Minutes

Himatangi Beach Community Committee Meeting

Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 7.00 pm

Via Zoom

Present: Judy Howatson (Chair and Representative of HBVFB), Alice Ebrey (Secretary), Nigel Barker (Trustee of Himatangi Beach Community Trust), Ursula Clarke, Reuben Ebrey, Helen Faulkner, John Hodder, Sylvia Kavanagh Kevin Kellher

In Attendance: Denise Bush, Michelle Bush (Representative of Himatangi Beach Community Trust), Barry Jarman, Marisa McGrath, Alec McKay (Representative of PNSLSC), Russell Neal, Ron Sanders, Tricia Sanders, Rene van de Weert, Renee van de Weert, Angelique Walker

In Attendance MDC: Councillor Stuart Campbell, Janine Hawthorn (MDC), Peter Shore ((MDC)Present for only the first section of meeting)

Apologies: Lauretta Wallace (Committee), Vanessa Woods, Richard Woods

No.	Item		Action (who)
1		Procedural Matters
1.1	Welcome	From Chair – Judy Howatson How to Zoom Introduction of Peter Shore Peter discussed the work that had already started in the playground of thinning the surrounding trees to create more shade and an open feel. He believes our current site has aged and is due for an upgrade. He would like to see the playground link in with the green space. He is looking at levelling the green space to create a safer play area Is hoping to link these areas with the skate park as well, as currently the are disconnected. South St skate park is currently being disassembled and the useable pieces will be moved to Himatangi beach Tom Smithers is involved in the new set up of skate park. Playground equipment has been looked into from health and safety perspective and the flying fox is not safe to renovate- suggested we look at adding a new one into the long term plan. The current one is also creating a barrier between the playground and green space. Question around if the community would want a few mini put holes included? The current plan is an abstract one, but gives an idea of what could be.   A few questions that were asked from the group With the volleyball court, is the area still useable for other activities? Yes will just be grass, with removable poles. Could there be the possibility of Frisbee Golf? Peter will look into this. Is the basketball hoop remaining? Yes Any chance of extra rubbish bins around the BBQ area? Yes will look into that Any chance the younger community members (children/teenagers) could be involved in the skatepark? Peter was keen to organise the coming together of Tom Smithers with the younger locals.   Other things that were discussed were the reserve by the bowling club- the possibility of a dog park. It was mentioned that the reserve is governed under an Act which allows communities to change how it is used.   The flow through of the playground down to the beach access was discussed. Janine mentioned that we had included this in our Community Plan. Peter also gave Wairarawa Stream as an example of a similar project.   A suggestion was made that a pedestrian bridge on the seaward side of the surf club would help to keep pedestrians and vehicles separated safely.
1.2	Present/Apologies	Apologies from Lauretta Wallace, Richard and Vanessa Woods
1.3	Confirmation of Minutes from the Previous meeting	Minutes from the previous Himatangi Beach Community Committee meeting held on 24th February 2022 read and correct with no amendments. Judy/Helen
1.4	Correspondence	Inwards: Emails: Aly Thompson   Janine Hawthorn   Chris Rosvall/Bobbie O’Fee   James Adamson   Denise Bush   Anna Thompson MDC   Peter Shore   HB Community Patrol   Outwards: Email: James Adamson Wiremu Janine   Alice/Kevin	Discussed register of skills for emergencies
1.5	Matters Arising	Sewage malfunctions at Public Toilets– ongoing- What is the cause of its malfunctions? Can we get a report from the contractors? Question asked again is the pump fit for purpose, would it be economical to get a better pump vs multiple call outs? Recycling Centre – ongoing- this is a work in progress. New Glass Bins ? is this is permanent Is it possible to get some signage in the recycling centre?   Signage Review – ongoing Freedom camping continues around the village and beach, can we get some no camping signs in Hunia terrace, Reserve and maybe a no freedom camping at entrance? Locals agree that the 30km signs down the beach were never replaced and don’t believe the one at the start of the beach entrance is suffice.   