? Celebrating Petone?s sporting legacy
Future promising for enviro-schemes
The greening of Jackson Street is being used as a pilot study by the Ministry of Economic Development. Keep Hutt Beautiful convener Sandy Beath-Croft is heavily involved and says it?s all about green waste management and energy and water conservation. She says Jackson Street coordinator ?Robert Hutton is flat out over summer down there?. ?The Jackson street programme is just the start of a big build up for next year. ?To coincide with the Petone Rugby Clubs 125th celebration we want to get as many local restaurants and businesses on board. ?We are looking to be totally ready for 2011,? Mrs Beath-Croft says. She says the shops on Jacksons Street have been ?proud? of taking up the scheme and being a ?guinea pig? for the government. ?The ministry is looking towards us as a pilot of taking the green message to businesses. ?In Petone we want to get the Alcohol Accord people on board early next year; Kevin [?Macca? from the Fireman?s Arms] genuinely cares and is one of the leaders who can see the benefits that are coming to the street.? A major council initiative over summer is water conservation, which ?is very much is a priority, even with a lot of rain?. ?The whole region takes its water from the Hutt ? people come in from all over to get water from the aquifer. ?With all the paving and roofs with gutters water runs down the valley and out to sea, it doesn?t seep into the ground and replenish the aquifer,? says Mrs Beath-Croft. Recently in Kapiti ground-wells have been under immense stress and salt water has infiltrated the supply, forcing them to rely on the Hutt. ?Kapiti can get quite desperate; they have a lot of elderly people that like gardening up there. ?The sea gets into the bores ... they don?t talk about it, but I?ve heard from people in the area that people have been getting sick and want to know why,? she says. Saline contamination of Petone?s aquifer is always a ?worry and a risk?. Keep Porirua Beautiful convener John Poppleton is envisaging building a model replica of the Porirua Harbour for next year?s Creek Fest. Giving people something tactile to experience will bring the conservation message home. ?[Creek Fest] has been running for five years and the theme is about looking after the harbour. ?I want to host an open tent, as one of the 40 stands that will be there, and create a replica of the harbour to show people the areas of beauty. ?Then I will show what it is like if we don?t look after it, pouring oil in there and dead fish,? says Mr Poppleton. To aid in the city?s revitalisation he has identified half-a-dozen locations for murals next year. ?We are looking to have three murals completed next year and also sculptures within our city, just as they have done in Wellington, things that engage with the community and draw people in.? On the home front at Pukerua Bay, Mr Poppleton has been impressed by local resident Cath Pearson who adopted a stretch of SH1 near her home. By ?putting her hand up? she has set a good example of how each person?s contribution counts, he says. The new Keep Porirua Beautiful website is also a success from this year, cataloguing the groups work over the past five years. ?It?s a good reflection of where we have been and where we are going,? says Mr Poppleton.
