Selwyn Times: June 20, 2018

12 Wednesday June 20 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Your Local Views
Readers react to an article
about convicted killer
John Oliver Jamieson’s
crash into the Rolleston
dog park
Judy Stewart – And they
want to relax bail laws. Why?
Megan Rossiter – New
Zealand justice system winning
again.
Karen Drummond –
Fleeing police, what a stupid
man.
Arran Stewart – Easy to
judge from distance, Subaru’s
suck from the start.
IMPACT: The aftermath of
John Oliver Jamieson’s high
speed crash.
District
councillor
Grant Miller
talks about the
impact of the
recent Long
Term Plan
decisions on
the district
PLANS: District councillor Grant Miller talks about recent LTP
decisions including the extension of the Selwyn Aquatic Centre.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
MORE AND more often when
I travel around Selwyn I am
hearing “what about us?”
The heartland communities of
Selwyn are increasingly saying to
me “how about investing in my
town rather than send every rating
dollar to Rolleston?”
And on the face of it, when you
look at our recently released LTP
document, you could well agree
with their thoughts.
Indoor sports stadium, $21
million; Selwyn Aquatic Centre
extension $12 million; Rolleston
Library and Community Centre,
$19 million; Rolleston Town
Centre upgrade, council offices
extension and a health hub
building.
While we would all agree that
Rolleston has faced explosive
growth post-earthquake and requires
additional public facilities
to cope with this, our heartland
towns have also been undergoing
a quiet renaissance and increasingly
are in need of district
council investment.
I particularly think of Leeston,
which has a strong community,
good schools, a business
community that is prepared to
reinvest in the town (Crate and
Barrel, RD1, and the new Tire
and Auto build being examples).
The district council has made
a small investment to assist
Lakeland Art establishing on
the main street, but the lack of
a functional community centre
is really holding back the town.
Currently, the district council
is proposing to build a new
community centre in Leeston in
2025/26.
It is my belief that this project
should be brought forward to
assist this community.
Having been involved with
the recent rebuild of the Tai
Tapu Community Centre, I can
realistically advise that from the
first community meeting to the
unlocking of the new building
can take between 24-36 months.
Darfield and its satellite towns
are also enjoying a period of
growth, which could further be
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Investing in ‘heartland communities’
enhanced when the CPW irrigation
scheme becomes operational
in spring. Some key concerns for
these communities are accessible
services and quality infrastructure,
particularly water services
and roads.
The district council has made
very good progress since the introduction
of district-wide water
rates which improved the source,
treatment, and distribution networks.
Post-Havelock North, this
work has been under increased
scrutiny and will rightly remain
so.
Under our current road sealing
policy we will continue to have
large portions of our district
served by gravel roads. If this is
to be so, then we should strive to
have the best quality gravel roads
in New Zealand.
Dust, of course, is an ongoing
issue. But width, camber, and
pot holes are all maintenance
issues we should strive to do
better on.
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