The much-travelled Booktown Road

By Denver Grenell, Featherston Booktown

Ngā mihi o te tau hou – Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a restful summer break and read some good books in the downtime.

It’s all systems go at Featherston Booktown with both the International Organisation of Booktowns visiting for The Global Conference (14-18 March), the Young Readers Programme (8-10 May) and the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival (10-12 May).

The International Organisation of Book Towns was started in 1961 in the West England town of Hay–on–Wye. The concept involves small rural towns or villages in which second–hand and antiquarian bookshops are concentrated. 

A Booktown offers an exemplary model of sustainable rural development and tourism as we have seen during the previous Karukatea Festivals, with people coming from far and wide to attend and enjoy the local hospitality and shops during their visit _ including our seven bookstores.

The March event will see delegates from Booktowns around the globe in Featherston for a slice of good old Kiwi hospitality and we will be showcasing our beautiful region to them. We hope you will help welcome our international guests in mid-March, which is also when we launch the Karukatea Festival programme. Tickets go on sale to our Friends, supporters and the local community at 9:00 p.m. on 15 March. Tickets for the general public will then go on sale on Monday 18 March.

If you would like to become a Friend of Featherston Booktown and support our book voucher scheme – where we give book vouchers to every South Wairarapa primary school student – please sign up:  https://www.booktown.. 

We would value your support!

Speaking of which, the line-up for the Karukatea Festival is shaping up very nicely, including the Reader’s Choice event, where we asked you to tell us who you’d like to see at the Festival. We can’t tell you who is coming just yet, all will be revealed on March 15.

Did you take advantage of the Booklover’s Trail – Te Ara Kai Pukapuka audio app over the summer break? The free app gives you a guided tour throughout the Wairarapa through our many fabulous bookshops, 13 to be exact. 

Hear the stories of the booksellers as you travel the region, taking in the literary sites of interest along the way. The app is available now in the Apple & Google Play stores. Look for the Booklover’s Trail – Te Ara Kai Pukapuka and happy trails!

Community Hub – aka the Town Library

Find the Miniature Library.

When was the last time you visited the library in Martinborough (or in Carterton, Featherston and Greytown)? If it’s been a few years, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

We are now part of a large network of lower North Island libraries that includes Masterton, Hutt City, Porirua and Kapiti Coast libraries. This means a greatly enlarged collection with more than a million items to borrow. 

If we don’t hold a book you want, chances are we’ll be able to borrow a copy for you from one of our partner libraries. Best of all, it now doesn’t cost anything to reserve and borrow books, and there are no charges for overdue items. 

Your library also offers more than just books. Did you know you can use our computers for free? Check your email, browse the Internet, and perform other online activities such as banking? We also offer printing and scanning services: you can even print directly from your mobile device if you wish.  

And it’s a great place for little ones too, where imagination, fun and learning come alive! We hold weekly story-time sessions for pre-schoolers as well as after-school activities for older children. Our holiday programmes are always a hit, with boredom-busting activities to engage young minds and bodies. 

As a community hub, you can find all kinds of support at regular clinics held by Digital Seniors, Justices of the Peace and Wairarapa Community Law … Continue Reading

Seaweedy Tales from Wales

All are welcome to an afternoon with illustrator & folklorist Peter Stevenson.

Peter lives in a “seaweedy town” on the west coast of Wales. He studied illustration at Manchester Art College and then Dialect and Folklife Studies at Leeds University.

He publishes and performs around the world and has illustrated for Margaret Mahy, Gavin Bishop, Joy Cowley and others.

Wairarapa Word and Wairarapa Library Service are happy to welcome Peter to Wairarapa, where is staying with Te Ao O Te Pūkeko to write about the liminal space between earth and water.

All are welcome to “Tales from Wales” on Saturday, 24 February, at the Community Courthouse, 60 Holloway Street, Carterton, Wairarapa. 

At 2 p.m, Peter presents folktales for all ages from his newest books, Illustrated Welsh Folk Tales for Young and Old and Boggarts, Trolls & Twlwyth Teg.  A very favourite tale of Peter’s is The Green Man, a Welsh Roman story.

At 4 p.m, he will run a free Visual Storytelling Workshop for adults: Where do stories come from? How can oral stories be made into books? 

This workshop explores migration stories – from Wales and the world. Bring along a story to tell, real or fantasy, on migration. Limited spaces. Sign up with madeleine@wls.org.nz.  

“Tales from Wales” is part of a free monthly public programme brought to you by Wairarapa Word and Wairarapa Library Service. Follow on Facebook, or sign up to receive news in your inbox:   events.waiword@gmail..

For more about Peter Stevenson visit https://www.peterstevensonarts.co.uk/  – or follow him on Facebook – look for the Green Man!

Free entry, but Koha is appreciated. Peter’s books will be available for sale and signing.

Updated rating valuations delayed till April

New rating valuations for South Wairarapa property owners have been delayed for two months and will sent from April 17 _ because of workload levels at Quotable Value (QV).

Revaluations for all South Wairarapa properties were due this month but the Office of the Valuer General granted an extension to QV for “factors” which include “Covid 19, changing regulatory requirements, and the complexity of the rural sector,” a statement from South Wairarapa District Council noted.

“The new values will be based on the most likely selling price if the property had sold on the valuation date, which was 1 September 2023, and will be used to help inform rates commencing in the 2024/2025 rating year,” it said.

QV’s national revaluation  manager Tim Gibson said the extra time “will help ensure greater accuracy.”

“It has been delayed … because we still need to thoroughly review a number of values within the district.”

The new valuations are expected to be based on Capital Value rather than the previously-used Land Value basis. 

Gibson said the valuations “are solely used for the purpose of determining the equitable share of rates are (sic) distributed fairly across property owners of the district _ and are not intended to be used as market valuations.”

Owners who dispute their new rating valuation will have till May 24 to lodge an objection with QV.

Gibson notes that “your local council are not responsible for the new rating valuations.”

Many ratepayers reportedly still expect double-digit rate demands from council for 2024-25.