PRESIDENTS’ REPORT
On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Oriental Bay Residents Association
1. Special General Meeting of Members The S.G.M. will be held at the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club at 7.00pm on Thursday, 21 November 2019. We will start with the usual get-together, and this will be followed by Dave Armstrong, award-wining playwright and Dominion Post columnist. He is sure to give us a laugh. The evening will close with a brief business session, where members are welcome to bring up Oriental Bay matters of concern to them.
2. Finance We are particularly grateful to Tore Hayward, our Treasurer, for all he has done for OBRA these last twelve months. He will report on our financial position.
3. Membership We encourage new residents to come to this meeting and to join the Association. There are at present 144 paid up members, and two life members. There are still members whose subscriptions for the current year remain outstanding. If anyone here today is in that position, Tore is happy to take their subscription this evening.
4. Council Funding We are happy to report that Council funding has been increased to $1000 for this year. We would like to thank Cr. Nicola Young for her assistance, in pointing out to the Council Finance Committee that our reserves are for the rafts, should they need further expenditure, or even to be replaced.
5. Community Response Plan We are having discussions with the Mt Victoria Hub about the possibility of their working with us to produce an Earthquake Resilience Plan for Oriental Bay.
6. Monthly Neighbourhood Get-Togethers We plan in 2020 to initiate monthly get-togethers, to be held at the Tug Boat in Oriental Parade from 5.30 – 7.00 pm on the first Thursday of the month, starting on 13 February 2020. Members will see that this is the second Thursday in February, but since the first Thursday is 6 February, a Public Holiday, the later date, just for February, is necessary. We hope that this will prove popular with our residents. 4 7. Website – orientalbay.org.nz This remains our major communication channel for contacting residents. We are extremely grateful to Tony Pritchard who keeps the website up-to-date, and keeps it looking good.
8. Rubbish Collection It is some time since we had a rubbish collection. It is our intention to have one before Christmas. Everard Aspell is working on this.
9. Oriental Bay Cycleway This is working well. We believe that e-scooters should use the cycleway and not the footpath, and are following developments with the Council on this important matter closely. Kevin Isherwood of our committee has written a wide-ranging article on e-scooters in this publication.
10. Beach Clean-Up This took place on 29 September, organised by Erinn Aspell. A lot of rubbish was removed from the beach and divers extracted a massive number of bottles.
11. Events Margaret Fairhall and Kay Austad met with Toby Acheson from the W.C.C. to discuss road closures for the Marathon, which took place in June. They achieved a good result, in that Oriental Parade was only closed for a short time. We are not aware of any complaints from residents this time.
12. Bay View Judith Doyle and Lynda Graham have continued their sterling work on BAY VIEW. Judith handles all the editorial work, and Lynda has taken over responsibility for the layout and liaison with the printer, in addition to handling the advertising. Kevin Isherwood, an experienced journalist and public relations expert, has joined the editorial committee. Every committee member helps with the distribution. We are always interested in receiving articles or ideas for articles from members of the Association.
13. The Zig Zag/Oriental Terrace There is concern about the condition of the zig zag. A working party may be needed to clear it up. There has been no news about development of No.1, Oriental Terrace.
14. Conversations This is a new W.C.C. initiative, to encourage social activities in Wellington’s suburbs. Claire Campbell is handling this for us, and reported that the first such gathering was very successful. 5 15. Judith Doyle It is with great regret that we report that Judith, for health reasons, is resigning from the OBRA committee and the editorship of BAY VIEW as of this Special General Meeting. Judith started contributing articles to BAY VIEW in 2012, soon after moving to Oriental Bay, and joined the OBRA committee and the editorial committee in 2014. She has edited BAY VIEW for the last few years. To say that we will miss her enthusiasm and energy is an under-statement. The only good news is that she has agreed to continue to write for BAY VIEW, and we look forward to reading more of her well researched articles in the future. 16. Appreciation We would like to thank Cr. Nicola Young and Cr. Iona Pannett for their help and advice when issues crop up that concern Oriental Bay. We especially thank all committee members of OBRA, who have been unfailingly helpful whenever help or advice has been sought.
