Back
978 days ago

Community Wealth Building in Porirua

Rhondda Sweetman from Plimmerton Rotary

This week’s speakers were Richard Norman and Richard Whatman, who are involved in a pilot project in Porirua City exploring the possibilities of Community Wealth Building.

Richard Norman is a long-standing and very active member of the Rotary Club of Wellington and chaired the editorial committee overseeing the Centenary History of Rotary in New Zealand.

He began by reviewing Rotary’s role in building social capital and as a prime mover in the New Zealand voluntary sector.

Richard Whatman is a career government advisor with previous postings in Labour and Housing. He took a break of seven years to work in consulting in Edinburgh. Now he is back, with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, tasked with finding out whether overseas examples of Community Wealth Building can be replicated here.

Why is it that some cities, towns, or communities seem to thrive, and yet others languish?

One of the answers lies in how effective local initiatives are: especially, how local needs can be met from local sources. In Preston, (NW England), 4000 jobs were created by ‘localising’ the supply of food and other things needed by the city. This had a positive knock-on effect on other parts of the local economy.

Community Wealth Building works, but requires the initiative and collaboration of many local actors, working alongside the government. They are already involved. In Porirua, things will be kick-started by hefty construction projects already underway, with local labour, supplies, and training being pushed along by Ngati Toa.

There are also opportunities in vegetable production, the digital economy, and transport.

The theme is ‘looking after ourselves, and regenerating the local community within a single generation.

We in Rotary will have a part to play (e.g. our new community garden) and we will follow the progress of the pilot project with keen interest.

More messages from your neighbours
1 hour ago

Think You’ve Got the Answer? Today’s Riddle Says ‘Prove It’!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

If eleven plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

Image
5 days ago

Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

Image
1 day ago

Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

Image