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By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
South Westland Area School at Harihari is a hive of activity and it is not just the usual daily comings and goings of children.
Builders and tradespeople have occupied the school over the past couple of months, transforming the way it is heated, … View moreBy local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
South Westland Area School at Harihari is a hive of activity and it is not just the usual daily comings and goings of children.
Builders and tradespeople have occupied the school over the past couple of months, transforming the way it is heated, as part of the Government's programme to phase out coal-fired boilers in schools.
At the same time, the school is taking on a more cohesive appearance with a rebuild of covered paths and the addition of an all-weather outdoor lunch space.
Principal Nick Glancy said the zero carbon emissions initiative, costing at least $1.5million, was ''a massive project'' for the school.
The project was directly managed and funded through the Ministry of Education to phase out the traditional coal-fire boiler-radiator system and to bring heat pump technology to every learning area. That had necessitated an electrical upgrade across the site.
''They've had to upgrade all the electrical throughout the school, so the whole place has been dug up to put the power cables underground. That's due to be completed in early April.''
The school pool will also benefit from the heat pump-based system, Glancy said.
Work also started in mid-December on replacing covered areas between various buildings.
Glancy said that work was a part of a long-term maintenance plan developed for the school.
This followed the recent rebuild, which was the result of a significant fire at the site, and the ongoing work was part of a project to weatherproof and re-clad the school.
Central to this and linked to the healthy school lunch scheme was the new outdoor lunch area, which was nearly completed, he said.
Once finished, the all-weather canopy area would be complemented by tables and chairs, which would present a new opportunity for the school to promote positive social connection as a learning experience.
Glancy said the opportunity for pupils to sit at a table and interact with their peers and staff could not be underestimated, particularly as some young people did not necessarily always have the opportunity of sitting down at a table for meal time at home.
''It's just created a really good opportunity ... this one is pretty exciting.''
Currently, the area school roll sat at a ''very healthy'' 115, with the secondary roll for year 9 to 13 pupils, at 65.
The school continued to draw secondary-age pupils from Ross, 45 minutes drive away, down to Whataroa and the glaciers.
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From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
There has been "significant progress" to keep open the access road and bridge to the closed Globe Progress gold mine at Reefton, the West Coast Conservation Board has heard.
The West Coast Conservation Board last week heard from … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
There has been "significant progress" to keep open the access road and bridge to the closed Globe Progress gold mine at Reefton, the West Coast Conservation Board has heard.
The West Coast Conservation Board last week heard from Reefton-based board member and geologist John Taylor that liaison between community interests and DOC was "making significant progress" to ensure assets associated with the former mine site, including the access road and bridge across the Inangahua River, were kept.
Under the access agreement granted by DOC to allow Oceana Gold to develop Globe Progress, the access road and bridge had to be removed once site rehabilitation was completed. The mine closed in 2016.
In December, Taylor gave DOC a serve over the way it was
communicating with the Reefton community over the future of that access.
Submissions sought by DOC early in 2022 from Reefton on the future use of the site had come to nothing, a frustrated Mr Taylor said at the time.
"Black and white, we have had no response from the Department of Conservation at all. We expected to get some feedback, we got no feedback. We got nothing," he said in December.
On Monday, Taylor said there were now moves to form an incorporated society to facilitate a transfer and future management agreement with DOC.
It had made clear it would only deal with a formalised legal entity to take on the Globe access road, he said.
"DOC have come in from a position that they will not deal with anything seriously until we have a legal entity to deal with."
DOC's new Greymouth area manager, Chris Hickford, had been "very supportive" in trying to facilitate that, Taylor said.
"With Chris Hickford there is a very good working relationship."
The new entity would be called the Reefton Goldfields Trust, but time was now of the essence, Taylor said.
This was because moves were being initiated under the Oceana Gold and DOC agreement to seek costs to rip out the road, rehabilitate the route, and pull out the bridge in the final site clean up.
"We're running out of time rapidly. In a sense, we're making progress as of that December meeting DOC have for the first time come through and said if you put up a serious business case to keeping Globe (access) open, we'd basically consider it. Until then they would never talk to us."
Western South Island director Mark Davies made no comment on the matter at the board's meeting in Westport last week.
