Authorised by Helene Ritchie, 101 Wakefield Street, Wellington
Helene and her work in the Media
Dominion Post
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Wellington's town belt deserves world heritage status, councillor says
A Wellington city councillor wants to see the Town Belt given the same protections as Stonehenge and the Great Barrier Reef. The belt was given the highest legal protection available under New Zealand law last week when parliament passed the Wellington Town Belt Bill. But councillor Helene Ritchie said she wanted to see protections taken even further by getting the Town Belt on the coveted list of world heritage sites. "I would like to see that pursued ... it would be great if we could receive world heritage status." New Zealand currently has three sites with world heritage status: Tongariro National Park, Te Wahipounamu in the south-west of the South Island, and New Zealand's subantarctic islands. To make the list, sites must be shown to represent the best examples of the world's natural and cultural heritage. "Now we have got this protection it pays to think about that, and personally, I think it's deserving of [world heritage status]," Ritchie said. Other examples around the world include Stonehenge, the Acropolis, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Serengeti. Wellington City Council drafted the town belt bill in 2013 and it was sponsored by Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson. |
Photo: John Nicholson, Fairfax NZ
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Health
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Helene Ritchie talks to Mike Gourley about her campaign for a Royal Commission into ways of supporting carers, particularly those looking after people with a degenerative illness.
Listen to the interview at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/oneinfive/audio/2563475/one-in-five-for-28-july-2013. |
City
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Dementia and Caring
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".....For nearly 40 years, they were a team. Wellington City Councillor and the City's first deputy mayor Helene Ritchie and her husband Peter. He was an engineer, building dams around the world and together they built a decent life. And then it all changed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and early onset dementia. For the last four years of his life, Helen was his everything: Wife, Caregiver, support system, manager. As his illness progressed, Helen did not feel supported by what she calls an failing ad hoc health system. She's calling for a Royal Commission inquiry to investigate possible solutions in her book, Peter and Me: When a love story becomes a carer's anguish."
Listen to the interview at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2555843/tune-your-engine-parkinson's-disease-and-dementia |
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Wellington City councillor Helene Ritchie has opened up about caring for her terminally ill husband in a new book.
Ms Ritchie's husband, Peter, was diagnosed with Parkinson's and early-onset dementia. He required round-the-clock care for the past four years of his life. "This is a true and moving story written to help others," Ms Ritchie said. "It is written especially for people caring at home, in the community, and in institutions." Ms Ritchie said the book was hard to write. Peter and Me: When a love story becomes a carer's anguish will be launched Launched on May 15. "It was written to honour Peter. I'm a very private person, but more importantly I want to see action taken. "I know my story is just one of the many out there. I wanted to give the carers of New Zealand a voice, particularly those looking after someone with a degenerative illness. There needs to be a royal commission of inquiry to look at viable solutions to problems in this sector." Peter and Ms Ritchie met when she was 18. They were together for nearly 40 years until Peter died of his illness in 2001. Ms Ritchie was Wellington's first female deputy mayor and is the capital's longest-serving city councillor. She is also a registered psychologist. - Amy Jackman, The Wellingtonian, 02/05/2013 |
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Capital is Already a Super CityDominion Post 29 April 2009
Wellington has no need to emulate Auckland, writes Helene Ritchie. |
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Wellington marks 30 years of nuclear-free NZ
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By Adam Ray
Wellingtonians had plenty to sing and dance about today, as they marked the 30th anniversary of the city becoming nuclear free. The capital's anti-nuclear stance in 1982 was copied by other parts of the country, paving the way for the Labour Government to pass nuclear-free legislation. Even those too young to remember were putting on their best moves to celebrate Wellington's anti-nuclear move. Councillor Helene Ritchie led efforts to become nuclear-weapons free. She's still can't believe its success. “I was surprised, if not gobsmacked, that there was a movement through the country,” says Ms Ritchie. Within two years, 40 other local authorities followed Wellington, as opposition grew to nuclear weapons and to visits by US warships that could use nuclear power. “It wasn't a token gesture,” says Ms Ritchie. “It was doing what we could with the power we had. It was really important.” Labour won the 1984 election, promising nuclear-free legislation. It led to the souring of New Zealand-American relations and put the country centre stage of the nuclear debate. New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance is acknowledged around the world. Among those at Civic Square were ambassadors from South America, a nuclear-weapons free continent. Campaigners say fears of a nuclear test by North Korea show their cause is still important, although some today had more than one cause, like the return of the Wellington nuclear free city sign. But most were just happy to mark Wellington's lead in New Zealand becoming nuclear-free. For more information, see:
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City Life, March 3, 2009
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