Wellington City Council unanimously voted to agree the goal of being a Fair Trade City and to take the necessary steps to get there!

Cr Celia Wade-Brown, a member of the local steering group promoting Fair Trade, said “I’m delighted Wellington City Council has taken this step. Fair Trade businesses have continued to flourish despite the recession, showing that social responsibility and business success can go hand-in-hand.”

The Mayor successfully moved a resolution at Council on September 17th, making us the first Free Trade Capital City in the Southern Hemisphere and the first New Zealand Fair Trade City.

Other Fair Trade cities include London, Yarra and Manly.

We’re nearly there!

Wellington has already achieved all the other necessary steps.

Fair Trade products are available in more than a hundred retail outlets, including cafes such as Finc, TradeAid, Peoples Coffee, Celcius Coffee, Starfish, Kowtow and Commonsense Organics.

Fair Trade products are used in a range of workplaces, schools and community groups, there has been positive media coverage and there is a local steering group to support progress.

What happens next?

Now Council must work towards providing a choice of Fair Trade tea and coffee at public meetings and for staff.

Several departments already buy Fair Trade coffee and its purchase is compatible with Council’s procurement standards. There are plenty of choices of supplier in Wellington.

Cr Wade-Brown says “While many Wellingtonians can still afford to enjoy a cup of coffee in our world-class cafe culture, we can also feel pleased that growers are receiving a fair price for the beans. We all have a responsibility to think about where our purchases come from and what impact is caused by their production.”

Fair trade

Fair Trade is a way out of the poverty trap for growers and their families. Commodity prices are volatile and can leave farmers without enough income for their health and education needs. Fair Trade organisations are independently certified.

More about Fair Trade Communities

Contact me

Celia Wade-Brown
celia.wadebrown@greens.org.nz
phone: 04-938 6691
cellphone: 027 483 6691
Celia’s Councillor profile on the Wellington City Council website

Celia Wade-Brown is a Wellington City Councillor and Environment Portfolio Leader.

Celia for Mayor on Facebook

Celia stands for:

Leadership on climate change

• Leadership – Wellington City Council, residents and busineses take climate change actions that put us back in the forefront of activity
• Long term strategic thinking – Wellington’s emergency preparedness, vulnerability to climate change, population changes and oil dependency are addressed WITH the community

Sustainable transport

• Compact, walkable city and town centres
• Modern light rail, not increasing traffic volumes – Light rail from the railway station to Courtenay Place, Newtown, Kilbirnie and the airport
• Better walking and cycling – Upgraded, dedicated walking and cycle paths, including the Great Harbour Way from South Coast to Eastbourne and links through Johnsonville and Tawa

Community

• Support for community volunteers – Restoration projects, arts projects, skills transfer, community gardens, neighbourhood networks, beach clean-ups
• Knowledge sharing - Support for Enviroschools, sharing knowledge with our future citizens, listening to the city’s children and making Wellington child-friendly

Tourism and recreation

• Environmental facilities working together for ecolocical and visitor outcomes – Otari-Wilton, Karori Sanctuary, the Botanic Gardens and the Zoo working together, not in competition
• Coastal protection, marine education and integrated thinking about coastal planting and stormwater infrastructure
• Tourism initiatives that increase the length of time people stay in Wellington, rather than the total number of visitors
• Ensuring a wide range of healthy recreation options
  

Business

• Fair Trade City – Council must support the direction the City residents and small businesses are already taking
• Local business development using resource recovery – insulation materials, furniture restoration, recovery of metals

Arts

• Continuing public art and adding more emphasis on local communities e.g. school murals, local sense of place

Housing

• Social housing – ongoing support for the most disadvantaged and homeless

Technology

• Upgrading Wellington’s broadband for new creative digital industries, and ensuring residents have skills and access so they’re not left behind

Diversity

• Involving the excitingly diverse range of ethnic groups in showcasing their cultures and contributing to our city
• Give effect to the Treaty by strengthening relationships with Tangata Whenua/Mana Whenua

Support Celia for Mayor in 2010

Email editor@thewellingtonian.co.nz saying why Celia would make a great Mayor of Wellington!

Celia for Mayor on Facebook

Contact Celia

celia.wadebrown@greens.org.nz

phone: 04-938 6691 cellphone: 027 483 6691

Wellington Trust, Community Net under threat

The existence of the Wellington Trust and its key service, Wellington Community Net is now under threat from reduced WCC funding because some staff and councillors don’t understand its value.

