Hi from Sue & Ian at OBRA

In the interests of full disclosure, we didn’t willingly come to live in Ōwhiro Bay.

​When we moved here in January 2007, it was to a rental property within the Wellington East Girls College Zone and somewhere that would allow us to have our dog. At the time, we thought we’d probably come to the bay on the one nice weather day of the year.
In the 13 years since, we’ve come to love this location and this community. We love the quirkiness and the activism, the access to the coast (and a good local coffee). This place is, we believe, our place.
We’re proud to have been involved with the Ōwhiro Bay Residents Association for some years – and to now have our very own OBRA website to share with our community. We hope you enjoy – if you’ve got feedback or a contribution on this site, we’d love to hear from you.  ​

Ōwhiro Bay Residents Association 
​(OBRA)  

Ōwhiro Bay has an active residents association – although more members are always welcome! On behalf of the community, members of the committee have prioritised four work areas and there are active subgroups within each of the focus areas:   ​

Environment

The Bay is a pretty special place, sandwiched between Zealandia and the Taputeranga Marine Reserve and bisected by the Ōwhiro Stream. 

​We take our role as guardians of the environment pretty seriously from planting to trapping to beach cleaning. 

There are some big issues for a small land mass including mitigation against coastal erosion and flooding, water quality in Ōwhiro Stream and the beach at Ōwhiro Bay.  
​April 15 2020 will be a day the local will long remember – a storm surge caused waves to crash across the road, damaging houses and infrastructure.
In August 2020 a project (eCoast) began so that we can understand how we can get better warnings of likely bad weather and work with the Council and other agencies to better protect the houses, the people and the environment.

Resilience

We are enhancing the community’s capacity to look after itself in a time of crisis. Here's how we are doing this:
  • ​Council liaison and advocacy:  Calling the Council to task is important for the Bay and hinterland.  Despite the importance of the Bay, Stream and Marine Reserve the Council needs reminding that the raw edge of the capital city needs more care and protections
  • Currently we are focused on the City Council’s planned expansion of the Happy Valley Landfill. On 8 June we submitted to Wellington City Council’s annual plan process
  • ​Read our letter to Wellington City Council challenging the resource consent for the landfill
  • Events: Any excuse for a party or to stop for coffee and scones and we can be there!  The fact that we are all captured by the sea and the weather makes it a great community for events.  And we have to admit more than our share of eccentrics in the Bay so Halloween BBQ, to a ukulele sing-alongs. During the Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown, we hosted our first virtual community meeting.  And, in June 2020 we took to the icy waters of our bay for the first annual mid-winter swim.