Environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important globally and at a community level. It is therefore important that we identify what we can do at a local level to highlight and support existing initiatives as well as identifying gaps where we could develop new projects/initiatives. Whilst COVID interrupted our work on this project, we have begun by identifying what environmental sustainability means to the Halswell Community Project and what we do / can do to support environmental sustainability.

Environmental sustainability comes about when the environmental, economic and social needs of a society are met in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In the words of a student at the Sustainability Academy, Burlington, VT

"Sustainability means doing more good than harm with the people around us and the stuff we have" 

Making Halswell Community Project more sustainable is about looking at what we do, what we're buying, and how we’re using and disposing of things. It’s also about moving to eco-friendly, local, organic or low-emissions alternatives.

With this in mind HCP has already identified the following initiatives:

• Providing recycling at all events and at the Halswell Hub

• Reducing energy usage and wastage at the Hub

• collecting used sports gear as part of the Give Gear Get Great program

• Collecting wine bottle lids for Kidney Kids

• Sharing shack - sharing of resources from gardens

• Book shack - sharing books and resources

• School holiday craft activities that encourage recycling or upcycling

• Using UPSTREAM for services which benefit young people

• Choosing products and services that show a commitment to

• sustainability whenever we can

• Promoting and supporting environmental initiatives through facebook

• Reducing the amount of printing in the administration of HCP

• Collecting bread tags which are recycled to support wheelchairs in South Africa

What can you do?

Individually we can all make a difference.  If we all try and recycle everything we can, reduce waste and share resources we can make a community wide difference.

Some suggestions for living more sustainably might include:

• Reducing CO2 by driving less - walk, bike or take the bus if you can or if you cant share the drive with others :-)

• Run full loads through the washing machine and dry your clothes on a clothesline when you can

• Take shorter showers

• Use recyclable or reusable products whenever you can - eg keep cups, metal straws, reusable shopping bags

• Install LED lightbulbs to use less power

• Bring your old wine bottle lids and bread tags into the Hub so we can recycle them for you

• Shop local and try and support local businesses where you can

• Slow down and dine in rather than getting take away

• If you have a garden - try growing your own fruit and veg, if not try joining a community garden

• Swap / share  resources - books, clothing, excess fruit and veg,

                         

We are aware that many groups and organisations in the community also have environmental sustainability at the forefront of their planning - if thats you - please do let us know!!!

Many local schools for example have garden to plate programs, the Huritini Student council are passionate about Westlake park and there are regular planting days at Halswell Quarry. We plan to identify other initiatives we can set up or take part in as well as identifying and sharing other examples of sustainability across our community.

Great News for Halswell!!

Halswell Community Project have been leasing the old Library building at 381 Halswell Road from Christchurch City Council until recently,  but have been working closely with council staff to secure the building for the use of the community in the longer term. 

We are excited to report that at the recent council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to gift the building to HCP which means that the Halswell Community Hub can continue to serve the local community for many years to come. Thanks to the Halswell Hornby Community Board and Anne Galloway for all their work and support on this project.

The Hub is open      Monday 9 - 5pm

                                Tuesday 9 - 2pm

                                Wednesday 9 - 5pm

                                Thursday 9 - 2pm

                                Friday 9 - 1pm

There is lots happening so pop in to have a look around or chat to Kate and Keri to find out more!

A few years ago a discussion at one of our monthly connections meetings triggered a survey of facilities and activities in the Halswell area with an emphasis on accessibility for those living with disabilities. Whilst on the whole many buildings and facilities were able to cater for people living with disabilities, one of the things that came out of it was the lack of play equipment in the are. 

Our local councillor, Anne Galloway, picked this up and after much discussion and planning we are excited to see that play equipment specifically designed for children with disabilities will be installed on the Halswell domain near the existing playground by the trains. This will be a real asset to our community and all who come to use it :-)

Halswell Connections - May 2021

This month we met offsite at Hillmorton High School to check out their new building.

Hillmorton is a diverse, medium-sized Years 7-13 school with a dedicated Middle and Senior School. The size and scope of the school means they are able to provide students with a caring and supportive environment, where they are known as an individual from Year 7 through to Year 13.

