For those of you who were not able to attend, you can read the acting Chair's speech below. There is also a copy of the minutes from the meeting. The meeting was well attended, including elected members from NRC, FNDC, Community Board and MP Grant McCallum. The formal part of the meeting was followed by a lively discussion upon the presentation by our guest speaker Russell Shaw of Top Energy.

Acting Chair's Speech -Rolf Mueller-Glodde -

Thank you all for joining our Vision Kerikeri AGM 2025 today!

During the past year, we have had a few big and very time consuming activities, of which a few are now finalised:

Tubbs Farm - Rangitane River Park

For 4 years VKK was jointly engaged with FNDC in opposing a developer’s non- compliant subdivision of farmland for 120 houses near Kerikeri. Eventually, the Environment Court consented the development for 115 houses, however with numerous conditions to safeguard fauna and flora along the Rangitane Stream (incl. kiwi). As required, a Community Engagement Group for the Rangitane River Park has been set-up by the developer to support and control the conservation work with planting and pest control in the 30ha river reserves. These will be vested to FNDC in five years.

David Rees is our VKK representative. While the consent was disappointing, the conditions imposed were worthwhile our engagement. Special thanks to Dr Melanie Miller who coordinated the work of several groups and external experts and lawyers amazingly.

I circulated a detailed e-mail report about this project in June.

Kerikeri-Waipapa Spatial Plan - Te Pātukurea

For 3 years VKK was engaged in the creation of the Kerikeri-Waipapa Spatial Plan as a 30-year plan for the growth of Kerikeri- Waipapa. It was a long drawn and often frustrating process for members of the joint stakeholder community groups : Vision Kerikeri, Our Kerikeri, Kapiro Conservation Trust and Carbon Neutral NZ Trust. Our request for consultative bottom-up instead of informative top-down approach was largely ignored by staff. In the final stage, planners even misled Hapu and the community by providing partial and one-sided information. Together, the groups succeeded to get the vital KeriFresh greenfield between the two towns

(aka Option F) to be included in the potential growth area (opposed by planners), alas with numerous conditions. FNDC finally adopted the plan in June 2025.

At the end of June I circulated another detailed report by e-mail.

FNDC Proposed District Plan (PDP)

Simultaneously, VKK engaged in the consultation for the FNDC Proposed District Plan, again jointly with Our Kerikeri, Kapiro Conservation Trust and Carbon Neutral NZ Trust. In 2022, we made extensive

submissions, followed by “further submissions”. Verbal submissions have been and are still made at the ongoing Hearings since April 2024 - scheduled until Nov 2025. Our focus is generally on the environment, climate impact, urban sprawl, transport connections including walking and biking tracks, amenity values and sustainable development with less discretion than the operative effects-based District Plan. We aim for Kerikeri to grow without losing its small town character. In the end, the result might get challenged by some disgruntled property owners at the Environment Court - so no final conclusion can be predicted yet.

Flooding risks for Waipapa and Kerikeri

During the preparation of the submissions for the Spatial Plan, substantial flooding risks for Waipapa and Kerikeri came to special attention. The 5 rivers originating in the Puketi Forest are flowing towards Waipapa and Kerikeri with a catchment area of about 10,000ha. Rain storms with huge water masses caused flooding and destruction on 25 July 1832 (washing away the Kemp House pig sty) and again in 1980 and 2007. That was 3 times in 175 years! 50 or 100 year “weather bombs” must be expected to cause more serious and

widespread destruction and even to endanger lives. Climate change impacts will increase the risks. NRC’s outdated LIDAR flood mapping shows huge areas in blue, and the expected update will show even larger areas. Since 2012 the Kerikeri River Catchment Liaison Committee under guidance of Northland Regional Council has been working on mitigating options, in particular the construction of a K3A dam about 2.5km north west of Waipapa to create a large lake to control the flow of such stormwaters. Besides controlling the water flow, there would be benefits through storage of town water and irrigation water, recreational water activities, hydro-electric power and others. Despite a lot of discussions, nothing has happened. In 2024 P. Kumar of the local PK Engineering company presented to us a visionary Blueprint One concept of a 110ha Waipapa Lake to catch the water from all five rivers with similar benefits as the K3A dam and more. Furthermore, KiwiFresh, the owner- developer of the Option F land we supported to be added to the Kerikeri-Waipapa Spatial Plan, presented a more simple flood mitigation scheme through their land. - As lay people, we cannot judge which system would be most effective, safe and affordable (possibly even combinations), but we remain engaged in discussions aiming to raise awareness that action is required most urgently.

Devastating flooding disasters are now frequently reported globally like recently in Texas, Germany, Spain, China and also locally like in the Nelson area recently. Our own local rain storms fortunately led to only minor flooding so far: we were lucky!