But in December he acknowledged a "communication breakdown" around Reefton community aspirations to keep the access open.
Taylor said the proposal now for a trust would also deal with local volunteer work currently being done on DOC administered land in the area, particularly around securing heritage sites.
Currently that was technically illegal at present.
As well, securing the Globe access would crucially provide an alternative to the now closed Rough Creek Track by linking up Waiuta and Big River via the Inkerman Track to the mine's 'outer ring road' and then down to the Globe site.
"That makes a really fit for purpose alternative to the old Rough Creek Track."
From reporter Joanne Naish:
An 87-year-old motorist who knocked down a mother and daughter in Westport’s New World car park in November has been ordered to pay reparations of $15,000.
Richard Alexander Scadden appeared in the Westport District Court for sentencing on Thursday.
He pleaded… View moreFrom reporter Joanne Naish:
An 87-year-old motorist who knocked down a mother and daughter in Westport’s New World car park in November has been ordered to pay reparations of $15,000.
Richard Alexander Scadden appeared in the Westport District Court for sentencing on Thursday.
He pleaded guilty in January to two charges of operating a vehicle carelessly and injuring Chelsea Ferguson, 29, and her daughter Pippa, 4.
“One mistake in a split second has changed my life and my capacity to be a mum for the rest of my life,” Ferguson said in a victim impact statement.
Judge Noel Walsh said Ferguson, who attended court on crutches, required nine operations to save her crushed leg, was in hospital for a month and was still undergoing physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
Pippa suffered a broken collarbone, a fractured wrist and concussion.
“There is nothing the court can say or do to undo the enormous harm that has been done ... you made a terrible error with drastic consequences,” the judge told Scadden.
Judge Walsh said Scadden had driven from Rolleston near Christchurch to Westport, before driving into the New World supermarket at about 4.15pm on November 15 last year.
Ferguson and her three of her children were coming out of the store when Scadden accelerated and drove onto the footpath, crushing Ferguson’s leg against the building.
Ferguson’s victim impact statement said she did not know if she would ever be the same again and could no longer do the things she normally did like walking, driving and looking after her four children, the judge noted.
The children who were with her when it happened were extremely traumatised, with one suffering panic attacks and another nightmares.
The family had just arrived in Westport from Australia for a holiday, and the incident had forced them to “adjust their whole lives” and move to New Zealand.
The children had since enrolled at school in Westport and Ferguson and her husband were unable to work.
Up to January they had incurred expenses for travel to medical appointments and lost income of $67,557, which left them struggling, despite the generous donations people had given them.
“Chelsea describes it as life-changing. She said she relives the crash every time she closes her eyes and thinks about what she could have done to get out of the way,” the judge said.
“It was all over in a second... the engine roared and the car shot forward into the building. I can only assume my foot slipped onto the accelerator,” Scadden said in a letter he wrote to the family.
Judge Walsh said because it was not an easy mistake to make, he had concerns about Scadden’s ability to drive in future.
He disqualified him from driving for six months and ordered him to sit a driving test before being allowed to drive again.
Defence lawyer Mark Dollimore said Scadden had not driven since the crash because he thought it would be disrespectful to be seen driving around Westport.
He knew there had been serious consequences for Ferguson and her family, which would last for a “very, very long time”.
From reporter Joanne Naish
West Coast Regional Council chairperson Allan Birchfield stormed out of a meeting after being removed from his role in a near-unanimous vote by his fellow councillors amid allegations of a “toxic environment”.
Birchfield has been on leave from the council since … View moreFrom reporter Joanne Naish
West Coast Regional Council chairperson Allan Birchfield stormed out of a meeting after being removed from his role in a near-unanimous vote by his fellow councillors amid allegations of a “toxic environment”.
Birchfield has been on leave from the council since December, which at the time was explained as being due to health reasons.
All six other councillors signed a letter requesting him to be removed as chairperson at an extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday.
When it came to the actual vote, only Brett Cummings voted for Birchfield to remain.
Read the full story here.
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This Sunday we'll be putting our clocks back for the end of daylight saving. Despite the benefits of an extra hour of sun during daylight saving, these clock changes commonly bring disruptions to our households and sleep - some feel that it should be scrapped altogether. What do you think?