Ann Brokenshire (principal) and Duane Major (Board Chair) showed the group around the new building - Aonga Ake. This building is located at the front of the school site nearer the road to give the school a greater more welcoming presence particularly for new students and parents who are a welcome part of the school community.

Ann described how the building was designed to bring the middle school, years 7 - 10, together and give them a sense of belonging and inclusion.  The design and architecture aims to reflect all the different cultures represented in the school and students had input into the design and features. The spaces are designed to be flexible with single cell classrooms that can open up into the bigger spaces to be used as teachers/ classes wish.

Part of the new building brings Ko Taku Reo (Van Asch school) into the main school and these students have classrooms within Aonga Ako which again helps with their sense of belonging to Hillmorton.

The masterplan for Hillmorton is for 2000 students with a current roll of just over 1000. The school has seen a period of growth with the current year 9 being the largest the school has seen at 237 students. It is expected that this growth will continue and roll up.

Hillmorton has a great board who are all heavily invested in the school, most of their own children attend.

Ann shared several stories of students' successes and acknowledged that the school would like to do more of this within the wider community.  Many parents share that their children's school experience at Hillmorton prepares them for the real world because it is enriched by the diversity within the school

We discussed the free school lunches trial which Hillmorton is a part of. The team at UCSA have been doing regular student and parent surveys to improve the service and food provided and the school is seeing an increase in uptake by students. Students eat in their Whanau groups which is working well as eating and relating go hand in hand and helps to build relationships and that sense of belonging. All packaging is recyclable and any lunches not eaten are passed onto other organisations or back to the University who use them in their food bank for students who may be struggling. This means that even if not eaten at school, the lunches are not going to waste.  Long term the school would love to have a full cafeteria providing choice and hot food but this is a long way off.

Keri asked how the no cell phones policy was going.  The overwhelming results are successful. As well as students being more engaged in other activities, staff have seen a huge drop in the number of phones being confiscated each day - 10 per day being the max currently. In a school of over 1000 this is a great result. Instead students are spending time in the library or engaged in sports, card games and talking to each other.

One spin off of the policy was the need to put clocks in each classroom so students could keep track of time - and therefore the need to teach lots of students how to read an analogue clock.

Sally asked how the school deals with the sometimes negative perception the public may have.  Ann said it was simple really - by focussing on the positive and championing the students they have. The school is very family oriented and works closely with individuals to solve problems. They have a great pastoral wrap around culture which means they have one of the lowest stand down rates in Christchurch.

During questions, Ann outlined how the biggest challenge Hillmorton faces is how to develop a culture that retains the pastoral wrap around that is key to Hillmortons success. This involves setting structures at deputy and associate principal level, year levels,pastoral leadership and increasing teams within the staffing so that decisions are made as close to the point of impact as possible.  The board currently funds some staff to enable the class sizes to be kept smaller

Setting the culture - high expectations - then allows the strategy to be put in place to develop that culture.

Duane suggested the tension between size and growth could be managed by growing slowly and growing well. Planning and culture are key to this with the school being whanau orientated and committed to their visions of working with their communities,  nurture well-rounded and accomplished young people, prepared and ready for life

Finally Duane described the urgent need for the new gym.The 6 tennis courts that gave way for Aonga Ake have been replaced but the gym is needed urgently.  The school is hoping for a decision on this from the Ministry of Education in the next few weeks.

Meeting Closed 1.30pm

Next Meeting:     Tuesday 15th June at the Halswell Hub, 381 Halswell Road

Speaker:             Zahra Hussaini - communities supporting Migrant and refugee families

Help out the Christchurch Blanket Bank

This year, the Halswell Community Project have offered to help out the New Brighton Project’s Blanket Bank. So far we have taken two carloads of bedding - including clean blankets, sheets and duvets and VERY clean pillows over to Brighton.

The Blanket Bank provides bedding and blankets to Christchurch people in need of warm bedding at no cost. 

“With winter on its way, it’s time for us to stock up for our busiest time of the year. We rely on donations of warm bedding e.g. blankets (both woollen and acrylic), duvets, sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers” says Sarah Mackay, the volunteer who runs the Bank. "Blankets are almost marching out the door at the moment".

