Presented by Paekakariki Informed Community chair Paul Radich at the 2016 AGM in early August

What a fabulous year it’s been. There is no other way to describe it really. We’ve established new studios, new shows, integrated the radio station with the school community and are developing a new web platform for the village.
PICI’s objectives are to be the people’s voice – to represent and promote the diversity of our community, our needs and the unique character of Paekakariki; to provide community information, share the community’s stories, to entertain and to stimulate.
Through the extraordinary range of talents and the selfless enthusiasm of our people – PICI’s committee, our website development team and our DJs, producers and contributors – we are achieving those objectives and, in doing so, are building on the unique character we are so lucky to enjoy in Paekakariki; the character that comes from a vibrant, engaged and expressive community.
Our objectives over the last year had been met primarily through the medium of our radio station, Paekakariki 88.2 FM, as they were in the past through Paekakariki Xpressed, the village’s newspaper, claimed for its journalistic quality and as providing a means for the community to express its views. The radio station now features 35 radio shows with content ranging from our weekly must-listen Te Pae community radio show to blues to kids’ stories to astronomical chat, to gaming and to a new addition that we are very proud of – our school radio club.
The radio station has come on strongly over the last year under the guidance of our Programme Manager, Renwick Wright along with Chrissi Johnson. It has moved into its new studio in the former dental clinic in the school. The room has been carpeted and fitted out (with thanks to Francis Mills for the announcers desk) and boasts some fabulous new equipment (with thanks to the boom fairy who remains anonymous) connected through bespoke technology (with our ongoing thanks to Daniel Bar-Even and Pete Hanford).
We have a wonderful working relationship with the school which was marked with an end of year barbecue at the school in December last year and which has seen the birth and growth of the lunchtime school radio club.
We spent some time this year on developing a new logo for the radio station and the result is a reflection of all of the elements we wanted to capture. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Gina Goad and Rachael Gannaway, under the steerage of Mark Amery. The new design was rolled out in our winter flyer which was printed and distributed throughout the village over the last month. And what’s more, the logo is now available in the form of the Paekakariki 88.2 FM bumper sticker; as seen on cars near you.
With the radio station running well, PICI has been looking to deliver its objects in other ways as well. One initiative has been the gradual creation of a lecture series which is planned to be rolled out live at St Peter’s Hall and then on our airwaves next year.
But our most recent and exciting initiative, which emerged from a Mark Amery and Pete Hanford chrysalis, is the development of a new web platform for the village. Our modest size sees the majority of Paekakariki businesses and community groups without a strong web presence and local information is not always easy to access. Paekakariki Tauhokohoko has demonstrated the significant engagement of local citizens in local affairs but beyond the radio station we do not have our own local media. Residents and visitors don’t have a single place where they can find online the listings for upcoming events, community groups or information on opening hours of local businesses or facilities. There isn’t a single hub where the writing skills of our residents can be shared.
We are lucky in the village to have, amongst our residents, a wealth of expertise in communications, web design and structure and editing and, from this pool, a group has come together through PICI to create the new paekakariki.org.nz. It will be a hub for the community, providing information to residents and visitors, promoting Paekakariki as a destination, providing an economic development platform for businesses, creating a place for sharing ideas, views and debate and supporting local groups and organisations. When it’s up and running, the radio station’s website will shift to a domain that Mark Coote has found for us: paekakariki.fm (which is the domain for the Federated States of Micronesia but works so well for an FM radio station!)
The content and structure of the site is being worked through now by PICI’s publishing collective. Seed funding is being put in place to enable the venture to get off the ground and an ongoing budget, through advertising, is proposed to enable a coordinator to be employed on a part-time basis. We give our thanks to the members of that collective – Mark Amery, Pete Hanford, Don Polly, Kate Drury, Tina Pope, Gina Goad, Maria McMilan, Holly Jane Ewans, Miles Thompson, Daniel Bar-Even, Mark Coote, Sylvia Bagnall and Murray Williams.
We are in sound financial shape. Our Give a Little page has produced donations that have been received with gratitude, our local advertisers are continuing to provide welcome support and, as a result of our valuable relationship with the school, we no longer need to pay commercial monthly rental.
PICI is so fortunate to have available to it the extraordinary talents, enthusiasm and camaraderie of the members of its committee: Murray Williams (secretary), Mark Coote (Treasurer), Mark Amery, Pete Hanford, Daniel Bar-Even , Don Polly, Francis Mills, Chrissi Johnson, Renwick Wright, Stefan Wolf, Graham Coe and Mike Gibson.
Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai
Our unity is our strength.