MAREE’S MUSINGS

Party Lines    

By Maree Roy

 It’s coming up to election time again. To me, it doesn’t seem long since the last one. 

We’re being treated to the usual electioneering fever and all it entails: endless rounds of speechmaking, interviews, polls and so on, plus the [definitely] odd slanging match. 

With the fast pace of modern life, short and snappy slogans are all the rage. My google-delving of the word slogan revealed it comes from the 16^th century Gaelic “sluagh-ghairm,”  literally a warcry. Says it all, really! Party lines, basically slogans in sheep’s clothing, are trotted out with an interesting and occasionally bizarre selection of these catchphrases. 

The expression trotting out was first used in 1838 in reference to flash horses being put through their paces. Just seven years later it became slang for ‘produce and display for admiration’ – in other words, showing off combined with a dose of horse shit. Quite!

Hoardings and billboards, designed to let us know what the main party lines are, have been popping up like last month’s rabbits. Billboards are just noticeboards for displaying information (a bill being an alternative word for a notice), but I puzzled over hoardings. Back in history, a hourd was another name for a hyrdel: a frame used as a temporary barrier or fence, just like the modern day version: hurdle.

So it’s nothing to do with obsessive collecting which is probably a relief. Both require an eye-catching photo crying out for the usual defacing, and a slogan (ditto). … Continue Reading

Council backtracks on Library hours

The community spoke AND the South Wairarapa District Council responded – partly.

After weeks of anguish over reduced and puzzling library open and closed hours, “elected members (said a statement from council) agreed that the new library hours did not meet community expectations so the service offerings are to be reviewed by November 2023.”

“A revised interim opening hours schedule is to be implemented that better meets the community’s expectations.”

This partial backdown, notified on August 9, came after the results of residents’ perceptions/ratings of the council showed the highest-rated service was the three libraries, with 85% satisfaction. 

That high rating by citizens using the library services was the same as the previous year. 

Libraries were used by 65% of respondents to the wide-ranging survey, while council-maintained sports fields and playgrounds were used by 49% and 46% of respondents respectively. They were given an 80% satisfaction rating, second highest after the libraries.

A council statement advising of the hours changes noted that “opening on a Saturday was important to many of those who provided feedback” (some 400 people). 

Saturday morning will see all three open till a formal review of library services has been done, led by the Council CEO.  … Continue Reading

“Fine musicianship, passion and vitality”

By Winifred Bull

Wenhong Luo says emphatically that none of her family is musical: “Not at all. They all work in the aerospace industry which is rocket science to me”. This talented violist, who is part of the line-up of world-class musicians performing at the Martinborough Music Festival (MMF) this year, was born in Beijing, China. 

Her musical career began when she was four, learning the violin. When she was 12, she switched to the viola after meeting viola teacher, Sue.

“She was such a beautiful player. I also felt the viola chose me. I love to sing, and the viola sounds like my natural voice,” Wenhong noted.

When she was 16, Wenhong made her debut with the China Broadcast Symphony Orchestra. Shortly after this she moved to London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music relocating to the United States when she was 22 to study at the New England Conservatory of Music. She was a prize winner in the Lionel Tertis Viola and Johannes Brahms International competitions.

While in the States, Wenhong played with a group of volunteer musicians in Boston who perform under the banner of Music For Food. Several notable musicians have played for this charity including virtuoso cellist Yo-Yo Ma. 

This initiative was started in 2009 to raise funds to alleviate hunger in local communities. Since this time, over 350 artists have donated their services to provide funds for more than 2 million meals. Something Wenhong is passionate about is delivering music to and for diverse communities. An experienced chamber music musician, she has played in trios and quartets in the United States, United Kingdom, Nepal, and Japan. … Continue Reading

One small step out of the poop

Martinborough Ponds sewerage system has taken a small step towards complying with a formal notice to cease-and-desist all new sewage connections after it earlier failed to meet required performance and compliance standards.

Greater Wellington Regional Council issued its formal Abatement Notice in August 2022, which means all applications for new wastewater connections in Martinborough have been put on pause for up to two years from May 2023. 

The notice warned South Wairarapa District Council that extra connections to the sewerage system “would further compromise the plant’s performance, increasing the risk to the environment, public health and safety.”

The public health risk from previous discharges to the river is very low and the environmental risks were negligible, SWDC said.

The notice meant the council had to halt any and all “unauthorised discharges” from the sewage pond, front up with a corrective action plan and then “comply (with the discharge controls) by 15 August 2023.”

Greater Wellington has now formally accepted the corrective plan and a “lower level abatement notice has been issued that requires the Council to address the immediate non-compliances related to the plant,” SWDC said in a statement. 

“This means the plant remains non-compliant and further connections remain on pause,” it added. … Continue Reading