thorndon-residents.blogspot.co.nz

Spring 2012 Earthquake Meeting

Big Data at the National Library

On Wednesday 5 September, WCC in conjunction with GNS Science, presented to Thorndon residents a seminar centred on the City’s preparedness for an event.

November 27, 2012 – April 30, 2013. Open 10am – 5pm, Monday-Saturday. Entry is free.

The GNS story was presented by Geologist Dr Robert Langridge, who outlined the range of fault lines that exist across NZ and in and around Wellington. As a result of ongoing work within the “It’s our Fault” project, funded by GNS Science, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Wellington City and Natural Hazards Research platform, has suggested that the risk from a rupture of the Wellington fault has significantly reduced. Wellington is, however, surrounded by a range of fault lines and the key message was not to be complacent. Neville Brown, Manager of Earthquake Resilience then discussed the range of work that WCC has been quietly undertaking across the city over several decades, the plans that it has in the next 10 years to continue the wide range of resilience activities and discussed some new initiatives it is putting place to support residential home owners. Again the message was the City is well prepared but there is still more work to do. The session concluded with a discussion with Regional Emergency Management staff who also attended about personal preparedness and what all of us should be doing with our own families to be prepared.

The National Library of New Zealand, at 70 Molesworth Street, is reopening its ground floor with the “Big Data” exhibition. The exhibition will examine Thorndon and Pipitea, using material from the library’s collections alongside modern tools of data gathering and visualisation. The programme includes an exhibition in the new ground floor gallery. With over a trillion internet connections and 20 petabytes of new data created every day, the Library, in association with the Royal Society, will hold a seminar series addressing issues surrounding “Big Data”.

Post-Thorndon Fair BBQs The Thorndon Residents’ Association is encouraging neighbourhoods to hold BBQs on the afternoon following the Thorndon Fair. The BBQs will allow an casual social situation to meet fellow residents, continuing upon the message of resilience emphasised at the earthquake meeting last month. The Thorndon Tribute is a quarterly newsletter printed by the Thorndon Residents’ Association and distributed to all dwellings in Thorndon. Contact [email protected] for comments, suggestions or advertising. Thorndon Fair

More information on earthquakes and preparedness is available on www.wellington.govt.nz/earthquakes and www.gw.govt.nz/wellington-region-civil-defenceemergency-management-group-site

Sunday 2 December | 10 am – 3 pm South Tinakori Rd/Hill St. Proceeds to Thorndon Primary School

Community Notice Board Date

Event Name

Location

Information

5 November

Pelorus Trust Sky Show Hot Club Friday

Wellington Harbour

The Wellington City Council put on a fireworks display for Guy Fawkes. Wellington swing trio Hot Club Sandwich play live. See http://bit.ly/eLs7mC for information. See http://bit.ly/SXpadm for event flyer with programme Produce market, held every Saturday morning, 8.30 – 12.30.

9 November

23 – 26 Rose Festival November Saturdays Hill Street Farmers Market

Old St Paul’s, Mulgrave St Botanic Garden St Paul’s Cathedral Carpark, Hill St

Regional Governance, Why It Matters Grant

Robertson,

MP

for

Wellington

Central

If we are to judge how important people think local government is by their participation in elections then things are not looking good. Well under half of eligible voters cast their vote in the last local body elections. That is sad, because local government manages very significant parts of our lives. Water, roads, transport, parks, building rules (as the people of Thorndon know well!) not to mention the good old staple of rubbish collection. At the moment two significant things are happening in terms of local government. The first is a piece of legislation that will change both the role of local government, and the process for amalgamations. I believe that Wellngtonians should be concerned on both counts. The legislation proposes to change the focus of local government away from the so called "four well beings" (economic, social, cultural and environmental). No one, least of all the government, seems to know what this will mean, but it may limit the services that local government will offer. On amalgamations the main change is to take away the automatic right to a referendum if there is a proposal to amalgamate local government entities. I believe this is anti democratic and should be changed. Any amalgamation must be driven by the people of the region, not from the top down. For me there is no doubt that our local and regional government can work better together and provide a “For the brighter side of accounting” Call Matthew 976 2230

more integrated and efficient service. Whether that requires full amalgamation is highly questionable in my mind. We need to strike a balance between accessible local representation, and maximizing the opportunities for our region to work together. Grant can be emailed on [email protected]

Thorndon Developments In the last few months, there have been some notable changes around Thorndon. The Royal Society of New Zealand has undergone a major facelift, officially opening their new building on Murphy Street in August. Their redevelopment saw a third floor added to their science building, a two floor annex and an atrium to link the two parts. A lecture theatre complex and meeting rooms have been included in the annex. Across the road, Thorndon New World has also made changes. Shoppers would’ve noticed several weeks of disruption as the store undertook shelf modernisation. The new shelving is now stronger and safer. It also allows the store to widen its product availability. The layout of the store has changed somewhat, so Thorndon New World have sent us a store map which we’ve uploaded on thorndon-residents.blogspot.co.nz.