Good morning Sarah,

First and foremost, I want to warmly thank you for your time on Friday afternoon. I have really appreciated your patience listening to these points dear to my heart. Equally important for me was listening to your views and indsights. All in all, I have found we had a really interesting discussion.

You will have gathered that I have a very acute sense of how wonderful Wellington is. Being myself at the end of a journey towards full sustainability, I can see what it would take for Wellington to become the Eden it ought to be: a place free of pollution, where a community of people lives on rolling hills, curled around a bountiful harbour. To accomplish this vision, it is my view that the place of petrol engines has to be drastically reduced, and we need to work towards eradicating them completely, everywhere.

I have expressed with you a few risks and issues that are at work against this goal. The airport runway extension is a major risk. It is expensive, it serves no purpose for the community, would have huge impact on traffic, increase air pollution (for air and road traffic), noise pollution ... and in the end, totally transform Wellington to something I don’t think any Wellingtonian wants. I feel somewhat reassured you confirmed it is the general feeling you are getting from the people and from the council, and that it is very likely to fade away.

Another risk, which has more direct impact to our suburb, is Shelly Bay. I am quite opposed to this project because at this stage, it only comes at a cost to the community. The promise, as it stands out for the peninsula, is years of work, more traffic, on a road network already reaching capacity, and buildings with no connection with Wellington’s style (low houses, trees and bush in every interstice, etc). You made a point that increasing housing density would leave more space for green areas. It’s a reasonable point. Do you think it would be possible to have the Council committing to link Shelly Bay to transforming all is left of green in the North of Miramar Peninsula to a reserve/green park (with maintained tracks, etc)? This would reassure the sceptical who see green spaces being slowly eaten away by buildings.

Finally, the noise issue. We are extremely fortunate to live where we do, but during summer times, we are severely impacted by noise coming from two principal sources: jetskis and light aircrafts. For the latter, only yesterday, I counted at least 30 of them flying right above our house (today is on the right track to beat this number), making way more noise than the commercial jets. And unlike the commercial jets, they don’t provide any service to the community, which is why I think it is legitimate to ask the question: do we find acceptable that the fun of a handful (these planes can carry two people at a time) comes at the peace of so many (living in the area or enjoying the beach)? I have been in discussion with the air club for a couple of months now, and they’ve told me they don’t choose where they fly in the area, as they take instructions from the tower. Sometimes, the tower instructs them to wait, and one of the three areas where they can is right above the Eastern harbour, where they circle, creating a continuum of noise.

If changing flight path is not an option, then I would suggest they work on the frequency. I’ve got logs of their flights I am happy to share: on a sunny day, it’s a plane every ten minutes, sometimes five. I don’t think anything more often that every half hour would be acceptable. Alternatively, a no-fly day (like Sundays) could be instigated. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what can be done to address this issue, as I know a lot of the local people are struggling with this.

The same concern is true for jetskis. Only one sometimes can ruin everyone’s morning or afternoon. There too, more restrictions would be welcome. Once again, it is only fair as they’re only a handful, but their fun (which I understand and respect) comes at the expense of many. Last year, I did contact GWRC services, and they told me there was no restrictions to wander around busy beaches like Scorching Bay. I think there is a strong case for more restrictions (like, no sailing within 2kms from the shore), topped with safety considerations and all other empty “playgrounds” around the harbour shores. Alternatively, there could be “no-jetski” days (like Sundays), or engine noise could be capped, by law (which would force the industry to work on this issue). There too, many locals are complaining about this, and I would really appreciate your advices to address this issue.

I will finish this email by thanking you for reading it. I know you are busy, and there are hot issues to deal with, like the bus strike. This make the gift of your time even more valuable.

Have a lovely day and I look forward for reading from you,

Benoit