Grey Lynn 2030 Transition Community

Here is some text to send to your MP about the changes to the RMA Legislation.

Kia ora

I am writing to register my concern about the impact that Clause 52 of the proposed Resource Management (Simplifying & Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2009 will have on the urban tree population of New Zealand.

I request that you delete Clause 52 from the proposed Resource Management (Simplifying & Streamlining) Amendment Bill 2009 altogether, retain the existing tree protection provisions and seek to meaningfully engage with local communities in respect of any modifications of existing tree protection rules.

This proposal has the potential to decimate the trees that make our cities the special places that they are. Pohutakawa, kauri and all the other beautiful icons that live only in New Zealand are already under threat. Changing the law so that anyone with a chainsaw can chop them down with impunity is at best irresponsible and may, in future generations, be deemed criminal.

It is a myth that the current rules are both costly and restrictive to private property owners. Under the current rules it costs nothing to obtain a consent to fell a tree – Councils do not charge for consent, and advice from Council arborists is also free. In addition, over 85% of all current applications for tree felling are granted. We all agree the tree rules need to be reviewed; removing the blanket protection is not the answer. There will be far more problems and cost than savings.
What is being proposed will have a massive impact on property owners since neighbours will be able to fell trees with impunity. In many areas of New Zealand this will cause major landslips, damaging property and roads. We already suffer greatly from instability due to the steep clay slopes – removal of trees will have an incalculable cost to us all. There will be many houses that will simply collapse if the trees protecting the banks that they stand on are removed. Landslips are increasing. The effect of removing any conscious conservation of trees may well be devastating. Trees removal is a major cause of land instability.

Trees also are vital in attenuating stormwater. Covering the land in concrete & roofs increase runoff – each tree attenuates 17 cubic metres of water per year. Wholesale removal of trees in our suburbs will significantly generate flooding which will then require infrastructure upgrading. Climate change is also increasingly affecting our weather, with northern NZ becoming wetter. Sanity suggests we plant more trees, not make it easier for people to cut them down.

Removing the tree protection rules will result in massive tree loss. Not only will people cut down more trees, but when development occurs there will be no requirement to undertake mitigation planting, as is currently the case. Not only will we lose currently mature trees, we will not be replacing them. We do not know the economic cost to society of all this, and we need to.

As an example of one disastrous effect, in the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area local people campaigned for 35 years to get a special law to protect such a special place in perpetuity from inappropriate development and land clearance. The proposed law change will effectively castrate the Heritage Area Act, making protection of the very values that are its purpose impossible. People come to Titirangi because of the trees. It is ludicrous to suggest that the Council could schedule the hundreds of thousands of trees in Titirangi to protect them – if people are allowed to chop trees down, Titirangi will be destroyed.

What right do we have to destroy trees that are 100s of years old just because people don’t want to clear their gutters out or they’d like to have a better view. We are all just passing through our properties and if individuals don’t have the personal responsibility to recognise their role as guardians of the land then that needs to be legislated for.

Unfortunately we all know that this is the case with so many people who only have a short term view of the world. If you pass this law the chainsaws will be out the very next day and we will all suffer the consequences for generations to come. Our birds and insects will disappear, our cool and shade will be gone. We will have nothing to remove our pollution and CO2, or treat our stormwater and hold our soil together.

I ask you to find the courage and wisdom to see the stupidity of this law change and to protect the trees for generations to come. No one is saying the tree rules don’t need to be reviewed – everyone knows that – but please don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and destroy our urban forest by removing the basic protection. When it’s gone it will be forever, this is one mistake that cannot be put right.

Please use your vote to remove Clause 52 entirely or at least vote for one of the amendments and save our trees.

Thanks for your time

Sustainable Living Centre
WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS September 2009

Trees in the Urban Environment
Part 1of 8 part series: Introduction
Wed 16 September 6-9pm $80 for 8 sessions or $15 each
Daphne Mitten, Landscape Architect, and course coordinator

Introduction to The Tree Council’s vision for encouraging awareness and sense of ownership of the region’s trees by giving the course participants a practical and theoretical foundation in tree management. Presentation on the environmental value of trees. Explanation of the Assignment briefs: Assignment 1: A portfolio of 10 actual trees in your locality including one Great Tree; Assignment 2: A brief presentation on the final day of the course, to your peers, about your selected Great Tree of Auckland.

