1013 days ago

Feathered Friday Friend

Nicholas Boyack Reporter from Community News

This weeks contribution is from Louise Thomas.

"When I was young I didn’t like the boatsheds. To my eye they looked derelict and unkempt – a hotchpotch of too bright clashing colours, and all of them peeling to reveal bleached wood underneath. They reminded me of my Nana’s crocheted rugs with frayed threads and darned patches. I liked things shining, new, and squared away. Anything else smacked of some sort of failure, either of duty or poverty.
Now that I’m older, and not untouched by time myself, I realise that decay is inevitable, and, more importantly, there is texture and beauty in it. The sea, like life, can be a rough place. The winds carry salt and sand, storm surges leave marks and baggage piled around the high tide mark, sometimes spilling over onto the little docks. But in this flotsam, rotting seaweed, silt, and tangled tree branches are a million little bugs, fish, and crabs – a roiling primordial soup seasoned with iodine and salt and feasted on by the birds. Nothing is lost - just transformed. Sacred kingfisher/kōtare (Todiramphus sanctus) catching the light at the Hutt Estuary boatsheds, Hikoikoi Reserve, Lower Hutt."

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: Could we live without public bins?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Many public rubbish bins are being removed by councils due to the large costs of regularly emptying them. Do you think we can adapt and live without them?

Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the We Say You Say column of your local paper.

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Could we live without public bins?
  • 12.1% Yes
    12.1% Complete
  • 87.4% No
    87.4% Complete
  • 0.5% Other - I'll share below
    0.5% Complete
1695 votes
8 days ago

Are you a first home buyer?

The Team Reporter from Stuff

Hello!
Are you a first home buyer? Is your mortgage going up and up with rising interest rates and you’re now struggling to make ends meet? Have you lost the ability to save any extra cash?

We’re reaching out from the Tova show, the flagship weekly politics podcast on Stuff, as we prepare a special episode on the interest rate crunch and how it’s affecting Kiwis - we’d love to hear your stories.

Please comment below if you would like to share your story, or email tova@stuff.co.nz. We give you our commitment to treat your experience with sensitivity and care.

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P
1 day ago

Upper Hutt Rates Increases.

Paul from Trentham

Please excuse if I am posting this where is shouldn't be. Admins, do remove this if its not appropriate.

I have not done anything like this before so please excuse if my wording isn't quite right.


As most of us are aware the Upper Hutt City Council have proposed to raise their Rates by near on 20% each year over the next 3 years.

If your UHCC Rates are around $2500 per year, after the 3 years of increases they will be approximately $4300 which equals an extra $35ish per week. This will not only hit homeowners, rentals, hirage of venues etc but will be impacting the community as the costs will be passed on with such large increases over a short period of time.

As I am outraged about this, I have created a petition on change.org to hopefully be able to show the council how many are not for these massive increases in a short period of time.

If you would like to support this petition please go to the link and add your voice.

www.change.org...

Thanks in advance.