Building boom not slowing down in Ashburton, yet
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The building boom continues in Ashburton but is tipped to slow down around March next year.
Ashburton District Council building services manager Michael Wong said things are “still on the up” in the district while nationally there are signs of a major slowdown.
After a second-straight record year of new builds, Ashburton continues to receive high numbers of new house consents per month, group manager compliance and development Jane Donaldson said.
The council is currently averaging 24 new house consents received per month this financial year (2022-23) she said, compared with 23.5 per month in 2021-22, and 19 per month in 2020-21.
“This is high in comparison to pre-Covid times since 2014 when we averaged just 10 new house consents received per month,” Donaldson said.
The Ashburton District generally goes through consent trends around three months after neighbouring districts, Donaldson said.
“With neighbouring districts indicating signs of a slowdown in consents, it’s possible this may start to show in our figures around March next year.”
Stats NZ reported 3568 new home consents being issued nationally in October, down 12% compared to October 2021, while Ashburton had 64 new consents issued, slightly down (8%) on the 69 in October last year but overall numbers remained high.
“The numbers are still going up so we seem to be bucking the trend that the nationwide situation is showing,” Wong said.
“The builders and designers are still saying they are busy, and we still have people coming through the doors making inquiries.”
The number of building consents issued in 2021-22 was 765 in total, which was a record $237,462,951 worth of consents, surpassing the previous year’s $164.4m.
That figure for 2022/23 was at $63,042,536 at the end of October, with 222 new home consents issued compared to 257 at the same stage last year.
Wong estimated the changes to the building code, relating to increased requirements around window insulation, added between $20,000- $30,000 to construction costs which were having an effect.
He said 27 new build consents were lodged between October 31 and November 1 to try to beat the new rule coming in on November 3.
A further change to the Building Code that will double the roof insulation requirements is also set to come in in May next year and Donaldson predicted there could be another consent surge before the changes come into effect.
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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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62.4% Summer
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36.2% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
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 ❤️
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