The Eastbourne Herald May 2024

Warm beach welcome for 2,000km seafarers

by Ann Packer

2000km in 75 days – with a weight gain of just 200gm! “Maybe the fat turned to muscle,” muses local Cared Blackham, who with the three Stewart brothers from Whangārei set out in early March near Cape Reinga to paddle purposefully down the east coast of Te Ika a Maui.

The epic journey was a celebration of graduating from their NMIT advanced tourism course that also raised $14,500 for mental health and coastal health.

Cared says most days all they wanted to do, after eating their fish dinner, was “eat food and go to sleep”. Relieved not to have to watch the weather or work out where to go tomorrow, Cared is having two weeks at home before heading to Mt Hutt to work on the ski field.

You can still donate to Mental Health Foundation and Live Ocean: https://givealittle. co.nz/fundraiser/paddle4purpose

To find out more, see the March edition of The Eastbourne Herald at www. eastbourneherald.co.nz

Photos - Right: The kayakers link arms as they listen to waiata courtesy of Muritai School.

Bottom: Government Minister Shane Jones, along with the Muritai Kapa Haka group, welcomes the four paddlers back to Eastbourne.

Portable Heating Range Instore Now.

Powerful stuff

by Ann Packer

We all know what it’s like to be caught by a power cut, especially as winter bites. When it affects your go-to café it’s especially disconcerting, as Days Bay residents learned last week. And even though we have the lowest outage rate in the country, after Nelson – as revealed at the recent presentation in the village by Wellington Electricity – it doesn’t help when you can’t get your caffeine fix.

However, WE Customer Service manager Howie Smith says the planned Days Bay outage was published on their website 10 days in advance, as well as via electricity retailers, with written notifications to individual properties affected. “We set a window within which the work will be performed, rather than a specific start and end time,” he says.

Fed by the Gracefield substation in the industrial area, Eastbourne has 2100 homes, 75 non-residential premises and 25 infrastructure buildings, according to electrical engineer Dr Waqar Qureshi, one of two presenters at the Women’s Club event. Some 30 people appreciated excellent visuals, but the main message was that the vast majority of outages are caused by vegetation – please, trim those trees! – and increasingly, storms, which bring down trees. A complete inspection of properties takes place every five years.

However, the questions that generated the most buzz came from a handful of Māhina Bay residents unable to get an answer to the question they’ve been asking Hutt City Council since the Tupua Horo Nuku plans first came out – why, in a bay where the power pole count is 14 are there no poles shown on the plan for the shared path?

Howie Smith says the challenges involved in relocating or undergrounding power lines in Māhina Bay include the fact that the line through the bay feeds the remainder of the Eastern Bays and as such is critical power supply infrastructure for the area.

Other factors include: this section of the pathway already contains a number of utilities within a narrow area; there are materials underground from prior seawalls; and undergrounding services in the area would have to be done very carefully to avoid damaging existing services.

“There is also a transformer in that stretch of line which would have to be relocated if services were undergrounded, he says. “It isn’t impossible, but it would present challenges, and additional cost. Likewise, the area on the other side of the road is relatively narrow, so relocation of the poles or undergrounding them would involve complexity and cost.”

For HCC, which runs the Tupua Horo Nuku project, Economy & Development Director Jon Kingsbury says undergrounding is outside the project scope. “The power poles will remain in place until the new design is completed and they will then be moved over in stages to the seaward side of the seawall by the project team. In total, 12 power poles will be relocated. There

will also be two new poles installed to provide additional light for the new path.”

[NB The proliferation of retailers means there is no central way of notifying customers of outages in the way Wellington Water is able to. These are not planned far enough in advance to be notified through the most reliable source of information - The Eastbourne Herald.]

WHAT’S HAPPENING HAIR

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Williams Park

The Williams Park upgrade work will be finished by the time you read this. The Community Board has worked with Council, the Days Bay Residents’ Association and Eastbourne residents in the planning stages of this terrific mahi.

What does the Eastbourne Community Board do?

The Board is five elected Eastbourne residents and a Ward Councillor who hold six public meetings each year. We represent and advocate for residents’ interests. We also consider and report on any matters referred by Hutt City Council. Order papers are available at huttcity.govt. nz before each meeting. At the start of each meeting, there is time for public comment, when anyone can speak for up to three minutes on any topic related to the community. Residents are welcome to contact Board members at any time. Members often sort minor issues directly with council staff or may ask for officers’ reports for the next meeting. You can also contact us on the Eastbourne Community Board Facebook page (not to be confused with the Eastbourne Community Notice Board Facebook page).

