square circular_june10.pdf - Palmerston North City Council

ISSUE 145, JUNE 2010
Launch date
draws near
f o r n e w
recycling
service
Central
Business
Zones
By now most Palmerston North
residents will have received their
new re-cycling wheelie bins and
recycling crates in preparation for
the start of the city’s new recycling
collection service on July 5.
The 240-litre bins – and more compact 80-
litre models for smaller households - are being
distributed to properties around the city as
part of the City Council’s drive to increase the
amount of material recycled, and reduce the
quantity and volume of waste sent to landfill.
As the bins and crates are being distributed,
recycling truck drivers have been getting
used to the new, distinctive orange-painted
trucks that will be used for the kerb-side
recycling collection service. A driver training
programme has been under way in Ashhurst
for several weeks.
The wheelie bins are for the collection of
paper, plastic and cans, while the crates are
for collecting glass only. There is no need
Mayor Jono Naylor launches
Palmerston North’s new
kerbside recycling truck
to separate your paper, plastics and cans,
just put them all into the recycling wheelie
bin together. New sorting machinery and
conveyors are being installed at the Awapuni
Recycling Centre. This will mean that the
mixed (or co-mingled) recyclables can be
quickly and efficiently sorted and bundled
up for resale to industries which use recycled
materials.
By separating glass from other recyclables
before it gets to the Awapuni Recycling Centre
the whole recycling process is made easier and
the quality of the recycled materials is much
improved. The glass is taken to a separate site
at Awapuni and sorted by colour, again for
resale. Any small pieces of broken glass are
sent to Higgins for reuse in roading aggregate.
Mayor Jono Naylor has repeated his
challenge to Palmerston North residents to
familiarize themselves with the new recycling
system and to use the bins and crates
correctly so that the city can set the standard
nationwide for recycling.
Shaping our City is the name of
the Palmerston North City Council
Sectional District Plan Review. The
review aims to find out what people
think about existing planning rules
and apply new ideas and perspectives
to environmental and land use issues.
Over the next five years, Shaping our City
will review different aspects of the District
Plan, consult you on proposed changes and
make improvements to the District Plan that
will benefit our city.
We need this information so we can plan
and manage how we live, work and play in this
terrific city. By looking after our district now
we are creating a sustainable city so future
generations can enjoy it as well. We want your
views on what’s important for the future of the
city.
Central Business Zones is the first section to
be reviewed under the project.
Draft Plan Change 1 aims to resolve
environmental and land use issues in
Palmerston North’s Inner and Outer Business
Zones. This plan change has been developed
as a result of recommendations from the Retail
Study prepared in 2003.
The plan change could affect you or a
property you own. The City Council wants
to know what you think about the proposed
changes to Palmerston North’s Central
Business Zones in the District Plan
What are the changes to the Central
Business Zones?
This plan change has been developed as
a result of recommendations from the Retail
Study prepared in 2003. It aims to:
• make the Inner Business Zone smaller
and more compact to encourage a
greater intensity and concentration of
development and activities in the city
centre
• promote retail in the Inner Business
Zone that caters for people walking
around the city centre
• promote large scale retail in the Outer
Business Zone that normally requires
car parking
• introduce rules to create a clear
distinction between the Inner and
Outer Business Zones
• protect the heritage and cultural
characteristics of the CBD
• modify car parking and loading
standards for car parking areas.
How does this affect me?
The rezoning affects a lot of landowners
surrounding the core business areas
For example, if you owned a building on
the corner of Cuba and George Streets your
property may be part of the proposed Heritage
Area. Any new building development will need
to be in line with those buildings around it,
protecting the areas historic look and feel.
There will be significant changes over time
to parking, protecting heritage buildings and
signage. Fact sheets on the Inner and Outer
Business Zones, Heritage Area and Integrated
Parking Strategy are available on the Council
website or at the Council customer service
desk.
Want to know more?
For more information or a copy of the full
Draft Plan Change 1 – Central Business Zone
Discussion Document contact:
Jonathan Ferguson-Pye
Palmerston North City Council
Phone (06) 356 8199
The Square Circular is brought to you by the Palmerston North City Council www.pncc.govt.nz
Editor: Alan Seay | Design: Simone Viljoen at Print Synergy | Photography & Editorial Contributions: Simone Viljoen
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What shall we call it?
