23 May 2023

Photo of cabbage trees silhouetted against the Tararua Ranges at dawn.

Everything Kāpiti

Ngā Pitopito kōrero mai i te Kaunihera o Kāpiti

Kia ora Kāpiti

This week we've stories for you on our emergency management training, new funding that's available, updates on where you can find us for a korero on our speed management plan, and progress on some of our key projects around our district.

Remember to check out our Dates to remember section too, for highlighted meetings and events!

Mā te wā – have a great week.

Your Council

Emergency training turns up the tempo

Alongside our day jobs, Council staff regularly train to activate and run Kāpiti Coast’s emergency operations centre (EOC) to manage a local disaster response. Last Tuesday we took this a step further, running an exercise that involved setting up an emergency assistance centre (EAC) to receive hundreds of (fictional) ‘evacuees’ from a (hypothetical) ‘wildfire’ in Wellington – just as a 6.0 ‘earthquake’ struck our district!

An EAC is an official place where people can go for initial shelter and care in a disaster. Here, you can receive information and link up with government or volunteer welfare agencies.

EACs are different to community emergency hubs, which are a critical initial response in a disaster run by local people to help local neighbourhoods as a situation unfolds.

The ABC of EOC

Service centres closed Tuesday 30 May

Our three service centres will be closed for the day on Tuesday 30 May to allow our Customer Engagement team to attend a full-day course on front counter safety.

This includes our service centres inside the Ōtaki and Waikanae libraries and our Paraparaumu Civic Centre building. Our customer call centre will be operating as normal.

Making sure our people have the tools and skills to do their job safety is important to us and we thank you in advance for your understanding.

Council recognised for te ao Māori learning effort

We’re proud to have been acknowledged for the mahi our staff are doing to develop their capability in te ao Māori, including tikanga Māori and te reo Māori.

Many of our staff have been growing their skills through the Te Ao Māori for Professionals online course provided by Education Perfect. Recently we received the Engagement Award for 2023 from Education Perfect for our efforts so far.

Like many Aotearoa New Zealand businesses and organisations on this journey, we’re pleased to be playing our part in the continuing revitalisation of te reo Māori.

Mahi nui

Our people and communities

Climate Action Grants open – apply now!

Got a great idea for climate action that will benefit our district? Applications are now open for our new Climate Action Grants. We have up to $100,000 available this year to support your project if it fits one or more of these criteria:

reduces greenhouse gas emissions
helps create a culture of climate change action
improves community resilience
supports an equitable transition to low-carbon living
supports mana whenua vision and priorities for these objectives.

Applications close 9 July.

Find out more and apply now

Hot tip

National alert test helps you prepare for an emergency

A nationwide Emergency Mobile Alert system test will take place this Sunday between 6pm and 7pm. An alert will be broadcast to all capable phones.

The test will show you what an Emergency Mobile Alert looks like on your phone. It’s part of your preparedness kit and is just one of the many tools that may be used to communicate with you during an emergency such as a flood, earthquake, or tsunami.

Our Council can request an alert to be sent to areas affected in our district if there is an immediate threat to life or property. If you get an alert, stop, read the message, and take it seriously. It will tell you what the emergency is, what to do, and where to go to for more information. If you feel your life is in danger, don't wait for an official warning – take immediate action.

Learn about emergency management alerts

Get involved

Final speed management plan drop-in this weekend

Consultation on the draft Speed Management Plan closes on 9 June.

We know there’s a bit to unpack in the plan, so if you’re unsure about what it all means head along to the Waikanae Market this weekend for a korero.

Our road safety team will be there all morning to answer any questions about what it is (and is not) and why we’re doing it.

The team had a great time chatting at the Paraparaumu Beach Market a couple of weeks ago, so head down to say 'hi'.

Speed management plan

Work updates

Rimu Road closed for stormwater upgrade

Rimu Road just north of Iver Trask Place is now closed for up to four weeks to install a manhole.

We need to fully close the road because we have to dig a trench that’s five metres wide and six metres deep to install the manhole. This leaves no room for traffic to move around the work site during this stage of the project.

Our contractors will reinstate traffic to one-way (south-to-north) after this stage of works.

We’ve put detours in place, but your journey is likely to take longer than usual. Please take extra care around the work area and plan ahead for delays.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we upgrade our infrastructure to reduce flooding and prepare our district to live with more rain.

Check out the detour and work site maps on our website

Business as usual at Coastlands Parade and Kāpiti Lights

Improvements to the Paraparaumu Transport Hub are progressing well.

We’ll be making finishing touches to the new footpaths at Kāpiti Lights and Coastlands Parade over the coming weeks. We’ve restored full access to all the shops in these areas, and they look forward to seeing you. Please continue to support your local businesses.

We’re on track to finish this project in September. It’ll transform the Paraparaumu town centre, enhance people’s public transport experience, and improve access around the retail area.

Find out more

Willow tree removal update

We’ve successfully removed the willow tree by our playground at Otaihanga Domain, and the findings of the initial inspection were correct, with significant decay throughout the trunks and limbs.

This photo shows a cross section of a limb – 1 shows an area of live growth, 2 is active decay in live growth and 3 is fully decayed wood. Trees with significant decay are at risk of falling or losing limbs.

We’ll be encountering this more and more where significant changes in environmental conditions, like prolonged high groundwater levels, start affecting individual trees – even with species that may be known for enjoying wet conditions.

The safety of our community is always our number one priority. When we have information there’s a safety concern, especially nearly a well-used play area, we need to take corrective action quickly.

Dates to remember

Council meeting

Thursday 25 May
9.30–11.30am
Council Chambers, Paraparaumu

This week elected members will be discussing:

Waikanae Library and Service Centre – community engagement
Ōtaki Youth space
Ōtaki Social Investment
reports and recommendations from standing committees and community boards
Annual Plan adoption of fees and charges
confirmation of community board representative
appointment of a mana whenua representative to the Risk and Assurance Committee.

This meeting will also be livestreamed. See our Meetings and agendas page for the agenda and livestream link. The meeting agenda will also be available two days before the meeting on that page, and at Council libraries and service centres.

Kāpiti Coast economic update with Brad Olsen

Thursay 25 May, 5pm, Southward Car Museum, Otaihanga
More info

More dates to remember on our website...

Remember there's much more on our website – see Upcoming Council events and Upcoming community events.

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@elrondburrell

@bruceinz