Author: Matt Roswell

Our Nelson Issue 256 – 23 September 2026

Holiday fun on Bridge Street
Bridge Street is getting a splash of colour this school holidays with free face painting (and balloon twisting) for the kids while the whanau make the most of the break in town. Pop down, treat the little ones then stick around to explore the shops, cafes and everything else Bridge Street has going on.
Face Painting // Thursday 1 October // 10am - 12pm // Corner Bridge & Trafalgar 
Face Painting // Friday 2 October // 10am - 12pm // Kirby Lane
Balloon Twisting // Thursday 8 October // 10am - 12pm // Montgomery Lane
Face Painting // Friday 9 October // 10am - 12pm // Fiddle Lane

B.R.I.D.G.E photo scavenger hunt
26 September - 11 October
Get the family together and explore Bridge Street! Find something for each letter of B.R.I.D.G.E., snap a photo and complete the challenge for your chance to win Bridge Street Bucks.

How to enter!
	1.	Find it: Take six photo's with something starting with each letter of B.R.I.D.G.E. on Bridge Street.
	2.	Share it: Post your six photos on social media or upload them to Shape Nelson.
	3.	Tag it: Tag @nelsoncitycouncil and use #BRIDGEPHOTOHUNT.
	4.	Win it: You’re in the draw to win Bridge Street Bucks!

Bonus entry if you get a photo with Ged from Isaacs!

Te Wiki o te reo Māori
Last week two screenings were held at State Cinemas for Te Wiki o te reo Māori, Lion King Reo Māori and Whale Rider. Council staff screen printed t-shirts and hoodies for those who had tickets. Kia kaha te reo Māori!

Water meter reading
The residential water meter reading round starts on 1 October and will continue for about two months. 
Please check and ensure that the area surrounding, and the meter box itself are clear and easily accessible for the meter readers to locate and read. Please move any pot plants that are sitting on the boxes.
The meter readers are allowed to read the meters between 7am and 7pm seven days a week, including Sundays andp ublic holidays. They will be identifiable by their hi-visibility vests with 'WATER METER READER' and 'SBS' on the back. They also carry ID with them, which you may request to view. 
The city is divided up into areas, with the meter readers starting in Tāhunanui and ending in the Glen at the end of November.
As part of the ongoing maintenance of the meters, some meters will be checked to see if they are still recording accurately. If your meter is being checked Nelmac will let you know if you are at home at the time. If no one is at home, a letter will be left in your letterbox letting you know that Council contractors have been. The test requires the contractor to fill a 10 litre bucket with water. If the meter needs to be replaced, the water will be turned off to do this. 
The whole check usually takes about 10 minutes. These checks will still be ongoing in December.
If the meter readers have access issues, e.g. the meter is located behind a locked fence or if you have dogs, they will leave a note with a new visit day. Should there be an issue with that time, please call our contractor’s help desk on 027 286 7337, 
so that suitable arrangements can be made to have the meter read. Please be aware that if you don’t make a suitable arrangement or repeated visits are needed to obtain a meter reading, you could be charged a Special Water Meter reading fee of $38.25.
All water used through the meter is charged at $2.989 per cubic metre. This is inclusive of GST.
The invoice/statements are generally posted out within three weeks of the meter being read. They will be due for payment on the 20th day following the month of issue. If your account has a balance of less than $10 or a credit of less than $10 and no water usage, no invoice will be sent.

Welcoming the Kuaka / Godwits home 
Every September, something remarkable happens over Nelson's skies. Thousands of bar-tailed godwits, or kuaka, arrive home after one of the longest non-stop flights in the natural world, roughly 11,000 to 12,000 km from Alaska, without a single stop to rest or eat.
For Nelson, this isn't just a beautiful sight, it's a sign of how healthy our coastline is.
Kuaka need large, undisturbed mudflats and sandflats full of worms, molluscs, and crustaceans. Every year, they return to Nelson Haven, the Motueka sandspit, and Farewell Spit in the tens of thousands. Their return tells us these places are still doing their job. If our mudflats weren't healthy, the birds wouldn't come back in these numbers.
Their journey also connects Nelson to the rest of the world. Kuaka breed in the Arctic summer, then fly south to escape the cold and feed here through spring and summer. By March, many will have doubled their body weight before heading north again, usually via the Yellow Sea. Looking after their feeding and resting grounds in Nelson helps keep the species going, even as their habitat comes under pressure elsewhere.
Our estuaries and sandspits give kuaka safe places to feed and rest at every tide. Healthy mudflats support the worms and shellfish they rely on. Kuaka probe deep into the mud with their long bills, reaching food other birds can't, helping a wide range of shorebirds thrive alongside them across Te Tauihu.
This is why the Nelson Cathedral bells ring out each September, marking the birds' endurance and our community's part in protecting the places they need.
There are simple things everyone can do to help:
	•	Keep dogs on leads near roosting areas
	•	Follow signage at high-tide roosts
	•	Support work to protect our dunes and estuaries
	•	Record any sightings on iNaturalist. 
These small actions make a real difference, not just for kuaka, but for everything that shares our harbours with them.
As the Cathedral bells ring out this month, they welcome home a bird that links Alaska to Nelson, the Arctic to our estuaries, and our everyday choices to the wider natural world.

Isel in Spring
You're invited to celebrate the reopening of Isel House at Isel in Spring! Enjoy food stalls, live music, and face painting in the beautiful gardens of Isel Park.
Explore the historic house where children and adults alike can dress up in Victorian garb. A house hunt and craft activity will also keep children entertained.
There really is something for everyone at this fun family-friendly event.
So, bring along a picnic blanket, soak up the atmosphere, and celebrate Isel in Spring. 
Date //  Thursday 15 October 2026
Time // 4.30pm - 7.30pm
Location // Isel House and Park
Cost // Free
This event is brought to you by Nelson City Council and the Isel Market Collective.

Flower fun at Broadgreen
1pm - 2pm // Wednesday 30 September // 
Broadgreen Glasshouse
Come along to Broadgreen House these spring school holidays and create your own blooms. Craft spring flowers from paper in Broadgreen's recently restored glasshouse.

Maitai walkway opening
In early September, Mayor Nick Smith and Councillors Matty Anderson, James Hodgson and Aaron Stallard joined Maitai residents to officially open the new walkway through the Maitai Valley between Clouston Bridge and Hanby Park.
The opening was celebrated with a community walk and BBQ, a great way to mark the completion of this latest piece of work.
The upgraded walkway is part of the $9 million Maitai flood mitigation project, to improve the river’s capacity to safely carry floodwaters through a combination of new floodwalls and stopbank upgrades.
The latest works are designed to manage peak flows of around 380 cubic metres per second, equivalent to an Olympic swimming pool every six seconds! That’s almost 30% higher than the flow recorded during the 2022 flood event.
The $9 million project includes $5.4 million in funding from the Central Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund, administered by Kānoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit.

Meetings
Council meeting
9am	1 Oct

Council meeting
1pm	29 Oct

A full list of meetings for 2026 are available on the Council’s website: nelson.govt.nz/1your-council/4meetings-and-agendas