Wairoa Stream Track - Te Waiwere

Friends of Wairoa Stream have continued their amazing battle against weeds, planting native trees and extending the track under the leadership of the tireless Rod Brown. The track is very popular with locals and visitors, and the planted trees will sequester carbon emissions to mitigate Climate Change. The finances are handled through the VKK accounts.

Prof David Lowe’s Climate Change talk

In August 2024, our Committee co-organised an event with Carbon Neutral NZ Trust for Climate Scientist Professor David Lowe at Turner Centre in Kerikeri “A damaged Earth but not a broken one”, which was well

attended and provided a lot of interesting information.

Brief News

Kainga Ora’s apartment blocks in Clark Road appear pleasant and fitting with 2

instead of 3 stories and appealing facade structures: we had contributed some input. It seems their vacant 115 Kerikeri land might get sold - hopefully to the Kerikeri Retirement Village for their expansion plans.

• At the Bing Property or Woodlands half of the eucalyptus trees have been felled, the rest will follow. Plans for mixed development are still vague.

• The community-consulted “Transport

• Choices in Kerikeri” sadly got binned by Minister Simeon Brown’s cancellation of promised funding. $3.5m would have done wonders for walking and cycling in Kerikeri, and I think the project is still worth to revive.

• A CBD Bypass or Ring Road for Kerikeri is now in Council’s long-term plan, but who knows how and when it’ll proceed without funding and staff.

• Rautaki Ruareo (bi-lingual Kerikeri) has been officiated and can be expected to progress to make Kerikeri even more unique: that’s exciting!

• We made numerous submissions to Govt, NRC and FNDC for long term plans, fast track bill, ownership of Whangarei Port, Local Government Reform and others.

• Council is consulting presently (until tomorrow) about the re-introduction of Development Contribution Fees, to enable funding of vital infrastructure

required for Kerikeri’s expected further expansion. We have been requesting this for many years!

• Sadly, the aged Redwood Trees around the Retirement Village will have to be felled for security reasons; we hope for a pleasant replacement with suitable trees.

• Talking about trees: beautifully blooming Taiwanese Cherry along the Heritage Bypass is becoming popularly known as "noxious weed alley”. Council action has been requested.

Membership

Our membership has grown to almost 130. We are proud and grateful for this support.

Financials

Our financial situation is sound: the financial details have been circulated to members together with the invitation to this AGM and are considered as read. Accumulated memberships fees and some donations enabled us to pay some external experts, who were required for our presentations at the Environment Court Hearing for the Tubbs Farm and difficult parts of the PDP and Spacial Plan submissions. However, the remaining PDP Hearings 15 and 16 will be most important and complex for Kerikeri’s growth, and for that we will require further expert advice from planners and architects. For this reason, we appeal to you to make a generous donation at the door or by online remittance: details are on the sheet on your seat:

Vision for Kerikeri account 38 9020 0683647 02).

VKK Committee

Throughout the year we have been very busy. The cooperation among our committee members and with Our Kerikeri, Carbon Neutral NZ Trust, and Kapiro Conservation Trust was pleasant and fruitful. Big thanks to all and additionally another special thank you to Dr Melanie Miller for her huge amount of work and research.

What next?

A lot remains to be done! We are looking forward to continue our support and cooperation with the to be newly elected Councillors and Community Board members. Voters will hopefully resist populist calls for

“Cap the Rates”, “Increase Speed Limits” and the like. We hope for a more bottom-up consultative relationship to support sustainable, solidly funded governance aiming for everyone’s wellness: Councils are not just service delivery agencies – they are critical partners in helping communities to realise their own aspirations. Elected members are responsible for spending wisely. The process of setting rates is transparent and democratic and far more accessible than budget setting by central government. Councils are democratically elected and must be able to reflect the wishes of their communities.Let’s be clear – central government doesn’t fund or deliver local economic development, tourism, urban regeneration or many climate adaptation projects. Yet these are exactly the initiatives communities expect from councils – and that councils deliver with minimal funding and maximum innovation. If your local councils can’t do this, who will? We have submitted strongly against the

intended changes.

We especially appreciate our Mayor’s friendly, efficient and inclusive style as well as the constructive role of our Maori ward councillors: it’s important to keep the Maori ward.

The FNDC CEO has to be held accountable for engaging capable, motivated staff with open minds for technical advancement and real consultation. We need better transport options for walking and biking and reliable water management. We also need reliable electricity supply with affordable electricity rates, about which our guest speaker Russell Shaw, Chief Executive of Top Energy will talk to later: a warm welcome Russell!

This concludes my talk. Are there any questions?

Can I please have someone to move the acceptance of my speech? - And a seconder please?

Thanks and nga mihi!