Trees in the Urban Environment
Part 2 of 8 part series: Tree Identification & field trip
Sat 19 September 9-4pm $80 for 8 sessions or $15 each
Lesley Haines, Senior Lecturer, Landscape Architecture, UNITEC, and co- author with The Tree Council of the course structure and content.

Tree Identification: Taxonomy, purposes and significance, Leaf Identification: parts, arrangement & shapes; Plant Identification Keys; The Herbarium- Functions & establishment; Variety of our native urban forest

FIELD TRIP – Auckland’s vegetation, climate, physiography, factors affecting changes. Visits to a colonial plantation park, gully forest, kauri forest, lava forest, coastal forest, and overview of urban forest of Auckland.

EDIBLE GARDEN CULTURE Part 7.
Spring Action ‘A fine sense of timing’
Sat 26 Sept 8.30am-10.30am 11am-1pm (repeat) $20
Richard Main, co-founder Unitec Hort Sanctuary, environmental educator

An 8-part practical series designed to get participants up-skilled in home fruit and vege production. This module covers: Planting selection and schedule; Model organic garden visit – experience the Unitec Hortecology Sanctuary; Spring planting cycle.

Trees in the Urban Environment
Part 3 of 8 part series: What tree where?
Wed 30 September 6-9pm $80 for 8 sessions or $15 each
Penny Cliffin, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director, Landscape Design, UNITEC. Penny completed a Master’s thesis on Tree Collections of Auckland in 2002.

Trees for places, plant adaptation: Tree characteristics and types; Presentation on a comprehensive range of trees suitable for planting in the Auckland region; Understanding how trees adapt to survive in their natural habitat; Researching trees suitable for certain situations.

Other events:

Biodynamic Organic Gardening Group

BD Stir and tour of Jenny Freewalker’s garden
When: Sat 5 September 10.30 – 12.30pm
Cost: $5 new annual membership + koha
Venue: 82A Astley Ave, New Lynn (house at rear) – please park on roadside
Bring: Glass jar with lid, food to share, things to trade
Bookings essential: phone 826 4276 or email info@ecomatters.org.nz

Jenny has a productive garden with chooks and incorporates biodynamic, organic, permaculture, square foot gardening principles. Her challenges to the site are wind, hungry tree roots, less than optimum sun and space.

PERMACULTURE WORKSHOPS
All inquiries please phone Finn on 021 562 995 or email aucklandmpdc@gmail.com
Interested in learning practical sustainable design skills?
Come along to an upcoming Auckland Permaculture Design Certificate module. There is something for everyone. Everyone is welcome. Attend as many or as few as desired. No previous permaculture or design experience required.

–>August 29, 2009
Module 16. Retrofitting Your House
Guest Tutor – Jerome Partington – Sustainability Manager, Jasmax
Introduction to residential / suburban retrofit and redesign; Working with existing structures; Improving energy efficiency; Creating healthy living environments; Utilising appropriate home technologies; Household waste and water management.

September 5, 2009
Module 17. Civil Defense and Resilience
Guest Tutor – Michele Daly – Disaster Risk Management, Team Leader, beca
Introduction to natural disasters and risk management – volcanoes/geothermal, epidemics, fire, droughts, floods, erosion/slips, earthquakes, tsunamis; Recognising risk and hazard; Coping with dramatic and immediate change; Auckland Evacuation Plan; Emergency response – first aid, basic sanitation, potable water, shelter, food storage and natural food sources, natural medicines, cleaning agents.

September 12, 2009
Introduction to Permaculture Design
Module 2. Landscape Analysis and Design
Observation and interactions with nature and the landscape; Landscape and site and sector analysis including – topography, hydrology, ecology, soil, micro-climates; Understanding and working with external influences, variation, and change; Landscape management; Integration of uses; Site specific design with nature – designing for place.

