Our fantastic Community Liaison Manager, Tania Austin, is spending her last day working at Crossways today.

Tania has been working for the Mt Victoria community for the last 18 months, helping facilitate the initial campaign to save the old Crossways Community House, then managing the transition to New Crossways in Roxburgh Street. In between times, she’s organised Open Days at Crossways, managed the inaugural Mt Victoria Festival, been the driving force behind movie fundraisers, and much much more.

Tania’s involvement with our community was made possible by a very generous grant from a charitable trust and the financial assistance of local residents. We’re going to miss her energy and enthusiasm and abilities, and as a community we wish her well for the future.

She says:

Thank you for the lovely words and thoughtful and generous gift given to me
at the AGM last week – it was an upbeat and inspiring AGM and was lovely to
share a glass of wine with those that could make it.

I’ll be working until the end of this week tidying up any loose ends and
doing some very exciting funding reports. I will also be floating around
Wellington until June when we head overseas for our honeymoon – we’ll be
back in September when I’ll begin the search for a job.

I am available to do casual jobs from next week until the end of May so if
you hear of anything going, please let me know

Thank you to you all for your support, enthusiasm and dedication to your
community! It’s truly inspiring and it continues to inspire others to get
involved so congratuations – the hard work is worthwhile!

I’ve attached a photo from our wedding….

Enjoy your week and if I don’t see you before I finish, I’m sure that our
paths will cross again, particulary when I am back later this year to help
organise the festival (which is the plan

Cheers,
Tania

The Mt Victoria Historical Society is hosting a guided tour of the Basin Reserve area, highlighting stories of cricket, canals, great events and fascinating people, from Mother Aubert to Waring Taylor, and associating them with the landmarks we see every day, including the Home of Compassion creche on the site where Mother Aubert founded her Wellington mission.

Date: Sunday March 22 (postponement date March 29), starting at 2.30 pm.
For more information and bookings, contact Joanna Newman on 385 2254 or at jonewman@xtra.co.nz

This is a particularly topical walk, given the threat to the Basin Reserve from the ill-considered flyover planned by the very government agencies that should be protecting this vital piece of Wellington’s heritage.

Councillor Celia Wade-Brown has sent through the following message about the annual Walk2Work Day – which happens this week.

Dear Wellingtonians!

Walk2Work day is just around the corner. So we would like to invite you to walk all or part of your daily journey! If it’s too far to walk all the way, catch a bus, train or park your car or cycle on the edge of the city! Every metre walked counts!

Be healthier, save money on petrol and parking fees and be friendly to the environment! Plus it’s easier to shop, visit cafes and meet people.

Walk2Work is on Wednesday March 18, 2009 from 7am to 9am.

Invite all your friends or colleagues to walk to work with you or meet up at the FRANK KITTS PARK, Jervois Quay.

Enjoy your free breakfast snack while you listen to our speakers share their stories, chill out with cool music, get serenaded by our special guest performer, Mere Boynton. Come and hear our new Transport Minister, the Hon. Steven Joyce, talk about walking’s role in the transport mix. Many interesting stories like the long walk from Cape Reinga to Bluff, or the Mayor’s short walk to work will be told during the morning. Tell us your story too and you could win one of our spot prizes!

We also have 2 x 30 minutes introductory lessons in Nordic Walking during the event. If you’re interested in the session please email to walk2work.wellington@gmail.com

If you’re walking to work, you can pre-register by downloading the form and be eligible for the draw for the chance to win a Bodyworks Voucher. We have fifteen (15) to give away. There are a range of spot prizes!,

You can email us your pre-registration form on or before 12noon, 17th March 2009. Otherwise, you can register during the event.

For more information visit

Clyde Quay School is hosting a walk around local kitchens from 1:30pm to 4:30pm this coming Saturday for those looking for inspiration and ideas. As the photo shows, there are some fabulous kitchens on display, and all proceeds from the event go to Clyde Quay School.

Tickets are $25 and are available from the school. E-mail office@clydequay.school.nz for details and bookings. Tickets are limited, so get yours now!

The High Court has just issued a judgement in favour of the Mt Victoria Residents Association, after the Association sought a judicial review of the Wellington City Council’s decision to issue a resource consent to the brothel at 103 Pirie St.

The Judge has made a ruling that:

“Being satisfied as to MVRA’s entitlement to the relief it seeks, I:
a) declare the decision of WCC to not notify the public of the resource consent application by Ms Li was unlawful, having been made without regard to s 15 of the PRA;
b) declare that WCC’s decision to issue the resource consent to Ms Li was in error as a consequence of the operation of s104(3)(d) of the RMA, and also by virtue of WCC’s failure to have regard to s 15 of the PRA;
c) quash and set aside both decisions;
d) direct WCC to revoke the relevant resource consent.
…
“The effect of the preceding orders is that forthwith upon delivery of this judgment, the resource consent necessary for such activity no longer exists and continuance of that activity becomes contrary to the provisions of the District Plan. The consequences of that form of unlawful activity is a matter beyond the scope of the present judicial review.”

The full text of the judgement is attached below.

For more photos of the day, see our Flickr photostream.

The judicial review of the Wellington City Council’s decision to grant a resource consent to the brothel at 103 Pirie Street is being heard in the High Court today.

President of the Mt Victoria Residents Association, Jessica Closson (above), said she was quietly confident of the outcome before the hearing this morning, and that she was looking forward to hearing what the court had to say on the matter. She noted that the hearing was set down for a day and a half, although she was unable to say how soon it would be before a decision would be available from the Judge hearing the matter.

UPDATE: Jessica has just sent the following e-mail:

“Today’s High Court proceedings were encouraging, at times entertaining, and the judge was fair and not distracted by arguments of questionable relevance attempted by counsel for the brothel. The hearing concluded by 12.45pm. Our counsel Tom Bennion covered all our points, and had the right case law to support our arguments.

“Neither Lovely Lily nor her partner Jason (the brothel owners) were in court. The residents, however, filled the courtroom’s gallery. It was a good day for us.

“The judge has reserved his decision, and I will hear from Tom Bennion as soon as a decision is made public.”