A week and a half after the main sewerage pipe sprung a leak in Days Bay, treated wastewater is still spilling into Waiwhetū Stream. The stream is frequently the site of wastewater overflows when the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant is inundated during heavy rain, and continues to be in the worst 25 percent of waterways in New Zealand for E. coli, according to Land Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA).
Signs warning against swimming and gathering kaimoana remain along the Bays.
The pipe sprung a leak on Saturday, August 10, after a valve that isolates the main outfall pipe from the Days Bay pump station broke, causing treated and untreated wastewater to be discharged into Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Wellington Water says finding the exact location of the leak was difficult, and initial efforts to isolate the problem were complicated by the involvement of multiple pump stations, valves, and pipes, as well as challenging tide conditions and the presence of other utilities.
Sucker trucks have been operating around the clock, with tankers taking untreated wastewater from the Point Arthur and York Bay pump stations to the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant.
By Saturday evening, three pump stations were temporarily shut down, and treated wastewater was rerouted from the Seaview Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Waiwhetū Stream.
The pipeline was drained to allow for
Winning Orcas
The Eastbourne Orcas triumphed this season, winning Capital Football Womens 4 First Round cup this season. Women's football is thriving in Eastbourne, with two women's teams - the League Orcas and the Social Orcas, whose aim is to offer football to all Eastbourne women whether they've previously played before or not. Themes like disco football and line dancing football add to the fun of the game.
safe excavation and damage assessment. Iwi imposed a rāhui on August 12 covering the Waiwhetū Stream and surrounding areas due to the discharge.
Water quality monitoring has been intensified and local beaches closed. The Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) has classified these sites as Red on LAWA, and signage has been placed at beach entry points from Sorrento Bay to Point Arthur, indicating that these areas are closed to the public.
Repair efforts are ongoing, with two teams working in parallel to fix the valve connecting
the outfall to the Days Bay pump station, and repair the pipe and valves from the Days Bay pump station. This will allow the main outfall to be refilled and returned to operation, which will stop the discharge of treated wastewater into Waiwhetū Stream.
Wellington Water says the cost of the repairs is currently unknown. However, there was already a $20 million investigation underway to upgrade local piping, with potential replacement costs from Seaview to Pencarrow Heads estimated at up to $700 million.
Smells like a kororā, looks like a kororā, sounds like a kororā…
It was the kind of day only dog owners venture out on – cold, wet, miserable. But it was a successful day as far as Ross Gilmour was concerned.
The York Bay man feels so passionately about the plight of the kororā, or little blue penguin – eight have been killed by dogs in the Wellington region since December – that he invested his time and energy in a dog aversion training pilot that ran on the first Friday of this month, one of the murkiest days of the winter.
The pilot was so successful he is offering another one on the weekend of 14/15 September.
Breeds taking part included English Setter, Huntaway/Cross, Labradoodle, Springer Spaniel, Sproodle, Cavoodle and a Shih Tzu/ Pomeranian.
Ross enlisted the help of experienced Woodville kiwi dog avoidance trainer Willy Marsh, who uses a shock collar set on vibrate mode to give dogs their first fright when they sniff a dead penguin, at the start of the 15-minute course.
Dead birds, toy birds that smell like the real thing, a decidedly fake plastic one that looks like a monster version of the actual one, and smelly kororā nesting materials, are all used at various points in the course, held on the beach. Smell, sight and sound all help put the dogs off approaching the birds.
Ross emphasises they don’t want owners put off at the thought of using electric collars. Willy told us we’d hear a yelp if the dog was being shocked – and we didn’t. “We’ve had really good feedback,” says Ross, “and dog owners learnt something about their dogs too.”
Owners have told him their animal demonstrated protective behaviour – the dogs have stood guard between the bird and their owner as if to say
“I’m trying to stop you going into danger.”
The training is designed to significantly decrease the likelihood a dog would approach penguins or go near their nests. “The training does not, however, remove your responsibility for keeping strict control of your dog or dogs around nesting areas,” Ross says.“While your dog may not attack a penguin, just approaching one while it is travelling between the sea and its nest, or sniffing around the nesting area, can result in the bird abandoning its nest.”
Individual training sessions for 14/15 September can be booked with ross@ penguinavoidance.org, and once payment of $40 is made (directly to the trainer) he will supply detailed instructions about where to go.
Spencer Logan Valuations Limited
Registered Valuers and Property Consultants
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
Toy kororā used in aversion training.