If you would like to donate, please drop any warm, clean and good quality (something you would use yourself) bedding that you have to the Halswell Community Hub (381 Halswell Rd – parking off Sparks Rd) during office hours. 

If you are unable to donate a blanket but would like to help, then you could make a donation on their Give a Little Page.

Community Resilience

Halswell has been through a few emergencies together, during which we have each supported our community in various ways. All of us take part in responding to an emergency – some of our groups and organisations may have more formal responsibilities and arrangements, while others fully rely on the goodwill and dedication of a few staff and volunteers to do what needs doing at the time. The more we understand each other’s roles, capabilities, and limitations, the more we connect and plan together, the better we will get through together as a community. 

A few of us have started the process of developing a Community Response Plan. This is not about recreating the formal responses of Civil Defence or formulating a fixed plan of what to do if... but it is about how we as a community respond. 

Over the next few months we will be organising workshops and discussions around this topic and looking at how we can connect people and map the resources our community has. If you would like to be part of this please do contact Kate on halswell.comm@gmail.com. 

DID YOU KNOW:

• Schools are no longer Civil Defence posts in an emergency? 

• The safest place in an emergency is often Home.

• The Council Website is the best source of information in an emergency.

• Getting to know your neighbours is a great way to start your neighbourhood response. When you know your neighbours you're more likely to have more support in an emergency., like a storm or an earthquake.

• Neighbours’ Day Aotearoa is held every March, to encourage neighbours to get to know each other. 

• You can join or form a Neighbourhood Support Group so you and your neighbours can share skills and resources to help you get through in an emergency.

• You can find information about creating an emergency plan for your household here: https://getready.govt.nz/prepared/household/

Neighbour's Day Aotearoa (neighboursday.org.nz)

The Neighbour's Day Aotearoa website has a lot of resources to help you organise your Neighbour's Day event.

Neighbourhood Support (neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz)

Join a Neighbourhood Support Group on the Neighbourhood Support website or call 0800 463 444.

HalswelL Connections - April 2021

 

At our April meeting our speakers were Emma Pavey (CCC Community Development Advisor) and Sam Holland (CCC Community Recreation Advisor)

Emma and Sam gave some background on who they were, how they arrived in their roles and some of the projects they worked on. Sam and Emma work closely together and their roles do overlap.

Emma started as a funding advisor before moving on to become a Community Recreation Advisor followed by a governance manager. All these roles linked strongly into and gave a valuable background to the role of Community Development Advisor.

Initially Emma worked in the Hoon Hay area where she initiated projects like the Hoon Hay Fiesta as a tool to bring people together and increase capacity. Emma also worked with a group of teenagers around the need for lights on the park for basketball. 

This process involved working with the local people/ group, upskilling them and helping them to navigate the channels at council for the desired outcome. Civic participation helps empower people and give them a voice to make a difference for their community.

Emma explained that community led development (rather than council led) leads to a more connected community.

Sam is originally from Christchurch and studies at Lincoln Uni. She has had lots of roles including a summer assistant supporting events across the city such as Hello Hornby.

As the recreational advisor she supports local groups with events and activities such as the Celebrate Halswell Event, Childrens’ Day and possible future events.  She is also involved in the Huritini Student Council encouraging local children to take part in activities they are passionate about. For example the group have been looking at signage around Westlake Park  to protect the birds and wildlife. She is also involved in the Give Gear Get Great program.

Some of the things Emma and Sam are working on at present include:

• Halswell Heritage Trail - maps around the community with information about the history and heritage of the area that brings stories together. The plan is to develop an app to go with this.

• Long Term Plan Submissions close on the 18th April - there are drop in information sessions associated with this.

• Community Service Awards

• Walking Festival

• Representation review which closes on the 16th May. Halswell is currently the largest ward so may see boundary changes. For example - Westmorland and Wigram are likely to be separated off and placed in adjacent wards rather than Halswell.

