Safety improvements for Methven’s zebra
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Further safety improvements are being considered in Methven where students from three schools share one pedestrian crossing on a state highway.
Methven school principals and council representatives met recently with Waka Kotahi staff to discuss potential safety improvements at the town’s only pedestrian crossing across State Highway 72.
Methven Primary, Mount Hutt College, and Our Lady of the Snows (OLS) primary schools are all accessed off SH72 which runs right through the town, but there is only one safe crossing point.
“We were just looking at options of improving safety on that particular piece of road,” Methven Primary principal Sue Furndorfler said.
“It’s a busy little place in the morning and after school.
“It’s not just school traffic, in summer there is a lot of farm traffic and then there are buses and tourists in winter.”
A major step will be Waka Kotahi proposing to introduce a 30kph variable speed limit along State Highway 72 along the stretch outside the three schools, a move Furndorfler fully supports.
Students from the three schools, with a combined roll of about 800, all utilise the pedestrian crossing point, and from it there is an almost 400m walk to the OLS entrance to the south.
Where the variable zone sits is yet to be determined.
Another potential solution is adding a kea crossing, where a school patrol controls traffic with extendable stop signs at the pedestrian crossing, but it requires a commitment of volunteers to run it before and after school.
“We haven’t investigated how that would work,” Furndorfler said.
“There are the three school’s students that use the crossing so it would be about the schools deciding how we would manage it in conjunction with Waka Kotahi.”
Deputy mayor and Methven resident Liz McMillan said the meeting was held at 3pm on a school day so the Waka Kotahi representatives could witness the crossing in action.
“It was good to get them on the ground to take a look, and now we will wait and see what they come back with,” McMillan, who also chairs the council’s road safety committee, 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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