Belinda Moss (Chair) 029 494 1615 belinda.moss@huttcity.govt.nz

Emily Keddell (Deputy Chair) 021 188 5106

Bruce Spedding 021 029 74741

Frank Vickers 027 406 1419

Murray Gibbons 04 562 8567

Tui Lewis (Ward Councillor) 021 271 6249

Next ECB meeting: 7.15pm Tuesday 18 June, East Harbour Women’s Club, 145 Muritai Rd - ALL WELCOME

EB firefighter 2nd in tough comp

by Ann Packer

Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade’s team raised nearly $14,000 – of a total $1.9 million raised nationally for Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand – during their campaign to prepare for climbing the 1103 stairs of the Auckland Sky Tower on 18 May.

Firefighter Dave Venables says all eight members of the team got to the top of the 328m tower – up 51 floors, fully kitted out with breathing apparatus and other gear weighing 25 kg – and all he came back with was a cold.

He says Sue Barton, one of two women in the team, was second overall in the Supreme Masters (females) section –“almost first and way ahead of third”.

Coincidentally, the brigade had already booked a trip this week to Kilbirnie for more breathing apparatus training. And yes, Dave says, they’ll be dragging themselves along – and hoping they don’t need to use the knowledge any time soon.

Celebrating raising $14k and besting 1103 stairs, the EBFB team.

JAG032

EVFB firefighter Sue Barton races towards second place.

Antarctic adventures

“How was your trip to Antarctica?” people ask.

“Mind-blowing,” I say, “Overwhelming, transformative, frightening, beautiful”. But words feel so inadequate to describe an experience that has forever changed my view of the world.

My trip began in Bluff on January 10 when Eastbourne friend Frieda Collie and I joined the Heritage Adventurer for a four-week trip to the Subantarctic Islands (exciting enough, even without travelling further south) and Antarctica. Each of the 120 passengers on our tour, run by Heritage Expeditions and called 'In the Wake of Scott and Shackleton', brought with them a different set of motivations. Many came to see the wildlife – the whales, penguins, seals and seabirds – while some were drawn by the history of the heroic era of exploration. This began in the late 1890s and finished around 1922. I had long dreamt of coming here one day. Curiosity would best sum up my motivation.

Our group was truly international, with New Zealanders and Australians in the majority. We were joined by 15 young explorers, Heritage Expeditions’ scholarship winners. The aim is to encourage these young people to become ambassadors for this remotest region of planet earth. In addition, there was a small team of Ngāi Tahu researchers, studying the fauna and flora, using drones and underwater cameras.

Helping us understand something of the complex history, geology and natural environment was a team of around 15 lecturers/guides, all experts in their respective fields. When we were not making onshore expeditions, we had a very full programme of lectures, with an occasional quiz to see how well we had been listening.

Each day’s itinerary, displayed on a monitor in our cabins, began with a quote of the day. The one on January 30, our last day in Antarctica, resonated particularly.

“If Antarctica were music, it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.” So wrote Australian journalist Andrew Denton.

But is it entirely as it should be? There are now about seventy permanent research stations scattered around and across the continent; the largest being the US base McMurdo; the newest, a Chinese station currently under construction.

These stations represent 29 countries, all of which are members of the 1961 Antarctic Treaty. This was established in 1959 to ensure the continent was demilitarised and to protect it as a place of peace and scientific cooperation. There are now 56 parties to the treaty - a remarkable example of international cooperation.

So human beings are leaving their mark on the landscape. What about other exploitation?

Take a look at the shameful history of whaling, which began in the Ross Sea in the late 1800s.

USSR had the biggest impact on whale numbers, however. Between 1947 and 1986, its ships removed 338,336 whales – they basically cleaned the place out.

Catches included the Blue, Sperm, Humpback and Minke whales. Fortunately, the International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1985, with scientific whaling ceasing in 2019. The whales are returning, but it will take a very long time for them to regain anything like their original numbers.

Equally depressing is the harvesting of krill and toothfish. In 2022, there were as many as 23 boats fishing for toothfish in the Ross Sea.

Krill harvesting is increasing to match the demand from the health industry and aquaculture. Much more must be done to establish marine reserves in and around Antarctica to protect its fragile ecosystem, and to ensure its amazing wildlife survives.

