Everything Kāpiti
Ngā Pitopito kōrero mai i te Kaunihera o Kāpiti
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Kia ora Kāpiti
Well, the weather's starting to get that gloomy winter feel to it, but we've heaps of inspiring stories to catch you up on and warm your heart! This week is New Zealand Sign Language Week, and Road Safety Week, AND we're celebrating the work of our local restoration groups in the lead-up to Restoration Day 2022! There's certainly lots of wonderful people to celebrate in our community.
We hope you're keeping well; remember that even if you've had COVID-19, you can catch it again. If you're feeling unwell, please stay home and help protect our community's vulnerable by reducing the spread. Our friends at Protect Greater Wellington are sharing great information on Facebook about keeping yourself and your loved ones well, and what to do if you test positive – you can also check out their website. Keep masking, smiling, and being kind Kāpiti.
Mā te wā – have a great week.
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 Our people and communities
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Celebrating our Deaf community, culture and language
It’s New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week, celebrating Deaf language and culture, and we're proud to support members of our Deaf community to put their hands up and be seen, and break down barriers, fears and misconceptions.
Did you know NZSL is its very own language, with grammar rules and syntax? It became an official language in Aotearoa in 2006. Sign language is not universal – there are big differences between New Zealand, British and Australian Sign Language for example.
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Celebrating road safety heroes
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It's also Road Safety Week – this year we're celebrating the heroes in our community who work to make our journeys safer.
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This includes our friends in the Police, those training the awesome school patrollers, and of course the patrollers themselves, who help keep our tamariki (children) safe during school drop-offs and pick-ups at 11 schools across our district.
You can be a road safety hero too, by pledging to use roads safely and speaking up for safer and healthier journeys.
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Nominations open for Civic and Community Awards
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Know someone deserving recognition for their outstanding contribution to the Kāpiti community?
Nominations are now open for the Kāpiti Coast Civic Awards and the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards!
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Our Civic Awards celebrate individuals and groups who’ve shown exemplary service and/or leadership to keep our community connected and strong.
The Regional Community Awards celebrate community group volunteers, who through their work have helped make our district a great place to live.
Get your nominations in now – entries close 5pm, Tuesday 31 May.
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Be the change for your local environment
Want to make a real difference to our environment? Help protect and preserve local flora and fauna for everyone to enjoy! Kāpiti has almost 30 restoration planting, friend, and guardian groups across our district. These groups meet regularly to care for nature and protect our natural environment, providing valuable contributions to our local biodiversity.
New members are always welcome, regardless of experience or expertise. Activities include tree planting, track building, weeding, pest trapping, bird monitoring, and nursery work. Some volunteers have many years of experience, so getting involved is also a great way to learn!
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Want to learn about traditional composting, worm farms and Bokashi bins, but keen to stay in your nice warm living room? Join the first of our Love Your Compost online workshops, this Thursday, 12 May!
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There’ll even be an opportunity at the end of the workshop to ask your own composting questions.
And if you need a little boost to get your compost set up, fill out our survey and you’ll receive a $40 voucher towards a composting system (or collection service) of your choice.
Don’t miss out! Sign up now to get a head start on composting this winter.
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Waka Kori – fun for all the whānau
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Over 200 tamariki (children) and their parents visited our Waka Kori Play Trailer events over the April school holidays, and we loved how varied and creative their play ideas were!
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We saw fantastic imaginative play including tyre races, secret hut building, and innovative play using pieces of guttering. There was even fun and laughter with an old showerhead!
Waka Kori fun will continue throughout the term, as our trailer is lent out to local schools, so keep an eye out for it in your kura (school)!
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 Your Council
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Looking closer at Three Waters Reform
Three Waters Reform was back in the news last week, with Government accepting most of its working group’s reform recommendations on governance, ownership and accountability.
This confirms local councils will retain ownership of water entities through a public shareholding structure, with shares allocated to councils based on the size of their communities (one share per 50,000 people). Regional representative groups for each entity will be jointly overseen by local councils and mana whenua, to ensure community voices are heard and there’s more accountability.
There was no commitment to ongoing taxpayer investment in water services, which the working group also recommended.
So what does this mean for Kāpiti? Over the next four weeks, we’ll take a deep dive into:
- what the three waters look like in Kāpiti
- what reform means for our community
- why we’re pushing on with key projects in the meantime.
You’ll hear from some of our water experts, and we'll be touring some of our infrastructure and services. Keep an eye on Everything Kāpiti and our social media pages.
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Council reasserts support for Te Uruhi
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Councillors have expressed their continued support for Te Uruhi, the biosecurity and visitor centre planned for Maclean Park in Paraparaumu Beach.
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At a briefing last week, councillors heard that project costs have increased significantly, as they have for many other projects around the country.
Following a robust question and answer session, councillors weighed up a number of options. They decided staff should continue with the project, as it will deliver numerous social, cultural, environment and economic benefits to the Kāpiti Coast community and contributes to the wider Maclean Park vision, but look to significantly reduce the shortfall through external funding grants and sponsorship.
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Zero waste education in Ōtaki
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Last week we visited Ōtaki College with Kate Meads from Waste Free with Kate & Co for a ‘waste-free period’ session.
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Around 200 girls from Years 7–13 attended the session, and learned about the range of reusable menstrual product options available. At the end of the session, the girls could choose from reusable pads, cups or underwear to take home at no cost to them or the college.
We’re planning to run this session at each of our district’s colleges over the next few years, to share these resources and increase awareness of reusable menstrual products options among our wahine taitamariki (young women).
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 Work updates
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Retaining wall construction to close Akatarawa Road
We’ll be building a retaining wall and completing some other work on Akatarawa Road between Monday 23 May and Friday 3 June. Because of the scale of this work and the equipment needed, access will be limited to residents only between 7am and 6pm. The road will reopen during weekends and outside work hours.
Please plan ahead for your journey, and thank you for your patience as we carry out this important mahi.
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 Dates to remember
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My Walk In Wardrobe
Saturday 14 May, 10am–2pm | Waikanae Memorial Hall
Part of our No8 Wire event programme, My Walk In Wardrobe's sustainable fashion markets are back! Preloved, upcycled, vintage, hand made, locally made – clothing, shoes, jewellery and accessories.
My Walk In Wardrobe is for everyone – whether you're trying to be a thrifty shopper or more mindful of the environmental impact of fast fashion, wanting something unique and fun, or simply wanting to make some extra cash by selling what you’ve “Marie Kondo’d” out of your wardrobe.
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Strategy and Operations Committee meeting this week 
Thursday 12 May, 9.30am | See the agenda and watch the livestream through our Meetings page
This week councillors will discuss:
- Local Government Funding Agency 2022/23 Statement of Intent
- Kāpiti Coast Housing Needs Assessment 2022
- Kāpiti Coast District Council Housing Strategy 2022
- Social Investment Fund 2022–24 – Ōtaki allocation and appointment of districtwide panel
- Stormwater Management Framework engagement
- Contracts under delegated authority.
Remember if you miss a livestreamed meeting, you can watch it later at Council meetings on our YouTube channel.
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 Everything (Kāpiti) is better with friends
Would you like to share the Everything Kāpiti newsletter with friends? Forward it to a friend and they'll be able to sign up too.
Or share the sign-up page directly. We look forward to welcoming them to the whānau.
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 #shareyourkapiti
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We want to see your Kāpiti snaps!
Do you have beautiful Kāpiti Coast photos? If so, follow us on Instagram and use the hashtag #shareyourkapiti for the chance to feature in Everything Kāpiti. If you don't use social media, you can upload your images to our website, at #ShareYourKapiti. Get sharing!
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