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By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton’s mayor is pleading with Environment Canterbury (ECan) to reconsider a plan to bundle Mid Canterbury in with the South Canterbury councils.
The regional council's proposal would also see the fast-growing Selwyn District become a … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton’s mayor is pleading with Environment Canterbury (ECan) to reconsider a plan to bundle Mid Canterbury in with the South Canterbury councils.
The regional council's proposal would also see the fast-growing Selwyn District become a standalone constituency.
The submission, that mayor Neil Brown will present on Wednesday, argues ECan’s proposed changes would not provide effective representation for Ashburton District or the rural communities of Canterbury.
“If this review goes ahead, there will only be two ECan Councillors from the Rakaia River to Waitaki.”
The council’s submission states that “too heavy a weighting has been placed achieving fair representation, to the detriment of determining effective representation for communities of interest”.
“The Ashburton District makes a significant contribution to the regional economy and deserves better representation.”
An argument put forward is that whatever option ECan considers, there will be some form of non-compliance with the local government legislative requirements.
Ashburton’s position is that as no proposal presented has been completely compliant "it is our view that ECan should shift its focus to consider communities of interest and effective representation as stronger drivers for this representation review”.
The submission proposes four alternative options, all including various Selwyn areas, rather than South Canterbury.
“We believe that issues in rural Selwyn are more aligned with those of our district, and being grouped with Selwyn will continue to give our shared rural communities a strong voice,” Brown said.
Brown and chief executive Hamish Riach will plead the district’s case at Ecan’s hearings on Wednesday.
ECan governance general manager Lisa Goodman said the Ashburton District Council is one of the 217 submitters and one of 15 groups or individuals who will speak at the hearing.
Following the hearings, councillors will consider all the submissions and relevant information to guide staff about developing a Final Proposal for the council to adopt in October Goodman said.
After adoption, it will be open to appeals and if any are received the final decision will go to the Local Government Commission.
**Rough Numbers
The representation review is guided by population ratios – as per the local government act, but the councils south of the Rakaia River argue that should only be one of the factors to consider.
In terms of land area, the proposal to merge Mid Canterbury (12,562 square kilometres) with South Canterbury (17,620sqkm) will create a 29,822sqkm constituency.
That would have two councillors elected to cover half of the entire region's land area, as North Canterbury (17,464km2), Selwyn (6835km2) and Christchurch’s four constituencies (4940km2) combine for 29,239km2.
According to figures supplied by ECan, the Ashburton District’s 17,117 rateable properties will pay a total of $13,069,308 in rates to ECan in 2024-25.
Ashburton is paying 6.7% of the $194,766,652 of total rates, with Christchurch (185,536 rateable units) paying 61.7%, Selwyn (33,506) 10.3%, Waimakariri (28289) 8.4%, and Timaru (21,534) 6%.
Using a simplistic equation - not factoring in any complexities that make up a rates bill – Ashburton pays an average of $764 per property – the highest average of all 10 districts.
The next highest average is Waitaki ($685), followed by Waimate ($677), Christchurch ($648), and Mackenzie ($604).
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The first project to improve water flow into a popular Canterbury recreational lake is “looking good so far”.
A new channel to divert water from the existing Ashburton River intake channel to the Lake Hood extension has been completed, as the … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The first project to improve water flow into a popular Canterbury recreational lake is “looking good so far”.
A new channel to divert water from the existing Ashburton River intake channel to the Lake Hood extension has been completed, as the council works towards improving water quality.
Lake Hood, a made-made lake south of Ashburton, has been plagued by algal blooms in recent years.
Ashburton Ditrsict Council infrastructure and open spaces group manager Neil McCann said a drone was sent up on Sunday and Monday to see how it was working.
“We had some water coming in from the river with some sediment in it so it was really useful to see how it was working.
“Initially, it looks like it’s doing slightly better than we expected.
“It is getting water down to the northwestern canals.
“So far it is looking good.”
The council is attempting to tackle the water quality issues after taking over the management of the lake earlier this year.
The council budgeted $250,000 for water quality improvements in the 2024-25 financial year and the new channel was the first project.
No extra water is being taken from the river.
It is water from the existing water-take consent being split between the new channel and the canal into the original lake at the northern-end beach.
The idea behind the secondary inlet is to help flush the canals on the western side of the lake, McCann said.
Now that it is up and running, it will be monitored to ensure the water is ending up where they want it, he said.
The new channel aims to improve water quality at Lake Hood, with the council committed to investing in long-term solutions, he said.
The council also wants to make improvements at the river intake and is continuing discussions with Environment Canterbury about river water.
