Fingers crossed that the beginning of the end is finally in sight re our Covid-19 situation. Cabinet will make its decision TODAY as to when exactly we can safely move to Alert Level 2.
It's encouraging to hear that the essence of level 2 is to get the economy back in full swing, as many people back to work as possible and to ensure we do this safely. I know many of you will feel similarly comforted to see our local businesses re-open. There is a strong ‘shop local’ campaign going in our neighbourhood which like many of you, I’m strongly supporting.
Key things to remember at Alert Level 2 (further details can be found here)
· Continue to wash your hands, and high touch surfaces, thoroughly & frequently.
· Our borders will remain closed except to returning Kiwis who will continue to spend 14 days in quarantine.
· You can begin to see close friends and family beyond your bubble but continue to reduce close contact with strangers - continue to keep at least 2 metres between you and strangers.
· We are advised not to meet in large groups. But we may honour events such as funerals and weddings with a maximum of 100 guests, whether inside or outside.
· We can travel elsewhere in New Zealand for work, business or to visit close friends & family.
· Businesses can re-open if they can do so safely. Retail stores will limit numbers of shoppers and will insist on physical distancing. Services such as hairdressers will re-open ensuring appropriate hygiene measures and staff have appropriate PPE. Working from home is recommended if it's an option - the fewer people in workplaces the better.
· All educational facilities will re-open the following Monday, but distance learning is still recommended if possible.
Having Your Say….
A consultation period opened this week on two local transport proposals. The first is for a new pedestrian island and footpath outside 165 Abbots Way, Remuera. Ōrākei Local Board and Auckland Transport are proposing to install a new raised pedestrian island and footpath to create safer access to the upgraded Waiatarua Reserve entrance on Abbots Way. Local residents and businesses will receive this information by post and the details and the online feedback form can be found here. Please submit your feedback by Monday 18th May - this is an important opportunity to ensure local views are taken into account.
The second consultation is for a new zebra crossing at 129 Portland Road in Remuera. The new raised zebra crossing is expected to improve road safety for our walking school busses and others walking in the area by slowing approaching traffic and assisting the crossing of Portland Rd. As above letters will be delivered to locals affected by the proposal but as above Portland Rd is used by many outside of the immediate neighbours. For those of you wanting to have your say, please see the Auckland Transport information here. Feedback opened on 8 May and closes on 22 May. Your views matter and are vital to making sure things are done right.
More generally we have some good news re recycling. Our paper and cardboard recycling process resumed as normal at the start of May as we have successfully secured an overseas market for mixed paper and cardboard materials. For those of us who try to do our best in terms of recycling, it was really frustrating when the virus temporarily impacted our ability to send paper recycling overseas to be processed. I'm glad we've found a solution.
In terms of plastics, please still continue to put these in your recycling bin as usual, and we will recycle everything we can. The types of plastics which make up the bulk of kerbside recycling (77%) are able to be recycled. These are primarily drink bottles, containers and takeaway boxes. Unfortunately, we are currently sending some other mixed plastics to landfill while the markets continue to be affected be the pandemic. Rest assured we will get things back on track as soon as we can.
I'm also happy to share that many of our big projects which had to be halted under Alert Level 4 are now back underway. These include the City Rail Link and the road raising project on the Tamaki Drive causeway. You may be interested to read that the return to business and construction under alert level 3 created a noticeable increase in the seismic readings of the city, having previously decrease during the month we spent at alert level 4. As well as detecting earthquakes and potential volcanic eruptions, these readings pick up the daily hum of city life - traffic, construction and the hustle & bustle of people moving around. A sign that our city is coming back to life and waking up from ‘hibernation’.
I’m sure like me you are enjoying getting out and about in the fine weather. Despite the short burst of heavy rain over the weekend, our reservoir storage levels are still worrying low following one Auckland's most severe Summer droughts. On Thursday this week, council's emergency committee approved mandatory Stage 1 water use restrictions which will come into effect from Saturday 16th May. Until then, restricting our water usage is voluntary, but I would strongly urge you to use water sparingly in the hopes that we can prevent a need to impose further restrictions.
I want to emphasise though, that this does not affect the use of water for drinking or health and safety reasons. For households, it means not using hoses or water blasters. For businesses, hoses and water blasters are prohibited except when used for health, safety, emergency or biosecurity reasons; car washes can only operate using recycled water; and only those sports fields with irrigation systems, soil moisture sensors can operate. Further advice about reducing our water usage can be found here.
Sticking with the important topic of water, I'd like to touch on the situation regarding water quality in Hobson Bay. I'm very keen to get this sorted, and fast - it's unacceptable to me that this beautiful area is currently a health risk. Unfortunately, the message from our staff at Healthy Waters and Watercare is that the poor water quality is due to network issues such as historic, combined wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Addressing this will require significant investment in infrastructure improvements. Work has started on the repairs though. Staff are looking into long-term infrastructure solutions and have carried out extensive dry weather water quality testing in Newmarket Stream and adjacent streams that flow into Hobson Bay. Investigations are now underway to identify network faults such as dry weather blockages in the wastewater network, incorrectly plumbed wastewater (including illegal private cross connections) and broken drainage infrastructure all of which are contributing to the problem. I will continue to keep you updated as these investigations progress and a plan to fix this is put in place. The water quality should never have been allowed to get this bad and staff are very clear as to my direction to address improvements with urgency. I’m sure you are aware the next nearest safe swimming sites are at Judges Bay and Ōkahu Bay, neither of which are at risk from this contamination and remember you can always check Safeswim page for real time data on water quality at our beaches.
I’ve talked in previous newsletters about record keeping of our time in lockdown during COVID-19 and what the next generations will potentially learn about the year 2020 and the Covid-19 situation. Auckland Museum are looking to capture this moment in time by collating objects, photographs and documents representing of a wide range of Aucklander's experiences of the pandemic. The idea is to capture the ways in which COVID-19 has impacted all of us and to illustrate what life is like in lockdown; how we are connecting and creating community while in a state of quarantine; issues we are debating; personal protective equipment and how we are protecting ourselves; creativity while in lockdown and the like
If you or your children would like to be part of this cool project, further details and the form to submit your entry, can be found on the museum's web page.
Please continue to stay safe, look out for each other and reach out if you are struggling.
We have all experienced difficulty on some level in these last few months, but we're almost there.
Thanks to each and every one of you for the part you are playing.
Desley