Raumati South Residents Association (RSRA) 2015 AGM will be helf on 21st November, 3pm at Tennis Court Road Hall.
All Raumati South Residents welcome, both members and non members.
This is a pivotal time for the Association and you are urged to attend.Please read the Chairman’s report below for clarity.
Please pass this on to neighbors and friends in Raumati South
A brief History of the RSRA
Raumati South Residents Association History
Raumati South has a unique environment on the Kāpiti Coast. It has a distinctive landscape that hasn’t been altered and a diverse array of housing. There was a desire to acknowledge Raumati South’s identity and preserve it which instigated the establishment of the Raumati South Residents Association (RSRA) on 24 August 2003. The establishment of RSRA sought to build on the sense of community. The Raumati South Residents Group (RSRG) became an incorporated society on 7 August 2008.
The purpose of the RSRA is to identify, protect and enhance the unique character and heritage of Raumati South and promote the values of residents established from an inaugural survey of all Raumati South househalds. Those values are:
Raumati South , also known as South Beach, is often considered as the sister village to Paekākāariki and in the past has been called ‘North Paekākāariki’.
Menin Road is traditionally the Raumati South boundary.
Initial settlers were Bishop Hatfield and the Clunie family who owned and farmed land between Raumati South and Paekākāariki. At that time, there was no Esplanade road along the beach so residents with baches had to carry their belongings down to their bach in that area.
In the past the RSRA has taken residents’ concerns and perspectives regarding the Western Link Road (the road that was discussed prior to the current Expressway), the need for the development of the Esplanade (commissioning the seats that were designed and made by locals) and fixing the Esplanade road where it was getting damaged and undermined by the sea. RSRA managed the design and planting of Kawatiri Reserve (behind the tennis courts) and organising local planting missions around the area, including Raumati South wetlands in Queen Elizabeth Park and supporting the establishment of Moa Community Orchard in Jeep Road.
The RSRA assisted with the development of bike-park, upgrading of tennis courts, painting and sound proofing of the hall at Kawatiri Reserve and the establishment of the toilets at Raumati South end of Queen Elizabeth Park.
There has been input into the designs of Raumati South roundabouts and the Raumati South village such as traffic calming (such as installing speed restrictions and lobbying for traffic management research) and clearing bamboo from the area opposite the 4 Square. The outcomes of the traffic management report for Raumati South village and approaches have not been discussed with the community and KCDC’s action plan is unclear.
The RSRA also played a significant role in the Board of Inquiry that was established to hear Kāpiti residents’ concerns regarding the development of the Expressway. This involved a significant amount of work preparing reports, attending hearings and representing residents over a 2 year period. As a result of their work, 11 resource managements consents or Board of Inquiry conditions were granted to mitigate expressway effects on noise, traffic disruption, ground water with five year monitoring to ensure no change occurs; rehabilitation of the dune landforms, flora and fauna, the protection and restoration of wetlands and involve the residents association in local urban design and regular feedback on residents issues during construction and for 12 months afer.
RSRA has managed events include the blessing of the Esplanade when work was completed (led by the Kāpiti Coast Mayor and included a bar-be-que, braziers on the beach and jugglers!). Other significant community events have included a community garage sale to fund raise for audio visual equipment for the Raumati South Hall, the Raumati South Arts and Music Festival (10am 12pm) in 2009, lantern parades from the village celebrating Matariki, the Good Dog Owner Event in 2011 and the Spring Fling Festival in 2012.
Future issues
A recent change in the Council’s Bylaws means that Raumati South Village traffic speed can be reduced but there is possibly advocacy work to make sure this happens.
There will be, in near future, increases in cyclists coming to village after or in between riding new cycle way between Poplar and Paekākāariki so the community needs to prepare for that. Those cyclists will be crossing over Poplar Ave once the cycle way is complete.
There is still work to be done regarding NZTA’s work to protect Raumati Peatlands and the local wetlands which should take place via a request through Expressway Community Liaison Group referring to Board of Inquiry conditions and resource consents for Raumati South.
Raumati South Residents Association. Chairman’s (Trevor Daniell) Report 2015
During the year the Association initiated two new projects
1.The establishment of a 30 Kph zone through the village and
2.At the prompting of a member have requested the M2PP alliance to investigate the possibility of planting poplars on the south side of Poplar Avenue between the expressway and Leinster Ave.
The establishment of the 30 Kph zone has not progressed because the council has first to renew the relative bylaw and the poplar planting project has to get the approval of the Council which has a policy of planting local area native trees.
The committee has also discussed the design and naming of the small park opposite the shops which is being cleared of Bamboo.
It has been proposed that we hold a design competition and name the park after one of our prominent conservationist husband and wife.
All these plans have been put on hold because three members of our committee have moved out of the area and no longer qualify for membership
These are Mary Cree-Campbell, who along with Jayne Staple put together the Associations very successful submission to the Environmental Protection Authority on the Expressway. This submission gained many protections for our local environment and required the Alliance to discuss plan changes with RSRA before they could proceed. We have much to thank these two ladies for.
Our very efficient secretary Lisette Rawson whose experience as a project manager has bought us to this point, and Paul Pearson, website guru newsletter editor and entrepreneur whose input has been invaluable.
Your committee now consists of three Barrie Gordon, a new volunteer Guy Burns and myself.
This is an untenable position and unless the Annual General Meeting produces a reasonable sized committee I will move the following resolution. That this meeting
a.Resolves to put the Raumati South Resident’s Association into voluntary liquidation, or
b.Resolves to put the Raumati South Resident’s Association into recess
In closing I thank Naomi Shephard for completing this years annual accounts