September 26, 2009
Module 19. Facilitating Change
Guest Tutor – Daniel Nepia – Community development worker; facilitator; Director, Social Experiment

–>Introduction to community development work; Group Dynamics; Working with groups; Building teams; Facilitating dialogue; Meetings and projects; Decision making processes;Conflict resolution; Community advocacy and development.

For more information or to register contact Marshall Design Studio at aucklandmpdc@gmail.com / 021 562 995

We will provide more detailed information once participants have registered.

To book your general workshop contact ** ECOMATTERS’ MAIN OFFICE **
ph 826 4276 / email info@ecomatters.org.nz Therese Mangos
Manager

Sustainable Living Centre
EcoMatters Environment Trust
4 Olympic Place, PO Box 15 215
New Lynn, Waitakere City 0640
Tel 09 826 0555 Fax 826 0557
www.ecomatters.org.nz

DIY Bathtub Worm Farm
How to make your own worm farm from re-use and free materials
Sat 15 August 9am – 1pm $20
Ron Sperber, Director Earthwhile Ltd, Permaculture & Sustainability Education

Old bathtubs make great worm farms and can be had for peanuts. Tree branches (that would otherwise be firewood) for a sturdy base, a lid and we’re away. Permaculturist and worm farm expert Ron Sperber, of Earthwhile Ltd, will lead this hands-on workshop. You will gain the experience of building a wormfarm with available materials without blowing the budget. Bring comfy clothes to work in, gloves, gumboots and raincoat (if it’s a wet day). Limited numbers so be sure to book early.

Fruit Tree Pruning
Sat 22 August 10.30 – 12.30pm $10
Derek Craig, Director Oak & Thistle Ltd

Winter is a key time for fruit tree pruning. Learn how to prune for maximum fruit production and according to fruit type. Different fruit trees have different pruning requirements and may blossom and fruit on this years or last years growth. Some pear and apple cultivars, for example, are ‘tip bearing’ which can prevent their use in espaliers. There’s plenty to learn here for the keen edible gardener.

Cooking and Sampling
Quick low cost cooking from the garden
Tues 25 August 6.30 – 8.30pm $10 + $6 food
Alice Leonard, Director Angel Food

Eating further down the food chain is good for your health, your wallet and the environment – learn how to create healthy and delicious meals based on beans, whole grains and fresh seasonal produce. The emphasis is on economical family-friendly meals which don’t take all night to prepare!

EDIBLE GARDEN CULTURE Part 6.
Plant Health
Sat 29 August 8.30am-10.30am 11am-1pm (repeat) $20
Richard Main, co-founder Unitec Hort Sanctuary, environmental educator

An 8-part practical series designed to get participants up-skilled in home fruit and vege production. This module covers: Plant Health – Holistic approach to soil and plant health; Planning and preparation for the Spring garden; making your own liquid fertiliser; seed sowing/propagation.

Other events:

Biodynamic Organic Gardening Group

Introduction to the Biodynamic Calender
Sat 1 August 10.30 – 12.30pm
Members of the BOGG $5 new annual membership
Venue: Sustainable Living Centre, 4 Olympic Place, New Lynn

Come and join in and learn how to use the new calendar. These will be available for sale on the day for $20. We will also spend some time planning for spring planting.

Warming Herbs & Spices
Sat 8 August 10.30-12.30pm $5 new annual membership + koha
Bashi Singh – Clinical Neuro Muscular Therapist (Dip. NMT, Dip, Ther Mas)
Venue: Sustainable Living Centre, 4 Olympic Place, New Lynn

Bashi is a Medical Herbalist, she will tell us how to eat for maximum health benefits during the winter months, including Q&A’s. We will also make a winter Chai Tea decoction for all to try!! She has herb courses The Properties Of Herbs , Herbal Manufacturing and Ointments , Balms and More through Northtec running in the next semester which I recommend. She will also be running Aromotherapy Classes in the future. She has a great way with people and knows a lot about herbs!. She also talks to other groups including the Herb Society. She is a great advocate for container growing, as this is the only option really where she lives in the suburbs.