Time to name reserves.
Turning muck to money
Palmerston North City Council is looking to the community for ideas and
feedback on names for a number of reserves. These reserves have either never
been officially named or are recent acquisitions.
There are eight of them to be named in all and the council is looking forward to receiving people’s ideas.
Council is offering its suggestions but is open to other ideas. The preliminary Council suggests are:
RESERVE AS IT
IS CURRENTLY
CALLED LOCATION COUNCIL SUGGESTIONS
CAMBRIDGE STREET
RESERVE
FAIRACRES SQUARE
FEATHERSTON
STREET PIT
In Ashhurst between
Cambridge St and
Diamond Court
In Milson off Cong Ave
between Fairs Rd and
the Railway Line.
In Roslyn beside
Skogland Park and
Freyberg High School
off Featherston St
Cambridge Street Reserve – to reflect its current
name and location.
Fairacres Square – The Fair family used to
own the land and have been long standing
community members.
Edwards Quarry Reserve – Robert Edwards
bought the land in 1900 for a brickworks and
built the Hoffman Kiln.
Brick Quarry Reserve – to reflect the history of
the site as a source of clay for bricks.
The Palmerston North City Council
is demonstrating the truth of the
old saying that “where there’s muck
there’s brass” with its new biogas
plant near the city’s wastewater
treatment facility.
The recent commissioning of the plant near
the Awapuni wastewater treatment facility
means that together with the electricity
generated by its landfill gas-fired plant at the
nearby landfill, the city council now meets
three-quarters of its own electricity needs.
The landfill plant has a generating capacity
of one megawatt (MW), while the new biogas
facility is capable of generating 750 kilowatts
(kW) which together amounts to about
$800,000 worth of electricity each year.
Mayor Jono Naylor says the commissioning
of the biogas plant is an important step
towards the council’s goal of Palmerston North
becoming a sustainable city.
“To be 75 percent self-sufficient in electricity,
generated essentially from waste, is a
tremendous achievement and demonstrates the
benefits of the investments the city has made in
this area.”
The new plant consists of two digesters which
produce biogas from wastewater sludge, which
is then fed into a generator where it is converted
into electricity,
Water and Waste Services Manager Chris
Pepper says the city council has recently begun
using waste from other sources to produce
biogas from the digesters, such as material from
grease traps and sludge from a local Fonterra
plant.
“We levy a charge for taking delivery of this
waste material, and earn an income from the
electricity it is used to produce, so the city gets
a financial benefit in two ways from this facility,
quite apart from the huge environmental
benefit we get from not having to dispose of
this material to landfill.”
It is planned to use one digester to handle
wastewater sludge, and the other to process
waste from the outside sources.
The new biogas-fired generating plant has
taken 18 months to build, at a cost of about
$1.6m.
LINKLATER BLOCK,
In Kelvin Grove off
Tremaine Ave/Kelvin
Grove Rd
Linklater Reserve – To acknowledge the
extensive involvement of the Linklater family
in the local and regional communities across
several generations.
Gray Reserve – the Grays originally cleared the
land for farming and have strong family ties to
it.
The newly refurbished Vogel Street housing units
MCGREGOR STREET
RESERVE,
THE WOODPECKER
FOREST/K-LOOP
In Milson on the
intersection of
McGregor St and
Pinedale Parade
In Aokautere at the
end of Kahuterawa
Rd. (bounded by the
Sledge Track and the
Back Track).
Runway Reserve – to reflect the close proximity
of the Airport.
McGregor Reserve – to reflect its location on
McGregor Street (named after Squadron Leader
and Union Airways employee M.C. McGregor.
Kahuterawa Forest Park – to link with the
Kahuterawa Stream, road and current references
to the area as the K-Loop for mountain bikers.
Arapuki Forest Park – meaning “pathway in the
hills” to reflect the many recreational uses of the
area.
SCHNELL WETLAND
RESERVE EXTENSION
In Kelvin Grove –
connecting Schnell
Wetland Reserve (off
Schnell Dr) to James
Line and Galea Grove.
