Suspected vandalism of Ashburton clock tower
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Asburton’s iconic clock tower may have been the victim of vandalism – but identifying the culprits may take time.
Police have been alerted after a glass panel was smashed on Saturday night.
The Ashburton District Council said CCTV footage is being reviewed.
“Our security contractors have reviewed some footage, and can determine that the glass shattered on Saturday night, about 9pm,” council business support general manager Leanne Macdonald said.
“We have laid a complaint with police and investigations are continuing,”
As the glass was broken at night it may prove difficult to identify the offenders.
Ashburton police declined to comment on the incident.
The council will call in a clock engineer to check the workings as fragments of the shattered safety glass “were all over the place”, Macdonald said.
The glass was tidied on Wednesday by contractors who installed a temporary window until a replacement can be sourced.
“The glazier has ordered the glass and hopes to have it up by the end of next week.
The council has made an insurance claim to cover the repairs.
It is unclear how much the repairs will cost.
The council was unaware of any previous vandalism of the clock tower in at least the last decade.
The clock tower in Baring Square East originally started out in Ashburton's post office clock tower in 1904.
Following the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and the 1942 Wairarapa earthquake, the tower was removed as ordered by central government and put into storage.
The clock was resurrected in the 1970s by the Ashburton Lions Club while the tower was designed by Warren and Mahoney Architects and built by Bradford Construction Ltd.
It was erected in Baring Square East and at 4pm on November 26, 1976, the clock and chimes sprung back into action as part of the Baring Square East revamp to commemorate 100 years of local government in the Ashburton County
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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