Local News from Peter Dunne
Welcome to this Ohariu page, designed to keep you in touch with UnitedFuture activities in Ohariu.
Each month I will update the local activities I have been involved in that month, as well as commenting on some of the issues making news in our community.
If you would like more information about UnitedFuture activities in Ohariu, please contact me and I will be pleased to let you know what is happening, and would welcome your involvement:
ohariu.issues@parliament.govt.nz.
Here are some the local activities I have been involved in recently:
During July 2010
- Participating in the Youth Parliament on 6-7 July, in which the Ohariu electorate was very ably represented by Kieren Gera, Head Girl at Tawa College.
- Attending meetings to plan the 2010 Northern Wellington Festival, which will be held in December.
- Celebrating with the Johnsonville Rugby Club on the occasion of its becoming the first Sports Club in New Zealand to install solar water heating.
- Holding constituent clinics in Maungaraki, Tawa and Johnsonville and calling on constituents in Tawa.
- Attending Khandallah Arts and Theatre’s latest production Honour, and Tawa College’s production of The Tempest.
- Attending the AGM of the Glenside Residents’ Association, and the Tawa Rotary Club’s annual book fair.
- Celebrating with Longview Home in Tawa the award of an Arts Access Community Partnership Award.
- Chairing a meeting of the North Wellington Voluntary Service Awards Association to choose the recipients of the 2010 Awards.
During June 2010
- Visiting West Park School, Johnsonville West Kindergarten, Redwood School’s Garage Sale and Johnsonville Playcentre’s Matariki Evening
- Attending the AGMs of the Normandale Residents Association, the Newlands Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Johnsonville Bowling Club, and the 10th Birthday celebrations of the Johnsonville Branch of the ASB
- Attending the Tawa Civic Awards Ceremony
- Collecting for the Wellington City Mission’s Foodbank
- Visiting Johnsonville Senior Citizens, and attending the 107th Birthday celebrations for
- Addressing the Men’s Group at St John’s Church, Johnsonville, and the Johnsonville Rotary Club
- Meeting with the Friends of the Turnbull Library regarding proposed changes to the National Archives and the National Library
- Presenting awards at Newlands Intermediate School’s End of Term evening
- Holding electorate clinics Maungaraki and Johnsonville, and calling on constituents in Tirohanga and Harbourview
During May 2010
- Attending Newlands College’s fantastic production of Grease
- Opening the Wellington Free Ambulance’s new base in Johnsonville
- Attending the AGM of the Johnsonville & Districts RSA
- Addressing the Hutt City Rotary Club
- Attending the first birthday celebrations of the Newlands Community Centre
- Meeting with the Ohariu Valley Preservation Society to discuss Meridian Energy’s proposal for a new wind farm at Mill Creek, Ohariu Valley, and its potential impact on local communities
- Judging the Western Hills Schools Speech contest at Maungaraki School
- Hosting Tawa Intermediate and Hampton Hill School students on visits to Parliament
- Attending the latest production of the New Players in Newlands
- Chasing up the DNZ Property Group (the owners of the Johnsonville Mall) about its timetable for the renovation of the Johnsonville Shopping Centre
- Meeting with Ohariu’s Youth MP, Tawa College head girl Kieren Gera, to discuss the forthcoming Youth Parliament being held in early July
- Holding electorate clinics in Newlands, Tawa, Maungaraki and Johnsonville, and calling on constituents in Korokoro and Maungaraki
During April 2010
- Hosting the highly successful first national gathering for residents associations Parliament, subsequently described by one local body politician as sending a ‘shock wave’ through local government
- Attending separate celebrations to mark 30 years of service to the Newlands Child Care Centre by Maxine Choat, and the 60th wedding anniversary of Johnsonville identities Ernie and Betty Black
- Meeting the principal of the Wellington Activity Centre in Kiawharawhara regarding the future of activity centres and subsequently being able to assure no cuts to Activity Centre funding will be made in the upcoming Budget