… View moreThis Sunday we'll be putting our clocks back for the end of daylight saving. Despite the benefits of an extra hour of sun during daylight saving, these clock changes commonly bring disruptions to our households and sleep - some feel that it should be scrapped altogether. What do you think?
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the We Say You Say column of your local paper.
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Tomorrow is D-day for West Coast Regional Council chairperson Allan Birchfield as all six of his fellow councillors move to sack him from the role.
An under siege Birchfield has been on leave from the council in December, returning only this week… View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Tomorrow is D-day for West Coast Regional Council chairperson Allan Birchfield as all six of his fellow councillors move to sack him from the role.
An under siege Birchfield has been on leave from the council in December, returning only this week to an extraordinary meeting that seeks to remove him from the chair. The regional council chair is selected around the council table, not at large.
His leave of absence at the time was explained as being due to health reasons.
The formal process to have him replaced as chair was initiated on March 3, signed by every other councillor. It was not publicly disclosed until minutes before the council meeting on March 14. Birchfield did not know about the move until contacted by Local Democracy Reporting.
He did reveal however that council members had previously leaned on him to resign as chairperson.
"There had been some discussion -- they tried to talk me into standing down but I said no," Birchfield said at the time.
However he said he was "definitely not standing down" and the move to remove him was "not clear cut".
On Monday, acting chairperson Peter Haddock said the meeting tomorrow was going ahead as scheduled.
As far as he was aware Birchfield's position had not changed, "unfortunately".
"We haven't heard a word from anyone."
Chief executive Heather Mabin said the matter was for the elected council to oversee.
As of Monday she assumed nothing had changed from the formal motion she had received on March 3 to call an extraordinary meeting to remove Birchfield.
"Any decision that was made on the matter has been done in isolation of the executive and the CEO," Mabin said.
"This is a conversation that the councillors have had themselves. We will respect whatever the outcome is."
However, she said she believed Birchfield had been a significant contributor to the West Coast in his role.
"Allan has contributed incredibly towards this community, and that needs to be acknowledged."
Birchfield's leave of absence followed a turbulent period at the regional council.
This pre-dated his re-election as chairman for a second term following the local body elections last October.
An accusation of conflict of interest emerged almost immediately after the elections about the relationship of Birchfield's company Birchfield Minerals Ltd to the council-owned business unit VCS Ltd.
This was to do with a deal brokered eight years ago by VCS Ltd on behalf of Birchfield Minerals to reconsent and sell Birchfield's Grey Valley gold dredge.
The $157,025 cost of that borne by VCS - and only to be repaid when the dredge eventually sold - has remained on the council balance sheet ever since. It was first highlighted in a Greymouth Star investigation several years ago and then re-emerged after the last elections.
Neighbourhood Support members across New Zealand are invited to attend a special wellbeing webinar, 'Building Strong Communities', with Farmstrong Ambassador, Sam Whitelock, at 7:30pm on Tuesday April 4th.
For more information and to register, head to www.neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz....… View moreNeighbourhood Support members across New Zealand are invited to attend a special wellbeing webinar, 'Building Strong Communities', with Farmstrong Ambassador, Sam Whitelock, at 7:30pm on Tuesday April 4th.
For more information and to register, head to www.neighbourhoodsupport.co.nz....
Please invite those on your street and in your neighbourhood who might be interested (it's not just for rural folk, although those of you in rural communities might be particularly interested).
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From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Waiho Flat dairy farms at Franz Josef "dodged a bullet" after flooding on Monday again threatened a historic rubbish dump.
The Waiho (Waiau) River floodwaters appeared to threaten the stopbank that protects the buried dump, just below … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Waiho Flat dairy farms at Franz Josef "dodged a bullet" after flooding on Monday again threatened a historic rubbish dump.
The Waiho (Waiau) River floodwaters appeared to threaten the stopbank that protects the buried dump, just below Canavans Knob, but then turned away, Waiho Flat farmer of 50 years Richard Molloy said.
Nerves were jangled on Monday when the rapidly rising river looked to be on the verge of breaking through - as it almost did last year.
During a 70mm downpour in about 90 minutes, the raging river shifted course straight towards the bank.
"We were only a hair's breadth away from the same situation," Molloy said.
It was only averted by chance - "it's nothing to do with proactiveness".
