Blog

Thank you very much for your email to our new Mayor of Lower Hutt, Campbell Barry. This email has been passed on to me as the Healthy Families Hutt Valley Manager. Healthy Families Hutt Valley is part of a national initiative called Healthy Families NZ with the goal of all New Zealanders enjoying health promoting social and physical environments that enable healthy food and physical activity choices, being smokefree, drinking alcohol only in moderation and increasing mental health resilience and wellbeing.

Congratulations on your election! 

Local Government is very important in shaping our local environment for decades to come. You can help or hurt walking by your decisions. Let’s make your place better for walking!

Dear fellow pedestrians,

Life as we have known it has changed forever. We have long shared our footpaths with the odd cyclist or skateboarder, but the appearance and proliferation of e-scooter machines is a whole new thing.

This new era requires that we change fundamentally our approach to getting around on two legs, and demands a hugely elevated sense of awareness and safety. Care needs to be taken in every area and with almost every step.

The Great Harbour Way/ Te Aranui o Pōneke Trust hailed NZTA’s decision to proceed with funding the iconic Hutt Valley-Wellington cycling and walking seaward path, announced by Minister Julie Anne Genter at Point Jerningham.

see more in the attached 

Yes we do need to start the journey to a more walkable future, for our health, the planet, the economy and just because walking is fun and social. There are some really fantastic projects internationally that we could take bits from and adapt to what we want in New Zealand - its all about what we want after all. That vision is required from the top nudged along by us. Some of the first steps have already been taken with footpath maintenance funding now available and a revised Government Policy Statement on Transport. We need to see that turned into action on our streets.

Great Harbour Way Trustee and former Mayor Celia Wade-Brown is delighted the Government will be advancing the missing link in the Great Harbour Way.

“The Great Harbour Way, Te Aranui o Pōneke, is an amazing scenic opportunity for locals and tourists alike, for both recreation and commuting.”  says Ms Celia Wade-Brown.

“Fixing the gap between Ngauranga and Petone will also seamlessly connect the capital to the Remutaka Trail. Both Hutt and Wellington City Councils are working on their parts, New Zealand Transport Agency must do their section.”

August 2018

Victoria Walks has released the Footpath Cycling Discussion Paper

Victoria Walks, Council On The Ageing, Vision Australia and others strongly oppose any change to allow footpath cycling.

  Women and walking in New Zealand

New Zealand women love to walk. At least that is what the data shows. Walking is good for physical and mental health, for getting out as part of the community, and for our planet. However, in the last few months media stories have suggested the opposite. Walking (or wheel-chairing) is the usual way people get around and is part of every trip, so what’s going on?

Talking, walking, seeing fall colours and catching up with friends and family - what's not to like about a visit to North America in September?
 

We started with the grand official opening of the Banff Commonwealth Walkway. It physically links several paths around this Rocky Mountain City. Virtually there is a link to other Commonwealth countries including our own capital where the markers were finished last year. I was moved by the indigenous welcome from Siksika Nation elder Tom Crane Bear.