- Visiting the Salvation Army in Johnsonville and the Johnsonville and Newlands Foodbanks
- Speaking at the Wellington Tamil Puthandu celebrations in Tawa
- Accompanying the Police on a late-night weekend patrol of the Courtenay Place area and visiting the Wellington Hospital Emergency Department to observe the effects of excessive alcohol use by young people
- Opening a new classroom and staff room at Maungaraki School
- Presenting prizes at the Johnsonville Bowling Club’s end of season closing
- Attending the Johnsonville RSA’s ANZAC Day service
- Attending the Maungaraki Community Association’s AGM
- Meeting the Principals of Newlands, Bellevue and Newlands Intermediate Schools to discuss National Standards
- Holding electorate clinics in Tawa, Maungaraki and Johnsonville, and calling on constituents in Crofton Downs, Chartwell, and Korokoro
During March 2010
- Accompanying the Prime Minister on a visit to Challenge 2000, the highly regarded and innovative youth at risk facility in Johnsonville that I have been associated with since the 1980s
- Hosting kindergarten kids from Johnsonville West Kindergarten to a picnic in Parliament grounds
- Chairing the first meeting for the year of the Northern Wellington Voluntary Service Awards Committee to begin planning for this year’s Awards, to be made in August
- Visiting Churton Park and Tawa Schools for meetings with the principals, and making presentations at Newlands Intermediate’s end-of term presentations
- Celebrating Race Relations Day at an ethnic Pot Luck dinner in Johnsonville and being guest of honour at Mabuhay Association’s Cultural Festival
- Attending Churton Park Community Association’s AGM
- Attending school galas at Ngaio, Johnsonville, Cashmere Avenue and Bellevue Schools, and at Newlands Tamariki and Maungaraki Playcentres
- Opening a new classroom suite at Johnsonville Main School, and assisting at the opening of Khandallah School’s new IT suite
- Presenting a community award to Bruce and Dawn Patterson for their service to the Grenada Village Community over many years
- Holding electorate clinics in Johnsonville, Maungaraki, Newlands and Tawa
During January-February 2010
- Attending the opening of Bowen Early Childhood Education Centre’s new facility (I had been involved in helping them relocate from their former site at Bowen Hospital)
- Opening the new facilities for the Knowledge Shop, an innovative local professional education programme, in Johnsonville
- Chairing the first meeting for the year of the Northern Wellington Festival Organising Committee to review the successful 2009 Festival and to begin planning for the 2010 Festival over the first weekend of December
- Visiting Maungaraki and Normandale Schools for meetings with the principals
- Working with the Grenada Village Community Association over proposals to set up a 27 acre car storage yard adjacent to Grenada Village
- Holding electorate clinics in Johnsonville, Maungaraki and Newlands
During November-December 2009
- Attending Khandallah, St Bridgets, Raroa Intermediate and Rudolf Steiner Schools annual galas; Normandale School’s 40th birthday celebrations; and Tawa and Newlands Colleges’ Senior Prizegivings, and visiting Crofton Downs School
- Participating in Khandallah Arts and Theatre Society’s 50th anniversary function
- Presenting Challenge 2000’s Kitty McKinley with a Community Champions Award
- Addressing the Annual Meeting of Wellstop, the sex abuse prevention agency
- Attending the Grenada Village Community Association Annual General Meeting and attending its Children’s Christmas Party;
- Playing Santa Claus at the Churton Park Community Association’s Christmas Party, and at the Wellington North Parents’ Centre’s Christmas function
- Being Santa’s elf in the Northern Wellington Festival’s Christmas Parade and attending the Khandallah Village Fair
- Being involved in Johnsonville RSA’s “Box of Fluffies” presentation to the Police
- Attending Tawa Volunteer Fire Brigade’s Gold Star presentation evening
- Participating in a public meeting on civil defence in Johnsonville
- Opening a new courtyard for the Redwood Club in Tawa
- Holding electorate clinics in Newlands, Tawa, Johnsonville and Maungaraki
- Hosting the launch at Parliament of plans for Wellington’s Great Harbour Cycle Way
- Hosting the annual Christmas Carols service at Parliament
