Churton Park Community Chair To Stand Down

Wellington.scoop.co.nz reported my resignation as President of the local Churton Park Community Association today. 

I have decided not to seek re-election at the CPCA’s AGM in March. My resignation will take effect from the AGM on March 17th.

2010 marks my seventh year on the Community Association since 1997 – including two separate terms as President. I believe now is the right time to stand down.  The CPCA has a strong committee and a good succession plan. I am confident that it will continue to work tirelessly for the interests of the local community.

The CPCA finances are in good shape, we have secured approval for major infrastructure projects. In addition events such as our annual Community Christmas function continue to attract strong local support.

The new Neighbourhood Centre at Lakewood Avenue is scheduled for 2011. The new Westchester Drive extension is also due during 2011 and it will help reduce heavy traffic volumes on local roads as well as provide for future growth.

In addition the Minister of Education, Anne Tolley, has also confirmed the building of a second primary school at Amesbury Drive in Churton Park to be opened in Term 1 2012. This school will at last resolve the ongoing pressure of roll growth by increasing the collective capacity of local schools.

I was recently appointed by the Minister of Education to the Establishment Board of Trustees (EBOT) for the new Amesbury Drive School.  I look forward to seeing Churton Park continue to grow and prosper as part of the wider Wellington region. Building good quality infrastructure – especially in the education sector – will be a critical part of that success.

A new Committee will be elected at the AGM in March.  To the existing Committee I'd like to say thanks for your commitment and support over the last year. It's been a blast.  I wish you well for 2010.

Progressive liberalism

The word "liberal" has been misused by many groups in recent years. Some see it as a badge for laissez-faire capitalism - despite liberalism's concern with equal opportunity and freedom from poverty, ignorance or superstition. Others, see liberals as soft on crime, supporters of Big Government and the welfare state.
However, a dictionary definition describes liberal as :
"relating to or having social and political views that favour progress and reform" - Collins Concise Dictionary p.853.
Intrinsic in the liberal attitude is a willingness to always look to improve things, to question established assumptions and to find better solutions to the challenges of the day. Freedom and responsibility are at the heart of the liberal philosophy.

Today the greatest threat to liberalism is not monarchist absolutism of the type facing liberals in revolutionary France. Rather it is the desire for freedom without the acceptance of responsibility and the selective blindness regarding the need to broaden freedoms for all sorts of forgotten groups in society. Rebuilding social capital and the linkages that unite local communities is one of the main tasks facing the country today. The party that can rediscover the roots of this type of balanced yet progressive liberalism will be the party that surprises at the election.

No Nukes Is Good Nukes

Over the past 12 months a number of print and radio news items have appeared extolling the virtues of nuclear power and urging a reconsideration of New Zealand's opposition to nuclear power.

There are at least five good reasons for continuing to oppose nuclear power in New Zealand. These are:
1. Even now there is still no way to safely dispose of highly radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants. If we're going to be good stewards of the environment then we cannot just dump toxic radioactive waste in the Pacific or in the Southern Alps.
2. The risk of nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists and the large scale damage that could result. Globally the risk of terrorists getting their hands on nuclear material increases every time another country adopts nuclear power as an energy source. We do not need to be part of that problem.
3. The inability of the pro-nuclear lobby to guarantee the safety of nuclear power plants. Nuclear accidents in the USA (Three Mile Island) and Russia (Cheronobyl) continue to remind us that sometimes our faith in science and human engineering can be misplaced - no matter how many safety systems are in place. The engineers of the Titanic also believed they had a truly safe and unsinkable product. Supporters of nuclear power will argue that life itself can be seen as being one big risk management exercise but frankly when it comes to nuclear power it pays to err on the side of caution.
4 New Zealand has particular geographical challenges such as our terrain and earthquake risks. Even if the case for nuclear power can be made for the USA or France - the challenges for New Zealand and the reasons not to do it are stronger here than elsewhere.
5. The economics don't stack up. The cost of nuclear reactors in the UK is now budgeted at $9billion each. That could fund our entire education or health system for some years. In most countries nuclear power plants rely on taxpayer subsidies to cover the cost of construction. I can think of a lot of other things I'd prefer to use taxpayer subisides for ahead of helping the nuclear power industry.

The nuclear lobby argues that because we have tiny radioactive sources in things like smoke detectors it is not true for us to claim to be "nuclear-free" Therefore - so the argument runs_ we should adopt nuclear power. But there is a huge leap between smoke detectors and nuclear power plants churning out radioactive waste.

As of 2007, the United States had accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors. Underground storage at Yucca Mountain in U.S. has been proposed as permanent storage. After 10,000 years of radioactive decay, according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards, the spent nuclear fuel will no longer pose a threat to public health and safety.

Alternative energy sources, such as wind, tidal, solar and geothermal, which do not have the pollutant waste involved with nuclear, remain far better options.

Tana Umaga - Real Life Hero

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Tana Umaga and many of the Vodafone Wellington Lions Rugby team took time out recently to attend a post-training BBQ with local Wellington school children.

The event was a great opportunity for local school boys and girls to watch the Lions players train and to mingle with their sporting heroes afterwards. Local Parliamentarians (and one or two Vodafone staff :-) joined the Lions players as the children gathered autographs and posed for photographs.

Umaga demonstrated again why he is known as one of the great ambassadors of rugby and for New Zealand. His friendly, easy manner and broad smile made it easy for the children and parents to engage with one of the All Black greats.

Last week Tana was on hand again at the Ese Trust lunch to help raise funds for a family struck by two tragic sporting injuries. All credit to organisers, to the sponsors - including Vodafone - and to the Wellington rugby community for arranging this very memorable and successful occasion. Tana and the current and former All Blacks who were well represented at the fundraiser helped make the event as successful as it was. Later the same day Tana took the field to play in his 100th game for the Vodafone Wellington Lions - an amazing achievement in anyone's books.

Kids these days don't seem to have the sorts of real life heroes that used to exist before the days of x-box, paparazzi, doping scandals and so-called reality TV. So it was refreshing to get to meet a leader who has earned the respect of his teamates and the wider community for his real class both on and off the field. This was reflected in the standing ovation from his peers and rugby whanau at the lunch. Farewell Tana. Have a great time in France.


Posted by Roger Ellis at 5:11 PM
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