Council News

New recycling service launches 9 September

We’re really looking forward to the new kerbside wheelie bin recycling service which is set to begin the week commencing Monday 9 September. If you’re eligible for the service you may have already received your recycling wheelie bin, with a bright yellow lid. If you haven’t received yours yet, it will be on its way very soon.

The wheelie bin is to be used for non-glass recyclables and the old green and maroon crates for glass-only recycling. The crates and the wheelie bins will be collected on alternating weeks.

Everyone in South Wairarapa puts their recycling wheelie bin out on Week 1, and their crates out on Week 2. While it’s a little bit confusing, the new recycling pick-up service actually begins on Week 2, according to the calendar included in the booklet that was delivered with your wheelie bin.

The calendar and all the information you need about the new service is also available at www.wairecycle.nz.

Community board meeting to discuss Pain Farm

There will be an extraordinary meeting of the Martinborough Community Board on Thursday 19 September to discuss matters relating to Pain Farm. The meeting will be held at 6pm in the Supper Room at the Waihinga Centre. … Continue Reading

Cooking corner – Spanakopita

Ingredients

1pkt fresh spinach

1tbs Martinborough extra virgin olive oil

1 medium (200gr) onion chopped 

1 (or 2) cloves garlic chopped

190 gr Feta cheese

150 gr full fat cottage cheese

1 egg

1 tsp dried Oregano 

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp grd black pepper

50 gr butter melted.

125 gr filo pastry … Continue Reading

Community Board notes

Our last full Community Board meeting was on the 22^nd August and we took the opportunity to tidy up some loose ends before the elections. 

Flags
There is a new Flag Hanging system on order which will make the process of replacing our town and event flags a lot easier. We will be taking the old flags down when the new system goes up – long overdue, but this allows us to save on traffic management costs. We will be ordering some festive summer flags to brighten up the streets during December and January and, after the success of last year’s event, we’re pleased to provide MADCAPs with funding for the Christmas Parade event. 

Martinborough Pool Improvements
There’s also some great work going on at the Martinborough Pool. Council will be providing and installing shade over the toddlers’ pool. Council, Community Board and Pain and Kershaw are working together on providing more seating and beautifying the grassy area. A big thank you to P&K for your financial contribution alongside a generous donation from Fred Couper’s estate. Martinborough Community Board are matching Fred’s contribution from funds donated by the old Martinborough Swimming Club and will make sure Fred is remembered with a commemorative plaque, or similar. Thank you to the P&K team for working with us on this.  … Continue Reading

Choosing a representative

In his excellent book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, the psychologist, and Nobel prize winner, Daniel Kahneman discusses various habits of mind that, when applied to problem solving, can lead us astray. One chapter is devoted to problem substitution.

An example he provides relates to the business of choosing among political candidates. Knowing which of a number of candidates would best fit the role requires an awful lot of specialist knowledge.

Ideally we’d know what sorts of decisions these people are likely to have to make, and under what conditions. We would need to know their style of leadership, the nature of their key working relationships, how they perform under pressure, where their priorities lie when policies need to be sacrificed, what motivates them, what scares them, how quickly they assimilate new knowledge and any other number of factors.

And that’s before we even get to evaluating the policies they are peddling. A tricky task indeed, and one for which very few of us are well equipped. And yet we do form preferences, and in many cases feel quite convinced that we are making the correct choice. How do we do it? … Continue Reading