From the mayor

The Marae DIY crew rolled into Martinborough on the 16^th of May set to transform Hau Ariki Marae as they had done on other Marae’s around New Zealand 99 times before. They were expecting the usual help from the community, food would be provided throughout their stay, people would arrive to help plant, dig, paint, hammer, the kuia would be whisked away to be pampered and by Sunday afternoon they would head out of Martinborough happy and excited that they had finished 100 Marae makeovers. 

What they didn’t appreciate until they arrived was how amazing the whole community response to this event would be. The crew had not appreciated that Hau Ariki is a real community Marae, it was built by the community for the community, is on community land, everyone in the community is welcome and the community rallies around it when things need to be done.

The Hau Ariki Marae Committee deserve huge recognition for taking this project on, pulling in the Martinborough community to help and getting through four days of hard, often back breaking work to transform the Marae into a stunning community facility. It was also wonderful to see the recognition of the three kuia, Missy Harper, Kurawari Panere and Esther Read. 

I want to thank the hundreds of people who helped in so many ways to ensure that the makeover was completed ahead of time and despite the awful change in the weather. Food kept arriving; people wandered in grabbed a spade, paint brush or a hammer and gave a few hours and more to help not only the Hau Ariki Marae but the Martinborough community as a whole. The transformation looks stunning.

The show will air on TV later in the year.

If you have visited Cape Palliser in the last few weeks and driven past Ngawi you will have noticed that contractors are working hard to prepare the road for sealing. 

SWDC have let the contract to seal the gravel road section from Ngawi to Kupes Sail.  SWDC and NZTA have acknowledged that it is counterproductive to continually send a grader out over 30kms to grade the three or four kilometres of road past Ngawi. This is a wonderful initiative that SWDC and NZTA have been able to implement and will make the trip to the lighthouse easier and safer for the increasing number of visitors and residents who are visiting our iconic lighthouse and seal colonies.

The Martinborough Transfer Station has a new fence; this will keep any loose material inside the compound instead of blowing over the countryside. The road has been grade and potholes filled to make the “trip to the tip” easier, especially when you are towing a trailer. I would like to apologise for the inconvenience some people experienced when they visited the transfer station to find that it was closed because the work was in progress. Council has learnt that we need to better ensure that people know ahead of time that normal hours for a service have changed. 

Finally, I want to thank everyone who took the time to submit to the Long Term Plan. 182 submissions were received, and 56 people or organisations presented in person to Council to give an oral submission. It certainly gives councillors a real insight to how our community is feeling.

Viv Napier