Kororā aversion training. Photo: Elly Peters
Proposal to disestablish community boards
Thank you to everyone who made a submission in response to Council’s representation review. There were 379 submissions from Hutt City’s 114,000 residents, 54% of which were from the 5,000 residents in Eastbourne and the Eastern Bays.
Extending the Eastbourne summer pool season
We are grateful to Hutt City Council’s aquatic team for offering to train volunteer lifeguards. Having a team of local qualified lifeguards will mean the pool season can be extended by two weeks. Thank you to everyone who has put their names forward already, but we need a few more. The aquatic team is looking for volunteers of all ages, including active retirees and younger volunteers. Volunteering at the pool is a significant contribution to our community. For younger volunteers, it can lead to paid holiday work in Hutt City pools, NCEA credits and skills for your CV.
If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact ECB Member, Emily Keddell.
Next ECB meeting: 7.15pm Tuesday 22 October, Eastbourne Library and Community Hub - ALL WELCOME
Extreme weather access issues a focus of climate change submission
What could happen in Eastbourne and the Bays if we were hit by extreme weather events like last year’s storms in Hawkes Bay and Auckland?
Bruce Spedding, David Lillis and John Horrocks, from Eastern Bays Climate Response Network, made a submission on this topic in late 2023 to a climate adaptation inquiry held by Parliament’s Environment Committee.
With the change of government, the fate of many submissions on this topic appear uncertain. Work on adaptation to climate change has, however, been continued by Parliament’s current Finance and Expenditure Committee. In July 2024, Mr Spedding and Dr Horrocks talked to their submission, to this committee. They stressed the effects of climate change are being felt right now. While Eastbourne and the Bays may be affected by future sea level rise, the area is not immune from more severe and frequent storm damage – it’s just that last year they happened elsewhere.
For example, extreme rainfall could lead to slips blocking the road to Seaview, and low-lying areas of Muritai could be flooded because streams which formerly carried rainwater from the hills are now directed towards culverts that would be blocked by debris in a major storm.
A focus on adaptation, though important, can also divert attention from the human contribution to climate change. The latest results from the Baring Head study tracking carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere show the highest levels in
fifty years. Retired scientist Mr Spedding referenced his own experience working on the project, having helped set it up under lead scientist, Dr David Lowe, and later designing data acquisition systems when it went digital.
In the brief time allowed for discussion, the main question to the submitters was regarding access after extreme weather, also raised by Wellington Harbour Board. Eastbourne and the Bays also have particular challenges as the result of climate change, including stability on steep hillsides and the possibility of wildfires in dry summers.
“Our submission had detailed previous action by local community groups to increase resilience towards environmental disasters, including earthquakes,” says Dr Horrocks. “Yet although the concept of ‘communityled retreat’ was canvassed in the original Environment Committee inquiry, a summary of submissions to this committee showed that while potentially important, this was not a sufficient response to threats that had to be addressed by central and local governments.”
A recent example of a failure at national level to recognise the need for co-ordinated emergency warning systems has been the abandonment by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) of work on datasets of maps and risks which communities could access in the case of a disaster. LINZ says this project can no longer be funded. “Actions like this undercut any coherent plans for adaptation to climate change,” Dr Horrocks says.
Who knew there was so much electronic waste out there? Over 70 registrations were received, via QR code, in advance of last Sunday’s Eastbourne collection, says coordinator Hugh Walcott, who has overseen the bringing together of “almost any anything with a plug”.
The Days Bay systems engineer, who recently cleared out his family home on Mahoe St, set himself the task of clearing the community of e-waste “from Point Howard down”, by enlisting the help of Lions, Scouts and Muritai School. The school saw its blue bin as an educational challenge, with students analysing each family’s e-waste and creating a spreadsheet – from which it was estimated about 15% of households or 100 families would be donating items.
The ethical and secure disposal of electronics is not easy or cheap, Hugh says. Plastic, metal and toxic material is recycled at Echo Technologies’ new Seaview factory but the most expensive items to deal with are flatscreen televisions, for which there’s a disposal fee. He is hoping any payment for components of some value will offset the cost of the TVs.
To avoid opportunistic theft, the community bins have been kept locked – when collected, degaussing will remove data from items such as mobile phones and hard disk drives, while
other items such as SSDs – solid state drives –will be shredded.
Hugh says rapid changes in technology, and the ageing process, can make it harder for people to deal with accumulated items, many of which become too heavy for seniors to lift. He’s been heartened to see residents assisting elderly neighbours bring redundant devices to the collection points in his bay.
