A STREAM WAS RUNNING BRIGHT GREEN LAST WEDNESDAY INTO OUR OCEAN.
Residents living along Rocks Rd., Wakefield Quay & Tahunanui Drive (by the beach) were surprised when they spotted a stream running fluorescent green in the ocean.
One resident, said the stream on the beach end was "bright green" on Wednesday morning.
"It runs down into a big grate, which is about 4 square metres, where it runs under the road and it was green down there too, so there was obviously a lot of whatever going on.
The stream above the catch pit was clear so it looked like something had been poured down into the catch pit on the road, she said.
NCC’s technical services manager said the cause of the discolouration was an organic fluorescein dye used by contractors to identify where underground infrastructure is located. This highlights faults/breaks in pipe lines too.

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WHAT A HAPPY FAMILY CELEBRATION..
The M & M's joined with the Nelson/Tasman Malayali Community yesterday afternoon to celebrate Christmas & the New Year. It was a happy fun filled family day of music, song, dance, games & amazing traditional food.
I spoke about Christmas being a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (son of God) and that it conveys his message of love, tolerance, peace and strength in unity.
I also said it's a celebration of humanity and mankind.
Although Christmas is primarily a Christian Festival, it still has a special significance in everyone’s life. 
In your home country (& in particular Kerala) this festival has special importance since India is known for its unity in diversity worldwide.
The celebration of Christmas shows that all people from different ethnic backgrounds can take part in the Christmas celebrations of joy and love.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - MORE BIRDS IN OUR GARDENS.
Helen Pearson thank you for sharing your delight with the increased number of birds visiting your garden. Helen you are correct, more native birds are visiting our local gardens however a number of introduced species are still in decline. 
You will be interested to learn there has been a rise of 19% in the numbers of Tui and 5% in Kerurū (wood pigeon) numbers in Nelson. Fantail numbers are up 10%, while Bellbird are up 4% & Greenfinch up 71%.
We are most fortunate to have so many dedicated volunteer trappers working hard to keep predators at bay in the Nelson/Tasman region.
The health of our environment can be gauged by the number of birds in our gardens.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - WE’VE DONE IT AGAIN.
We are for the second year in a row at the top of the sunshine hours charts in the latest data released by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Nelson is ahead of Marlborough & retains the crown by 60 hours. The sunshine observation sites report the sunniest three regions in 2019 were Nelson (2859 hours), Marlborough (2799 hours), Hawke’s Bay/Napier (2709 hours)
There are so many good reasons for the sun to shine brightly on Nelson, isn’t there?

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NELSON HAS A BUSY SUMMER AHEAD.
You will be interested to know Nelson has a busy summer ahead with 7 cruise ships arriving in Port Nelson over January & February. The busiest day is going to be January 26 when (for the first time) two cruise ships arrive on the same day bringing with them over 2000 passengers to our region with 1000 remaining in the city.
Seabourn Encore Thurs 2 Jan 20
Caledonian Sky 13-Jan-20
Maasdam Sun 26-01-2020
Seven Seas Voyage Sun 26-01-2020
Azamara Journey Tue 04-Feb-2020
Seabourn Encore Mon 17 Feb 20
Europa Tue 18 Feb 2020

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NEWS UPDATE – OUR STREAMS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR NATURE.
Charles Cotton, thank you for raising with me your concern regarding the amount of weed growth in the Orphanage Stream. 
Charles, I am advised that there are two main pest plants - Vietnamese Parsley (Oenanthe javanica) and Water Celery (Apium nodiflorum) that are affecting our streams in the Stoke area. Both plants grow rapidly & regenerate by rooting from very small, detached fragments and/or seed.
You will be pleased to learn that NCC’s Biosecurity & Parks teams share your concern & are working together with urgency around the appropriate management of these two invasive aquatic pest plants.
NCC is developing a range of management options for dealing with these plants. It is likely that any management of the weeds will incorporate levels of mechanical/physical removal, as well as agrichemical management to deliver effective & efficient control. 
Council contractors are presently trialling hand removal of the weeds in the affected waterways, such as Orphanage Stream at Saxton Road, Saxton Creek at Ngati Rarua Street.

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GOOD NEWS - CHRISTMAS IN LIGHTS. 
You will be excited to learn that 10 families have truly got the Christmas spirit & have decorated their homes with coloured lights & decorations.
This means we can spend a very pleasant summer evening visiting their homes in Nelson/Tasman & viewing these beautiful lights/decorations & appreciate the love/care that has gone into presenting them for us all to enjoy.
The locations of where to find them are listed below:

17 Tory Street, Maitai, Nelson (01/12/2019 to 31/12/2019)
4 Grove Street, The Wood, Nelson (24/11/2019 to 01/01/2020)
6 Allport Place, Stoke (13/12/2019 to 30/12/2019)
71 Point road, Monaco (16/12/2019 to 01/01/2020)
89 Panorama Drive, Stoke (12/11/2019 to 31/12/2019)
189 Annesbrook Drive, Stoke (13/12/2019 to 31/12/2019)
40 Rochfort Drive, Richmond (12/12/2019 to 26/12/2019)
8 Giblin Street, Richmond (12/04/2019 to 25/12/2019)
1 Cropp Place, Richmond (20/12/2019 to 25/12/2019)
7 Martin ave Wakefield (from 4/12/2019)

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PROJECT UPDATE - MURALS ON COUNCIL BUILDINGS.
You will be interested to know the first of a group of new murals on Council owned buildings has been completed this week and it’s a stunner!
The Arts Council has engaged artists to create works in some previously blank and unloved places. The intention is to brighten these spaces with new artwork & to reduce tagging.
The first completed artwork is on the pump station in Neale Park.
Another five public murals are underway and shall be completed after Christmas and in the New Year. 
Other sites include the Tahunanui skate ramp, temporary pieces on the Elma Turner Library and the Council owned building currently occupied by Community Art Works next to Wakatu Square car park.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - LITTA TRAP TRIAL FOR NELSON - STARTS JANUARY.