As we headed north towards Campbell Island – our last port of call before returning to Bluff – I struggled to process the many experiences I had had. A highlight was definitely our visits to several large Adélie penguin colonies. These birds are so comical and charming.

Another highlight was our visits to several historic huts. The efforts over the last few years to restore these – Carsten Borchgrevink’s at Cape Adare, Robert Falcon Scott’s at Cape Evans and Ernest Shackleton’s at Cape Royds – have been extraordinary. Stepping into them took us back in time, helping us understand the incredible hardships these early explorers endured as they sought to reach some of the last undiscovered places on earth.

- Anne Manchester

The Heritage Adventurer awaits the return of passengers on an excursion ashore.

An Adélie penguin.

Solving real world problems: a passion for the law

by Ann Packer

Locals and opera goers probably know him as “the chap in the penguin suit” who welcomes folk at the gate to Canna House, the venue for wife Rhona Fraser's Days Bay Operas.

But Campbell McLachlan KC is also a long standing professor of law – and about to take off for a three-year stint at Cambridge University, UK, as their newly-appointed Professor of Law (1973), starting July 1. With a particular interest in international dispute resolution, Prof McLachlan humbly attributes his election to the chair, established in 1973, to being “in the right place at the right time” – he was in residence as Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professor of Legal Science in Cambridge during the academic year 2022-23, when the position became vacant.

As a Fellow of Trinity Hall, one of the oldest colleges of Cambridge – “founded in 1350 to train canon [church] lawyers to replace those who had died of the plague” – he and Rhona will live during term time in a cottage in the grounds, enjoying all the benefits and cultural riches of being part of a vibrant academic community only an hour from London.

The Professor of International Dispute Resolution elect says Cambridge terms are short but very intense; he is to start early to focus on writing a wholly new course before Masters students arrive in October. He has also just sent off the final proofs of a 250,000 word book for

Oxford University Press – his most ambitious yet – to be printed. The Principle of Systemic Integration in International Law, which expands on his passionate belief in the importance of international law as a collective tool that can be called on to solve real world problems, is due out in late June.

One of only a handful of international arbitrators based in New Zealand, Professor McLachlan, who has been on the staff at Victoria University for the last twenty years while taking on a variety of prestigious overseas roles, finds the specialty “hugely exacting, and a gruelling process to apply” – but says no case is ever boring.

Having done stints over the years as a presiding arbitrator at The Hague and in Washington DC with the World Bank, he thinks New Zealand has a reputation for being “small and far away…and therefore independent”.

Prof McLachlan admits to having had a lot of luck over the course of his career but credits some of his success to significant mentors, from Baron Cooke of Thorndon and Cambridge, Dame Sian Elias and Dame Helen Winkelmann, to Professor Ken Keith, former Attorney-General Chris Finlayson and Sir David Williams. “A lot of what happens is fortunate – a lot of things I didn’t plan for, or [as in this case] I happened to be in the right place and be very visible.”

While writing is what builds an academic

reputation, the biggest impact for this modest Kiwi is bringing on the next generation of able students – three of his best have already made their mark in centres as diverse as Cambridge, Vienna and the Hague. “It’s not just about me, they are ambassadors for the country,” he says. “It’s about passing on the torch.”

While Prof McLachlan believes Cambridge is the best university in the world, and this opportunity was too good to pass up, he says there are several reasons to keep coming south.

The couple’s daughter, son-in-law and first grandchild are resident in Australia (Broome, WA, where lawyer Ishbel has been working with the Aboriginal Legal Service ). There’s Canna House, with some of the family set to move in. And Rhona will be in her element researching possibilities for the next opera in the heritage garden.

Tupua Horo Nuku

Eastern Bays lane closures

Tupua Horo Nuku construction has begun in Whiorau/Lowry Bay.

Up to two temporary northbound lane closures will be in place in two different bays at a time along Marine Drive.

One lane closure will shift between Whiorau/Lowry Bay and Sunshine Bay, depending on tides, weather and the work programme. The other lane closure will be in York Bay. This flexible approach lets us work smarter and finish quicker.

Lane closures will be managed by manually controlled and secured traffic lights to keep traffic moving and delays minimal.

All three sites will have a 30kmph speed limit in place at all times.

There will be a protected path for pedestrians in areas where they cannot be diverted onto the opposite footpath.

Hours may vary between 7am and 5pm Monday to Saturday.

