendergast (incumbent)

Jack Yan

Alan Probert

Bryan Pepperell

Celia Wade-Brown

Carterton District Council

Ruth Carter

Hutt City Council

David Ogden (incumbent)

Ray Wallace (Tweeted by @HuttNZ)

Kapiti Coast District Council

Jenny Rowan (incumbent)

Masterton District Council

Georgina Beyer

Garry Daniell (incumbent)

David Holmes

Jeff Workman

Porirua City Council

Letia Ah Hoi

Nick Legget

Russell Marshall

South Wairarapa District Council

Adrienne Staples (incumbent)

Upper Hutt City Council

Wayne Guppy (incumbent)

Adrienne Sparrow

Elections will also be held for:

• Community boards in some areas
• Greater Wellington Regional Council
• Hutt Mana Charitable Trust
• Capital and Coast District Health Board
• Hutt Valley District Health Board
• Wairarapa District Health Board

ARTIST ON SHOW: Catherine’s works are often inspired by Welington’s south coast.

WELLINGTON ARTIST Catherine Roberts says she is ecstatic to be named as a finalist for an award at the New Zealand Art Show in the TSB Bank Arena later this month.

Catherine’s piece ‘‘Appreciate and Preserve’’ has been chosen from 200 entries as a top 10 contender for the Single Piece Art Award.

“I have seen the work of the other artists entering, and to be even considered to be grouped with them in the top 10 is a huge confidence boost for me to keep doing what I love doing,” she says.

The winner, who will be decided by public vote, will receive a $5000 prize from the New Zealand Art Show Trust.

It will be Catherine’s second year at the show but the first at which her work will feature on a wall of its own.

Every year around 1000 artists submit their work for the show and of the 524 artists selected for this year’s, only 84 have been given a wall.

Catherine (right), a mother of four children aged two to 14, says having a wall at the show is a whole different game.

“When you have got a single art wall you have to be there the whole time and represent your wall. It’s really good for a career and really nerve-racking at the same time. I’m a little bit on the shy side.”

Catherine’s canvases are mainly abstract contemporary landscapes, with inspiration from the south coast near her Miramar home.

In recent years, she has shown her works at various exhibitions, galleries and cafes and has also exhibited at the NZ Fine Arts Academy.

The New Zealand Art Show, now in its seventh year, introduces emerging artists to the public and sells their work at affordable prices. It takes place from July 29 to August 1.

REST STOP: Tiffany Jackson sitting on one of the new seats.

MORE than $25,000 will be spent on a dozen new public seats on the Kapiti Coast over the next year.

Paraparaumu/Raumati will get five, Otaki two and Paekakariki one, while Waikanae already has four installed.

“Providing street furniture encourages walking to/from main areas and provides a resting spot along the way if required,” says Tiffany Jackson, a member of the Kapiti Coast District Council roading team.

The council is spending about $2200 on each seat, including the cost of installation.

In her report proposing the seating, Ms Jackson identified key areas that generate high volumes of pedestrian traffic.

Locations were based on town centres, shops, retirement villages and rest homes, railway stations, schools and medical centres.

The allocations depended on the population of each district, the number of current seats and requests from the community.

The new seats in Waikanae are at
• the corner of Winara Ave and Karariki Grove, as it is on a route to a bushwalk, near a primary school, a kindergarten and the Winara Rest Home;
• the corner of Stuart St and Belvedere Ave, as it offers a rest about halfway between the commercial area and Parkvale Retirement Village;
• the corner of Rimu St and Ngarara Rd, as the site provides for pedestrians walking to the playground, the school, the swimming pool, and rest homes;
• the corner of Te Moana Rd and Park Ave, a  location within the area of Melt Cafe, the golf course and sports grounds.

All of the Kapiti district will be assessed as part of the review of street furniture to see what the needs of the community are, says Ms Jackson.

IN GOOD COMPANY: David Winter won an international biology award. Photo: Supplied

WAIRARAPA-BORN David Winter has won the Ernst Mayr award, received by only two other New Zealanders  in its history.

Both the other winners have gone on to do well in evolutionary biology, says David, who is studying evolutionary genetics at the University of Otago.

“So it’s very nice to be counted in that company.”

David received the award at the annual meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists in Portland, Oregon, the largest meeting of evolutionary biologists in the world, attracting 1900 people.

The award is made annually to the student who delivers the most outstanding talk.

David, whose talk was entitled “Mayr’s Hydra grows another head”, shares his award with a mathematician from the University of California, Berkeley.

David’s talk was about the work he has done for his PhD trying to combine genetic, morphological and ecological data to understand how new landsnail species arise.

He received a set of back issues of the journal Systematic Biology, and the two award recipients split the $US1000 prize.

“But the main reward is having it on my CV,” says David.