Wellington Community Net offers a very valuable service.

There are 570 separate websites, not pages in a directory but complete sites. Some host multiple community groups like the Wadestown one.

Facebook is no substitute for a website with full information and the ability for low-skilled users to update them. Blogs are only one way of telling people what you think. With Community Net sites, groups can manage sports draws, plant information, and multi-language support.

Sign the e-petition to continue funding to Wellington Community Net:

Include Wellington Community Net and Community ICT Funding In The Draft LTCCP for 2009-2019

Accessible to many people

Those familiar with setting up websites have little idea how difficult it is for a group without technical knowledge to do this. Wellington Community Net allows groups with few IT skills to

• put up any sort of database
• use email forwarding
• use a free WELLINGTON domain name

WCN is also low-cost, which is vital for groups who are not incorporated and have no funds. Planting groups just want to showcase their work and attract volunteers really easily, not fund raise for a website!  For some groups finding funds for web-hosting would mean other activities are curtailed.

Funding from 2020 Trust

The 2020 Trust was set up in 1996 to provide support for the Information and Communications Technology needs of Wellington people – particularly community groups and disadvantaged people. I was its founding chair and then stayed on as a trustee for a number of years.

It’s now a national organisation running e-Day, Computers in Homes and other projects. There’s also the local Wellington Trust, now known as Wellington ICT. It’s done some terrific projects, several of which I’ve worked on in a voluntary basis such as Whanau Link for giving Internet access to hospice patients and their families.

Funding WCN provides a good platform for the Trust to support future IT requirements for not-for-profit groups such as what Internet plan, what membership software, email trouble shooting and so do on. Some groups have this expertise available within their membership but plenty just don’t – or not at the times its needed! It can be particularly difficult for people with English as a second language.

Groups using WCN say…

Further points that have been emphasised in emails from groups that use WCN:

• Other sites are used by groups who are not incorporated and have no funds.
• Planting groups just want to showcase their work and attract volunteers really easily, not fund raise for a website!
• For some groups finding funds for web-hosting would mean other activities were curtailed.

Websites are not the same as directory pages

Some of the officer/councillor comments seemed to equate web pages in a directory with a full website service including databases, mailing lists and so forth is available.

The existence of Wellington ICT and WCN is a base upon which further services such as e-rider and community networking conferences can be built up on.

Political boundaries don’t match neatly with community interests and regional replication would be a waste of resources.

Most comments I’ve received recommend WCN as a necessary part of an intelligent city’s community service infrastructure that other cities should emulate.

What you can do

Sign the e-petition:

Include Wellington Community Net and Community ICT Funding In The Draft LTCCP for 2009-2019

Links

• 570 community websites under threat – Scoop story
• 2020 Communications Trust

Contact me

celia.wadebrown@greens.org.nz
phone: 04-938 6691
cellphone: 027 483 6691
Celia’s Councillor profile on the Wellington City Council website

Community gardens are public spaces where people are free to plant vegetable and ornamental plants. There’s a great growth of community gardens in Wellington – and the beginnings of some community orchards.

New gardens

I’ve been a supporter of Innermost Gardens for a long time in their quest to find space. A small site in Newtown is happening now and a more substantial Council site is on the cards.

Some groups like Common Ground are working on other spaces such as the grounds of the Home of Compassion.  The Brooklyn Transition Towns movement has matched up willing gardeners with people who have gardens but not time or energy to garden.

The Sustainability Trust supported an online network to be created, the  Wellington Community Gardens Network on Wellington Community Net. Such connections abound in Wellington!

Operation Green Thumb has been successful for several years with public plots,  as have City Housing tenant groups.

Benefits of community gardens

Community gardens help people

• build communities
• save money on food
• get outdoors to soothe mind and body
• become more independent from the global food chain

Community hui

On May 25th 2009, Wellington City Council hosted a great hui of community garden groups – existing gardeners and wanna-bees. There was support from social agencies and Parks & Gardens staff too. If you missed the event or have a piece of Council land in mind, contact Celia to be kept in touch.

Not every spot is suitable – soil, existing ecology, neighbours, hazardous trees etc. all have to be considered.

We are committed to making the process easier and ending up with MORE food grown by the community, for the community!

For more information

Contact Celia Wade-Brown

Email: celia.wadebrown@greens.org.nz
phone: 04-938 6691
cellphone: 027 483 6691
Celia’s Councillor profile on the Wellington City Council website