• Development contributions. Developers currently pay a contribution towards development and infrastructure and this process is open for submissions, for example $1000 per section could be going towards local development and infrastructure 

• Climate change strategy - submissions close on 25th April

Mike raised the issue of the Nottingham stream levels. It would appear that the stream, like the Westlake Lakes is groundwater fed and therefore affected by the low rain levels over a long period rather than the development around the area.

Christchurch City Council has started a project to develop a Three Waters Strategy to ensure long-term sustainability of the natural resources communities rely on for their daily needs. We may be able to get them to a future Connections meeting to discuss this in more detail.

Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre.

Pam and Lisa shared what is happening at the Library currently. 

A new What’s On booklet has been released and is available from the library

Digital Futures courses for 65 plus are going well

Tuesday afternoons are Tech drop in help sessions and residents can book a librarian for 1 on 1 help 

Groups use the library facilities for informal meetings such as:

• Knitting Group -Thursday and Saturday afternoon 1 - 3pm

• Scrabble group - Wednesday 1 - 3pm

HIPPY

HIPPY (Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters) is currently reaching out to find families with children aged 3 - 5 for their program which encourages parents to be first teachers and aid the transition to school. The program improves skills and relationships and feedback shows that children from the program are often ahead of their peers when they start school.

Halswell Community Project

Lynne asked that any notices or articles for the next newsletter be emailed through to her at halswell.newsletter@gmail.com.

Kate and Keri have been busy at the Hub. The Community Board recommended that the Council gift the building to HCP to run and the final decision will be made by council in May.

A new batch of welcome bags has been put together and are ready to be distributed. Kate will drop some off at the Library to give out.

Next Market is 23rd May

School Holidays at the Hub - Sock Puppet craft mornings 10 - 12 on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd April

In addition to the sharing shack, book shack and collecting wine bottle tops, the Hub is now a collection point for good quality blankets and bedding which will be sent over to the New Brighton blanket bank. They have also started collecting bread tags which can be recycled to fund wheelchairs in South Africa.

Halswell Hall

Judith noted that she had taken delivery of the spring bulbs from the fundraiser. They had a good response and raised $421 which will go towards installing an AED on the front porch of the hall.

The Hall is looking for several people to help with the running of the facility - funding coordinator, fundraiser, communications officer, IT person, Social media.

Lots of little jobs need doing around the place and lots of fundraising happening

The new stage will be installed at the end of July and Judith is looking into getting the Elms trimmed due to Health and Safety concerns.

Halswell Residents Association

Ross outlined the proposed changes to SH 75, Halswell Road between Dunbars road and Curletts road. More information can be found here: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/sh75-halswell-road-improvements/

An open Night to be held on Thursday 15th April at Rowley School. 3.30 - 6pm

It was discussed that Halswell NEEDS better bus services into town. Currently it is far faster to travel by car than take the bus due to the congestion. Hopefully this proposal will ease that congestion and make safer access to Hillmorton High School with traffic lights at the end of Tankerville Road.

Halswell Lions

Peter said the Lions have had a busy month. They supported Hillmorton High school during their camp by taking the school lunches out to the students and staff on camp over the 2 week period. He noted that the lions are heavily involved with HHS.

The Lions district have lots of youth activities and the Halswell Lions are hoping to increase the number they get involved in. For example they have been working with an Oaklands School student on the Peace poster competition and would like to see more young people getting involved in these opportunities.

The last Lions meeting had the Justice of the Peace as speakers which was very well attended and received. 

Next Meeting - speaker is CEO of Age Concern

Halswell Lions currently has 19 members and has club elections at the end of April.

Peter discussed the new facebook page and said Lions were pleased with how it was going. Engagement is already up which is encouraging.

Meeting Closed 1.30pm

Next Meeting: Tuesday 18th May Hillmorton High School - details to be 

confirmed but meeting at the school in the new Middle School Learning Block

Upcoming Meetings 2021:

Date	Speaker	Venue
May 18th	Hillmorton High School	Hillmorton High School
June 15th	Zahra Hussaini - communities supporting Migrant and refugee families	Halswell Hub
July 20th	Tracey McClelland MP	Halswell Hub
August 17th
September 21st
October 19th
November 16th