“I was stoked. I was very happy and very proud. I really don’t know how else to describe it.”

UNUSUAL PRESENT: Patty (left) and John watch as Nikki (above)and Melody take Kadine out of her box.

PATTY Kilpatrick thought finding a birthday present for husband John’s 50th would be hard – he wanted a kiwi.

Not to actually own one of New Zealand’s iconic birds, but to name and sponsor one.

She found the solution at Rimutaka Forest Park Trust, a non-profit charitable trust committed to protecting and restoring the hills of Rimutaka, Orongorongo and Turakirae areas.

“John is so hard to buy for, it was a relief to have him tell me this is what he wanted,” says Patty.

KIWI MOTHER: Trust worker Melody McLaughlin with Kadine.

They talked to Melody McLaughlin, who works for the trust and knows kiwi well.

She has released  39 kiwi into the 22,000 hectares on the edges of Wainuiomata and involved with the trust for  kiwi for seven years.

The latest juvenile to be fitted with a small transmitter is Kadine, named by the Kilpatrick’s after their company, Kadine Stamps, in Bell Block, New Plymouth, and also an aged and special samoyd dog, who passed away.

The gathering in Wainuiomata is here to release Kadine into the wild, after hatching 4.5 months ago and reared at Pukaha Mt Bruce Wildlife Sanctuary, north of Masterton.

She then went to Whanganui kiwi crèche, before it closed, and is now playing hard to get from her wooden box at Sunny Grove.

Wainuiomata kaumatua Sep Taitua blesses the young bird and a prayer is sung by members of the marae.

Care is taken to not let her escape: “They have a habit of bolting for the nearest hole, head first with their bottom sticking out – the ostrich approach,” says Melody.

When 1200 gram Kadine pops out and is held by Melody for everyone to see, she looks shy and timid, a bird who would rather not be the centre of attention.

“Males stomp and hiss at this time of the year because it’s mating time and can be stroppy with more handling,” Melody says.

Three things that will stress a kiwi are noise, being handled and temperature, so care is taken to minimise these.

Volunteer Nikki McArthur will walk the two-hour track journey to let her go, from a special carry bag after Kadine’s photo shoot.

Being nocturnal and winter having the longest feeding times, she will be hungry by evening and becoming restless to begin a new night of foraging.

The “fantastic opportunity” to sponsor a unique bird is what John loves about his birthday gift: “The chance to be involved with kiwi at all is what interested me. It’s very special.”

What the trust does

The Rimutaka Forest Park Charitable Trust, formed in 1988, is responsible for the preservation and restoration of the natural and historic resources of the Rimutaka Forest Park valleys and environment.

It works with local community, tangata whenua and the Department of Conservation.

The trust’s only intervention is the trapping of predator’s in 2500 hectares of prime kiwi space, predominately stoats.

Its main objective is to have a sustainable population and to breed a “pure provenance”  bird.

The trust’s captive-bred kiwi currently share genetics with birds from Taranaki, Bay of Islands, Coromandel Little Barrier Island and Northland.

Kiwi pair for life and there have been stories of separated couples travelling kilometres to return to their mate.

Each bird or breeding couple roams a square kilometre area.

The female carries her egg for three weeks before laying it. She will eat three times more food and her egg will be as big as a moa’s when laid.

She will stand in water to reduce the load on her and will not eat for three days prior to laying. If there is one, a second egg will begin to grow inside her.

The male sits on the egg, if he is still around. The chick will stand as soon as hatched and feeds on the egg sac for a week.

In three weeks, the parents will kick the baby out of the nest if it has not left home already.

GREEN FUEL: Leigh Ramsey and Celia Wade-Brown at Weltec workshop.

FOUR Wellington buses are trialling an alternative fuel this week that promises to eliminate the black smoke that belches from most diesels.

They are part of the first commercial trial of a new “green diesel” that has been developed by staff at Weltec polytech and Hutt Valley alternative fuels company Veranis.

The new fuel – an emulsified diesel/water blend – is the work of former BMW master technician Tony Devos, business development manager Leigh Ramsey and ex-oil company people.

The group has brought together an unlikely amalgamation of sustainability and fossil fuel to reduce the dirty emissions from diesel vehicles like buses and trucks.

“We’re all close to retirement and ended up back here with an idea we think is worthwhile,” says Tony.

The idea was spurred by the aim of producing a clean fuel from a rapidly diminishing oil supply.

Leigh says the engineers have developed a secret “recipe” called agent X, which allows water and diesel to bond. This is known as an emulsion.

“The water is in such very small droplets,” he says. “[It is] encased by diesel and becomes an emulsion, much like mayonnaise.

“So the engine doesn’t see the water, as it is surrounded in oil droplets.”