The Lake Extension Trust Limited had previously managed the lake and surrounds for the council but since July 1.
Ashburton Contracting Limited has been managing the lake on a five-year contract.
A weed harvester was purchased for around $180,000 earlier this year and Ashburton Contracting Limited staff have been trained to drive it and are expected to start using it in October.
On Tuesday 12 November, the Prime Minister will deliver a public apology to survivors of abuse in care in Parliament.
You can register your interest to attend the event in Parliament, or if you want to watch it with friends, whānau or a support person you can attend an event at the Due Drops … View moreOn Tuesday 12 November, the Prime Minister will deliver a public apology to survivors of abuse in care in Parliament.
You can register your interest to attend the event in Parliament, or if you want to watch it with friends, whānau or a support person you can attend an event at the Due Drops Event Centre in Auckland, Shed 6 in Wellington or the Christchurch Town Hall.
Contact the Crown Response Unit today:
Phone: 0800 717 017 (8:30am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday)
Email: contact@abuseinquiryresponse.govt.nz
Registration closes 4.30pm Monday 30 September.
Accommodation, travel and food costs will be covered. Travel assistance will be provided in forms of air travel, petrol vouchers, gift cards, and train, and bus tickets.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Mid Canterbury leaders feels short-changed on its roading budget as it deals with a $15 million hole in the district's plan.
The National Land Transport Plan (NLTP), which sets funding across the country, has allocated $158.7m for the region … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Mid Canterbury leaders feels short-changed on its roading budget as it deals with a $15 million hole in the district's plan.
The National Land Transport Plan (NLTP), which sets funding across the country, has allocated $158.7m for the region for the 2024-27 period.
However, $113m of that is allocated to Ashburton’s second bridge, leaving just $45.7m for the council to spend on the road network over the next three years.
Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said while it was good their maintenance funding had increased, there is a big gap in the council’s budgets from cuts to other areas.
The council is already playing catch up with its roading network and a funding gap will have an impact on the 2,622 km roading network, he said.
“Some parts of the roads will improve but others will deteriorate.
“Inflation has not been roadings' friend over the last three years, so the roads are still going backwards.”
He pointed to the perennial frustration of the national transport plan coming out months after councils had set their budgets.
“We now have to go back and revisit our budgets and work programmes that we haven’t been funded for,” Brown said.
Ashburton District Council increased its roading budgets by 25% for the next three years in its long-term plan, and had requesting maintenance, operations and renewal funding of $48.6m and $12m for low cost, low risk projects over the next three years.
The $45.7m funding will cover maintenance, operations and renewal, but nothing for the low cost, low risk projects – things like intersection upgrades, street lights, signage, and footpaths.
For the 2024-25 roading programme there is $2.4m of funding from rates not matched by NZTA subsidy.
Council infrastructure and open spaces group manager Neil McCann said a report will go to the council meeting tomorrow detailing the NZTA-approved budget, what it means for the council, and how it compares to the long-term plan.
“It will also identify options for council to consider how we spend the council portion of the LTP subsidised budget that is no longer subsidised.”
The NZTA funding data also shows only a 51% Government contribution for the second Ashburton bridge.
This means it will receive the same funding category as any other local road, despite being designated as a ‘road of regional significance’ by the transport minister.
Rangitatat Mp James Meager said designating the bridge as a Road of Regional Significance means it is prioritised by NZTA over other local roading project, and at least 51% of it will be funded.
He also said the 2024-27 NLTP has a 193% increase in funding to the Ashburton District compared to the actual spend in 2021-24.
"The NLTP has allocated total funding of $158.7m for the 2024-27 period, compared to $54m of actual spend in 2021-24."
***Funding gap remains
Environment Canterbury chairperson Peter Scott says the South Island isn’t getting a fair deal, with revenue derived here being directed to the North Island.
Scott, who also chairs the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee, said funding for the NLTP is drawn from fuel taxes and road user charges and Canterbury is only receiving 7% of the funding.
Figures released by NZTA through the Official Information Act show that from May 2023 to May 2024, there were $2.078 billion [$2,078,344,820] road user chargers collected.
Of that, 13% ($275.8m) came from Canterbury, only behind Auckland (28.9%) and Waikato (15.5%), while the South Island excluding Canterbury made up 12.3%.
“The money that comes from road use in our communities should therefore be put back into our communities.
“Our bread-and-butter funding is being spread like jam across other regions.”
Scott said that Canterbury has 12% of the population and over 16% of the national roading network, “but we generally only ever receive around 5 to 8% of the NLTP funding”.