Find out more:

Contact us if you have any questions for the project team: Find out more about the project, and subscribe to email updates: hutt.city/tupuahoronuku

0800 135 255 tupuahoronuku@huttcity.govt.nz

Lane closure at one of these sites

Sorrento Bay

Whiorau/ Lowry Bay

Oruamotoro Days Bay

Ngau matau Point Howard

Whiorau Reserve

Sunshine Bay Mahina Bay

York Bay

Mā-koromiko

Lane closure

Key:

Faith in the Community

When we listen...

When we listen, we will hear you In the towering voices of mountains and seas

When we listen, we will hear you In the gentlest song of the breeze

When we listen, we will hear you Speaking to us of your wonderful ways

When we listen, we will hear you Guiding us all of our days

When we listen, we will hear you In the welcoming warmth of our family and friends

When we listen, we will hear you In the laughter and love that you send

When we listen, we will hear you In the stories and songs that your people have heard

When we listen, we will hear you In the power of your holy word.

Damien Halloran & Maria Millward

St Alban’s + St Ronan’s: 1st Sundays 9:30am monthly shared communion services (alternating venues, leaders and preachers) 7 July at St Ronan’s church, 2 June at San Antonio church.

St Ronan’s: 1st Sundays shared with St Albans (see above). 2nd and 4th Sundays 9:30am informal, 3rd Sundays 9:30am traditional, 5th Sundays 12:00pm fellowship meal. E:office@ stronans.org.nz W:www.stronans.org.nz

St Alban’s: 1st Sundays shared with St Ronan’s (see above). Other Sunday services now at San Antonio church at 9:30am. 1st Thursdays, communion at 10:30am at St Ronan’s church. Details www.facebook.com/ StAlbansNZ E:office@stalbanschurch.nz W:www.stalbanschurch.nz

San Antonio: Vigil Mass, Sat 5.30pm. Sacred Heart, Petone: Mass, Sun 9.30am and 5.30pm. E:holyspiritparish41@gmail.com W:www.holyspirit.nz

Learn Te Reo Māori in your hāpori (community)

St Alban’s church and The Eastbourne Herald are delighted to offer the chance to learn te reo Māori, right here in Eastbourne. We’ve worked with experienced te reo kaiako (teacher) Jackie West to bring you a programme covering basic te reo in a fun, friendly way for Eastbourne residents.

The format combines face to face and online sessions, on eight Tuesdays during July and August 2024, beginning Tuesday 2 July and picking up again after the school holidays on 23 July.

At our introductory wānanga, Jackie will take us through some basic greetings, farewells and how to introduce ourselves, and we’ll kōrero about how the sessions will unfold. Beginning at 6.30pm with light refreshments, we’ll be finished by 8pm.

In Term 2 we’ll alternate online learning with Jackie, with kanohi te kanohi korero rōpū (face to face discussion group) sessions – ending in a final wānanga with Jackie on 3 September.

St Alban’s will bring kai for all face to face sessions. All you need to bring is an openness to learn, and share those learnings with others. And we ask that you offer a koha – we suggest $60 for the course – directly to Jackie.

Practical questions? Email Sue ( sue@ stalbanschurch.nz)

Questions about your learning? Email Jackie (tereoonline27@gmail.com)

Payment & registration details email Office@stalbanschurch.nz with your name and phone number.

Stop the rain falling on Scouts' parade OPINION

Eastbourne scouts are set to close their doors after more than a hundred years of service - but don't worry, it's only temporary.

The Scouts, who usually meet in the hall next to Muritai Yacht Club, are having to leave the hall due to significant repairs needed on the roof.

Ashley Bloomfield will be the keynote speaker at a fundraising 'soiree' in July, which it is hoped will help with the repairs. The evening will feature entertainment including a parade of scouts old and young in their uniforms and a slideshow of Eastbourne Scouts.

The group is also applying for grants to cover what is estimated to be substantial costs. Organisers say they want the scouts to continue for another 100 years and they are hopeful the community will get behind the event. Details to follow.

Potholes evidence of neglect

I have known , lived in and worked in Eastbourne for more years than I care to remember. But I have never seen the roads in such a shocking state . What visitors must think heaven knows. So-called “ repairs “ last barely a month and comprise a “ bucket and spade “ approach it seems to me . EBC might blame lack of funds but the truth is that the roads have been slowly neglected for decades. The residents deserve better and should protest in the streets like the French and not just “ put up with it “ . Piece meal repairs are a waste of time let alone money . Surely the EBC must understand that claims by drivers for damage to their cars caused by potholes is costing as much money as they assert not to have.

