Mapua and Districts Community Association (MDCA) Annual Report
August 2016 – August 2017
Executive Summary
Tena koutou katoa – ngἇ mihi nui ki a koutou; ngἇ mana whenua ratou ko ngἇ mema ko ngἇ hoa ὄ tenei rohe! Greetings to all iwi, members and supporters of this region and THE Mapua and Districts Community Association.
A great thankyou to all who have worked for, contributed to and supported the significant range of projects and issues we have been involved with and addressed this year. Special thanks to our 3 TDC Ward Councillors – Trevor Norriss and Brian Ensor did not stand again this year and we thanked them for their years of commitment to our community’s affairs and well-being. Tim King, Anne Turley and Dean McNamara are our current ward councillors and we appreciate their regular attendance at our meetings and especially for their willingness to receive feedback and follow up many diverse queries and concerns in a very busy year.
Executive Committee members share the tasks of resourcing and running meetings, disseminating information, presenting MDCA viewpoints, lobbying the TDC and envisioning important community changes. Sincere thanks to you all for a great year and to those who are standing down, take our appreciation with you. We hope that you will stay involved as members! At our last AGM we thanked and farewelled Neville Bibby (as Treasurer), Graeme Stradling (as Secretary) and John Fountain and have benefitted from their ongoing input as members.
Other members have taken responsibility for leading subcommittees, representing the Association on community wide bodies and providing researched information and resources. Thank you all – time is a precious resource and we appreciate your willingness to give this so freely. We also value the connections and relationships with a range of other community-focused organizations such as Mapua and Districts Business Association, the Mapua Community Hall Association, Mapua School, the Mapua Boat Club and other community associations.
As an Association we have made submissions on the Mapua Wharf/Waterfront TDC land development and proposal and The TDC Long Term Plan.
We recognize that there is no “ Association viewpoint” on most issues and have encouraged robust discussions and presented multiple suggestions to reflect the diversity within our community
A wide range of speakers have formally presented at our monthly meetings. Input from individuals and other community groups keep our membership abreast of current thinking, strategies and affairs.
Projects covered this year include:
- Hosting the “ Meet the Candidates” Meeting for the local authority elections
- Relocating the Boat Ramp ( ongoing debate and consultation, including a poll of the membership)
- Restoring and caring for Wetlands and Estuaries in our rohe
- Mapua Waterfront developments with a particular focus on providing input to the TDC review of future developments of their land in the area
- Subdivisions, new and planned, including impacts on neighbours- with a strong focus on water
- Footpaths and roading, safety and landscaping
- Establishing and extending a Website and Facebook presence
- Updating the Constitution
- Taking responsibility for monitoring the AEDs ( Defibrillators) in our area
These as well as the regular areas of our work are reported on in the rest of this report by those Executive Committee members responsible for each particular portfolio.
Treasurer and Member Services Report (by Aileen Connell)
For 2015-2016 year we had 43 paid members. At the end of the 2017 financial year (30 June 2017) we had 139 members this includes our 3 life members Hugh Gordon (inducted into this group in December 2016), Wilma Tansley and Bill Williams (who sadly passed away while this report was being compiled). In the past 12 months we have tidied up the membership list. We know who are members are and how to get in touch with them. All payments are tracked back to the receipt book. We use the most up to date list for each mail out.
Our constitution has been updated to include changes to match what we do! We are in the process of lodging this with Incorporated Societies section of Companies Office
We have 3 automatic payments set up for the secretary and social media honoraria and one for the Mapua Hall (for our 2 meetings a month). We also completed a leaflet drop in letterboxes promoting the MDCA, this was part of our agreed strategy to promote the MDCA and make sure as many people as possible where given the chance to know we exist! We now use electronic banking for as many transactions as we can, this both helps us and those that we are paying. It is also making it easier for people to pay their membership.
As of the 30th June 2017 we have $13,757.45 in our bank account. Our income for the general running of the MDCA is from a TDC grand and membership fee. All income for Dominion Flats is from grants.
Summary
| General Fund | Dominion Flats | Waterfront Park | |
| 30 Jun 2017 | $3,209.59 | $10,547.86 | $0.00 |
| Income | $4,918.30 | $23,700.00 | $0.00 |
| Expenditure | $5,679.02 | $20,653.25 | $10,000 |
| 1 Jul 2016 | $3,970.31 | $7,500.11 | $10,000 |
A summary of the accounts will be sent to David Beatson for review
Environment – Dominion Flats (by Helen Bibby)
This has been another good year for the planting and beautification of Dominion Flats even though it was such a dry summer. The growth on the plants during the autumn and early winter has been fantastic and plantings are really showing up amongst the tall grass.
The project continues to track along the path of intensive planting for the first five years, to be followed by five years of secondary planting, with an end vision of a patch of easily accessible native bush that is a haven for birds and other fauna, with a stream meandering through and that is a peaceful sanctuary for the community.
We have been successful with grant applications again and have received another $10,000 from Rata Foundation and another $4,500 from Pub Charities. Do you know that since this project
started we have had over $43,000 in grants from Rata Foundation, Pub Charities, Network Tasman Trust, Deloitte, Sargood Bequest, Greenwood Trust, Mapua/Ruby Bay Trust, MDCA, Fonterra Grassroots Fund, JS Watson Trust, World Wildlife Fund, Waimea Intermediate School, and Coastal News?