PERMACULTURE WORKSHOPS
Inquiries, phone Finn on 021 562 995 or email aucklandmpdc@gmail.com

Saturday, August 1st
Module 15. Appropriate Technology

Guest tutor – Rilke de Vos – Energy Research Engineer, National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA)

Introduction to energy, resources and technology; Ecological and climate appropriate design and application; Examples of appropriate technologies – high tech and low tech solutions; Life-cycle analysis – embodied and on going energy use; Sources of (renewable) energy; Energy production – Solar, wind, geothermal, micro hydro; Energy storage; Systems Maintenance; Site specific and community based systems.

Saturday, August 22nd
Module 16. Retrofitting Your House
Guest Tutor – Jerome Partington – Sustainability Manager, Jasmax
Introduction to residential / suburban retrofit and redesign; Working with existing structures; Improving energy efficiency; Creating healthy living environments; Utilising appropriate technologies; household waste and water management retrofits.

As always, please email us to register for either of these modules and we will provide you with more detailed information about the day closer to the module delivery date.

James Samuel is coming to speak at our next Grey Lynn 2030 monthly meeting.

James brought the Transition Town concept to New Zealand. We are very pleased that James will be coming over from Waiheke to speak to us. The Transition Town movement is too smart and modern to have a “leader” but to me James is “the man”.

James writes a great blog, started and maintains www.TransitionTown.org.nz

He is also very involved with www.oooby.com – Out of Our Own Backyards.

James is very involved in the energetic and inspiring Waiheke Transition Town group who have amongst their many projects the Fabulous Fruit Tree Initiative and a Community Supported Agriculture project.

James is speaking to Grey Lynn 2030 about the Transition Town movement and will be inspiring us with successful New Zealand Transition initiatives. If you are new to ideas or been around the Transition movement for a while you are sure to learn from him.

Monday 10th August

7.30

Grey Lynn Community Centre

Western Leader 26 June
Council cash saves schools’ green scheme

A council cash injection of $90,000 will keep the Enviroschools programme going in Waitakere city for another two years.

Twenty-six west Auckland schools take part in the nationwide scheme funded by councils and the government.

But the scheme, set up to promote recycling, sustainable living and to teach how to grow food, looked set to falter after the Education Ministry announced plans to slash funding.

The ministry says the programme doesn’t teach core skills like literacy or numeracy.

“Naturally we were concerned that without our support the programme may well fall over,” Waitakere deputy mayor Penny Hulse says.

The council will give the EcoMatters Environment Trust, which delivers the programme, $30,000 in 2009/10 and another $60,000 in 2010/11.

That’s on top of the $30,000 it already pumps into the scheme.

“Obviously we hope the government will see sense and reconsider its decision but we want to ensure the programme’s survival in the west for the next two years at least,” Mrs Hulse says.

Whether it extends beyond that is up to the new Auckland Council to decide, she says.

Education Ministry spokeswoman Mary Chamberlain says the programme is worthy but the ministry has to focus its resources where they will make the most difference.

She says raising achievement, particularly among Maori students, lifting literacy and numeracy levels and reducing the number of young people who leave school without worthwhile qualifications, are priorities.

The ministry would continue to provide support materials for schools that looked at topics such as sustainability.

2 July 2009 Taranaki Daily News


TARANAKI’S environmental watchdog won’t provide funding for a leading educational green scheme because it is fearful of ‘‘double-dipping’’.

Regional council chief executive Basil Chamberlain told a council meeting on Tuesday that it needed to be mindful of giving money to programmes already supported by the district councils.

The Ministry of Education announced last month an early withdrawal from its $4.6 million contract with the nationwide enviroschools programme.

The New Plymouth District Council has provided $15,000 over each of the past three years while councils in South Taranaki and Stratford allocate $7000 and $2500 respectively. The ministry had been giving the local programme $32,500.

The three district councils are not committing themselves to a funding boost for enviroschools, and say the programme will need to apply for extra money and its application will be considered.

Councillor Neil Walker said he would like to see the TRC support the scheme.

‘‘We do have a particular interest in this area.

‘‘It’s a valuable programme – it teaches students about the environment, the kids work in the community and do practical things like growing fruit trees and looking after waste,’’ Mr Walker said.