Tupua Horo Nuku: York Bay Beach Build-up
Te Ara Tupua Alliance will build up the beach in York Bay during construction of Tupua Horo Nuku. This process, called ‘beach nourishment’, will add up to 355m3 of sand materials to the beach. This results in more beach space to enjoy at all tide levels.
The new sand will be sourced from local quarries. It will be a similar size and colour to the present beach.
Sand will be added during low tides on calm days to limit impact on the ecology of the bay.
Our models predict the build-up will be successful over the short to medium term. We’ll assess the beach two years after the Tupua Horo Nuku project ends to make sure
Degaussing, which reduces magnetic fields, was originally used as a protection against magnetic mines during World War 2. The remains of Wellington Harbour’s degaussing station, finished in 1942, can be seen to the south of the arrival whare on Matiu Somes Island. More recently, degaussing has also been used to reduce magnetic fields in old-fashioned TVs and to destroy data held on cellphones and devices like hard drives, magnetic tapes and floppy disks.
the build-up is working as expected and decide if a top up is needed.
For questions, contact us at: 0800 135 255 tupuahoronuku@huttcity.govt.nz
You may see our team at the southern end of Mā-koromiko in September as they conduct finishing works.
Please drive safely and follow all road signs and crew instructions as we adjust traffic management as we progress along Marine Drive.
By Sunday, the E-waste dropped off had grown to 150 laptop and desktop computers, 100 TVs and computer monitors, 300+ mobile phones.
Faith in the Community
Scammers...
I’d like to share with you some thoughts from a recent reflection in a weekly news sheet, circulated to all Presbyterian congregations from Wellington to New Plymouth and Gisborne.
“I need help! I’m writing from overseas – my wallet has been stolen, along with the rental car. I’m hoping you may be able to help. Could you please transfer $500 to my bank account. Or maybe you could give me your credit card number – you will be blessed if you do...”
Recently one of our regional staff got an email asking for help in this way. It was apparently from the secretary. Maybe you’ve had one like it? Scams are built on emotional pleas, realistic scenarios and gullible victims.
Scammers are becoming more sophisticated but there are usually some clues: a strange email address, poor grammar, an unusual request, usually dealing with money. In this situation, a healthy scepticism is a good characteristic to have. However, the problem is our scepticism can become ingrained, so we become inured to legitimate calls for help and authentic charitable needs.
In wanting to speak hope to a sceptical community, the church often now struggles to have its message heard. The only way to proceed, is with authentic caring and transparent processes.
St Alban’s + St Ronan’s: 1st Sundays 9:30am monthly shared communion services (alternating venues, leaders and preachers) 1 September at St Ronan’s church ‘Celebrating the life and gifts of hymn writer Shirley Erena Murray through words and song’, 6 October 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
Leaders given prestigious award
Ed Churchouse (Eastbourne Group Leader) and Damon Smith (Eastbourne Scout Leader) were awarded their Gilwell Scarf and Wood Beads earlier this month, becoming members of the global 1st Gilwell Troop.
The prestigious award recognises completion of Advanced Leadership training – and as only existing members of the Gilwell Troop can award new members their beads, it was fitting that Ed’s Mum Jeanette Churchouse and local Justin Bloomfield were part of the award ceremony, as they also have their Gilwell Scarf and Wood Beads.
Birds in the hand...
by Ann Packer
Who knew there were so many different native birds? Eastbourne artist Jade Ell has just published her fourth calendar featuring our endemic species – with only a couple of overlaps. For her 2025 edition, she could not resist including rūrū, since one sits outside her window most nights. And she’s done tūī before too, though this time the adult and chick are surrounded by the carmine blooms of pūriri.
A Massey design graduate in illustration, Jade, who has lived in Eastbourne since 2016, produced her first calendar for 2022, after selling prints and cards for some years at markets. She uses a mix of pen and pencil drawing, digital rendering and some water colour.
The mother of Finn, in his last year at Muritai, loves to paint her birds in pairs or family groups, including babies – as well as the tui, 2025 also has a ruru, hoiho penguin (with both parents), and last year’s bird of the year, pūteketeke, the crested glebe, whose offspring sits on her back.
Whio, the blue duck, has three babies, boding well for the endangered water fowl after which Lowry Bay is named – back in the day, it seems, Whiorau was a place of many streams, which made it a good breeding ground, though sadly no longer.
And a bonus page for January 2026 (already!) shows toroa, the albatross, standing guard over her chick.