On behalf of the Executive Committee Jackie Pope – Co-President Ann Mallinson – Co-President
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Oriental Bay has always been the capital city’s jewel in the crown. It is here where people flock on weekends and week days to jog, stroll, sit, swim, sunbathe and enjoy the spectacular setting. Oriental Bay has, until the last few months, been an oasis for Wellingtonians and visitors to unwind and enjoy the spectacular views and setting of this most special of places. In June this year, that changed when the Wellington City Council introduced e-scooters onto our footpaths, altering dramatically what, for 200 years, has been a safe and special place in the heart of our city. According to Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young, WCC’s launch of the 18- month trial of nearly 1000 e-scooter vehicles has been rushed and ill-conceived. Cr Young claims the scheme “has been a complete muck-up by NZTA. There has been a lack of rigorous investigation into the risks of serious injuries that these trendy new vehicles pose. In fact I would now support the removal of cars from Lambton Quay’s Golden Mile if e-scooters were banned from footpaths.” Cr Young’s position was strongly endorsed by the Oriental Bay Residents Association in their February 2019 submission to Council, where OBRA also called for a speed limit of 10kph. That same limit is recommended by the Automobile Association. The ACC statistics paint a grim picture. In the five months to March this year ACC paid out nearly $2.9 million in injury claims as a direct consequence of e-scooter and scooter accidents. There is also anecdotal evidence of the increasing strain on Wellington Hospital’s emergency wards as overstretched staff cope with an increasing number of e-scooter related injuries. Recently, an avid e-scooter rider was thrown over the handlebars when he inadvertently drove over a bump on the Oriental Bay footpath. He suffered a badly broken wrist and underwent two rounds of surgery. Since June there has been one potentially fatal incident involving an e-scooter after it was hurled from the Ghuznee Street overpass into oncoming traffic entering the Terrace Tunnel late one Saturday night in June. And the recent death of an e-scooter rider in Auckland last September has made the need to reconsider the regulations even more urgent. This lack of proper regulation is compounded by confusion as to the legal status of e-scooters. In January of last year a New Zealand Transport Agency official warned that there were “significant” risks if e-scooters shared footpaths and roads. These warnings appear to have gone unheeded. NZTA had ruled in January 2018 that e-scooters were motor vehicles, and presumably could not therefore be ridden on footpaths. NZTA then contradicted itself and declared that scooters had not 8 been classed as motor vehicles. That change of heart went through just seven days after operator Lime lodged an offical request to reclassify e-scooters as non motor vehicles. An offical email NZTA sent to Lime three days before the Lime launch, states “Fingers crossed, by mid next week you can quit worrying about the legality of the e-scooters and focus on other things like the launch”. The Transport Agency has admitted that it rushed the process to allow e-scooters on footpaths at the request of Lime after complaints were made to the Regulations and Review Select Committee. Disability advocate Jane Carrigan complained to the Select Committee that she felt the process had been completed hastily. “The issue of licensed e-scooters in the manner they did is an error in law”. Jane also claimed “The agency has adopted Lime’s business model of go in hard, make the changes and do a big mea culpa later”. In London e-scooters have been banned following deaths and serious injuries and a class action suit has been filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court after nine people were injured by electric scooters. OBRA does not want to ban e-scooters, neither do we want to see civil cases taken against the technology giants. We want to ensure this technology is properly regulated and safe for both users and pedestrians, particulalry those most at risk such as young toddlers out with their parents, the frail and elderly, and those with sight or hearing disabilities. 9
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attracted by the prospect of a couple of hours’ exercise. These overseas visitors come from a wide variety of countries, although, perhaps not surprisingly, the most numerous source countries are Australia, the US and the UK. Beyond that, Europeans outnumber those from Latin America or Asia.
While the walks can be pre-booked, the more usual practice is for prospective walkers simply to turn up at the start of the walk, hopefully having already paid for the walk at the I-Site. Some days there are no walkers, while on other days there can be 25 or even more. Most often, however, the numbers are ten or fewer. A group of that size can usually be kept reasonably together and will be able to hear what the guide has to say.
