Ashburton ‘deserves better’ representation from ECan
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 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).
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!
⚠️ 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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61.7% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.7% Other - I'll share below
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