Why birds? “Everybody loves birds,” she says. “Birds represent freedom and lightness – and they’re also related to dinosaurs, which is cool!”
Native New Zealand 2025 Bird Calendar is available in stores for $39.90 or from tuiornottui.com for $42 (incl P&P in NZ), jade.ell@gmail.com
Goats, harsh weather all part of the challenge
by Ann Packer
When three Eastbourne friends set out to reforest an Eastbourne spot close to their hearts, they spent much of their time trialling different ways to defend baby trees from hungry goats.
Hugh Walcott, Robert Ashe, and Dion Howard have a dream: to restore the native forest around one of their favourite places in Eastbourne – the Pipes surf break, or Paraoanui, on the Pencarrow Coast Road.
Last month they began the project, planting trees, clearing weeds, and picking up a pile of rubbish.
“We’re deliberately starting small given the size of the challenges to re-establishing native forest there,” says Mr Ashe.
“The soil is compacted, the summers are harsh, and goats are everywhere.”
“The vision is to give our tamariki a beautiful place to surf, muck about, and appreciate this beautiful spot,” says Mr Walcott.
“By working together, with good pest control and native tree planting, we hope to restore this place within ten years.”
Mr Howard, the most devoted surfer of the three, has come to this spot since the 1980s.
“Eastbourne has a gem of a local surf spot and a few different breaks along the coast for all ages and abilities. The fact that you can’t drive there means it’s rarely crowded.”
The group is appreciative of the Eastbourne Community Board, who helped secure the relevant permissions needed from Hutt City Council.
The local Jobs for Nature Project gifted the plants, and GW ranger Jo Greenman provided helpful advice and assistance with the rubbish collection.
Mr Ashe says the forest will largely recover by itself, especially once the goats and possums are controlled,
“Restoring what you love is a great gift to others,” he says.
“It’s good for the soul too, when most of the news we hear about our natural world is about all the harm we’re doing.” To be held at the Clubrooms -
Authorised by Chris Bishop, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
Left to right: Dion Howard, Robert & Charlotte Ashe, Hugh and Nicholas Walcott take a break from planting trees and fending off goats.
Muritai Tennis Club AGM
Chalice or not a chalice? That is the question
by Ann Packer
“It’s certainly not a chalice,” says Malcolm Sime when we meet, pre-empting my question. “I don’t know exactly what it is. It’s not an incense burner either – it wouldn’t have a handle…”
Regardless of what it is or isn’t – “the chalice” is what it was called in family folklore – the Lowry Bay businessman who inherited the large, bronze putti-embellished container from his uncle’s estate is intent on returning it to the monastery at Monte Cassino, from where Capt (later Major) Robert Reid Knox is reputed to have removed it following the battle for the German-held abbey between January and April 1944, in one of WW2’s most brutal and costly battles for Kiwis.
What also intrigues Mr Sime are the silk maps, passed on with his uncle’s medals – finelydetailed diagrammatic representations of Italy, Sicily and northern Africa, stained from months of wear next to his body, and presumably intended to guide the soldier in the event of becoming separated from his companions. They, along with medals including a Military Cross awarded to Capt Knox, his mother’s only brother, at Salarola on 2 Dec 1943, will probably go to the Army Museum at Waiouru.
Mr Sime is the third generation of his family to be CEO of Seaview-based E Sime Group, which trades internationally as ESG Asia Pacific. In Singapore they manufacture recycled paper, hygiene formulations and dispensing systems for the “away-from-home washroom” market.
Above, one of Malcolm Simes' family treasures, which will soon be returned to a Monte Cassino monastery; and right, the silk maps to guide his uncle in the Second World War.
With a paper mill to visit in Lucca, about five hours from Cassino, he expects it to be relatively easy to deliver the relic on his next trip away in early September, having previously visited the monastery.
The 84-year-old’s itinerary will also take in Africa, where he’ll visit a nearly-completed school in Malawi funded by ESG Asia Pacific’s charitable foundation – which also supports sporty kids in Lower Hutt (Ignite Sport) and Australia, plus other projects that fit with the Foundation’s purpose of “trying to make the world a better place”.
The Malawi school currently has students up to Year Six in attendance – Mr Sime just has
Kidztalk
From salons, story time to puzzles, the kids at Point Howard Playcentre have been making the most of winter in our cosy centre.
Another favourite place for the kids is the playhouse, outside but out of the weather.
Come along mums, dads, grandparents, aunties, caregivers and bring your little one to play. Adults enjoy cuppas and friendships and the little ones have so much fun.
to find the money to pay for two more years’ of classrooms…plus a hall and playing field. And keep them running…with local labour, of course…as you do.
