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Eastbourne Community Board Chair’s report April 2025
The Eastbourne Community Board’s (ECB) next public meeting is at 7.15pm on Tuesday 15 April, at the East Harbour Woman’s Club, 145 Muritai Road.
Community Board members will be available from 6.45pm before the formal meeting to discuss any issues. Our standing orders don’t allow for general discussion and questions from the floor during a meeting. If you have a question about any of the presentations on the agenda, please notify a member of the ECB before the meeting, and we will ask it on your behalf. If we can ask questions ahead of the meeting, presenters are more likely to be able to prepare an answer.
The meeting agenda will be posted on the Hutt City Council website and our eastbourne.nz website about a week before the meeting. Residents are always welcome at Board meetings. At the start of the meeting, anyone may speak (for up to three minutes) under public comment on any community topic.
The presentations at the meeting on 15 April (at the time of writing) are:
- Tupua Horo Nuku project update
- Seaview Energy Resilience Project
- Presentation by Jo Greenman, East Harbour Regional Park Ranger
- Presentation by Cr Quentin Duthie, Local Councillor from Greater Wellington Regional Council
What has kept us busy? I am constantly reminded how fortunate Eastbourne is to be represented by such an active and involved community board. I am grateful for all the terrific mahi and support from Emily Keddell, Murray Gibbons, Bruce Spedding, Frank Vickers and Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis.
Here is a list of some of the activities that have kept us busy since the previous meeting in February 2025.
Annual walkaround
On Saturday, 29 March, the ECB completed its annual ‘walkaround’ by van, visiting the resident associations from Point Howard to Days Bay. As usual, we left with a list of items and issues to take to Council. Many of the concerns raised were similar for all Bays. Regional Councillor Quentin Duthie joined us this year. The walkaround is an excellent and efficient engagement for the ECB and Council.
Tupua Horo Nuku:
There is no doubt that the resilience project and shared path will be a terrific asset to Eastbourne and the region. The path is already changing the way residents travel between Eastbourne and the Bays, with more people walking and cycling. We joined the halfway celebration in February and look forward to the project’s completion in mid-2026. We are grateful to the project team for keeping the community informed about progress through regular emails and presentations at every ECB meeting. As with any large infrastructure project, there are details of concern to residents. The ECB is discussing these issues with the Council and the project team, including the lack of lighting and bins at the new bus stops, as well as safe access to the path from the streets and properties opposite.
Marine Drive speed review:
In March, we presented to the Infrastructure and Regulatory Committee, which was considering the government’s requirement to reverse speed reductions, including along Marine Drive. We pointed out that the speed review was a consent condition of the Tupua Horo Nuku project. In addition, the road’s usage is changing significantly with the addition of the shared path, which qualifies the road for an exemption under the new Speed Setting Rule. Members of the York Bay and Māhina Bay resident associations also addressed the Committee, speaking about the numerous benefits and safety improvements that have resulted from the reduction in speed from 70 to 50 km/h.
Consultations: Everyone can have their say on these current Hutt City Council consultations:
- Draft annual plan 2025/26 - The future of water services for Lower Hutt
- Improving Hutt City Council’s engagement (closes 13 April)
- Dog Control Bylaw and Dog Control Policy (closes 26 April)
- District Plan (closes 2 May)
The ECB intends to submit on these. We recently submitted to the Regional Council’s Public Transport Strategy. We requested the reinstatement of the 85X bus service, improved coordination of timetables between Eastbourne bus services and the East by West ferry, and an investigation into establishing a ferry stop at Point Howard.
ATM
Westpac announced in February that it was removing the village’s only ATM. There was a strong reaction from residents who rely on a local ATM. ECB member Bruce Spedding contacted a local ATM provider who has installed a replacement machine in the same location as the previous one.
Days Bay crossing at Williams Park
The trial of volunteers to manage the pedestrian flow at the crossing at Williams Park on busy summer days was a success. Constant flows of pedestrians can cause significant traffic holdups. The volunteer group established by the ECB and the Days Bay Resident Association was self-managing through a WhatsApp group. It managed the crossing on seven afternoons over the summer when public holidays or weekends coincided with good weather.
Eastbourne summer pool
The summer season ended three days early, but was 13 days longer than last year’s season. Council has committed to the volunteer programme again for next summer and will start the programme earlier. Council says the resource requirements associated with the new Te Ngaengae pool impacted the summer pools.
Local body elections
I encourage residents who are interested in local government and representing their community to consider standing for election in October. Please don't hesitate to contact me or any member of the ECB if you’d like to learn more about the election process and representation.
Communication
One of the Board’s roles is to communicate relevant matters, proposals, consultations, and issues to residents. We do this through our Facebook page (830 followers), the eastbourne.nz website, our email list (220+ subscribers), our regular column in the Eastbourne Herald, and the digital display board at the library.
Residents can also contact Board members directly:
Belinda Moss 4 April 2025 |
Natural Hazards Information Sheet (pdf 525KB )
ATM update