Peter Hays

Eastbourne

How Eastbourne (finally!) got its public library

by Ali Carew

At the Eastbourne Community Library’s 50th birthday celebrations in March, Mayor Campbell Barry mentioned the major role the community had played in getting its public library in 1974. Yet the Borough of Eastbourne was formed in 1906, so why did residents have to wait so long?

Providing essential infrastructure and services had been a challenge for the new Borough, with a population in the low hundreds. Yet in 1913 the Council purchased the local ferry company, and in 1927 it bought the bus company too. Not bad for a tiny Borough, which until 1965 reached only as far as Windy Point. The Borough also acquired reticulated water and sewerage in the 1930s, long before the northern bays. Transport and infrastructure were clearly a priority; other ‘nice-to-haves’ had to wait their turn.

The lack of a public library wasn’t for lack of demand. Residents approached the Council over many years, but cost was always the barrier. By the early 1960s, with the population at 2,645, public pressure was growing. A petition, requesting that the Council ask the National Library Service ‘to advise on the possibility of establishing a free public library in Eastbourne’, was signed by over 800 residents.

The Library Service’s report, dated September 1962, emphasised the benefits of a public library. These included: ‘… contributes directly to family life and good citizenship’; ‘assists in the intellectual and moral development of the individual and increases his [sic] capacity to lead a fuller life…’; ‘[and] serves important social, educational and cultural ends….’

If a Borough library were established, the Library Service would provide books free of charge while the library built up its own collection. The report recommended that initially one full-time librarian be employed, on a salary of £795-900, or one part-time librarian with voluntary assistants. The building itself did not have to be purpose-built: ‘in some towns, shops have been adapted to make successful public libraries’.

The Council set up a Library Subcommittee, which had further discussions with the Library Service. These led to an undated letter to ratepayers from Mayor Cliff Bishop, headed ‘Library for Eastbourne’. Bishop was an accountant: in typical fashion he presented

the estimated cost of establishing a library in an existing building ($11,000), the annual running cost ($4,000), and the effect on rates (a 5% increase on the current General Rate), plus a costed list of other competing Council projects. (The costs being in dollars means the newsletter was after July 1967.)

Note the phrase ‘in an existing building’. While the library discussions were going on, plans for a new Borough Council building on the corner of Rimu Street and Marine Parade were taking shape. The preliminary plans, released in 1960, showed two floors of Council offices, topped by six or eight floors of ‘luxury apartments’, but no public library.

Initial public reaction to the plans is not known. But when Rona House (‘Eastbourne’s first skyscraper’) was completed on the opposite corner in 1965, the response was overwhelmingly negative: the building was described as ‘unsightly’, and as destroying the unique character of the Village. Public opposition was so strong that the Council, which had sold the land to the developer and supported the project, hastily revised the plans for its own building.

Including a library in the new building wasn’t an option, it seems. Instead, Bishop’s letter presented ratepayers with a much less costly solution. A later letter revealed plans for the Council’s current offices in Rimu Street (now Eastbourne Pharmacy) to become a public library when the Council moved to its new building: the space was ‘too small for a full library, but suitable for testing public opinion’. By now the northern bays had joined the Borough, boosting the population to 4,545.

Even a small low-budget library wasn’t a done deal: ratepayers would vote on the proposal at the next Municipal Elections. The poll, in October 1968, showed a clear majority in favour of a public library: 682 votes to 409.

At some point, between the 1968 poll and construction starting on the new building

Don J. McIlroy

in 1972, the Council changed its mind. The building that was officially opened on 20 March 1974 included a modern spacious purpose-built library. So we got there in the end, via a long and tortuous route. And like all great outcomes, it was worth the wait!

RONA BAY BOOKS

Rare books, quality used books bought & sold. See our stock at: www.tinakoribooks.com

Books for a special present 26 Totara Street 562 7376 027 316 4066

tinakoribooks@xtra.co.nz

Open Monday-Friday 7am-4pm

Saturday & Sunday 8am-4pm

For professional property advice

Tel: 562-7555

or Campbell Logan - 022 093 8090

Spencer Logan - 021 627 773

Email: admin@spencerlogan.co.nz www.spencerlogan.co.nz

www.tartinesfrenchcafe.com

Enquiries: 04 562 0071

Tartineseastbourne@gmail.com

Architect’s model of Borough Council building, 1960

View: By appointment

Tender: Closing Thursday 30 May 2024, 2 p.m. (unless sold prior)

Mike Lovell 027 435 6007 | mike.lovell@nzsir.com

Kim Slessor 027 230 3328 | kim.slessor@nzsir.com

View: By appointment

Tender: Closing Wednesday 12 June 2024, 12 p.m. (unless sold prior)

Kim Slessor 027 230 3328 | kim.slessor@nzsir.com

Mondays

• Retired Persons’ Assn meet 4th Mon, 10am St Ronan's Church hall for morning tea followed by a speaker - $2 entry.Transport can be arranged for these meetings on request, ph 562 7365 or 562 8387.