The walks seem to be very much appreciated. Currently, over 2,200 come along every year, and Walk Wellington has been consistently rated by Trip Advisor as one of the top three things to do or see in Wellington. It is, of course, an affordable activity, costing just $20 for adults (children are free). As anot- for-profit organisation, Walk Wellington donates any financial surpluses tolocal organisations; the Free Ambulance, the Wellington Sculpture Trust, Old St Paul’s, Friends of the Botanic Gardens and the Mary Potter Hospice have been among the beneficiaries in the past year.
All the guides are volunteers (there are around 25-30 of them), the great majority retired people, and each leads a walk two to three times a month. All have a love for and knowledge of Wellington, and are pleased to be able to have the opportunity to show off our city to visitors. All the guides have their own, individual, approach. While there are of course common elements that are covered in their commentaries, each brings their own experience and knowledge to bear. All have particular stories to tell, sometimes focusing on events in their own histories, and sometimes relating those learnt from others.
None of the guides have any problems filling in the time; all are constantly learning more about Wellington, and the challenge is to know what to leave out. The reality is that most of us, when we have new information pushed at us in situations such as on these walks, remember afterwards no more than three to five facts. Guides
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All this time Oriental Bay was being settled. Sections were advertised with ‘A spring of good water in every allotment’. The Wellington City Reserves Act 1872 allowed a smallpox hospital to be built near the gardens. Wilkinson objected to that, though not to a ‘commodious’ greyhound kennels next door, the dogs bred for coursing. Son David lost as much as £4,000 on a Rimutaka tunnel contract. That debt may have been why he and his family moved in with his father and carried on the gardens from about 1880. They were all at home on the night of 27 March 1885 when the original Duppa house caught fire and burnt down in thirty minutes. The Fire Brigade had been delayed because they could not harness the horse, frightened by the bells at Manners Street station. Every provincial newspaper ran the story that the Duppa house -- a Wellington landmark -- had gone. Yet Wilkinson’s went on serving tea and being the main supplier of grapes to Wellington. They grew nineteen hundredweight (950 kilos) in 1895. Their grapes and hothouse roses ‘find much favour’ as did their mulberry leaves with schoolboys. Pat Lawlor remembered going there in 1903 when there was a craze for keeping silkworms.
After the first David Wilkinson died in 1902, his will was contested by two daughters. David had been surety for his son on the Rimutaka tunnel contract. To avoid bankruptcy, he had transferred his Oriental Bay sections to his daughters. When safe, he asked for the land back, saying that his children would inherit equally. He never wrote his promise down, and son David got almost everything. Soon son David was in court again, suing developers laying roads in Roseneath which had caused slips on his land below. David died in 1919, and the last mention of Wilkinson’s Tea Gardens is an auction notice in 1923 for the removal of two large vineries built of totara and a plant house with sliding sashes. The gardens ended at 13 Grass Street, telephone number A 2184. But they had been created on a toi-toi foreshore round the rocks by a pioneer horticulturalist, the first David Wilkinson. This history is based entirely on newspapers, digitised by the National Library of New Zealand and available online as Papers Past. Contributed by a resident of Oriental Bay and London 23
LOCAL FISHING – BACK IN THE 1950s
The late Neville Martin has given us some wonderful glimpses into early Oriental Bay in the excerpts from his memoir, Playing Against the Wind. Here he goes fishing in our boat harbour (abbreviated). I would make my way from our house in Hay Street to the boat harbour on Saturday mornings, with nylon line, hooks, sinkers, bread for slush (now called burley) and bacon rind for bait. I personified hope – which as Dr Johnston rightly said, is perhaps the greatest happiness this world affords. It’s that wonderful sense of anticipation – no, expectation – which keeps fisherman coming back for more. I and my friends had modest aims as fishermen. We were after the grey mullet (we called them herrings) that teemed in the sheltered waters of the boat harbour. Or trevally, which appeared infrequently, or the occasional mackerel lacking the self respect to hunt in deeper waters. It was while fishing in the boat harbour that I entered the food industry. It happened this way. The most- caught fish were spotties, but for some reason, we disdained them. We took them off our hooks and tossed them onto the wharf to complete their shuddering demise. As I mentioned, slush, made by soaking stale bread, was thrown onto the water to attract the herrings. It was an effective strategy, but they break eventually and inevitably ran out. The Boat Harbour in the early days. The building behind our fishing spot had been left there by the Americans. I believe it housed the officers’ quarters. A pipe emerging from the bowels of this building, spewed out a continuous stream of scalding water. I hit upon the idea of gathering up the deceased spotties and putting them under the pipe till the hot water cooked them. They were then mashed up and thrown into the water as a high-protein substitue for bread. Cannibalism being firmly established in the world of fish, I felt no moral twinge. Nor, for that matter, did the herrings. My collection of herrings went home to be offered to our cat, Frankie, who once ate 20 of them at a sitting. Admittedly they were small and Frankie wasn’t. But 20 herrings surely should have short-listed him for the Guinness Book of Records.