West Coast Regional Council acting infrastructure manager Colin Munn said he was made aware of concerns last Friday and the council arranged for a local contractor to inspect the stopbank.
"He thought it was fine ... I guess it's a matter of judgment."
Engineering staff were again visiting the site today, Munn said.
Further north at Harihari, Wanganui River farmers mopping up from their second flood in a fortnight were again critical of the regional council's role in the delay in repairing the impaired stopbank.
Work to divert the river started last Thursday but heavy rain that night saw the river break out above the new diversion, and thwarted the short term repair.
"What our aim has been is to get some rock to the site to ensure we don't lose any more of that stopbank," Munn said.
Rock cartage began on Friday and restarted on Sunday, but contractors "got chased out" by the rising river levels.
"It's an interesting place to be in terms of the ability of schemes to withstand all these events repeatedly, and people's expectations that you can fix it overnight."
He said the council just needed some breathing space.
"The best thing for me is if someone turns the tap off."
Riverbeds constricted for a long time by flood protection banks were continuing to aggrade with gravel build-up, Munn said.
Discussions about the broader issues facing the Wanganui River scheme were ongoing, but the council had to balance the immediate risk for affected residents.
"The factors have changed around it and it's making it more challenging to manage the status quo, but at the moment we're just trying to make sure we get control of it."
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council intends to add automatic rain monitoring equipment on the Wanganui River near Harihari after a series of damaging floods.
The fallout over a flood that swamped two dairy farms 12 days ago, was hot at the council … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The West Coast Regional Council intends to add automatic rain monitoring equipment on the Wanganui River near Harihari after a series of damaging floods.
The fallout over a flood that swamped two dairy farms 12 days ago, was hot at the council meeting last week.
That was because the council had had a month of dry weather and low river flows to repair a hole in the northern bank protection scheme that was blown out in the previous flood, at Waitangi Weekend.
Councillors were briefed in-committee on a new protection plan for the Wanganui River last week, with a scheme to be presented at the rating district AGM next month.
Meanwhile, during the last flood the council was relying on hydrological data it receives from a site inland from Whataroa, about 35km to the south of Hari Hari, to anticipate and monitor river flows in the Wanganui.
The council currently does not have monitoring equipment on the Wanganui River.
Hydrology and engineering staff travel from Greymouth to watch it in an extreme rain storm - as they do for the Waiho (Waiau) at Franz Josef and other large rivers throughout the West Coast.
Council chief executive Heather Mabin said work for new river monitoring sites was ongoing and it was currently formulating "a wish list" but that would depend on funding.
The overnight heavy spell of rain in the Wanganui River headwaters 12 days ago sent "a half-flood" down the river, widening and doubling a 100m hole in the protection bank on the true right that had opened up in early February.
Wanganui Rating District spokesperson and councillor Andy Campbell, one of two affected farmers on the true right of the Wanganui, reported 90mm of rain the night of the flood.
He told the meeting he believed most of the rain that swelled the river was "backcountry heavy rain".
The rain monitor site further south and inland of Whataroa had about 130mm.
Mabin said she understood a new gauge on the Wanganui might be a Civil Defence initiative but the council was also working on a plan to expand its hydrological monitoring work.
Following the meeting Mabin said the Wanganui was "at the top of the list".
It was part of work council began when it put in for about $200,000 of 'shovel ready' Government money for new Buller River monitoring and associated preliminary work around the flood defences for Westport township.
"It's actually a piece of work we've already started."
She was unsure of the history of monitoring at the Wanganui and the previous decision making around installing equipment there. However, she had asked the relevant council departments to look at potential costs from within the current budgets to broaden the work.
River monitoring data was "a key piece of information" not only for the council but the affected communities.
She noted the Wanganui River was a strong case but she would not be drawn on other potential sites.
At this stage the cost per site was yet to emerge but aside from the equipment, having safe access to particular sites was likely to be a significant factor. This included vehicle or walking track access and the practical logistics of physically getting down to particular monitoring sites, Mabin said.
"Often, what I'm hearing, it's the access ways."
Another significant factor was having the connectivity to relay information back from the sites - a significant challenge with no cellphone coverage to remote sites on the West Coast.
"The cellphone coverage is key unless we can tap into some other system."
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