He’s also travelling to Rome, Dubai, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, where he’ll join a Friendship Force group “to hunt game with a camera”.
Age is clearly no barrier to adventure.
News from our local playcentres
NEWS FROM POINT HOWARD PLAYCENTRE
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. pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• 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
Tuesdays
• 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 impactteens to 70+) Music Movement Magic - Muritai Yacht Club - call Amanda 021 316692 www. niainwellington.com
Wednesdays
• Cubs: 5.30pm - 7.00pm, Ed 021 738 699.
• Venturers - 7:15pm - 9pm - Ed 021 738 699.
• Library preschool story time 10.00 am.
• Pt Howard Playcentre Wed 9.15 -11.45am. pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• Scottish Country Dance. Merryn 562 0236.
• Bridge Club 7-10pm. Shona 562 7073.
• 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.
• “Steady as You Go” Age Concern sponsored Falls Prevention and Exercise Programme.
WHAT'S ON
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.
•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 6.30pm-8.30pm - 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.
• 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.
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 pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• 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.
CLASSIFIEDS
To Rent Seaview Loft - Mahina Bay. Studio, style living, with its own private deck. Fully furnished and self contained. Short or Long Term. Enquiries
Chris @kenzotv.com 021 1115297
win tickets to...
This weekend!
To win, simply tell us how you support our Eastbourne Herald advertisers.
Email your answer to: editor@eastbourneherald.co.nz by Tuesday, August 27.
The winner will receive a goodie bag valued at $300 and a double pass to the Wellington Food Show at Sky Stadium this coming weekend (Aug 30 - Sept 1).
Biography a look into social, political history
by Ann Packer
A five-year writing project has culminated in the publication of a biography by Eastbourne author Anne Manchester, to be launched in Eastbourne and Wellington in early September.
Peace is Her Song: The life and legacy of hymn writer Shirley Erena Murray is published by Karori-based religious press Philip Garside Books, with the support of a number of church trusts, including the New Zealand Hymnbook Trust.
It all began at Shirley Murray’s funeral, in early 2020 at Kāpiti Uniting Church. There, Shirley’s close friend and fellow Aotearoa hymn writer, Colin Gibson, wove together a eulogy using the first lines of many of the lyricist’s “hymn poems”, as her biographer calls them.
His parting challenge: “What we need now is someone to write Shirley’s biography.”
Wondering “Could that be me?”, Anne, who retired four years ago as one of the editors of Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand , began communicating with the Otago University emeritus professor of English. He promised to support her biography in every way possible, and although he died in December 2022, Anne says “he knew the book was taking shape”.
In a career spanning four decades, Shirley Murray, born in Invercargill in 1931, wrote over 400 hymns, which appear in more than 140 collections internationally, across denominations, countries and continents.
Unusually, she did not compose tunes to go with her lyrics, which include the well-known carol ‘Upside Down Christmas’, the ‘Hymn for Anzac Day’ and the anthem ‘Where Mountains Rise to Open Skies’.
“All her effort went into getting the words right,” says her biographer. “The words were what mattered most to her.”
A poet since childhood, Shirley (née
Cockcroft) began writing contemporary hymns to go with her husband’s sermons. As minister at St Andrew’s on The Terrace from 1975 to 1993, John Murray is remembered for his outspoken views and leadership on issues such as poverty, racism, social justice and peace, and his wife’s hymns encompassed all these themes.
The author first met and interviewed Shirley Murray in the late 1980s, and also drew on oral histories of St Andrews, held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.
The book, which includes both black-andwhite photos and a later colour section, covers not only the personal life of the young mother, minister’s wife and Labour Party researcher, but offers a rich social and political history of the church in Aotearoa – including Lloyd Geering’s “heresy trial” – as well as the antinuclear movement and the 1981 Springbok Tour.
Anne says she has always enjoyed singing
Shirley Murray’s hymns because of their fresh language and imagery, and their call to create a more just and peaceful world. And while the institutional church has made decisions over the years that have disappointed her, she says “Shirley’s words have always given me hope. They are words of real value and meaning, expressing a faith that makes sense to me in our complex modern world.”
A shared St Alban’s and St Ronan’s service honouring Shirley Murray’s gifts will be held at St Ronan’s on 1 September, with the official launch at St Andrew’s on The Terrace on 7 September.