‘‘We need to make an effort to get the Government to look at this again.’’

Mr Chamberlain argued that education was the role of central government and the TRC needed to be mindful of the Government’s decision to cut the programme.

‘‘If the Government has decided to cut this, for whatever reason, does this mean the council authorities should stand up? ‘‘We’re all aware of double dipping.’’ Council chairman David MacLeod said the council had sent a letter in support of the scheme to central government and was happy to support them in that way.

A quarter of the country’s schools belong to enviroschools. In Taranaki 19 schools take part.

The programme sees students taught environmental sustainability and ecological issues in practical lessons often held outside the classrooms.

Schools say it will be harder to educate students about sustainability issues without the external support.

Meanwhile, national enviroschools representatives met with the ministry last Monday to thrash out details of the transitional funding between now and December. Negotiations were continuing.


Waikato Times 1 July 2009 (Editorial)

By any standards the Enviroschools programme has been a stunning success. Started in the Waikato over a decade ago, it now boasts a quarter of New Zealand schools as part of its network with hundreds more waiting to join. No-one makes them do that – they can see the merit in the scheme and the benefit to pupils. Enviroschools has met none of the resistance and angst associated with introducing the likes of new assessment standards or a new curriculum. Instead it has grown organically – and is now even being exported.

The Enviroschools Foundation, which is based in Hamilton, also makes the point that for every dollar of government funding, it secures another two dollars from regional partners and supporters.

That’s not good enough, according to Education Minister Anne Tolley, who has abruptly pulled next year’s funding, apparently without warning, leaving a shortfall of more than $1 million annually which the foundation must scramble to replace if it is to continue functioning at the same level.

If it can’t, 16 jobs may be lost, seven of them based in Hamilton, but that is not the point. The point is the pupils. The foundation assists schools in providing education that suits students who don’t flourish in a classroom environment, and stretches those who do. The innovative programme is based on the children themselves identifying what they want and going about getting it. That may involve working with budgets, making presentations, writing funding applications and so forth, along with the practical aspect of perhaps digging and maintaining a vege garden if that is what the school has decided it wants. The minister has put the spotlight on standards of numeracy and literacy – she should be able to see just how valuable the Enviroschools programme would be in contributing to that. The scheme will also be setting up students for the future in other ways. As we bemoan the loss of traditional values, it doesn’t get much more traditional than learning how to grow vegetables or plant trees or conserve energy. But these are not just skills of the past, as our future is about to develop a much greener tinge. The eco sector is set to be one of the major growth industries of the next 20 years, and those who are well schooled in it will have a head start.

Enviroschools is likely to be able to find alternative funding sources, since the government only started chipping in 21⁄2 years ago. Going cap in hand to possible

2 funders will be difficult during a recession, though, and there is another problem around the corner. Councils have been happy to continue their funding, but Local Government Minister Rodney Hide’s planned scaling back of council activities may put a squeeze on them and at that stage the programme really does face uncertainty.

To diminish the programme’s effectiveness would be a shame; to lose it altogether would be disastrous.

The Government’s axing of funding is short-sighted and mean spirited. It should reconsider.

Waikato Times 27 June
Enviroschools’ staff are lobbying the Government in an effort to stop their funding being cut and save 16 jobs – seven of them in Hamilton.

Photo: IAIN McGREGOR.

Education Minister Anne Tolley announced this month the Government would no longer contribute $1.6 million a year to the popular Enviroschools programme.

The programme, in which dozens of Waikato schools are involved, sees students taught environmental sustainability and ecological issues in practical lessons often held outside the classrooms.

The concept, developed in the Waikato in the 1990s, has since been extended to schools across New Zealand.

Heidi Mardon, Enviroschools Foundation’s Hamilton-based national director, has been in Wellington this week lobbying the Education Ministry to continue the Enviroschools funding.

Enviroschools directly employs 16 people, seven of them based in Hamilton.

‘‘We’d all be gone if the cut goes through,’’ Ms Mardon said.

They would know next week if their lobbying had been successful.

Ms Mardon said that through local councils, funding at grassroots level remained secure, but the Government’s funding cut would affect facilitator training and development work and presented the programme with a major problem.