“All we’re asking for is our fair share.”
This year Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week, is being held from September 16 to 23. It’s an important week encouraging all of Aotearoa to use te reo Māori in everyday life. Similarly, Mahuru Māori promotes speaking and celebrating te reo throughout the month of September.
Over … View moreThis year Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week, is being held from September 16 to 23. It’s an important week encouraging all of Aotearoa to use te reo Māori in everyday life. Similarly, Mahuru Māori promotes speaking and celebrating te reo throughout the month of September.
Over the last couple of years, Gerda, a resident at Diana Isaac Village in Christchurch, has grown her Māori vocabulary by attending the virtual monthly te reo Māori classes offered to Ryman residents. This group learning environment is run by Anita Gill from Te Puna Reo Māori, a Māori online learning provider.
Click read more for the full story.
An earthquake occurred 15 km south-east of Amberley today (Friday Sep 13) at 10:41am.
What you need to know:
- Light shaking was felt right down through Christchurch and Kaiapoi.
- The magnitude was 4.0 and the depth was 22 km
- See the Geonet image below to see how far the shaking was … View moreAn earthquake occurred 15 km south-east of Amberley today (Friday Sep 13) at 10:41am.
What you need to know:
- Light shaking was felt right down through Christchurch and Kaiapoi.
- The magnitude was 4.0 and the depth was 22 km
- See the Geonet image below to see how far the shaking was reported.
- Some people have reported hearing a loud bang.
You may wish to check out Natural Hazards Commission list of ways to make your home safer for natural disasters here.
Did you feel it where you are?
Luckily self-checkout is pretty common in supermarkets these days and we generally use it to quickly buy a few things without the long lines. But perhaps it's appropriate to head there with your full trolley to skip the lines?
What are your thoughts? Is that rude?
Share in the comments … View moreLuckily self-checkout is pretty common in supermarkets these days and we generally use it to quickly buy a few things without the long lines. But perhaps it's appropriate to head there with your full trolley to skip the lines?
What are your thoughts? Is that rude?
Share in the comments below if this has ever happened to you.
Police are aware of a recent overseas rise in scams which involve an unexpected package being sent to addresses with a gift and a QR code inside. Police believe this scamming method could find its way to New Zealand and we are urging people to be vigilant.
The gift will have the recipients … View morePolice are aware of a recent overseas rise in scams which involve an unexpected package being sent to addresses with a gift and a QR code inside. Police believe this scamming method could find its way to New Zealand and we are urging people to be vigilant.
The gift will have the recipients address, but not include the sender's information or be from a known retailer. When the recipient opens the package to see what it is and possibly who sent it, there is a QR code to scan to find out who sent the gift.
The QR code allows the offenders to then access any and all data on your phone or device you used to scan the code, including financial information such as your bank account login details, and personal data.
Police are urging anyone who receives one of these gifts not to scan the QR code, the gift can either be kept or discarded, but do not scan the QR code.
Please report information to Police online at www.police.govt.nz... or call Police on 105.
Longer days and warmer weather are fast approaching!
Make the most of your Sundays with a subscription to the Sunday Star-Times. From just $51, enjoy gripping investigations, in-depth analysis, and exclusive subscriber rewards. Plus, for September only, receive a free Antipodes Supernatural … View moreLonger days and warmer weather are fast approaching!
Make the most of your Sundays with a subscription to the Sunday Star-Times. From just $51, enjoy gripping investigations, in-depth analysis, and exclusive subscriber rewards. Plus, for September only, receive a free Antipodes Supernatural SPF50+ Ceramide Silk Facial Sunscreen worth over $60.
Don't miss out on this unbeatable offer—subscribe today! *Print T&Cs apply.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Canterbury resident Ian Hodge says his shingle road was left in a "shambles" after maintenance work.
Hodge has lived on Rawles Crossing Rd in the Greenstreet area, just out of Ashburton, for over 20 years.
It’s rural living on a … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Canterbury resident Ian Hodge says his shingle road was left in a "shambles" after maintenance work.
Hodge has lived on Rawles Crossing Rd in the Greenstreet area, just out of Ashburton, for over 20 years.
It’s rural living on a shingle road and his family loves the lifestyle.
"We can put up with a bit of dust from a shingle road, it’s just part of living out here.”
The problem is there hasn’t been any shingle put on the road since he moved in and there's nothing left to grade on some patches of the road, he said.
He said his frustration rose when the Ashburton District Council’s roading contractor completed maintenance on a section of pot-holed road that "left it in a dangerous state”.
"What it ended up being was a shambles,” Hodge said.