• “Baby Bounce & Rhyme” at the library 10.00am.

• Toy Library - Two Monday Sessions at 1.302.30pm and 7.30-8.30pm. EastbourneToyLibrary on Facebook. Kathy 0273551950

• DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, from 9:15 to 12 noon, Drop in anytime to visit a session or call James on 022 043 7841 to arrange a visit.

• Pt Howard Playcentre. Mon 9.15 -11.45am. Lucy 021 335 391.

• The Historical Society’s Eastbourne History Room above the library is open 2-4 pm every Monday.

• Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade training every Monday 7-9pm. Ph 562 7001 for more info.

• Keas - 5:15pm - 6:15pm. Ed 021 738 699

• Cubs - 5:30pm - 7:00pm - Ed 021 738 699

• Venturers - 7:15pm - 9pm - Ed 021 738 699.

Tuesdays

• Pt Howard Playcentre Tues 9.15 -11.45am. Lucy 021 335 391.

• DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, from 9:15 to 12 noon, Drop in anytime to visit a session or call James on 022 043 7841 to arrange a visit.

• Muritai Tennis Club 9.30–noon. Merryn 562 0236.

• Eastbourne Homebirth Group 1st Tuesday of the month. Phone Kate 562-7096.

• East Harbour Women’s Club Morning Tea & Chat Group 10am. Contact Glendyr 0210303480.

• Indoor Bowls Club 1.30pm, at the croquet club, Oroua Street. Rosemary 562 7365

• Menzshed 9 till 12 , Williams Park, Barrie barrielittlefair@gmail.com 0204 1234511. Women welcome.

• 9.30am Nia Dance Fitness Class (low impact - teens to 70+) Music Movement MagicMuritai Yacht Club - call Amanda 021 316692 www.niainwellington.com

Wednesdays

• Cubs: 5.30pm - 7.00pm, Ed 021 738 699.

• Library preschool story time 10.00 am.

• Pt Howard Playcentre Wed 9.15 -11.45am. Lucy 021 335 391.

• Scottish Country Dance. Merryn 562 0236.

• Bridge Club 7-10pm. Shona 562 7073.

• DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

WHAT'S ON

and Friday mornings, from 9:15 to 12 noon, Drop in anytime to visit a session or call James on 022 043 7841 to arrange a visit.

• “Steady as You Go” Age Concern sponsored Falls Prevention and Exercise Programme. Held 12 noon each Wednesday at Eastbourne Community Hall. Classes are held for 1 hour and costs only $2. Improve your strength and balance to reduce falls and injuries. Falls are preventable. Please join us!

• EHock - Fun Stick and Ball game Girls and Boys 7- 13.Eastbourne Community Hall. Wednesdays 6.00 p.m. - 7.30 p.m. Derek Wilshere 0274303596

Thursdays

• Menzshed 9 till 12 , Williams Park, Barrie barrielittlefair@gmail.com 0204 1234511. Women welcome.

• St Ronan’s Mainly Music, 9.15am-11.15am, during school terms. Contact Cathy 027 213 9342.

• SPACE at Days Bay Playcentre. Michelle 971 8598.

• East Harbour Women’s Club

- Bolivia 12.45pm, Contact Glendyr ph: 0210303480. Guest Speaker (3rd week of month)7pm, drinks and nibbles provide, Contact Celeste 021 206 5713

•Lions meet 2nd Thursday of the month at the Eastbourne Sports and Services Club, Tuatoru St 6.30 pm. New members and visitors are welcome. Graham 562 8819.

• Scouts 6pm-8pm - Ed 021 738 699• Eastbourne Bowling Club casual summer bowls 5.30pm for an hour or so. Make up a mixed team of three. Contact Keith Turner ph 04 934 4142.

• Sing Eastbourne: 8pm, St Alban's Hall.