Pupurangi Forest Park – using name for the rare
native snail found in the area.
Schnell Wetland Reserve as it is an extension of
an existing reserve and should have the same
name to avoid confusion
TITOKI RESERVE
EXTENSION
In Aokautere off
Cashmere Dr
connecting to Titoki
Reserve
There will be display and suggestions boxes in
the Central Library in July.
Suggestions can be emailed to
aaron.phillips@pncc.govt.nz
or phoned in to Council on 3568199.
Titoki Reserve as it is an extension of an existing
reserve and should have the same name to
avoid confusion
All Vogel Street
units now upgraded
Tenants in all eight of the Palmerston
North City Council’s housing
units at 175 Vogel Street are now
enjoying much-improved living
standards with the completion of a
major refurbishment project at the
properties.
The units were originally built in the late
1960s, and were somewhat the worse for wear
when work began on the upgrade in September
of last year.
The refurbishment of the first four units was
completed in December 2009, which meant
those tenants could move back home in time for
Christmas.
The remaining four units have just been
completed and were re-occupied during the
first week in May.
The refurbishment includes new kitchens and
bathrooms, new insulation, carpets and drapes.
Senior Property Assets Officer Jocelyn Broderick
says the completed units are fresh, modern,
warm and are a nice place to live.

Long-awaited link
now open
An important addition to the city’s roading network has
now been completed.
The City Council has finished construction of the Parnell
Heights link road. The link will provide a new connection
between Roberts Line and James Line, improving access
for emergency services, and reducing travel times for
commuters.
The lack of a link has been a source of frustration
for people in the area for some 10 years. After lengthy
negotiations the Council secured purchase of the
property in 2009, and construction work began last
November.
As well as providing greater connectivity for motorists
in the community, public transport has also received a
boost with a number of new bus stops now available.
The new road will be called Parnell Heights Drive.
Anti-crime
measures having
Firefighter Graeme McIntyre will be hoping to get a closeup
look at some big wildfires during over the next month
during his study tour to Alaska.
Graeme, who is the city’s Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer is spending 28
days in America’s largest state to study local firefighting techniques and to
learn from the experience of his Alaskan counterparts.
“I will be particularly interested in observing the techniques they use and
seeing what lessons I can take from that which will be of potential benefit to
us here.”
Although commonly perceived as a cold, snow-covered region, Alaska
has vast areas of forest. Major wildfires are an all-too-common experience as
winter comes to an end and the snow melts, exposing grass to the air. As it
dries out, it creates a highly combustible danger to the forests.
Initially he will be based in Fairbanks, but will also visit a number of fire
stations and forestry installations across the state. If a fire should break out
he will travel to the location to get the all-important hands-on experience.
Graeme says of special interest to him will be what is described as “initial
attack” using fire appliances and helicopters, as well as fire prevention.
Graeme McIntyre
positive effect
Latest figures on reported crime
in Palmerston North show a range
of actions by several different
agencies is having a positive effect.
Figures released by the police on reported
crime for 2009 show the total number of
reported offences in Palmerston North has
dropped by 30 percent since 1996, despite
the city’s population having grown by 10
percent in that time.
Mayor Jono Naylor says the drop is largely
due to a combination of actions taken by a
number of different agencies in the city over
recent years.
“These include police double shifting to
increase their presence in the CBD, increased
targeting of licensed premises serving
intoxicated or under-age people, enforcing
liquor bylaws, working with SafeCity hosts
and closed circuit TV in the central city to
defuse potential trouble, and incorporating
crime prevention principles in urban design
initiatives.
“It also includes initiatives like ‘Operation
Juvie”, which is a collaboration of police,
Child Youth and Family, Youth One Stop
Shop, Maori Wardens and the SafeCity
hosts, targeting young people in the CBD at
inappropriate times.
“It is clear from the latest figures that
these efforts are delivering positive results,
and we certainly welcome that,” Mr Naylor
said.
The figures show the rate of improvement
in Palmerston North, at 30 percent, is
considerably better than in the rest of the
country, at six percent over the same time.
On the negative side, the number of
violent offences in Palmerston North has
increased by 23 percent between 1996 and
2009, but that is still better than for the rest
of New Zealand where the increase is 54
percent.
