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259 days ago

Elderly housing rebuilds to cost over $3m

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

The timing of the demolition and rebuild of elderly housing units in Ashburton will be known once the contract is finalised.

BP Construction Limited has been selected as the preferred contractor to demolish and redevelop 16 units at Friendship Lane for the tendered price of $3,073,668 plus GST.

The council’s business support group manager, Leanne Macdonald, said the detail of the timeline for the two stage project, with eight units demolished and rebuilt at a time, is being developed.

“We will be able to share more information about the tender process once the finer details of the contract have been formally agreed by council and BP Construction Limited.

“The Friendship Lane units are of a design that no longer complied with the recent changes in Healthy Homes Legislation and so were a priority to upgrade.”

The remaining units at Friendship Lane comply with legislation and no future work is programmed in the draft long-term plan, Macdonald said.

The $3m project is being funded by a “range of streams”, including external funding, a previous property sale, and loan funding.

There are already nine vacant units at Friendship Lane, clearing the way for stage one to begin, pending funding applications and contract negotiations.

“As we refurbish vacant units in our district, we will work with any existing tenants impacted by this project to be relocated within the timeframe that is yet to be determined.”

The nine units have been vacant for some time, one since August 2021.
The 16 units are part of the council’s 102 elderly housing units, available for people over 65 years of age across six complexes spread throughout Ashburton, Methven, and Rakaia.

A recent property activity report outlined that there are 20 applications on the waiting list, with 10 people wanting single units and 10 requesting double units (three couples and seven individuals). This does not include the seven tenants at Friendship Lane.

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More messages from your neighbours
2 days ago

Worst Xmas ever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

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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14 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

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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6 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

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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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 61.7% Summer
    61.7% Complete
  • 36.7% Winter
    36.7% Complete
  • 1.6% Other - I'll share below
    1.6% Complete
1356 votes