Mary Potter Hospice Shop

Donation of goods
Here's a great idea to consider as part of a cleanup or clear out. The Hospice relies on the generosity of

people like you to donate goods. They're very appreciative of donations of good quality items, from clothing to household items, to furniture, nick-nacks and treasures. The are also grateful to receive large household lots, including furniture and whiteware in good working order.

The shop is an important part of fundraising activities for the Hospice. It carries a wonderful variety of second-hand and new stock. The shops have regular customers spotting items just in!

Thorndon Shop
95 Thorndon Quay
Ph (04) 472 5819
Co-ordinator: Bernie Munn
10am - 4pm Monday - Friday
10am - 2pm Saturday

FREE PICKUP
If you are unable to drop them off, arrangements can be made to pick-up larger items, or house lots, free of charge.

Thorndon Residents' Association AGM 2014

Tuesday 13 May, 7-9PM (refreshments from 6.30PM)

Kingsgate Hotel

Hawkestone St

Please RSVP to thorndonresidents@gmail.com

Notice of motions that the Thorndon Residents' Association modify the constitution by special resolution of the members as follows:

To amend Clause 5.7 to Read.

5.7  Quorum: The quorum for a Committee meeting is to be at least half of the elected or co-opted committee members

To amend Clause 7.4 to read.

7.4 Audit: The Association shall not be required to be audited. The committee shall be required to appoint a non-executive member, or failing that a non-member, to perform a review if requested in writing by any member. The Committee may require an audit if they vote to do so by ordinary resolution.


Explanations of the proposed changes

Clause 5.7 currently requires six members for a quorum. The new rule will allow a majority of the committee if present to act.  So for a committee of seven it would require four to be present.

Clause 7.4 currently requires a full audit. This amendment removes that requirement. There is an ability to request a review if a member asks to do so. Any such review will be by a non-committee member. This review is not a full audit.
The Committee can resolve to have a full audit if this makes sense to them. A possible reason for this is a requirement by a donor. 

Report: TRA Annual General Meeting

This evening the Annual General Meeting of the TRA was hosted by the  Kingsgate Hotel. Members, neighbours, friends and Councillors (City and Regional) enjoyed the opportunity to mix and mingle during a networking hour prior to the AGM. Everyone appreciated both the hospitality of the Kingsgate team and their support of the Association. The meeting venue was perfect and this considerably assisted a smooth navigation through the agenda prepared by Sadie Laurenson (Secretary), and led by William Neal (Chair). The meeting relaxed into productive discussion, focused on reports from Committee Portfolio leads. Matters arising were considered and helped identify priority issues for the Association to focus on during  2013-14.

Here are some of the resources from this evenings' meeting:

• Agenda and outline of the meeting
• Minutes from the AGM 2012  (adopted)
• Report from the Community Safety Portfolio
• Report from the Planning & Environment Portfolio
• Submission on Regional governance
• Officers and Committee of the TRA (confirmed)
• Draft Minutes of AGM 2013

Have you been tagged ?

Emma wrote to us ...

As summer kicks in we sometimes see an increase in graffiti and tagging in our communities.  It is highly frustrating and can leave people feeling victimised and unsafe.  I have attached a flyer that gives some information on how to remove graffiti and a voucher for free and/or discounted paint at Resene to help paint out graffiti/tagging.  I thought you could put this (or the information contained in it) in your next residents association e-newsletter or let residents know that they can pick a flyer up from their local library.

Click here for an online version of the flyer.

Working together and getting everyone on board is the most effective way to get rid of graffiti in our communities.  Every little bit helps.

If you have any questions around graffiti do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks

Emma Titcombe
City Safety Advisor, City Safety
City Services and Events
Wellington City Council
P 803 8200      
F 801 3681
E emma.titcombe@wcc.govt.nz

Free online access to property valuation records

Here's an online resource that may interest Thorndon residents 
http://www.watchmystreet.co.nz/

An excerpt from the site ...

The vast majority of council rating valuation data in New Zealand is controlled by Quotable Value Limited (QV) - a New Zealand State owned enterprise who does most the the valuation work for councils in NZ and charges for that service.

Essentially they have the monopoly on council valuation work in NZ. QV and their Australian joint venture company PropertyIQ Limited (a company owned by QV and RP Data), obviously want to maximise profits and so they also license the use of council data and resell it to banks, real estate agents and the like - if you go to their website, they'll even resell your rating data back to you! (Remember you paid rates so that your council could pay for these valuations).

It does seem a bit bizarre that an Australian company to some degree controls access to New Zealand property data, but there you go.

The NZ Government has been promoting open access to government data, making it more available, allowing companies and individuals to add value and reinterpret the data - this is known as “Open Data”. Unfortunately to date it looks like the area of property data is outside this arrangement.

Some councils understand the value of providing their data in order to allow people like us to innovate, build cool tools, and provide useful or interesting information to ratepayers - including the Wellington City Council, who provided us with their District Valuation Record (all we had to do was pay for their time in extracting it). Big thumbs up to WCC!

WCC Revists Earlier Assessment Not to Provide RECYCLING WHEELIE BINS to Hobson St

Recycling wheelie bins were introduced across the city in 2011; but not to the properties in Hobson St, situated on the Thorndon Flat.

Residents from Hobson St recently re-approached the Council regarding the earlier assessment of their street as being not suited to Council supplied recycling wheelie bins. The early assessment had indicated that Hobson St had a high volume traffic flow (similar to Tinakori Rd), and that due to the road width there was potential to block access to emergency services. 

Recently CitiOperations revisited Hobson St. The results of the re-assessment are that:

• sidewalks are of sufficient width for wheelie bins - allowing for easy pedestrian flow,
• road width - with vehicles parked either side - had between 5 and 5.5m clear for two large vehicles to pass,
• other than during the school drop-off period, the vehicles per hour was as low as 60.

Part of this re-assessment included following both Refuse and Recycling trucks during collections in Hobson St to confirm they posed no risk or significant vehicle delays. 

With new data to hand, the Council confirmed that for a number of properties that were located near breaks between residents' parking bays, recycling wheelie bins would be suitable. 

The archive call-log for Hobson St was revisited to re-assess previous requests for recycling wheelie bins that had earlier been declined. Those residents will be receiving a letter in the week commencing 5 November to offer them the option of a recycling wheelie bin and need not re-request an assessment.

Properties that are still considered as not suited include: 
- multi-unit dwellings,
- shared drives of more than 5 properties, and 
- properties that are not used as residential.

Hobson St residents who feel that they would benefit from a Council supplied recycling wheelie bin and have not already called-in, are now invited to log a request for re-assessment by telephoning the Council on 499 4444.

Zac Jordan, Manager CitiOperations
M. 021 227 8356 or E. zac.jordan@wcc.govt.nz

Older TRA posts about mobile recycling bins:
- who-binned-our-recycle-bins (May 2011)
- private-roads-and-recycling (June 2011)

Still confused by Thorndon New World's Layout ?

After 14 years of operation the supermarket recently installed new shelving. Are you one of the Thorndonites still unsettled by the change to a decade-old shopping habit? Brian Drake, Owner/Operator, says the new product layout reflects customer requests and feedback over the years concerning how most of us want to shop. 

The new shelving is also much stronger, providing the latest in safety and improvements in product accessibility. Product sidestacks that were located at the ends of each aisle have been removed to create more space for customers. 

Store Maps remain available at the entrance and around the store, and of course staff are available to assist. Click this link to view a copy of the Store Map.