Kia ora koutou, Greetings everyone. Welcome to Sustainable Wellington Net's Newsletter #17. In this issue we have site news, the Hamilton Green Map is launched, bike lockers for Wellington Station, environmental legal assistance, and a book review on "Sustainable Urban Environments: can citizens make a difference?". SITE NEWS The Directory page has been refreshed with a number of corrections to groups' details following feedback from the Wellington Community Net survey. A new Sherlock plugin lets you search our site with Apple's Sherlock application. More details at the bottom of the Search page. New entries on the site: * Nature's Backyard A new garden design and construction service for people wanting to restore the native flora and fauna of their own backyard and/or increase their independence from commercial products by growing their own food, herbs and textiles. Nature's Backyard are two Wellington locals with tertiary qualifications in geography and ecology. They have several years experience in organic gardening, building, art & design, and conservation work as well as many long journeys in New Zealand's great outdoors. The service offered is garden design and construction using permaculture techniques, which is a design based on creating sustainable environments. Their main emphasis is on fruit, veges, herbs, and native plants. All plants will be GM-free and in their natural states and native plants will be locally sourced when possible. They support the "buy local" and "car conscious" campaigns. * Envirofunz Information on funding and grants available to environment and conservation groups. * New Zealand Climate Change Programme, Te Hotaka Rereketanga Ahuarangi o Aotearoa Your gateway into the work of the New Zealand Climate Change programme, an interdepartmental process involving 10 Government departments and one Crown agency. By June 2001, this site will provide a one-stop shop for climate change (also known as global warming) information, from what's happening here in New Zealand to the latest on overseas developments, news, and views. * New Zealand Photovoltaic Association A new group supporting the promotion and development of solar electric technologies and the photovoltaic industry in New Zealand. * New Zealand Wind Energy Association A support and promotion group for those interested in wind energy developments in New Zealand. * NZ Ecological Restoration Network (NZERN) A network of groups dedicated to protecting native plants and who are working on projects to restore native environments and ecosystems. There is a wealth of info on this site from links to local groups to practical info on what types of native plants will suit the climate and soil in your area. * Solar Industries Association A support and promotion group for the solar water heating industry in New Zealand. * World Environment News 15-40 new Reuters environment stories on the site everyday. Also free e-mail of daily 'World Environment News' headlines. The site acts as a repository for thousands of Reuters environmental news stories and is fully searchable - it's a great research tool for journalists and professional environmentalists. HAMILTON GREEN MAP Debbie Emmett's making great progress with the Hamilton City Green Map and it was unveiled at Hamilton's Festival of the Environment. The map is basically a first attempt at showing some of the important social and environmental places in Hamilton, knowing that there are many more that will be identified over the upcoming months. They've already identified over 300 sites within the city (and they're only 94 square kilometres in size) and they're sure more locations will appear once the map is out in the public arena. The first maps will be Internet based for ease of updating and will be located at BIKE LOCKERS FOR WELLINGTON STATION Extracts from Bike lockers recently installed at Wellington and Paraparaumu railway stations will make 'green commuting' - by bike and train - easier and safer, says the Wellington Regional Council. "Cyclists will be able to bike to the station, secure their bike in a locker, and catch a train to work. At the end of the day, they can collect their bike and return home," says WRC passenger transport chair Cr. Terry McDavitt. In response to requests from cyclists, the Council has installed eight lockers each at Wellington and Paraparaumu stations, at a cost of $25,000. This included designing suitable, secure locker units. Depending on demand, it may be able to provide more at a lower per-unit cost. "Cycling prevents pollution and congestion on the roads. It doesn't just have to be for short journeys if combined with taking a train. We want to make this as easy a transport choice as possible," says Cr. McDavitt. For a refundable deposit of $20, users will be allocated a locker and given a key. They have the right to use the locker for six months. Tranz Metro will handle the enquiries. For further information about this article, please e-mail . ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE Extracts from City Voice, 15-28 Mar 2001 and the MfE web site. The fund is designed to assist environment, community, iwi and hapu groups to participate more effectively in the resource management process. The scheme does this by providing groups with funding to help prepare, mediate and/or present Resource Management Act cases to the Environment Court. The fund is not designed to increase the number of cases to the Environment Court. The fund is available to pay costs for the time and expenses of lawyers and/or technical experts used in preparing and presenting a case. A limit of $20,000 per case has been set. Marty Taylor, a spokesperson for Campaign for a Better City (CBC), said he wishes the scheme had existed in 1998 when the group mounted a legal challenge against Transit's Te Aro bypass plans. The challenge cost CBC $30,000, raised through donations, but the expense of going to the environment court has probably put some groups off. Transit spent an estimated $500,000 defending the bypass. BOOK REVIEW: SUSTAINABLE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: CAN CITIZENS MAKE A DIFFERENCE? A new publication takes a look whether the "Our City ~ Our Future" strategy has helped Wellington become a more ecologically sustainable city, with a focus on the role of citizens in the strategy. "Sustainable Urban Environments: can citizens make a difference?" is a summary of research Stephen Blyth completed in 1999 for a Master of Arts in Social Policy. Stephen has been involved in the local environmental community since his arrival in Wellington in 1993, and works to support community organisation access to information and communication technology at the Department of Internal Affairs. A key finding from the research is that while Our City ~ Our Future had much promise it was not achieving as much as expected. The reliance on volunteers to guide strategy implementation, a lack of resources, wavering council support, lack of involvement by business and other stakeholders, and the ill definition of sustainability all present obstacles to successful implementation. While many of the final recommendations in the report are directed at the Wellington City Council, they are also relevant to the work of other councils. The report is likely to be of value to anyone with an interest in local government, and social and environmental change. Copies of the publication cost $22, and are available from: School of Social Policy and Social Work, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, phone 06 350 5799, extn 2821, e-mail . YOUR FIRST STOP FOR LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS _ Hei kona mai, Goodbye for now.