Footpath Maintenance/ Sand removal – ongoing Concerns over the overgrown footpaths in the village. The path and road outside of the Cossie Club is covered in sand and is proving difficult to use. Koputara Road footpath is overgrown with sand and grass, what remains is not wide enough for a pushchair. Older locals are having to drive mobility scooters on the road. The far end of Hunia Terrace has shrubs grown over the footpaths- Higgins was out yesterday so maybe they are sorting this, local did note they were scrapping path with bucket, causing damage to paths   Stormwater issues – ongoing Council upgrade 2023 Pumps and sumps are being checked regularly; MDC are working with neighbours in the Hunia Terrace area to monitor pump. Upgrade to Stormwater is planned 2023   Security Cameras- ongoing   Communication Strategy –  Ursula and committee have agreed to get together and pull the best bits and make an action plan.	MDC         MDC Alice to email Wiremu     MDC           MDC                         HBCC
2		Items for Approval/Information
2.1	Finances	Balance of the Himatangi Beach Community Committee Project Fund for 2021/22 is $3,000.00. $10,000 carried forward from previous years to go towards the development of the tennis courts and skate park. Should be spent this year on the Skate Park
2.2	Community Plan	Janine kindly went over the revised plan and it was agreed by all present to confirm the changes and for it to be sent to Council.	Janine MDC
2.3	Community Projects	Progress on projects (what’s been completed, what’s been planned, timeline, issues, action) Playground– Update at start of meeting by Peter Shore Skate Park– Update at start of meeting by Peter Shore Security Cameras – Nigel barker updated us on the progress he has made with the security cameras. He has managed to get a recent quote, and registered with ECT- he has found that they will only cover 25% of cost so a big chunk to get funding from elsewhere. Currently not requiring input from the HBCC- but he will let us know when our input will be required.
3		General Business
		Himatangi Beach Road- Please note Nigel Barker removed himself from this conversation. Concerns were raised in regards to the pine trees along Himatangi beach Road. The Community feel that there are a health and safety risk. There are concerns re access to and from the village in emergency situations if the trees were to fall. They are very tall and top heavy. As the trees are on private property there was discussion over who to solve the issue. Apparently under Section 355 Local Govt. Act the council can ask/tell the Private land owner to remove the trees, but currently it appears that roading don’t believe it is an issue. Where to from here? A letter will be written to take to council to push this issue into the limelight.   Fly Tipping at Recycling Centre– Continues to be an issue, encouragement given to locals to report fly tippers. Social Media posts have been put up by MDC as well as locals. Discussed the option to push bin right back against fence so people can’t hide rubbish behind it. Discussed the possibility of better signage.	HBCC   MDC             MDC
3.1	Surf Club Report	Alec had to leave meeting due to prior arrangements before his report.
3.2	Fire Brigade Report	Logan Dear and Matt (Foxton VFB) are doing the Sky Tower Challenge this year and have organised a Country and Western Themed Quiz Night on Sunday 16th April.
3.3	Community Patrol Report	Report as below. Himatangi Beach Community Patrol is a very small part of a large, nation-wide, voluntary organization supporting the work of NZ Police in community. CPNZ provides extra eyes and ears for Police and a safe, reliable and confidential point of contact between Police and public. The work we do for Manawatu District Council on the Himatangi Beach is related to but separate from most of the work we do for Police. MDC is our only funder, to the tune of $3000 per annum and, in order to cover our costs; vehicle running costs and maintenance, AED maintenance, uniforms, insurance, power and phone accounts and a peppercorn rent to the Council for our garage, we must rely on fundraising and donations. We are required to report to Council on our performance every six months, both in a written report and to speak to that report in person. The following is taken from our most recent report covering the six months to Dec 31, 2021. The key factor most impacting our performance is, as always, a lack of suitable volunteers and retention of existing patrollers. Over this period, we only had 6 qualified members. (We recruited two in October 2021, got them police checked, kitted up, through