‘‘We didn’t see it coming quite as quickly [as this]. We had a contract until mid next year, and we expected that contract to be honoured . . . we did not expect to be cut right now.

‘‘It’s very hard to understand why they’re doing it.’’

The cut in funding has been called shortsighted by Waikato principals, who have hailed the benefits of the scheme.

Most schools have specific Enviroschool teachers and are regularly visited by Enviroschools co-ordinators.

Tirau School principal Leo Spaans was ‘‘fairly much devastated’’ by the ‘‘shortsighted’’ funding cut announcement which, he felt, was not well thought through.

‘‘I was quite disappointed. As part of the new curriculum, we’re looking at giving back to the community, sustainability, environmental issues, etc, and then funding gets cut – it doesn’t make things any easier for the school.’’

He believed the Government’s decision to cut Enviroschools funding was at odds with its

Te Miro School’s flourishing vegetable garden is a product of the newly-pruned Enviroschools programme which has had its funding axed as part of Government cost-cutting because it is not a ‘‘core spending’’ priority. messages about New Zealand’s Te Aroha Primary School prinneed to plan for a more cipal Kevin Johnson was sustainable future. unhappy about the funding cut,

Enviroschools had engaged the and felt it was strange for the entire community. Government to promote sustain

‘‘We’ve done quite a bit in the ability in the curriculum when it two years we’ve been involved in was pulling money from the the project – we’ve got sustainEnviroschools programme which able gardens which provide food helped achieve the sustainability for the foodbanks, we’ve planted goal. ‘‘It has come as a shock. the native gardens throughout There are all kinds of programthe schools with the support of mes which have been axed, and the Enviroschools team, and this is just another cost-saving we’re working to replant bush. measure.’’

‘‘It’s a big initiative. The imMr Johnson said Te Aroha Pripact (of funding cuts) will be mary was a very keen Envirohuge in small rural schools.’’ school, and he pledged to press ahead with the school’s environmental work because it benefited the wider community.

Enviroschools lessons were particularly beneficial for students who struggled with conventional learning, or had special needs, a point also made by Nick Quinn, principal at Hamilton’s St Peter’s Chanel Catholic School.

‘‘It’s absolutely practical learning at its best,’’ Mr Johnson said. ‘‘It’s not a one-off learning thing, we’re teaching kids a way of life.’’

Teachers and students thrived on the Enviroschools learning, Mr Johnson said, praising a ‘‘wonderful’’ Enviroschools coordinator who regularly visited Te Aroha Primary.

Education Minister Anne Tolley did not respond to specific Times questions, but a statement from her office said: ‘‘The decision was taken because in tough economic times, the Government is focusing on its core spending priorities for the education system of raising literacy and numeracy and increasing the numbers of pupils leaving school with educational qualifications. This programme does not contribute directly to these priorities.’’

Prime Minister John Key, who visited the lower Coromandel this week, also defended the decision to cut the Enviroschools funding, saying his administration had redirected the money to literacy and numeracy.

‘‘Obviously, no-one likes cutting programmes,’’ Mr Key said.

He said he believed a lot of what was taught in the Enviroschools programme would be picked up by teachers, and said its website would continue to offer on-line learning.

Dear Friends,

The Sustainable North Trust is hosting a talk on Wed, 8 July on other options to feed the soil and keep our food production system going despite the rapid fluctuations in the price of fertilisers and diesel that are currently plaguing our agricultural economy.

The powerpoint presentation by Betsy Kettle and Alida Robey will show large scale worm farming, city to farm composting, seaweed fertilisers, NZ -made rock dusts, aerated compost teas, vermiliquid and other alternatives that are here now and working.

This presentation has been given 4 times in Rodney District, thanks to a grant by Rodney District Council’s Environmental Education Fund and has been very well received.

You will leave with information on where to go to source these options.  There are biscuits and tea afterwards.

Kind regards
Betsy Kettle

7-9 pm  July 8
St John’s Ambulance Hall Silverdale
Corner of Curley Ave and Silverdale Street

Gold coin donation would be appreciated to cover venue hire.