Porirua:Plimmerton Residents' Association

Introduction
The Plimmerton Residents' Association Inc. (established early last century) works hard on behalf of the community, involving many hours of voluntary work. The PRA committee meetings, held at Plimmerton Pavilion (near the Fire Station), are open to the public, normally on the 4th Monday of each month. If you would like to know the exact dates for the meetings, you are welcome to contact the PRA Secretary on 233-0431.

2005
2005 was one of the busiest years in the history of the Plimmerton Residents' Association, with many major issues arising, which included the continuation of the Plimmerton Promenade Project and the Coastal Route Highway proposal. Postive outcomes from these issues have been increases in community involvement, attendances at meetings, and membership of the PRA. The PRA Committee would welcome anyone who could spare a few hours a month to join the Committee - anyone interested may contact the Secretary on 233-0431 or by email -dfsprowell@xtra.co.nz

2006
There will always be aspects of ongoing planning or developments in the Plimmerton area which the community may wish to comment on. It is all to easy to say "they should have" or "they shouldn't" and stand on the sidelines with views. The PRA Committee needs lots of input from people willing to lend a hand rather than just comment and assume it is for someone else to do. The Committee would love to hear from anyone who could help.

The Committee has established a very popular Community Email Database. It all started from the Community Consultation evenings held in regard to the Promenade Project in 2004. There are now over 300 members of the community on the database. Anyone who would like to be kept up to date with local issues may register by sending an email to the Secretary (email address above).

PRA Annual Report 2006
Plimmerton Residents’ Association Inc Annual General Meeting - 22 May 2006

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

2005 ACTIVITIES

1.	Overview

2005 was one of the busiest years in the history of the Plimmerton Residents’ Association, with many major issues arising which include the continuation of the Plimmerton Promenade Project and the Coastal Route Highway proposal. Positive outcomes from these issues have been increases in community involvement, attendances at meetings and membership of the PRA. We would welcome anyone who could spare a few hours a month to join the PRA Committee – if you are interested, please contact our Secretary on 233-0431.

A summary of last year’s activities follows:

2.	Plimmerton Promenade Project

This whole exercise was an attempt to take a bottom up approach to consultation and get a real sense of what people all around the community were thinking. The actual exercise, consultation with Council Officers, collating of ideas and making submissions to Council has been exhaustive and involved many hundred voluntary hours of work by members of this community.

Initial Concept Plans – Following community input in 2004 and resultant ideas, these plans were available for viewing at a meeting held at the Pavilion on 15 September 2005 which was attended by a large number of local residents. The planning team lead by Louise Dunning of PCC has included representatives from the local community including Hongoeka, and we have appreciated the generosity of skill, expertise and time contributed by all involved. Regular meetings have been held to consider every aspect from traffic calming through to landscaping and holistic design from SH1 through to Hongoeka itself.

The Promenade Concept Plans have now been finalised following consultation and input from the Community. They can be viewed at the Plimmerton Library. We await funding decisions for the LTCCP in June.

Some other issues we have been involved with and will continue to pursue have been:

	Victory over Coastal Highway!

The crazy proposal to expand the Coastal Highway across our beach and domains has been clearly rejected in the public consultation process. The Regional Land Transport Committee is now actively pursuing the Transmission Gully alternative.

Following 26 street meetings, hundreds of Plimmerton residents made written submissions and personal presentations to the Hearings Sub-Committee, which was left in no doubt about our determination to protect our community and lifestyle. Although less well-publicised, the Hearings panel also endorsed proposals for huge new investment in commuter rail transport over the next two decades.

We have earned the right to celebrate our success to date, but we must remain vigilant. The opposition has not conceded defeat and we can expect rear-guard action over needed funding approvals by Auckland MPs and some officials.

After funding is secured there will need to be further public consultations on Transmission Gully and it will be important for us then to show our support – albeit with recommendations to protect Pauatahanui Inlet and Grays Rd.

Inevitably we’ll be waiting some years for the new inland motorway to be built. While we’re waiting the traffic volumes and congestion on St Andrew’s Rd and Mana Esplanade will increase. We will then face renewed pressure for an upgrade of the existing route and we will again need to defend our beloved Plimmerton.

	Porirua City Long-Term & District Plans: We offer community input and make submissions on many city-wide plans and programmes.

	Proposed new Porirua Sports Centre: We continue to express major concerns about initial and ongoing operational costs for this project.

	Ara Harakeke Cycle & Pathway: We are liaising with PCC on the Plimmerton section of this.

	Proposal for a Golf Driving Range on the Domain – now on hold due to Coastal Highway issues.

	Porirua Heritage Review Project – PCC held public workshops with a view to find the best methods of recognising, evaluating and managing heritage features throughout the city. PRA will be involved in this project in regard to buildings such as the Plimmerton Railway Station which has been identified by Council Officers as an “at risk priority feature”. 	The Quarry: We continue to monitor the situation and value the access to this part of the coastline.

	Park ‘n’ Ride in Plimmerton: We continue to liaise with regional and city councils on commuter parking needs.

	SH1 Upgrade: The recent four-laning of St Andrew’s Rd has caused serious safety, speed and noise problems and we are working with the Police, Transit and Council on these issues.

Other opportunities we have had to influence the Council have been:

	Level of rates 	Spending more in the villages and less in the CBD 	Submissions on consultation 	Submissions on Puketiro Wind Farm 	Reducing the ability for brothels to be established in neighbourhoods 	Submissions on Gambling Regulations 	Submissions on Community Board Representation 	Early input into the District Plan changes

3.	 Communication – Email Database

Our Community Email Database has been a great success. It all started from the Community Consultation evenings held in regard to the Promenade Project in 2004. We now have over 300 members of the community on the database. The bigger the database, the more cohesive our communication will become and the more involved we’ll be with our community. Please contact our Secretary on 233-0431 or by email on dfsprowell@xtra.co.nz if you would like to join the Community Database.

4.	Your Input

There will always be aspects of the ongoing planning or developments in our area which you may wish to comment on. It is all too easy to say “They should have …” or “they shouldn’t… “and stand on the sidelines with your views. We need lots of input from people willing to lend a hand rather than just comment and assume it is for someone else to do. All jobs become achievable when the load is shared. If you are able to help no matter how small the task, time or skill contribution, it would be appreciated. We all stand to be the winners and in the process hugely strengthen our community.

Tim Sheppard Acting Chairperson Plimmerton Residents’ Association Inc

News & Views
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