Waimakariri’s capital works ‘well behind schedule’ amid labour shortage
From local democracy reporter Adam Burns:
---------------
Building managers at the Waimakariri District Council are disappointed the delivery of major capital works continues to lag behind as they contend with an arduous construction environment.
Several projects within its $70 million capital works programme remain significantly off the pace as resourcing constraints and supply chain factors continue to stretch the council thin.
There is concern the programme could be as low as 66 per cent done by the end of June, after a quarterly update was presented to the council’s audit and risk committee on Tuesday.
"Resourcing is certainly hitting and affecting our ability to deliver the programme," council senior engineering adviser Don Young said.
Utilities and roading manager Gerard Cleary said the council needed to be careful of overcommitting when developing the annual plan, as resourcing issues 'would not be going away overnight".
"We’ve lost quite a few senior engineers and in the consulting industry they're equally as stretched," he said.
"We are disappointed with how this year's capital works delivery is going."
Cleary said council had taken on graduate-level staff to help with the workload.
"It's really hard to get senior engineers and that's probably where we've suffered the most," he said.
"It's a crazy market out there."
Adding further headaches was pricing issues as a result of a tight construction market, contractor availability and "extreme pressure" on the supply chain.
"Most of the recent tenders have had one or two respondents only, and almost all of them are significantly over budget," the capital works quarterly report said.
Councillor Sandra Stewart was unsympathetic at the meeting to the issues and appealed for assurances upcoming work would be completed on time.
"I don’t mean to put the boot in ... but the refrain is very familiar," she said.
"What process is being put in place that will virtually guarantee that you deliver far better than this, given the environment out there."
Deputy mayor Neville Atkinson jumped to the defence of staff and said many of the factors were out of their control.
"How you're even going to price something, or get a timeline out of a contractor. It is just about impossible," he said.
"There’s some realities around this which we have to accept, that in the next year or two there will be movement and we may not get some things done, because of what is out there in this environment.
"No resourcing, higher prices and no guarantee of timelines ... these guys are managing all of it the best they can."
Growing demand for Rangiora’s Christian schools
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Two North Canterbury Christian schools are seeking permission to grow their student rolls.
The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback on requests from eight Canterbury state integrated schools to increase their maximum rolls, including two in Rangiora.
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Rangiora wants to increase its roll from 175 to 225 students, while Rangiora New Life School (pictured) is looking to increase its maximum roll of 470 by an additional 100 secondary students to 570.
Rangiora New Life School principal Stephen Walters said demand for Christian education in the region is strong.
‘‘I think it is exciting for all of those schools listed.
‘‘It will be phased in over a number of years and it will likely be mostly from home school families.’’
As the school took students from throughout the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts, he said he did not expect it to have a major impact on local state schools.
The school has 230 year 9 to 13 students, so an extra 100 students will represent significant growth.
Walters said about 30 extra students could be absorbed within its existing buildings and the five hectare site has plenty of room for expansion.
As it was too late to plan for next year, he anticipated gradual roll growth to begin from 2026.
‘‘We want to be a low density site, so when we reach 650 we would look for another site.’’
State integrated schools have less ‘‘bureaucratic hurdles" because they don't spend Government money on buildings, he said.
‘‘We build a classroom and then collect the fees from parents to pay for them over 20 or 30 years.’’
North Canterbury’s booming population means local state schools are all growing, with Rangiora High School reaching 1750 students this year and Kaiapoi High School fast approaching its site capacity of 1100.
‘‘Oxford Area School used to be same size as us, but it has overtaken us with its growth.’’
St Joseph’s School principal Ben Gorman said there was strong demand for a Catholic education.
‘‘We've had significant roll pressure for the last six to seven years.
‘‘Currently, we have over 50 applications for enrolment for next year, but only have 20 spaces available (with departing year 8 students).’’
Gorman said if the maximum roll increase is approved, it will be phased in between from 2026 to 2030, with two classrooms built.
St Joseph’s School board of trustees chairperson Emma Dangerfield said North Canterbury’s growing population is likely to lead to more enrolments.
‘‘We want to see students enrolled in their preferred school option so ensuring we have more spaces available for these children is a no-brainer.’’
She said the increased roll would have little or no impact on other schools due to the rapid population growth.
Christchurch schools Aidenfield Christian School, Emmanuel Christian School, Middleton Grange School, St Mark’s School and Christchurch Adventist School have requested to increase their rolls.
St Bede’s College is looking to increase its day student roll and reduce its roll for borders, while keeping its maximum roll at 786.
The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback until September 27.
State and state-integrated schools and kura have a school board that governs it and makes decisions on the school's strategic direction.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Poll: How do you feel about dogs being allowed indoors in cafes?
For most of us, seeing a friendly doggo while out and about instantly brings a smile to our faces. But how do you feel about cafes welcoming pups inside?
Cast a vote and share your thoughts below.
-
27.1% I love it!
-
33% Only in designated areas
-
39.9% No, it should be outdoors only.
This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?
What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Loading…