25 SAFETY AND EMERGENCY INFORMATION
Thanks to committee member Bob Buckle for sending this useful information for publication in Bay View. Information relating to various types of hazards that could occur in Wellington is available on the following WREMO website https://www. wremo.nz/hazards/. This site provides links to information and guidelines relating to earthquake, fire, land-slide, storm, tsunamis, utility-failure and several other hazards. The links to a selection of sites are as follows: Earthquake: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/earthquake/ Fire: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/fire/ Land-slide: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/landslides/ Storm: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/storm/ Tsunami: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/tsunamis/ Tsunami zones for various regions in the Wellington area are provided on the following site: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/ tsunami-zones/wellington/. There is a map for Oriental Bay on this page: https://www.wremo. nz/assets/tsunami-maps/wellington/053-roseneath-oriental-bay- cbd-waterfront-port.pdf. Utility-failure: https://www.wremo.nz/hazards/utility-failure/ Other emergency information that may be helpful to Oriental Bay residents: Ambulance: In an emergency dial 111. The Wellington Free Ambulance web site is: https://www.wfa.org.nz/ AED locations:The following site allows you to identify AED locations in any region in New Zealand: http://aedlocations.co.nz/#!/se arch/41.2920745897454/174.791212764354/Oriental%20 Terrace%2C%20Oriental%20Bay%2C%20Wellington WE’RE NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE
Our residents’ association is not only an “advantage to have in the neighbourhood” (though it is). Nor is it just “agreeable to take part in socially” (though it is). Residents may not realise that the association has been involved in achieving many things that help make Oriental Bay such a wonderful place to live in and visit. These include: • The children’s playground near the Tugboat Café • The two rafts in the harbour • The Wishing Well by the bus shelter • The ‘famous people’plinths along the Parade • The murals along the sea wall • The reduction of the number of annual road closures on the Parade • Retention of parking beside the cycleway, after Council negotiations. We have also, over the years, made submissions to Council on matters such as: 1) Height restrictions along the Parade 2) Extension of liquor ban to the Bay 3) Keeping dogs off the beach in summer 4) Renovation of the old shelter at the one-time tram terminus 5) Installing traffic lights at the pedestrian crossing by the local supermarket 6) Removing jet-ski racing from the Bay.
We should like to thank all our advertisers for their valuable support, especially the Wellington City Council for the increase in our grant and to Ohtel for allowing us to hold our committee meetings there.