Wellington city councillor Celia Wade-Brown says she was “very impressed” with what she saw and strongly supports the Green diesel as a tool to reduce emissions and deal with waste engine oil safely.

“This is a way of improving the liveability of Wellington’s downtown,” she says.

She saw a Veranis presentation to aregional waste forum,  which consisted of local and regional council representatives.

Leigh says while focusing on waste oil fuels using their technology for off-road machinery  Celia asked:s “Can you do the same with straight-run diesel fuel used   in buses?”

“We say yes and with the support of local and regional authorities we now have a pilot programme to prove the viability of this technology in the field.”

He says with New Zealand about to open its doors and showcase itself to the world with the Rugby World Cup next year, a technology like theirs would benefit the country’s 100% pure brand.

DIESEL DATA: Leigh (left) and Tony check emissions output.

What’s behind the new fuel

Tony explains:

FOSSIL fuels are a diminishing resource. Let’s face it, the first time we took a barrel of fuel out of the ground, we had a barrel less.

With no one making new fossil fuel and it’s  not renewable, it must run out. It’s a finite resource.

Humans use fossil fuel at an extraordinary rate and have very become reliant on it (if not addicted to it). So the logical thing to do when running out of a resource is to use it more wisely.

Diesel engines use the chemical energy in 1 kilogram (or litre) of hydrocarbons more efficiently than the equivalent  petrol engine does. Petrol engines are 25% thermally efficient, while diesel engines are 40%.

That isn’t particularly efficient (the petrol engine) and a considerably better argument is to use diesel.

However, diesels have significant downsides: , they produce much more noxious emissions,  particulate matter (PM) and Noxs (oxides of nitrogen).

Everyone will have seen a bus go by and the cloud of black smoke belching out the back – that’s PM

But run a heavy vehicle on ‘green diesel’ developed in New Zealand by Veranis and it almost turns off the soot to a point where you struggle to see it – it doesn’t get created. We burn the fuel more efficiently.

A reduction of 50% in PM is easily achieved.

DIRTY AS: Comparison of green diesel emissions (left) and ordinary diesel.

TONY fires up the engine of an old bus and inserts a sensor, with small blotting paper, in the exhaust.

With the engine revving at about a three-quarter load, a set volume of gas is sucked out of the exhaust system, and runs through the filter. It comes out looking jet black.

Then the fuel is changed to ‘green diesel and the particulate matter left behind doing the same test is massively reduced.

Tony says:

Particulate matter is  very small carbon pollutants that go deep into your lungs and gets stuck and  cause deep lung diseases.

Old and young people are particularly susceptible – the young breath much faster than adults. The old usually have a reduced immune system, which puts them at risk.

A bus in New Zealand has to conform to emission standards. When new, it is at the peak of technology and runs to that standard.

Over the years, it gets moved from the city to suburbs then to school runs, with those fresh new lungs on it breathing the noxious fumes.

They may do the school run for up to 15 years, and then they’re sold to some hippie to end its life.

Euro standard 3/4/5 is a standard for emission measurement and is what new vehicles must meet.

But these standards are constantly being updated and so requiring buses to have cleaner engines actually means replacing the entire vehicle.

So the choice is to replace the bus or put ‘green diesel’ in it. Even the old dunger buses have the ability to dramatically improve their standard of compliance.

Leigh says:

The old dungers are ideal candidates to trial ‘green diesel’.

One of these old buses creates as much noxious emission as around 15 euro 5 buses, so let’s attack the largest polluting part of the fleet.

It also makes good sense to protect the health of the young, who are most at risk.

Veranis also can incorporate waste lubricating oil in its fuel.

Waste oil is a horrific problem in New Zealand. It has additives in it which allow it to mix with water easily.

Most waste oil in  New Zealand  is transported t through Wellington (by either land or sea) before it goes to furnaces in Westport to be burnt as a cheap fuel.

This is extremely risky.

The problem with waste oil isn’t burning it, it is the bulking up of it into large parcels and moving/shipping those parcels geographically far away from where it’s created to dispose of it.

For example,  if a truck was to roll over  in the Hutt Valley anywhere north of Taita or on the Rimutakas , there is the potential to render the Petone aquifer useless for years, if not decades.

Four litres of waste oil make a million litres of water undrinkable.

Oil industry experts involved in Veranis say in comparison to diesel and petrol, waste oil is one of the hardest of hydrocarbon products to clean up.

Veranis would like to see to the bulking-up and transporting of waste oil reduced and see it consumed locally close to where it is created by  re-circulating it back into the diesel fuel-stream using ‘green diesel’ technology.

This eliminates the risk of the current model and turns what is considered a waste product into an asset for recycling.

Bus depots are very good trialling places. They have central fuelling stations in their own yards, creating their own waste oil on site, doing the same circuit every day.

In terms of data, it is a great control.