their on-line and practical basic training then in February they resigned to move to Wellington for work. They were just about to have their training wheels removed so we were sorry to lose them on any number of levels. Also in February, three more volunteers applied to join. All have been approved and have begun training. Trainees may only patrol with a senior patroller for the probationary period of 3 months so, while they’re welcomed with open arms, we can’t yet ask them to pick up the slack.) Some people who volunteer are not suitable; can’t pass the necessary police check and/or are people who cause police and patrols problems with their anti-social behaviour or, alternatively, their gung-ho attitudes. We call for volunteers with a large sign in a prominent position next to the Cossie Club. We ask in every newsletter and report we make to the Committee and the Trust and in our monthly reports to the local newsletter and our Facebook page. We have a Welcome to Himatangi Beach letter of introduction which is given to everyone who buys a property in the village and we continue to shoulder-tap people everywhere we go. MDC requires us to survey our stakeholders ie residents and visitors to Himatangi Beach. Last year, we used a Survey Monkey on our Facebook page in order to meet those requirements. This year, we used it again, but Survey Monkey now wants a $70 monthly payment or $650 annually for access to the responses of more than 10 respondents. This is unaffordable and we can’t do this again. Nor is it feasible to go door to door in the village asking people what they feel about HBCP; it is also a health and safety issue. Only half the village are permanent residents and, of them, most work during the day. Nor is it possible to approach beach goers to ask their opinions. We really don’t have the time or the personnel and, again, there are obvious H&S issues. Instead, we offer our Himatangi Beach Community Patrol Facebook page as an indication of residents’, visitors’ and related others’ interest in and/or support for the Patrol. In the 28 days of February, the page had LIKES: 724 FOLLOWERS: 816 NEW PAGE LIKES: 6 POST REACH: 3566 POST ENGAGEMENTS: 420 When the country moved to the Traffic Light system of Covid19 management, the Patrol joined the Essential Wellbeing Volunteer organisation to provide assistance to Himatangi Beach residents and visitors who become unwell with Covid and are isolating in the village. We meet all the criteria – we’re fully vaccinated and have full, clean, driving licences. We have a reliable, warranted, registered, (and marked Patrol) vehicle and all patrollers are Police vetted. We are known and trusted in our area and, in addition, we have an AED, a police radio and cell phones should an emergency occur. As soon as RATs became available, the DHB and EMA provided the Patrol with enough RATs to meet Himatangi Beach residents’ likely needs – we deliver, free and contact-free – to anyone who asks. Residents are advised to report their RAT results, negative or positive, via their My Covid Record or 0800 222 478 press Option 3. They will be contacted and advice given should more assistance be needed. In conclusion, the Patrol AGM will be Tuesday, 26 April, 7.00pm at the Community Hall. All welcome to attend, seated and separated. Renée van de Weert Secretary.
3.4	Community Trust Report	The Chair has collaborated all the funding information into one place- so if there is any one in the village who is interested in applying for funding for something, get in touch with the Chair of the Trust and she can provide you with the how, who, where, when.
4		Council Matters
		Stuart reported that there will be a questionnaire coming out to the district soon in regards to ‘How waste is Collected’ Looking at the collection of general waste, recycling, green waste and kitchen waste. BioPlant- A plant that is looking at being developed to incinerate rubbish and turn it into energy. They are awaiting Horizons resource consent. Currently there is a group opposing the plant due to the emissions that would be produced. Council is currently unsure on where they stand on this matter- more investigation required. Storm Water Team- currently looking at the budgeting and planning process for the district.
		Any Other Business
	Meeting Closed   Next Meeting	8:55pm.   Thursday 28th March 2022, 7pm unsure if it will be the Hall or via Zoom- Omicron dependent.	Alice to book Hall/ arrange Zoom via Janine Helen to fill secretary next month if Alice unavailable.