Bollard battle: Car access may return to Canterbury picnic spot
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Cars could once again be able to drive up to a popular Canterbury picnic spot and lookout - at least for now.
Bollards will be removed from the upper Hakatere reserve on a trial basis in a compromise everyone “can live with”.
Hakatere Huts is a coastal settlement at the Ashburton/Hakatere River mouth, which splits into two parts - upper and lower.
Locals were shocked when wooden bollards were installed in February 2023 to block vehicle access and the upper camping area was closed.
A working group - made up of three Ashburton councillors and three Hakatere Huts residents - reached an agreement last week to recommend the bollards be removed on a trial basis. The camping ban would remain.
Working group chairperson Russell Ellis said their recommendations would go to council, which would make a final decision on August 20.
“We reached a compromise that we think the Hakatere community and council can live with.
“We all agreed the bollards, that currently stop vehicles driving onto the upper picnic area, should be removed on a trial basis."
Ellis said while not everyone agreed that camping should be prohibited in the upper picnic reserve, there was a majority support for it to be banned.
Camping is available at Lower Hakatere.
One of the community representatives, Gary Clancy, said the recommendation was a step in the right direction.
“It’s not the preferred option, but we are someway to getting got one of the two things we had asked for,” he said.
It was the first meeting of the working group since a kerfuffle over the council releasing a working group decision in June, which hadn't actually been agreed on.
Council chief executive Hamish Riach issued an apology at the time, accepting a report to the council “contained a misstatement” and that the decision would be revoked with the working group to meet again.
Council representatives set to visit the reserve this week to mark which bollards are proposed to be removed.
If the working group’s recommendation is adopted by the council, the upper reserve would be monitored over the summer for illegal camping and the situation reviewed.
⚠️ 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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61.8% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.7% 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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