The Raglan Community Board held their second meeting of the year on Wednesday via Zoom. The board are hoping to see the return of in-person meetings soon however, this will depend on the council’s policy around staff vaccinations
(listen to the full interview below:)
Food Waste Consultation
The Raglan Community Board supports the Food Waste service run by Xtreme Zero Waste and are keen to see the service continue. The board encourages the community to have their say on the targeted rate that would fund this service moving forward.
Council staff have been impressed with the level of involvement from the Whāingaroa community, with hundreds of submissions received already, and hope it is a reflection of their efforts to engage better with stakeholders and community members.
Feedback closes on Friday 1st April.
Roading
There has been a request for a stop sign to be erected at the notoriously low-visibility intersection of Government and Bay View Roads. While council says this request cannot be reviewed until the Public Spaces Bylaw comes up for review either in late 2022 or early 2023, there has been talks of putting up a ‘Concealed Intersection’ sign for the time being to alert drivers of the hazard.
The speed limit will be reduced from 100km down to 60km for the stretch of road beginning just before Hills Rd and heading into the township towards Manukau Rd. These speed limit changes could come through as early as July this year.
There is another part of SH23, that begins just past Hills Rd and heads in the opposite direction towards Te Uku, that needs to be revocated to the Waikato District Council from Waka Kotahi. This piece of road includes the "hair-raising" Greenslade Rd intersection.The council cannot make changes to the speed limit for this piece of road until management is transferred over from Waka Kotahi.
It could be some time before Waka Kotahi starts the revocation process for the speed limit changes to come through for the Greenslade Intersection area and a petition has been suggested to garner support for safety improvements to begin earlier.
There are also plans for some of the parallel parks on the top end of Bow St to change to angle parking similar to those outside the cafes lower down the street. Council have stated they are low on resources with staff isolating due to Covid-19 but parking changes should come through next time the road markers are in town.
Community Swimming Pool
Raglan Community Board chair Gabrielle Parson has seen a proposal about the possibility of a community swimming pool to be built at Rangitahi peninsula. Initial discussions have been around the feasibility of developing a community swimming pool at the subdivision as a community-owned asset.
The board hopes to hear more once information is available.
Parklets
The parklets on Bow St, which were funded by the Waka Kotahi Innovating Streets Programme, were aimed at creating safer streets for pedestrians and creating accessible spaces for everyone - not just cars. Recent feedback from the community has shown strong support to keep the parklets in place. There have been some extra suggestions such as adding shade which the board will take into consideration.
Pedestrian Crossing by Jetty
The board are making enquiries to council about creating a more pedestrian-friendly area at the bottom of Bow St across from Orca Restaurant and Bar. A painted or raised pedestrian crossing has been suggested to support pedestrian safety as well as improving the connectivity of the jetty to the CBD.
Raglan Bus
For the past few months there have been discussions about providing a bus service for those traveling within the Whāingaroa area. District Roading Manager Gareth Bellamy has been supportive of a bus service for smaller communities in the Waikato District and is looking at finding funding to support a 2-year trial of the service.
Raglan Airfield
Management of the airfield is now with the council and they are closing the airfield again in order to complete repairs to property that has been damaged by vandals.
The council intends to keep the airfield open after repairing the fence. Pedestrian access for walking and to the beach is around the fence.
Resolving these issues costs ratepayer money every time staff are asked to respond or need to repair damaged property and have to close the airfield.
Coastal Reserves Oversight
The Coastal Reserves Committee had previously overseen areas like Manu Bay, Whale Bay and Wainui Reserve to manage how people used the areas. The committee was disestablished by the Mayor recently with the oversight role given to the Raglan Community Board.
The oversight role is an important one that makes sure things like the Reserves Management Plan are taken into consideration in terms of the long term vision of the reserves.
A co-governance approach that includes local iwi and hapu will also be instrumental in the reserves management process moving forward and the board are looking to set up an annual stakeholders meeting.
Community Connectors
The DHB have recognised that the Whāingaroa Community Response Group has a community connector role through their work responding to the community during the Covid-19 outbreak. This recognition means that there is funding available for roles and services to support the wellbeing of the community. The funding will hopefully be available beyond this Covid-19 outbreak and could in future support a wellbeing-hub style service.
Wharf Project
The new walkway planned for the wharf is currently out to tender and work should begin once the tender has been approved. Construction will involve the walkway and there are also plans to work on a new pontoon.
The other part of the Wharf Project involves the Whāingaroa Harbour Study which the board plans to present to the community for feedback, once the final draft has been completed.
Neighbour’s Day
The Raglan Naturally team are supporting Neighbour’s Day in Whāingaroa - a nationwide initiative to celebrate and connect with your neighbours to build healthier, stronger and more connected communities throughout the country.
There are prizes up for grabs for anyone that shares their acts of neighbourly care whether that’s just saying hi to a neighbour you don’t know or sharing something from your garden.
Check out the Facebook page for more information on how to get involved.: https://www.facebook.com/RaglanNaturally
Civil Defense Plan
Work is ongoing to update the civil defense plan for Whāingaroa. A document that details how the community responds in emergency situations, the document aims to provide clarity around emergency processes and to build resilience within the community.
Raglan Community Board Chair Gabrielle Parson and Cr Lisa Thomson are working on drafting a new plan, which updates and simplifies the previous plan, and hope to have a draft to the Community Board by May this year.
Recent work with the Community Response Group responding to the Covid-19 outbreak has been instrumental in highlighting the different organisations and individuals that are able to respond to different needs in the community during an emergency and this information will also feed into the updated plan.