mt victoria, wellington

The Wellington City Council has arranged an Easter Wellington Walkways event to give families the chance to explore the tracks and byways of Wellington whilst getting fit and enjoying the sunshine. It will be an excellent day for young and old alike, with picnicking in the park, an easter egg hunt and a sausage sizzle being run for the Crossways Community Centre.

Date: Sunday 4th April
Time: 10am - 2pm
Venue: Charles Plimmer Park (Good Weather) or the Crossways Community Centre (Bad Weather)

Image credit: oberazzi via Flickr, creative commons licensed

This is the first in an occasional series highlighting local businesses and individuals that are helping build the Mt Victoria community. Know a local hero that should be celebrated? E-mail the Editor.

Nestled within an old cottage in Majoribanks Street that has been home to great restaurants in Mt Victoria for many decades, The Ambeli Restaurant exudes sophistication and class. Ably run by maitre d' Shae Moleta (above) and head chef Sam Pope, The Ambeli combines traditional French-influenced dishes with clever and innovative Mediterranean touches, producing food that is at once classical and inspired, sourced largely from local ingredients.

It's with much sadness that we note the passing of Richard Giese, a long-time Mt Victoria resident and member of the Mt Victoria Residents Association.

Richard was the lead flautist with the NZSO and a life member of the Residents' Association. His involvement in the MVRA goes back many years, and he was a stalwart of community meetings, in a quiet, gentlemanly and gentle way.

There was a memorial gathering for him at the Friends Society on Moncrieff Street today, where his life was celebrated in the neighbourhood he loved. He will be sadly missed, and our thoughts are with his friends and family.

This Tuesday local MPs Grant Robertson (Labour) and Sue Kedgley (Green) are jointly hosting a public meeting to oppose the budget cuts at Radio NZ. The details are:

Where: St Johns Church Hall, Willis Street
When: 7:30pm, Tuesday 16 March
Speakers: Grant Robertson, Sue Kedgley, Gaylene Preston, John Johansson

The reason the proposed budget cuts are a local issue is because so many Mt Victorians have an involvement in Radio NZ, particularly on National Radio. Many of the journalists who live in our neighbourhood have worked for Radio NZ; our politicians have been quoted and interviewed on Morning Report; local personalities have provided commentary, been the subject of interviews and have provided the raw material for documentaries. Some of the Mt Victorians that have contributed to New Zealand's voice on Radio NZ are famous, and some much less so; an even greater number have simply listened. To the majority of these people, the death by a thousand budget cuts proposed by the current government is simply unacceptable.

If there is $100 million for "Party Central" for the Rugby World Cup on the Auckland waterfront, then there is money for Radio NZ. So come to the meeting on Tuesday and show your support.

The shops at the end of Ellice Street on the Basin Reserve intersection look as though they may be heading for imminent demolition, due to an order from the Wellington City Council to bring them up to earthquake standards.

.... sometimes extends to a bloke playing a trumpet whilst standing on his roof. I guess it's Arts Festival time!

Wellington turned on a beautiful day for the Mt Victoria Festival, and the people came in their thousands. In contrast to the wind and rain of last year, the streets outside Crossways were filled with sunshine, happy people, clowns, gelato, excellent music and great food.

Mark your diaries - this Saturday will be filled with fun and frivolity at the Mt Victoria Festival in Roxburgh Street! The theme of the Festival is sustainability and organic living, and more than 65 stalls are confirmed - including food, sustainable lifestyle and high-quality entertainment.

Here's the map of the Festival, and there's a downloadable version and schedules for entertainment and workshops over the fold.

Next week the moving truck will arrive, and MVRA President Jessica Closson and family will begin the long trip back to the United States to take up new jobs and residence in San Francisco.

Jessica has been a stalwart of the community and the Residents Association since she, her husband Morgan and son Luke arrived in Mt Victoria four years ago. For the last two years, Jessica has been President of MVRA and has led some high-profile campaigns, notably the successful High Court challenge against the resource consent granted to the Pirie Street brothel.

Everyone who has worked with Jessica over the last few years can testify to her energy and enthusiasm for our community. She has done an exceptional amount of work over that time, writing, researching and presenting the many submissions that MVRA makes to local and central government, convening and attending a huge number of meetings, and talking to everyone from concerned residents to creche mothers and councillors about the issues of the day.

Jessica's passion for our community will be sorely missed in Mt Victoria, and we wish her and her family every success in San Francisco.

The Capital Times has a story this week about the intersection of Pirie Street and Kent Terrace, saying that motorists are frustrated at the long delays when trying to exit Pirie Street for Kent and Cambridge Terraces.

As many locals will know, it's potentially a long wait at the lights. The Capital Times explores the idea that recent (well, actually not so recent) changes to the intersection have resulted in much longer delays for Pirie Street drivers. This is put down to pedestrians suddenly being acknowledged as legitimate road users by the traffic engineers. So far, so good - it's an interesting hypothesis, and definitely worth investigation.

Then into the discussion leaps Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean, who in a flash of lateral thinking proceeds to blame the Mt Victoria Residents Association for the changes and resulting delays! It's a fantastic story - those pesky and pushy residents have been disrupting the flow of traffic due to their unreasonable demands! Blame them!

If only it were true.