Community Issues
Village Culverts
In December 2022 PRA was notified that the two culverts at either end of the Village were damaged and failing. Since then there have been discussions between Porirua City Council and Waka Kotahi regarding the replacement/reconstruction of the culverts. The state of the culvert near the Lighthouse Cinema, with impacts for both road and footpath users has continued to raise significant safety concerns. PRA continues to express these concerns to Council and awaits further responses
State Highway 58 Upgrade
At the recent Annual General meeting on 16 August, Waka Kotahi presented information on current status of the SH58 upgrade.
On viewing the images shown in the presentation and hearing the points made, attendees at the meeting raised a number of questions and concerns. Following the meeting PRA has sought clarification from Waka Kotahi regarding the information presented, particularly related to the eastbound passing lane and the school bus stops at Moonshine Road and Flightys-Murphys Road intersections. PRA has also been gathering more information from residents, Porirua City Council and other interested parties in order to best represent these concerns to Waka Kotahi.
The latest update from Waka Kotahi is available here.
This is the latest document PRA has that shows the proposed road configurations.
Further information is available on the NZTA website or in the SH58 brochure.
Transmission Gully Motorway Impacts
PRA is aware that there are impacts being experienced by residents following the recent opening of the Transmission Gully motorway that were never anticipated. A number of residents are experiencing higher than expected noise levels from the new motorway. As we were keen to understand the extent of the issues and gather specific information around the type and frequency of noise people are experiencing, e.g. what it sounds like. whether it’s at particular times or in particular weather conditions etc we developed a survey which we sent out for PRA members and others to complete. Following this we arranged two meetings for local residents with representatives from Waka Kotahi and TG. More information is available here including a summary of the meetings.
Willowbank Quarry
Following a resource consent application process, including hearings, Willowbank Quarry has now been granted a consent to continue the ongoing operation and maintenance of the Willowbank Quarry. Originally reopened for quarrying material for Transmission Gully, the original consent was due to expire in December 2020. A new consent application extended this to 31 December 2025. A further consent application was lodged for the quarry to be operational for a 35-year period. The relevant documents can be viewed on the Council's website here
PRA made a submission to the consent application. The submission was neutral, neither supporting or opposing the application. It asked for assurances that concerns raised will be addressed including heavy vehicle movements on SH58, through the Village and potentially along Grays Road, potential environmental impacts and the concerns of residents living closer to the quarry site. Members of the PRA Committee did meet with representatives of Fulton Hogan (the Applicants) and Willowbank to discuss PRA's concerns.
A condition of the granting of the consent is that a Community Liaison Group is formed, comprising a chairperson, one person from each Council, one from Iwi, two from the quarry operator and three from the community with one of those being from Murphys Road. There will be quarterly meetings until after the first year of quarry activity and biannually after that, unless there is a need for further meetings. A PRA Committee member will be one of the community representatives. The Community Liaison Group's role is to pass on information about quarry activities to the community and to receive feedback re the quarry from the community. Complaints or issues with the quarry operation are still to be done through the correct channels i.e. to Council and/or quarry manager. Information on the Community Liaison Group consent conditions can be found here.
Village Planning
Each year PRA applies to the Council for funds towards projects within the Pãuatahanui area. The projects that PRA chooses are based on the outcomes of the community consultation from 2016-17.
The Village Plan identifies the community's vision for Pãuatahanui Village and surrounding rural areas for the next few years. In November 2016 the PRA committee held a community meeting asking the question "Tell us what we can do to make Pãuatahanui and surrounds an even greater place to live and visit." We collated the responses and then asked for these to be rated using our survey to enable us to prioritise them into our updated Village Plan, helping to inform the projects, initiatives and advocacy that PRA will undertake over the coming years.
Pãuatahanui is one of eleven "villages" involved in Porirua City Council's Village Planning Programme. The programme has been set up by the Council as a partnership between the Council and the community. The first Village Plan for Pauatahanui was developed following a process of community consultation, led by the PRA. It lays out the community's goals and aspirations, aimed at improving and developing the local neighbourhood. The plan provides a framework for planning and decision-making on matters concerning the development and maintenance of the village and is regularly reviewed by the PRA, with progress updates available on the Porirua City Council's website.
In May 2020 the Council agreed to pause Village Planning for two years while they continued to complete the current backlog of committed projects. This meant there have been no project funding rounds for the 2020/21 or 2021/22 financial years. PRA does not have any current projects receiving funding from Council.
Local Roading Maintenance
Concern over the maintenance of our local roads is an issue frequently raised with the PRA. We continue to bring the concerns to PCC on a regular basis. The 14-15 November 2016 earthquake and flooding again highlighted the concerns - raising new issues and reinforcing the need to address the existing issues. If you have a specific road concern, the first action is to call PCC at (04) 237-5089 or email enquiries@poriruacity.govt.nz . You can also do this through the Antenno App. If you would also like to bring this to the attention of PRA then please email us
District Plan Review
Porirua City Council has reviewed the District Plan which included new policies of direct relevance to the Pãuatahanui community. Submissions on the Proposed Plan closed in November 2020 and the hearings are underway.
For more information click here or visit the Porirua City Council website