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Wendy & David Bradford Sue Kedgley & Denis Foot Virginia Breen Tony & Rosemary Friedlander Malcolm & Anita Brown David & Shelley Frow Val & Dave Browning Molli & Michael Gibbs-Harris Bob & Sharman Buckle Arch Gilchrist Ron & Cath Burbery Rona Glover J A Burch Ross & Lynda Graham Jim Burke Marion Grant Andrew Butler Joy Gray & Robin Hilson Anthony & Jean Byrne John & Ann Green Ann Calhoun Jenny Gyles Rodney & Vivien Callender Doug & Natalie Haines Shirley & John Cameron John & Pauline Hanning Mike Camp & Anne Gaskell Clemency Harding-Brow Mrs J.C. Campbell Douglas & Helene Hay Duncan Milne & Claire Campbell Tore Hayward & Victoria Stace Rose Carpenter & Jackie Talbot John & Vickie Hearnshaw Jean Cashin C.R. Henning Hansen Richard & Frances Cathie Robin & Thurl Hill Warren & Bev Charlton Jamie & Jo Hodgkinson Rick & Lorraine Christie Margaret Hogg Kaye & Maurice Clark Mark & Gillian Horton Les & Colleen Clark Jan & Malcolm Hughes Ngaire Clark Kevin Isherwood & Kay De Bernardo Richard & Suzie Clarke Carl & Valerie Jackson Gaynor Clarke Stuart & Trish Jameson W & R Coffey George & Judy Janis Corinne & Mike Cole Craig Thompson & Gail Jansen Grant Corleison Brian & Jan Johnson Ian Waddell & Karyn Cosgrave Richard Johnson Zach Cotterall Sue Johnstone Logan Cowdell & Jessi Morgan Lesley Jones Graeme & Linda Cowley John & Catherine Kennedy-Good Mary Cull Graham & Christine Kershaw Ann & Rick Curtis Mrs M. K. Keyes John & Gill Davis Betty Knight Robin Dossor Ruth Lane Judith Doyle John & Philippa Larkindale Diana Duff-Staniland Annabel Leask Mark Dunajschik and Dorothy Spotswood John Legge A. M. Duncan Bruce & Gwen Levick Joy Durrant Naomi Li David & Susanne Emanuel Margaret Logan Cherry Everest Lou and Rochelle Loizou Tim & Margaret Fairhall Brian & Jan Lynch Meredith Fenwick Don & Maria Mackay Anne & Richard Field Roger & Sherry Manthel Margaret Findlay Maurice & Lynne Manttan Annette Finlayson John Marsh 30 Mrs S.J. Martin Don & Pat Scott Ross & Treena Martin Merilyn Scott Bill and Barb Mathieson Lesley & Michael Shanahan Mrs V.P. McCay Susan Shand Andrew & Leia McCullie-Herbert A & G Short Gerald & Caroline McGhie Malcolm & Christine Small Warren Tocker & Karen McLeay Jim Meachen Kevin & Ngaire Smidt Mr & Mrs B & P Melville Fran & John Southward Lyn Middleditch Barry & Colleen Spencer Pauline Mitchell Hilda & Geoff Stedman Gareth & Jo Morgan John & Eleanor Steel Richard & Jenny Nanson Richard Stone Mike & Jude Nelson Alison Sweetman Tom & Dorothy Neve Walter & Michelle Szeto Deb & Matt Nichols Peter & Ruth Nichols Faith Taylor Brian & Helen Nixon Tony and JulieThomas Wayne & Lyn Norwood Andy & Sue Thomson Brian & Sally O’Hara-Smith Ed Tingey & Helen Foot David & Kate Ongley Helen Todd Mark O’Regan & Nicola Saker Teena Lady Todd Brian & Anne O’Sullivan Krystine Tomaszyk Naginbhai Neil Patel Peter & Judy Travers Ian & Helen Patience Peter & T Varuhas Frank Pearson Ruth Pedersen Kerry Waddell Euan & Linda Playle Peter & Beryl Warnock Warren & Anne Plimmer Sharryn Waters Drs Freda Walker & Donald Poirier Margaret Watson Joe & Jackie Pope Peter & Jill Watson Barry & Francie Possenniskie Bryan & Patricia Watts Colin Post Saji & Sarath Weerasinghe Rex Nicholls & Kerry Prendergast Mike & Liz Welch Rod Preston Mark Ratcliffe & Nicole Barker Joan Wells Richard Martin & Pia Raudkivi Miss G.L. West Morris & Sarah Rees George & Jeanette Westermayer Ann Mallinson Rendel Matt Whimp and Sarah Kemp Jan Renwick Sally & Chris Wilkinson Paul Ridley-Smith Ngaire Williams Alistair & Marilyn Roger Diana Winn Henk & Mineke Rood Ron & Jane Woodrow Ron & Jan Rosenberg Jane Wrightson Richard Nelson and Francie Russell Carolyn Stephens & Paul Rutherford Pamela Yates Arthur & Janet Salek Annabel Young G.E.K & N. R. Sare Mr J. A. Young Hon. John Luxton & Mary Scholtens Dom & Carole Zame 31