Ashburton’s historic rail footbridge restoration approved
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton’s iconic rail footbridge will be restored, when the funding becomes available.
In adopting the conservation management plan for the footbridge, the Ashburton District Council agreed to fund the maintenance and renewal of the historic structure.
How it will be funded is the next step for the 106-year-old footbridge.
Roading manager, Mark Chamberlain said the decision was the council has an asset and “do we want to keep it and spend money on it in the future”.
The answer from the councillors was yes.
Councillor Carolyn Cameron said for the sake of connectivity “it needs to be maintained”.
As well as the connection between East and West streets, councillor Phill Hooper believed the council had safety obligations to maintain the 25-metre long overpass option because, as chief executive Hamish Riach pointed out, with the shunting yards shifting north to the Fairfield Freight Hub trains will be passing through town at a greater speed in future.
In his report, Chamberlain outlined there was $255,000 worth of work that was identified in 2018, so likely to have risen, and “while the bridge is in poor condition … there is little risk associated with leaving the work until funding is approved”.
As it is a footbridge, Chamberlain said it is eligible to be part of the council’s subsidised roading budgets for structures, with Waka Kotahi contributing 51%.
That budget in the current 2021-24 period is $297,979, or around $99,000 per year, which is to cover the 187 bridges in the district.
Chamberlain said in the next period there will need a significant funding increase.
An assessment of the bridge assets estimated around $2.58 million of maintenance and renewals, including the footbridge, and there are four bridges due for replacement at an estimated $1.18m.
Other funding options for the footbridge include possible grants from the Railway Heritage Trust, Historic Places Mid Canterbury, or Heritage New Zealand.
A curve ball option is to use some of the $900,000 of Three Waters Better off funding that was allocated to new footpaths.
Riach said where that $900,000 is to be spent was still to be decided by the council, so there was “potential” it could include the footbridge.
“We could give some consideration to how this might apply,” Riach said.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.9% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
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