Trades

but be assured it [reinstatement of a direct Wainuiomata to Wellington bus] is in there,” Cr Duthie said.

“The elephant on the bus is the bus driver shortage at the moment.

“We are 125 bus drivers short in Wellington.

“A major focus for our council this year is to get the bus driver shortage sorted and the services back to normal,” he said.

Fares on off-peak buses would decrease from 1 April this year, however GWRC was looking at increasing peak fare by 3%, Cr Duthie said.

Costs had risen more than 3% and the council needed to balance covering the cost increase from either rates or from fares. Council would be making a decision on the question soon.

In addition, the half-price fares funded by the government will continue until at least June.

Cr Keri Brown said she considered that it was not a good time to increase peak fares by 3%, given the need to encourage more people onto public transport and given the need to address climate change.

”Since Christmas we have made a lot of good progress [on Queen Street],” the Queen Street Redevelopment Manager, Jamie Rowe, told the community board.

“The street is looking like a street again,” he said.

The focus of the project now was on tidying up the street and working on stage 4.

“Over the next couple of weeks what you are going to see is the foundation of the deck in place and we will be building the deck from there.

Stage four of the project would involve a series of developments on the south side of Queen Street, including the deck, gardens and a basketball court.

“We are at the part of the project now where the disruptions will be less and less,” Mr Rowe said.

Hutt City Council planned to develop a Hutt City Indigenous Biodiversity Strategy, the council’s head of parks and reserves, Kelly Crandle told the community board.

The aim of the strategy was to help protect and enhance the natural environment.

“The council plans to release a draft Indigenous Biodiversity Strategy on 28 March.

The draft strategy would then be shared during a series of community consultations between 28 March and I May.

“The strategy is planned to start on 1 July this year,” Ms Crandle said.

Its goal was to promote “the return of health to the natural world in a way that we can measure, manage, protect and restore to encourage interconnectedness with nature.

“Central to this vision is the recognition that the people are a part of nature and that we can only thrive when nature thrives.”

Hutt City Council would be holding meetings in Wainuiomata on resilience, Cr Keri Brown said in answer to a question during the public speaking time.

Council planning for resilience, particularly for the hill road, was happening, she said.

“Can we have some help please with pest control in Moores Valley Road?” Pauline Innes asked during public speaking time.

Deer and pigs in particular were a nuisance, along with opossums.

“Surely you can get deer shooters to do some pest control work.

“Deer can stretch up to seven feet to chew the trees, so they do a lot of damage to the bush,” Ms Innes said.