Jamie White following your suggestion to me of a Litta Trap trial for Nelson, I can tell you it is going to happen.

The traps will be installed in four locations within the Central City & will be monitored after rainfall..

The four locations are:

1/ Trafalgar Street outside Burger King (high volume of water from road).

2/ Fiddle Lane, Bridge Street end, pedestrian area (no vehicles expected).

3/ Carpark outside Farmers loading zone (carpark example).

4/ Hope Street, eastern side, Hardy Street end (low volume road, no footpath).

Testing of sediment samples and waste inspections will be undertaken for each trap, which will help NCC to understand what and where the issues are.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - BIKE REPAIR STATION.

You will be interested to know that bike repair stations are popping up around Nelson, with the first one installed at the Codgers Recreation Hub, and the second (as pictured below) situated along the Maitai shared pathway near the River Kitchen cafe. NCC has bought a number of these repair stations to support cycling.

The repair stations have tools such as tyre leavers, allen keys, screw drivers and a pump.

A further two repair stations are planned for the CBD, one is planned for Tahunanui and the other planned for Stoke.

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NEWS - UPDATE - NZ POST'S PAXTER (TRIAL) SERVICE.

NZ Post has advised that their Paxter service in Nelson is partially on hold/review with letters again being delivered by the postie on her/his bike & there will be an on road delivery service of parcels/packages by the Paxter.

The change in the service offered has come about because of Nelsons topography & the narrowness of many of our footpaths.

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SHOULD NCC BE TRIALLING THIS TOO?

Thank you Jamie White for bringing to my attention Auckland Council’s Litta Trap trial.

Litta Traps have been placed at 34 sites around Waiheke island. The trial is run by Auckland Council's Wai Ora-Healthy Waterways. The traps sit inside stormwater catchpits filtering plastic and rubbish before it can reach the waterways.

In the first two months of the trial, the traps stopped around 4,000 pieces of debris from entering their waterways and beaches. Most of the debris was plastics (34%), cigarette butts (30%) glass fragments (13%) and processed wood (12%).

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Newly elected Council ready to get the job done.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - MORE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ISLANDS BEING CONSIDERED.
Jude Biggs thank you for sharing with me the difficulty you & other pedestrians are experiecing when trying to cross the busy Tahunanui/Annesbrook Drive & for your suggestion that a pedestrian refuge island be installed close to Douglas Road.
Jude you will be pleased to know NCC understands/appreciates your concern & is working closely with NZTA (as the road is a state highway) to remedy the situation. Several options are under consideration eg in the vicinity of Douglas Rd., Marie St., & Toswell Reserve. I'll keep you updated as the options are progressed.

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GOOD NEWS - OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE BETTS APARTMENTS.
Yesterday morning I attended (on your behalf) the opening of our newest inner city apartment building. The completion of this exciting development/project means there are now a further 17 inner city apartments in the heart of our central city (at the top end of Trafalgar Street). This is another successful project completed by Scott Construction, Arthouse Architects, designers & subcontractors.
You will be pleased to know that NCC is actively promoting increased living in our central city by pulling all the levers at its disposal. Council is also close to completing a city centre program which aims to better priorities & coordinate the activities that Council does in the city centre to realise maximum benefits for investment & to better engage with landowners & developers.

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GOOD NEWS - UPDATE - STORMWATER UPGRADE NEARS COMPLETION.
Lynn & Jim Laing you will be excited to learn the serious stormwater issues/concerns you have had (for the past 5 years) with water running into/over your property are coming to an end. The work to upgrade the stormwater services in Nayland Rd./Galway St. is progressing very well, however there has been a slight delay when further existing services were identified. The work is now expected to be completed within the next couple of weeks, weather permitting.

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NEW GATEWAY TO OUR REGION - OFFICIALLY OPENS - THIS SATURDAY MORNING 19 Oct.
You will be pleased to learn our stunning new airport terminal will be Officially opened this Saturday morning (19 Oct.) by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Our impressive $32 million airport terminal project has been headed by Naylor Love who formed a partnership with Gibbons Construction, Fulton Hogan & a number of Nelson-based contractors to produce the new gateway to Nelson/Tasman.

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You will be sad to learn that due to the weather forecast the Nelson Arts Festival Trust (who run the Mask Parade) have had to make the call to postpone the Mask Parade until this Sunday 20th Oct at 5pm, and they have cancelled the Carnivale. This was not an easy decision for them to make as it is only the second time in the history of the Parade this has happened, but they feel it's for the best. The NAFT can now start planning for a successful parade on Sunday.
Please note that Pic's Piki Mai will be on tonight regardless.
Not the way they wanted to kick off the 25th Nelson Arts Festival, but everyone will make the best of it and we look forward to the next 11 days of fun, excitement, involving the community. See you on Sunday and at the Mask Parade.

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