Fridays

• Pop in and Play playgroup at St Ronan's Church Hall, 9am-11.30am during school terms. All preschoolers (0-4 years) welcome. Cath 027 213 9342.

• Pt Howard Playcentre Fri 9.15 -11.45am. Lucy 021 335 391.

• AA Plunket Rooms 7.30pm. Mark 566 6444/ Pauline 562 7833

• DB Playcentre 9.15-12 noon Puddle Jumpers casual ‘drop-in’ session.$5 per child per session. Call James on 022 043 7841

Saturdays

• Justice of the Peace at the Eastbourne Community Library, first Saturday of each month 12pm-1pm.

• Croquet from 10am Muritai Croquet Club. Lyn 562 8722 or Val 562 8181.

• Lions' Bin - cost effective rubbish and e-waste disposal. Last Saturday of the month (except December) by Bus Barns. Gavin 027 488 5602.

Sundays

• AA Plunket Rooms 10am. Karen 021 440 705.

• Mindful Mummas group for Mums and preschool children. Childminder onsite. 1011.30. Text Emily 027 552 6119 to join or go to bemoreyou.co.nz for more info.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual General Meeting of the Eastbourne-Bays Community Trust will be held at 17 Hinau Street, Eastbourne Thursday 27 June 2024 at 7.30pm

Please refer to the following web site for information on the Trust: www.eastbourne-bays-community-trust.org.nz Contact: Anne Manchester 027 684 5664

Okiwi Volunteer Driving Service

Provides transport to appointments in the Hutt Valley and Wellington, for older residents living in Eastbourne and the Bays.

Our ‘20-Minute Volunteers’ are also available for small jobs around the home.

Growing numbers show that rugby's back in the 'Bourne

Eastbourne Rugby is bucking the trend for the 2024 season.

One hundred and ten  junior players make up nine teams and we have already celebrated our first 'seagull attack' where all junior teams win their games on the same day.

A new addition this year is an all-girls Ripa team in the year 3/4 grade. The girls are loving it, with some big wins and amazing teamwork.

Kim Grant and Kirsty Morwood are junior convenors this year and are doing an amazing job, the club is lucky to have such dedicated people keeping things running so smoothly.

The senior 85kg team has also turned the tide from last season and has more than thirty players registered - numbers not seen since the mid 2000s.

It has been a tough start to the season with a new, young team but we are looking forward to the second round with more game time.

The club will celebrate Old Timers' day on June 8 which will be Dan Hewson’s 300th game for the 85kg team, a huge effort spanning over 23 seasons.

-Willie Davis, ERFC

Close-up view of wharf work

Lowry Bay’s Thompson-Young family (right) were among a group from their bay and Point Howard who enjoyed a cruise on Ika Rere, courtesy of the Seaview Energy Resilience Project. It was an opportunity to check out, firsthand, progress on work underway to strengthen wharf piles following the Kaikoura earthquake.

Meanwhile, construction of 170m of new pipeline between the former rail crossing on Seaview Road and the Z Seaview fuel storage terminal, subject to traffic management since mid-February, is due for completion soon. www.seaviewproject.co.nz

Bishop Park BPA on the horizon

Construction of a contentious fence being installed in Bishop Park as part of a mandated Bird Protection Area (BPA) will go ahead in July, despite push back from locals.

In February, The Eastbourne Herald reported opposition to the plan from dog walkers, who questioned how a fence could protect penguins displaced by the construction of Tupua Horo Nuku.

With some residents unhappy with the proposed design of the fence, Hutt City Council says it is working to provide a more palatable solution.

A council spokesman said the fence design was planned to mirror the Whiorau Reserve fence, however, after meeting with residents at

a site visit in April, it was considering changes to the design, while ensuring it remained compliant with resource consent conditions.

“The Eastern Bays coastline is home to protected native bird species including the little blue penguins (kororā) and the variable oystercatcher (tōrea pango). Protection of these birds and their habitat is an important part of the Tupua Horo Nuku project, with particular focus given to kororā - an at-risk bird species. Bishop Park is one of the protection areas allocated for the Kororā.”

HCC says the majority of submitters during its month-long consultation period supported changes to the Dog Control Bylaw which limits where dogs can be walked. Of the 275 survey submissions and six email submissions received, 65 percent supported the proposed changes at Sorrento and Lowry Bay, 66 percent at Whiorau Reserve, and 60 percent at HW Shortt Park. There was 47 percent support for the proposed changes at Bishop Park.

Please Pop in and Play!

