With the new trains, Metlink could quadruple peak time services between Palmerston North and Wellington and add multiple connections in each direction throughout the day.
The Government has committed to spending $1.3 billion on the national rail network during its current term so we are hopeful it will allocate funding for the new fleet in a future budget.
Decarbonising public transport will enable Greater Wellington to become carbon neutral by 2030. The need to protect our climate is something Kāpiti coasters have been made acutely aware of by ongoing coastal erosion.
This need was reinforced by December's unseasonal rain, which caused flooding and brought down slips on our road and rail networks. Climate change also raises the spectre of droughts and water shortages, which combined with a growing population requires a new method of managing our most precious resource.
Shortly, Greater Wellington will help set up a committee that initiates the Kāpiti whaitua process. We have divided our region into five whaitua, or catchments, to meet the requirements of the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management.
Whaitua committees establish a community vision for water by combining mātauranga Māori, local knowledge and expert information.
The December flooding highlighted the importance of Greater Wellington's flood risk management function. As we renew resource consents to manage the Waikanae and Ōtaki rivers, day-to-day we are continuing to plant the riverbanks, clear harmful vegetation and remove blockages.
Community groups, such as Friends of the Ōtaki River, play an important part in this work. The Friends helped to plant the riverbanks with 7000 trees last year, as Greater Wellington planted 400,000 across the region.
At Chrystalls Bend, where we recently built a stopbank, the Friends were joined by members of Ōtaki mana whenua Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tongato to create a medicinal plant garden, or rongoā.
Planting is also progressing in our Key Native Ecosystem sites at Waitohu, Ōtaki and Peka Peka. KCDC and the Waitohu Stream and Dune Care Group are significantly involved in this revegetation. Pest animal and weed control by our biodiversity team are helping to restore native flora and fauna to these ecologically significant dune lands and coastal wetlands.
GWRC signalled its intent to protect Kāpiti Coast wetlands last year by taking legal action. The successful prosecution of a couple for repeatedly damaging a wetland on their property resulted in a $118,000 fine for the landowner and a three-month custodial sentence for her partner. The couple was also ordered to remediate the damage.
Remediation is also occurring in one of the most visited parts of the Kāpiti Coast, Queen Elizabeth Park.
In December, council voted not to progress commercial grazing licences in the park, enabling the rehabilitation of a further 208 hectares. To be financed by our Low Carbon Acceleration Fund, it will complement restoration work already under way in the park being generously funded by locals Chris and Sam Maclean.
Sadly, advancement on one front is met with retreat on another. Because of ongoing coastal erosion, GWRC is moving some of the park's visitor infrastructure (roads, tracks and other facilities) back from the beach. We are also creating safer connections for walkers, cyclists and horse riders by upgrading the park's entrance at Mackays Crossing.
I'm pleased with our work on the Kāpiti Coast but know there is more to be done. As chair of the council's Environment Committee, I'm proud to honour the trust placed in me by voters to cherish the Kāpiti Coast, and to prepare it for the increasing number of New Zealanders who will call it home.