It is wonderful to see organisations and people willing to help make our country green again and we are extremely grateful. We have had practical assistance from many locals organizations including Waimea Intermediate, Crombie Lockwood, Tamaha Scout Group, Whenua Iti, Mapua School, Jonathan Kennett and friends from Wellington, and NMIT DOC cadets. We have had a large kahikatea from The Big Plant Depot, plants from Nelmac, large numbers of plant protectors passed on to the project and plants grown from locally sourced trees given by community members. All this adds up to a huge amount that cannot be given a dollar number.
A very small group go each Tuesday morning to work, mostly freeing up plants and keeping the tracks useable. Anyone is welcome to join in as it is a huge job although some of the latest grant money is specifically to help with this. We have good interaction with the TDC and get our share of money, help and advice from them, particularly from Richard Hilton who is always enthusiastic and keen to help.
Roads and Footpaths (by Wayne Chisnall)
The focus on footpaths in the Mapua area has been on the following during 2016-17:
- Developing a safe passage for pedestrians from the foot of Mapua Drive around the Country Store site to the Mapua School
- Considerable discussion with all parties was held during FY16 but the School and Country Store property owner came to an agreement with the TDC this year to site the crossing just in from the corner of Mapua Drive and Aranui Road. It will be a double kea crossing with a refuge in the existing island. This was not universally accepted by the community as the safest option but the School has signed off on it and will manage it before and after school using flags and swinging arms.
- The footpath around the store and the crossing have been designed and put out to tender. We expect it to be constructed in the latter half of 2017
- Pedestrian refuge crossing on Aranui Road near the library.
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- This has been designed and put out to tender. We expect it to be constructed in the latter half of 2017
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- Higgs Road footpath from Lionel Place to the Mapua Drive roundabout
- This has been designed and put out to tender for constructionin the latter half of 2017
- Seaton Valley Road footpath
- The TDC is still finalising the 2017-18 footpath programme so have yet to confirm whether this will fit within the available budget
- Mapua Drive path to Higgs Reserve
- The initial design exceeded budget due to the need for a physical barrier to protect path users. TDC is looking at ways to reduce cost to fit within available budget.
The focus for 2017-18 is as follows:
- Seeing the completion of all the projects above cognisant that there is real pressure on contractors due to the work associated with the Kaikoura earthquake
- Completing the Seaton Valley Stream footpath from the Old Mill Pathway around the estuary and across the northern end of the 102 Aranui Road subdivision to Moreland Place. There have been some problems negotiated access across private roads.
- The Jessie Street – Aranui Road pathway became a possibility with the purchase of the associated property for development.
Social Media 2016-17 Annual Report
Submitted by: Tim Hawthorne, MDCA Social Media Manager
MDCA’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MapuaCommunityAssociation), launched in February, 2016, continues to perform strongly and serve as an important communications medium for the Association. Our FB page is now “liked” and followed by 676 people, a high number for a Facebook small community page. We post matters of community interest on the page on average 2 times per week and reach an average of 500 to 1000 people for each post. In 2016-17, we posted 119 items and were viewed over 50,000 times. Our June, 2017 posts alone were viewed over 12,000 times.
Some of our posts reached over 3000 people in the Top of the South with the assistance of Facebook “promotion” or advertising, which places a MDCA post on a local FB user’s page even if they don’t “follow” our page. Total expenses to “promote” our FB posts from Oct 2016 – June 2017 totaled $224.43, at an average promotion cost of $10 per post. Further distribution of the Association’s message is via posts on the local social media network “Neighbourly.” Our most successful post (“Please Vote on How to Honour the Mapua Aquarium”) reached over 9,600 people.
Additionally, our new MDCA website (www.ourmapua.org), established in early 2016, has been upgraded to showcase the MDCA’s Facebook posts on the front page, so that non-Facebook
members can read what’s happening immediately in our community on the internet. The website also serves as the repository of all the Association’s monthly meeting notes, agendas, minutes, and correspondence, under the “Archives” drop down menu heading
Mapua Waterfront Park and Advisory Group (on behalf of Trish Smith)
Trish Smith took over chairing this subcommittee and co-ordinated a wider working group to ensure that the $10,000 grant from the Rata Foundation for purchasing picnic-tables and
children’s play equipment has been spent. Work is proceeding on building the tables and hopefully installing them and the equipment in conjunction with TDC Parks and Reserves in October this year.
With such diverse views on future development in the park, subcommittee members met with Boat Club and Sea Scout representatives to determine any “ shared vision” on Park/boat-ramp development
Trish Smith also took over the representation of MDCA on the Mapua Waterfront Advisory Group from Elena Meredith and now shares this role with Martyn Barlow
Appreciation
Thank you again to all those who have been involved in these projects and all the voluntary time and thought you have given. Much of this work is “underground” and often not acknowledged. Without you all we couldn’t do what we do!! There will be a new Executive Committee for the coming year and no doubt new challenges as well as satisfactions with a job well done. We look forward to that……
Noho ora mai ra koutou Elena Meredith
(Chairperson on behalf of the Executive Committee)
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