In spite of good food and a cosy atmosphere at St Ronans’ Hall, attendance at the Friday morning Pop in and Play group run by St Alban's Church has dwindled to just a handful.

The playgroup, offering fun, safe and childfriendly activities for preschoolers, toddlers, babies and caregivers – plus morning tea prepared by volunteers – would love more whānau to drop in and share in the warm welcome each Friday morning during term time, from 9am to 11.30am.

Facilitator Cath Louden says the group has a lot to offer. “Most weeks we are lucky enough to have live piano music as well, and on dry days we have access to a playground made especially for young children, as well as ride on toy cars and bikes.”

For more information contact Cath on 027 213 934.

Container boat launched after years of hard slog

Launched at last – Sandy Munro’s sleek yacht Lorna was lowered into the water on 1 March at Seaview Marina.

The designer/builder, who has a degree in naval architecture from Strathclyde University, spoke to us in November 2022 about his containerbuilt Sand10 prototype, which incorporates a bit of Wellington history – 130-year-old Oregon pine from the old Farmers building in Cuba Mall came from Canada in the late 1890s.

Sandy says after several years’ hard work he’s very relieved to launch her but also “to take a wee break for a bit and take a little more time to enjoy the work I still have to do to outfit her inside”.

The name Lorna Sandy says, comes from the west coast of Scotland and the area south of Oban and north of Isla and Jura – the old name being The Firth of Lorn.

we have been doing a lot of outdoor activities. After months of no access due to slip and water pipe repairs, we are so happy to be back to one of our favourite place. The kids have loved planting, gardening and helping organising the Centre.

We also welcome visitors and New members every Monday/Wednesday and Friday from 9.15am to 11.45 am.

At Point Howard Playcentre

Garden Stuff with Sandy Lang

May/June: Mid-late autumn. Late autumn/ early winter. Tidying time. You’ve a too-big, too-shady tree? Pruning big trees is risky - high ladders, heavy logs, sharp saws. If in doubt don’t. Call an arborist. But for those with smaller trees or life assurance.

Tree size, shape: A too-big or misshapen tree can be made smaller or more beautiful by careful pruning. •If you cut out the highest branch, it will be shorter. •If you cut out an asymmetrical branch, it will be better shaped. •If you cut out an overcrowded branch it will be more uniform. •If you cut out a diseased branch, it will be healthier. So, take a photo. Print it. Use a pen to mark the cuts to remove selected branches. Change your mind and nothing’s lost – it takes 5 min to cut off a branch but 5 years to regrow one. When you’ve decided the cuts on paper, use house paint to mark them on the tree.

Good/bad cuts: •Don’t make ‘heading cuts’ (partway along a branch) to leave an ugly stump, and the tree grows an ugly ‘lollipop’ of shoots on the stump end. •Instead make ‘thinning cuts’ (take out whole branches at the base). Do it right and you hardly see a cut has been made. •Remove big branches stepwise. Start at the tip. Cut off short bits till you get near the base. •Make a penultimate cut 10 cm out from the final cut. Then the final cut removes only a short bit - less chance of it ripping bark. •Trees have a ‘collar’ (bark ridges) at the base of each branch. A collar is a filter. Stops disease entry. Make the final cut about 2 cm out from the collar.

Response: If you remove a branch, growth is more vigorous next year. Make some cuts this year, some next.

Tools: Use hand tools not power (safer). (1) Secateurs, (2) loppers, (3) pruning saw, (4) bow saw. Don’t strain (RSI/OOS). If (1) is difficult, use (2), or (3), or (4) etc. A tool’s sharp edges are thin edges, so rust fast. So, oil tools after use to keep them sharp (pottle of sticky chainsaw oil, a brush). Pruning is surgery. Don’t spread disease. Sanitise tools between trees (meths kills germs). Don’t prune in wet weather (quick drying kills germs). Seal off larger cuts (house paint).

slang@xtra.co.nz www.mulchpile.org

Former Eastbourne lad Zach Cotogni, co-author of  Blue Honey: personal experiences using Psilocybin for mental health in Aotearoa, signing books with Liv Sisson (Fungi of Aotearoa), after their session at last Sunday’s Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival session, attended by 200 people. Blue Honey quickly sold out, another box of books had to be fetched from the car. Now living in the Hutt Valley, Zach wrote Blue Honey with his sister, Michaela, when she lived in Eastbourne before moving to Canada. Books available at www.bluehoney.co.nz

Photo by Mary McCallum

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