Peace is Her Song: The life and legacy of hymn writer Shirley Erena Murray can be purchased at www.philipgarsidebooks.com and selected independent bookshops. RRP $50.
Anne Manchester.
BRIEFS
If you’ve been wondering what to do with those plastic bottle tops that are too small for recycling machinery to cope with, there’s a new way to pass them on. (Kindy can only reuse so many in construction projects, after all). SAGE – St Alban's for God’s Earth – is gathering up all plastic bottle tops marked ‘2’ or ‘5’ into collection boxes outside St.Alban’s Parish Hall in Ngaio St or in Church (at San Antonio) on Sundays. That includes lids from toothpaste tubes and loads of other caps. They are recycled into plastic rubbish bags.
Spring is coming and the banded dotterels will be nesting, so later this month the Scouts are assisting Miro to put up the protective dotterel fencing. Parker Jones from Miro is keen to get the message out about keeping cats indoors during nesting, so Cubs and Keas are helping Miro to do a mail drop.
Following Eastbourne Facebook posts of police vehicles apparently removing items from a Days Bay apartment on 24 July, New Zealand Police say: “We are unable to provide any comment around this as it relates to an ongoing investigation.”
Police also have “no update at the moment” on the person who went missing following a car v. power pole accident several months ago
Books may be dropped off at the box in the Eastbourne Library foyer for the annual Lions Book Sale, 7 and 8 September, at Muritai School Hall. .
and Joanna Ponder were recently honoured
Hospice,
Garden Stuff with Sandy Lang THE OLYMPIANS
Aug/Sept: Late winter/early spring; undone winter jobs urgent, spring jobs clamouring.
Ponos: If you know your Olympian gods, you’ll know Ponos is the ancient Greek personification of toil and hardship. Long ago, Ponos found his way into ‘geoponics’ - growing plants in soil. Where he created the worst problems he could – endless weeding and watering.
Hydroponics: •But you can eliminate weeding and watering with ‘hydroponics’ - growing plants in water (actually, a dilute nutrient solution). •But an etymologist will immediately see Ponos got there first. •So, although hydroponics can be made to work in a large commercial greenhouse, the old toil saved in not weeding or watering, is more than offset by the new toil of maintaining the nutrient solution in good condition – mineral composition, pH, hygiene.
Geoponics: So, at home, we’re stuck with geoponics. •So, we’re stuck with Ponos and his dastardly weeding and watering. •But are we?
Weeding: Where there’s soil, there’s weed seeds, so weeds, so weeding. •But if you grow in potting mix, there are no weed seeds, so no weeds. •So, plant your veggies in potting mix, in pots, and you eliminate Ponos’ endless weeding...!
Watering: •But the smaller root volume of a pot-grown plant means watering must be more often, not less - daily in summer. •But we live in an age where battery-powered automatic waterers are cheap (from $21 - Google auto irrigation). •But, even though the amount of water needed by a pot plant is tiny (zero wastage) compared with a plant in the soil (evaporation, run-off, infiltration), Wellington Water (WW) (Google Wellington water restrictions) bans ‘unattended irrigation systems’ under water restriction Levels 2, 3 and 4 (old Ponos works for WW). •But, even at Level 4, you are still allowed to water a veggie garden by ‘watering can or bucket’. •So, for $120 you can buy an irrigation system that will work off a bucket (Google tank irrigation system). This way, you can appease both WW and ancient Ponos...!
Hardship: But there’s a third hardship old Ponos has thought up for the elderly. The ground is inaccessible if you have a stiff back. But pots of potting mix can be placed at waist height - on an old table, on a stack of (free) pallets, on a low wall etc. This way you eliminate bending and send old Ponos back to Mount Olympus where he belongs.
slang@xtra.co.nz www.mulchpile.org
More relocations as path continues
Progress on Tupua Horo Nuku continues, with preparation work underway for the installation of the first seawall blocks in Whiorau/Lowry Bay.
As part of the ecological protection work required of the path building, Kuku (Blue Mussel) relocation work with an ecology team and mana whenua has started.
The deep foundations have been completed in York bay, and a new access ramp to the beach begun. The sewer main is being replaced in York Bay during this time.
Hutt City Council says there is a trial of extended work hours underway, which will affect traffic control, and there is now improved traffic monitoring and reporting.
Those residents who have been to Bishop Park will have seen the controversial fence construction is happening. Fencing is being erected around the dunes as part of the installation of a Bird Protection Area. The work
is expected to be completed at the end of this month, and includes 400m of timber fence, and 500m of “penguin-friendly” rope barrier.
