Car park compromise in Methven
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
A business owner is calling the introduction of parking restrictions in the Methven mall a compromise.
The Methven Community Board is passing a recommendation to the council to introduce five 30-minute time-restricted car parks in the town's retail centre.
The consultation had proposed introducing a one-hour parking restriction for 10 of the 15 parks, but as there was no clear consensus, the board was presented with the revised recommendation.
The Salt House owner Cherie Summers-Wight said "it’s a compromise”.
“It’s good that it’s only five and maybe 15 minutes would have been better."
Several businesses were unaware there was even a major problem until the consultation papers were delivered, Summers-Wight said.
Methven Supervalue requested the introduction of time-restricted parking as it felt that at times there was a shortage of parks available for customers, due to some vehicles parking for extended periods.
The supermarket had installed its own unapproved parking restriction signs but was asked to remove them, instigating conversations around restricted parking in the mall.
It declined to comment on the board’s recommendation.
The board approved a consultation process with affected businesses in the mall, which had 14 responses.
During the consultation, Summers-Wight helped organise a meeting between the business owners and attended by members of the board, to discuss the situation, hoping that would be enough to solve the issue.
There was no clear agreement in the consultation, with five respondents wanting the status quo, five wanting an alternative, and two supporting the 10 one-hour parks.
Several submissions pointed to the fact that most of the businesses in the mall offer services that require customer parking for longer than an hour.
There was also some conjecture over the reference to ‘angled parks’, which council’s environmental monitoring manager Rick Catchpowle said referred to the right-angled parks, to distinguish them from the parallel parks in the mall.
The result of the consultation was a revised configuration, which the board supported.
The recommendation will go before the council later this month and if adopted, signage will be installed.
⚠️ 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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62.2% Summer
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36.3% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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