"They dropped truckloads of a mud-like substance on the road and then a truckload of water. Then a heavy roller tried to roll it flat but couldn't. The grader couldn't grade it.’’
It was a mess and the surface was almost impassable, he said.
"It was slippery and dangerous and formed tramlines which steered cars on its track.”
The contractors eventually returned to "remove the sludge” and a grader attempted to redistribute the gravel, which he said hadn’t been replenished in the 20-odd years they had lived there.
"Now some of the potholes are back and the speed limit is still 100kph.”
Hodge said he was baffled at the "prolonged, expensive and ineffective process" and, as a ratepayer, believed the road should be fixed once and fixed right.
"We pay our rates and can expect a certain level of service.
"We aren’t expecting the road to be sealed or anything, just maintained to an acceptable and safe standard.”
Ashburton council’s infrastructure and open spaces manager Neil McCann said the gravel the contractors used on Rawles Crossing Rd was basalt, which is a softer material used on some sites to provide a longer-term repair.
"When placed it is soft but when it dries out, [it] provides a good stable surface that requires less maintenance.”
But in some good news for Hodge, McCann confirmed that maintenance metalling for the majority of Rawles Crossing Rd was scheduled for the next financial year in 2025/26.
"This short section was done because it was causing issues.”
A $500,000 annual spending boost for the next three years aims to improve the state of many of the Ashburton District’s unsealed roads.
McCann said the additional funding meant their road metal targeting work should be met this financial year.
Ashburton District's roading network has 1515km of sealed roads and 1102km of unsealed roads.
In 2023-24, the council failed to reach its target of applying 48,000 cubic metres of metal to the unsealed network, only reaching 35,684m³.
Seeing a decline in the state of unsealed roading, councillor Richard Wilson pushed for an additional $500,000 annually for the next three years to help improve the situation.
"You can grade all you like, but without the shingle there the road won’t get any better," Wilson said.
Kia ora neighbours,
In our September mag, Amy Roberts from Villaleigh Plants has a list of her favourite blooms for long display. "If you want a long season, look beyond the flowers," is her advice. Here are her picks: Geranium phaeum 'Mourning Widow', Salvia leucantha, … View moreKia ora neighbours,
In our September mag, Amy Roberts from Villaleigh Plants has a list of her favourite blooms for long display. "If you want a long season, look beyond the flowers," is her advice. Here are her picks: Geranium phaeum 'Mourning Widow', Salvia leucantha, Hylotelephium 'Autumn Joy' (pictured), Eryngium pandanifolium and Alchemilla mollis.
Have you got them in your garden? In fact, we'd love to see what you've got in bloom now. Post a photo and share the joy!
Make stunning sets of trinket trays with a nod to the traditional craft of basket-making simply using clay and Resene shades of green.
Find out how to create your own with these easy step by step instructions.
Create your very own mini Jurassic Park with this easy-to-make potted dinosaur garden. Rejuvenate old dinosaur toys that have faded with Resene testpots to help them keep looking good in the harsh sunlight.
Find out how to create your own with these easy step by step instructions.
Continuing with Neighbourly's online Q&A with experts in their field, this week we are tackling online safety with Jandy Fiske from Netsafe.
Jandy Fiske has been with Netsafe for nearly 8 years. Starting on their helpline, she's now Netsafe's Community Engagement Advisor. … View moreContinuing with Neighbourly's online Q&A with experts in their field, this week we are tackling online safety with Jandy Fiske from Netsafe.
Jandy Fiske has been with Netsafe for nearly 8 years. Starting on their helpline, she's now Netsafe's Community Engagement Advisor. Jandy says: 'I'm passionate about online safety because I strongly oppose bullying and want to support those affected by it.'
Jandy is passionate about protecting vulnerable communities and is promoting online safety to ensure no one falls prey to online scams. She can answer your questions about any type of online scams, and also about online harm such as online bullying.
↓ Ask your question below now and she'll be online on Wednesday, 11th September to reply to you ↓
A close-up experience with Tutumairekurai/Hector’s dolphins reinforced Councillor Genevieve Robinson’s commitment to protecting our coastal environment.
She’s also kept on her toes by our Youth Rōpu, who bring fresh perspectives and challenge us to think differently about the issues we … View moreA close-up experience with Tutumairekurai/Hector’s dolphins reinforced Councillor Genevieve Robinson’s commitment to protecting our coastal environment.
She’s also kept on her toes by our Youth Rōpu, who bring fresh perspectives and challenge us to think differently about the issues we face.
Hear more from Councillor Robinson, who represents Ōhoko/Christchurch Central, as she shares her views.
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