by Helene Ritchie
The Wellington City Council wants to turn our Town Belt into an amusement park so that the city can be “revitalised.” If the council is successful, there will be nothing stopping a music festival, a beer festival, and a host of “vibrant” activities attacking our city’s most precious natural environment, in pursuit of the mighty dollar.
The City Council boasts that reserves and Town Belt sites would become “energised public spaces”, “driving people into the city”, and “would be positive for the local economy and hospitality industry”. In other words, it wants to turn the Town Belt and reserves and many others into profit making land.
News from Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs
Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast DHBs continue to encourage people in the region to have a COVID-19 test if they have been at a location of interest or if they are symptomatic.
Testing capacity remains operating across the region at pop-up sites, Community Testing Centres (CTCs), and at GPs and medical centres – with 754 swabs carried out on Sunday.
Alert level 2 door screening and visitor provisions will also remain in place at the region’s three hospitals – Wellington Regional, Kenepuru Community, and Hutt Hospitals – until 11.59pm on Tuesday.
Community testing centre locations and hours are the two DHBs’ websites: www.ccdhb.org.nz/our-services/covid-19-community-based-assessment-centres-cbacs and www.huttvalleydhb.org.nz/your-health-services/covid-19-community-based-assessment-centres-cbacs.
Despite no new community cases or traces of virus being found in Wellington's wastewater, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins isn't ruling out another extension.