Resilient food system in place

By Frank Neill

An action plan for a sustainable, equitable, healthy, and resilient food system in Wellington city has been put in place by Wellington City Council (WCC).

Named Te Ana e | Our City’s Food Future, the plan is designed for every part of the food system to be resilient for generations to come.

This includeshow to approach the growing, processing, transporting, distributing, and consumption of food, and the disposal of food waste.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us there’s work to do to make our food system sustainable, equitable, healthy, and resilient,” Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon says.

In the case of a major earthquake, the one highway leading to Wellington and the harbour could both be rendered unusable.

This shock could drastically disrupt supply chains and therefore food access to the city.

“As our city grows, we need a plan to keep Wellingtonians fed in the face of civil and climate emergencies and this [action plan] is it,” Cr Foon says.

“The council has committed to a variety of short, medium, and long-term actions including activating new community food spaces, supporting i Mahi Kai capacity and leadership, developing and implementing a

Ngaio Community

By Frank Neill

The Ngaio Community Picnic will be held at Cummings Park from noon to 3pm on Sunday 12 March.

Organised by the Ngaio Crofton Downs Residents Association and Ngaio Playcentre, the picnic has an emphasis on fun. A fire truck will be at the picnic, along with community stalls.

city-wide composting model, and benchmarking an emergency food security response.

“Longer-term actions include protecting soil health and implementing food economy initiatives in climate-responsible business models,” Cr Foon says.

“While this is the first of its kind for Wellington City, and quite a milestone, it’s supported by many other initiatives and funds across the council.

“The Para Kai organic waste kerbside collection trial in Miramar has ended and the results and feedback from that will be used to inform a city-wide solution for food waste in the future.

“We’re also proud supporters of Love Food Hate Waste, have the Waste Minimisation Seed Fund which focuses on diverting organic waste from the landfill, we’re hosting a community composting hubs trial, supporting traditional kai growing sites like Kumutoto and the Brooklyn Ron arden to thrive, and we fund numerous events and campaigns like Seeds to Feeds and Local Food Week.

“These and many more examples demonstrate our commitment to sustainable food systems aiming for a motu where no-one is hungry and everyone can eat healthily, and our environment is protected as we reduce waste – and our carbon footprint,” Cr Foon says.

Entertainment, games, raffles and live music are also on the programme. A sausage sizzle will give people an opportunity to augment their “bring your own” lunches.

Ngaio Playcentre will also provide their community outdoor experience.

Crofton Down Primary School will hold its Matsuri Gala from 11am to 2pm on Sunday 2 April.

Update from your local city councillor

It’s hard to believe but it’s March already.

I have just come back after a wonderful extended trip to India attending a family member’s wedding. My apologies for any delay in responding to your emails and I’m working on catching up on them. Thank you for your patience.

Draft Annual plan – proposed 12.9% increase pay for things we use today and help make the information around the plan clearer for you.

The work that has consumed myself and six other independent based councillors over the past 10 days has been the proposed draft annual plan.

We wanted to defer some projects such as ripping up the Golden Mile and going ahead with secondary cycleway plans. We believe our buses should in addition to our other projects already underway (e.g. waste management). We know from Greater Wellington that getting the bus service sorted is going to be some time away however so why spend money now when it can wait?

All our proposals were voted down by the majority (some just lost by one vote). We will however continue working on our proposals as the plan will be coming about this and how you need to have your say.