The Star: November 15, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday November 15 2018 7
News
Offer of free water slammed
• By Julia Evans
CONTROVERSIAL bottling
company Cloud Ocean Water
has been slammed for trying to
sponsor sports and community
groups – with free water.
The Chinese-owned company
wants to give junior Belfast
rugby touch
teams 500
bottles a week,
and provide
water to Belfast
Community
Network
events.
Lynda
Goodrick
The company
is based
in Belfast.
Aotearoa Water Action, which
has taken court action against
Cloud Ocean, spokesman Peter
Richardson said he was “disgusted”
about the offers.
“They’re just trying to splash
around money to buy public
opinion but where do you stop?
People need to have an ethical
compass,” he said.
Ocean Cloud was served an
abatement notice in August for
taking water without informing
authorities. The company
blamed monitoring equipment,
which was not sending data to
OUTREACH: Cloud Ocean Water has offered Belfast
community organisations free water.
Environment Canterbury.
It currently has a resource
consent, which cost $2277, to
take 1.5 billion litres of water a
year that will be sold overseas. It
is now seeking resource consent
from ECan to take more water
from a second bore. But last week
the city council came out strongly
opposing a second consent.
Belfast Rugby Football Club
president Dave Pilkington said
it had not been formalised yet,
but an offer for about 500 bottles
of water a week had been put to
them for the junior touch teams.
“If you’re anti them taking the
water, you can look at it as a PR
drive. But in my opinion, they’re
an employer in the community,
who will employ locals and
wants to be involved in the community,”
said Mr Pilkington.
“I don’t see it as a bribe, I see it
as business.”
Turning it down would
“achieve nothing,” he said.
“We really seek anything we
can get. In today’s sporting environment
it’s hard to get money.”
Belfast Community Network
chief executive Lynda Goodrick
said it had been also offered
water.
“If we did want any water for
community events and things,
they said all we needed to do was
ask.
“I’m sure it is a PR exercise,
but we only hear one side of the
story through the media so I
understand that they’re telling
theirs too,” she said.
“I’m really conflicted. But
they’re not doing anything illegal
and they’re working within
their consent.”
Cloud Ocean Water did not
respond to questions from The
Star.
Local community groups
like the Belfast Community
Network and the Rotary Club
of Belfast Kaiapoi, as well as the
Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood
and Papanui-Innes community
boards have been taken on tours
through the plant.
Harewood Ward city
councillor Aaron Keown said
it “probably” was just public
relations.
“They’re not fully in touch
with their local community and
they need to be.”
Fendalton-Waimairi-
Harewood board member Aaron
Campbell said: “It’s a PR exercise
to play catch-up on 12 months of
pretty bad press.”
Local
News
Now
Fire rages, homes at risk
Majority oppose
lowering
speed limits
ABOUT TWO-THIRDS of
people do not want to see more
parts of the central city with
30km/h speed limits.
A proposal for a 30km/h speed
limit on St Asaph St and sections
of Hagley Ave and Riccarton Ave
at Hospital Corner has had more
than 700 public submissions.
It also included a 10km/h speed
limit on Oxford Tce and Antigua
St alongside the new outpatients
building.
The majority of the 737 submissions
– around two thirds – oppose
lowering speed limits.
However, an independent
technical note from engineering
companies Beca and Stantec said
the 30km/h limit was a good idea.
City council staff are preparing
a report on the submissions received,
which will be presented to
a hearings panel on Wednesday.
The panel will make recommendations
on the proposed
speed limit changes to the city
council.
When it was announced, city
council head of transport Richard
Osbourne said the lowered
limit would improve safety for
the South Frame development,
which includes the Ao Tawhiti
Unlimited Discovery School
currently under construction.
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