We can put data logging and emission sampling equipment on a bus to measure what it does out on the road, come and download the data collected into the laboratory computers

Then we can recreate those road conditions on a state-of-the-art dynamometer, which allows him to make repeatable tests.

By Hugh Petersen, Greg Ford & Josh Snee

WELLINGTON football fans climbed cars, walls and even rubbish trucks to get a good vantage point to see their hero players from the All Whites in today’s lunchtime parade.

Thousands of people followed the procession from Parliament to Civic Square where most of the team from the 2010 World Cup signed autographs and mingled with the crowd.

Four floats preceded the All Whites, celebrating Argentine football and the Wellington Phoenix.

Argentine visitors the Boca Juniors, who play the Wellington Phoenix on Friday, drove slowly past to polite applause from the crowd.

Finally the All Whites float arrived and the crowd erupted into cheers for the only unbeaten team at the 2010 World Cup.

Upon their arrival at the Civic Square, cannons shot white confetti into the air, spraying players and fans alike.

Crowds that had managed to cram into the Square were then welcomed by Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast, who spoke of how she and the whole region could not have been prouder of the World Cup side.

Prime Minister John Key, patron of New Zealand Football, made it clear how proud he was of the side.

“They fought with guts and courage: This is their day.”

Phoenix and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert got the loudest cheer of the day and was humble about his team’s success.

Herbert thanked the crowd for their continued support, then turned to his players and thanked them, describing the All Whites as “dedicated, loyal to the cause and great football ambassadors for the nation”.

WATCH THIS SPACE: An Auckland idea comes to Wellington. Photo courtesy of WCC

WELLINGTON City Council is investing $300,000 in electronic signage to alert drivers to CBD parking buildings that have spaces. 

The real-time signs are targeted at helping visitors as well as reducing congestion, ahead of the Rugby World Cup’s first Wellington match on September 11, 2011.

Already in use in Auckland, the signs will be appearing in the Capital by June next year, says business performance manager (infrastructure) Jon Visser. “We’re committing to get them up before the Rugby World Cup.”

The signage will guide drivers to commercial carpark buildings and electronic data will show how many available spaces there are.

The initiative came from Mayor Kerry Prendergast, council transport portfolio leader, and first appeared in the 2010/11 draft annual plan in April.

Time for public response closed on May 10 and the plan was signed off by the full council on June 25. 

The signs are aimed at minimising congestion in the central business district, according to the transport section annual plan, and are part of “creating a more efficient transport network”, the plan says.

Others signs showing parking building locations are under review and will be improved where necessary, Mr Visser says.

Paraparaumu resident Nicolaj McHowell says he doesn’t think the signs are needed.

“I have never once been unable to park in one [parking building] and you already have signs for parking in the city anyway,” he says.

However, Mr Visser says he did not receive any submissions on this project.

Signage will apply to the council’s three commercial parking buildings, and those of Wilson, Care Park and Tournament parking companies.

The companies are expected to contribute by assisting to the design of the system, upgrading where necessary and making available their garage management system. Financial contributions are also being negotiated.

Mr Visser says the companies are all being co-operative. Locations for the signs are still to be confirmed.

Likely sites for electronic parking alerts

•  Aotea Quay
• Featherston St (Thorndon Quay/Murphy St offramp)
• Vivian St (near Terrace Tunnel exit)
• Oriental Pde
• City side of the Mt Victoria Tunnel

Dr Madeleine Wall (Nanny) reads with her grandaughters Xanthe (5) and Phaedra (7).

GRANDPARENTS are the first choice for families looking for someone to care for their kids in New Zealand.

More than a third of children under two and almost as many between three and six are sometimes looked after by gran and granddad, according to a Statistics New Zealand survey late last year.

“This confirms anecdotal evidence that grandparents are a popular choice for informal childcare,” says StatisticsNZ labour market statistics manager Sharon Snelgrove.

Of parents who had worked or wanted to work in the 12 months prior to the survey, 14.4% said they had child care problems. 

Rising costs were the main reason for children not attending formal care (childcare centres and kindergartens), followed closely by lack of places, availability and locality.
 
Mother of two Josie Glasson says cost was a contributing factor in her choice to ask her parents to care for her children, but it was also about creating stability for her kids.

“It gives them a sense of continuity in family meaning more than just ‘mum’,” she says.

Dr Madeleine Wall (Josie’s mother) often picks the girls up from school, and cares from them during the school holidays.

Baking cakes (right) and fun days out are at the top of the list for things to do.

For parents who choose the formal care option the Ministry of Education offers 20 hours of free early childhood care. To be eligible, the child must be aged between three and six.

Of the estimated 90,900 children aged between three and five who were attending formal care, four out of five use the 20 free hours.

Some 16.4% of parents who are eligible did not realise it was available.