Other increases were recorded in the
category of property damage, and in what
are described as administrative crimes,
such as breaches of the liquor ban, where
Palmerston North’s reported increase was
higher at 104 percent than for the rest of the
country at 35 percent.

nandos
coming
to town
Palmerston North City Council has let the vacant premises
in its office block on The Square previously occupied by the
Wholly Bagels shop.
The premises has been taken over by a fast food operator, Nandos, which
has 26 other outlets around the country.
Council property office Stephanie Thomson says it is pleasing to have
let the property, both from the point of view of having an empty premises
occupied, and of bringing a new business and brand to Palmerston North.
Getting to
know your
neighbourhood
Palmerston North Neighbourhood Support
is aiming to hold further events at different
locations in the city to encourage residents,
particularly new arrivals, immigrants or
refugees to join local neighbourhood support
groups.
Crewe Crescent BBQ
This follows the success of a barbeque in Crewe Crescent
in April which was attended by local residents, including
many refugees who have recently come to live in the city.
Neighbourhood Support field officer Warren Wealleans
says the event was highly popular with the locals.
“The day was supported by Palmerston North City
Council, Safety Advisory Board, Police, Fire Service and
Department of Internal Affairs. Activities included face
painting and competitions for the children, free sausages,
free smoke alarms and of course advice on how to join up to
Neighbourhood Support.”
Any residents wanting to hold a similar event in their
areas are asked to contact Warren on 355-4468 or
(021) 123 4918 if they’d like advice or further information.
Time to
recognise
those who
contribute
Nominations are being sought now
to recognise those who have made an
outstanding contribution to our community.
There are two different award schemes:
Palmerston North’s Civic awards
These are for individuals who perform outstanding
voluntary service in the community. There is a strict
nomination process for these awards and people wanting
to nominate someone should get details from the council
website at
http://www.palmerstonnorth.com/YourCouncil/
CouncilActivities/CouncilInitiatives/Detail.aspx?id=79562
TrustPower Community Awards
These are for community groups or organisations –
making a nomination is very simple and details of the
process are available on the TrustPower website at http://
www.trustpower.co.nz/index.php?section=47
A special point to note for the Trustpower Community
Awards is that those submitting nominations go into a prize
draw for a Bethany’s voucher.
Nominations for either of these award programmes can
be made from June 1 to July 30, but please do note that
they are separate programmes, are judged separately, with
the awards presented at separate ceremonies.
celebrating
Matariki at Te Manawa
This is the time of Matariki. Matariki signals growth. It’s a time of change. It’s a time to prepare, and
a time of action. During Matariki, we acknowledge what we have and what we have to give.
Matariki celebrates the diversity of life. It’s a celebration of culture, language, spirit and people.
At Te Manawa our Matariki exhibition will take visitors through a display explaining the seven main
stars in the constellation of Matariki, their names, meanings and summer and winter paths through
the sky.
Visitors will also see a photographic display supplied by Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Mana Tamariki,
about the planting and harvesting of food based on Māori tradition and Matariki. Activities for all
ages are also available to celebrate this season, check out our website for more details.
There’s a lot going on besides Matariki at Te Manawa.
Our science exhibition, Sports Alive! the science behind sport, challenges visitors
of all ages to run, jump, balance, shoot and score!
Our Art exhibition, Bottom of the Garden, lets visitors explore pieces from our
collection, and follows the story of Thomas; huddled under the kitchen table on a
cold winter’s day, Thomas day dreams about warm summer days playing outside in
the garden.
Our upcoming Art exhibition, Robert Jahnke - Tirohanga o Mua: Looking Back,
showcases two decades of work by one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary
M‚ori artists. His sculptural work is both politically loaded and beautifully crafted,
physically alluring yet often confrontational in content. This exhibition opens on
the 3 July.
Looking for something for the kids to do these school holidays? Te Manawa has
school holiday programmes running from the 5 – 16 July.
Remember entries to our Manawatu Wildlife Photographer of the Year
competition close on 2 July so amateur photographers passionate about wildlife,
get snapping!
If you want to know more about what’s happening at Te Manawa,
give us a call on 355 5000 or check out our website www.temanawa.co.nz.