From the Mayor

Martinborough is now on the international Dark Sky map with the recognition of the International
Dark Sky Association (IDA) that Martinborough is New Zealand’s first town to adopt a 3000K standard for street lighting. It is also the first and big step in attaining International Dark Sky Reserve Gold status. Dark Sky Reserves are all over the world and are highly regarded by residents and tourists especially from those countries who can hardly see the sun yet alone the stars.

We are in a very fortunate position that we have little light pollution, we have vast expanses of really dark sky and really bright stars. People are prepared to travel half way across the world to come and enjoy and wonder at what we take for granted every night.

Martinborough Dark Sky Association has done an amazing job and in an extremely short time to secure the 3000K lighting standard. For me it has been a whirlwind couple of months trying to put people together to ensure that this result was achieved.

So what will this mean to Martinborough, South Wairarapa and Wairarapa other than ensuring we keep light pollution to a minimum? Dark Sky tourism is growing, people are choosing to live in areas where light pollution is minimised so this will impact on Martinborough with increased visitor numbers and residents.

There is more to this Dark Sky Reserve than tourism, there is a potential for development of education partnerships and facilities. Maori have a long history using astronomy and there is potential for the development of a Maori Astronomy Centre.

These new ventures will need planning considerations, not only from the building of facilities but also where they will be located, have we enough accommodation for increased tourism, have we the capacity to transport people to view the Dark Sky and have we the people to provide the services that go with development.

Council will be adopting its Long Term Plan (LTP) in mid-March.  One of the key consultation topics is the development of a district wide Spatial Plan that will address these planning questions and also gives a direction of where and how we want the district to develop.

The Dark Sky Reserve is a very exciting project; if it becomes a real tourist attraction like Tekapo, we need to ensure we have had the discussion around how we can manage any growth.

Please read the LTP Consultation Document and give your feedback either online or on the feedback form attached to the document by 20 April 2018.

Viv Napier

Waihinga Centre

Seasonal Greetings
The Waihinga Charitable Trust, the Fundraising Team and the Communications Team would like to wish you all a happy and safe holiday season, a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2018. We are looking forward to seeing the doors on the Waihinga Centre open next year and will be continuing to work hard to deliver a Destination Playground and Park for our children to explore and enjoy.

If you are looking for gift ideas, our 2018 Diary is a great stocking filler and you could always donate a tree, bench or fence slat to the park or playground on behalf of those ‘hard to buy for’ relatives. Visit www.waihingacentre.nz to find out more.

Finally, a big thank you to all of our donors and supporters and to all of those who have given their time and energy to this project. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Waihinga Centre Park and Playground Diary 2018
The children of Martinborough, Pirinoa and Kahautara appeal to you to help them to build their dream playground at the Waihinga Centre. The price of new playground equipment is considerable so the Waihinga Centre diary is just one way in which the children have participated to ask for your help.

This diary is the perfect gift for family members whose children or grandchildren attend Martinborough, Pirinoa, or Kahautara Schools, Dot Kids, and Bell Street Childcare, Martinborough Kindergarten or Playcentre. Each month features a child or children playing.

Keep your diary by the phone to list the activities month by month, or gift it to your children to show them how to keep their own diary.

The cost of the diary is $20.00 and with limited numbers it would pay to get in early.

Diaries may be purchased through your school, kindergarten, playcentre or childcare centre, from the Library, P & K and the Village Café or call Lyle Griffiths on 06 306 8421. They will also be available for sale at the Te Kairanga Farmers Market 10am to 3pm on Sunday 3rd December. … Continue Reading

News from First Church

All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
for all his love

It’s refreshing to think of these simple words from a popular 19th century hymn as we are bombarded with all the advertisements for buying at Christmas time. At First church we are delighted to be holding a relaxing concert of some classical Christmas music on Sunday 10 December at 3 pm. This will be an informal concert by the Martinborough Quartet and friends in the style of their successful Winter concert in May. You are warmly invited to join us and enjoy “time out” with some delightful music at this particularly busy time of year. … Continue Reading

Maree’s musings

JOIN the PARTY …

Relax … this is not a political message; for now, that’s history. However, togetherness is here to stay.

Sticking together, making connections and collections – we all do it. Group behaviour ensures survival. Think ‘safety in numbers’, ‘united we stand’ etc. Over time, we’ve learned a plethora of tricks from the birds and the bees. Bees swarm and birds flock. And locusts? Some swarms weigh hundreds and thousands of tonnes with a total head count in the trillions. A veritable plague – like boils. When not swarming, bees live in a hive, like industry. In your bonnet? Not advisable. Ants form armies. Worms are in a can or farmed. Webs, tangled or otherwise, have spiders or deceits.

There’s (ahem) heaps of these terms. We call them ‘collectives’, to coin a phrase. Back to birds, for example. Rarely do we spy a solitary one, which gives rise to the saying ‘Birds of a feather etc’ It’s a parliament of owls, a watch of nightingales, a charm of hummingbirds, and a tidings of magpies – often associated with either bad or good news – ‘One for sorrow, two for joy, and so on’. Poet Denis Glover uses ‘qwardle’ instead. A flock of starlings flying in formation? A murmuration. More appropriately, ‘chatter’ or just ‘bloody nuisance’, maybe. A ‘murder of crows’ comes from the belief that these chaps circle in large numbers above predicted death sites. I prefer a ‘scare of crows’, myself. Of course, there’s the maritime ‘crow’s nest’, hopefully not populated by cuckoos. From a basket, clutch or nest of eggs: a counting of chickens, a box of fluffy ducks, a gliding of swans or ominously, with a coming of Christmases, a cooking of a hapless goose from a gaggle, or a stuffing of turkeys. … Continue Reading