The Star: February 14, 2019

4 Thursday February 14 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
The Star
News
in brief
Council pays $15K to
replace drain lids
Drain lids being stolen and
used for scrap metal has cost
city council about $15,000
so far this year. About 50
sumps, the metal grates
which sit on top of drains in
gutters, have been stolen, city
council manager city streets
maintenance Mark Pinner
says. Mr Pinner said it would
appear the sumps are being
used as scrap metal. The
sumps cost $300 each replace.
Missing sumps cause a safety
concern and Mr Pinner said
the sumps are replaced as soon
as city council are aware of
them.
Night-time Lyttelton
Tunnel closures
Lyttelton Tunnel will be
closed for three nights later
this month. The New Zealand
Transport Agency will close
the tunnel between 11pm and
4am on February 24, 25 and
26. The closures are necessary
to install and carry out
essential testing of a new $29
million fire protection system
in the tunnel. The tunnel will
open to traffic for 10min on
the hour.
Limes to stay for another year
•From page 1
More than a quarter of
Christchurch residents made
400,000 trips on the scooters
since they were launched on a
trial basis in October, for which
Lime paid $136.
Feedback on the
scooters has been
overwhelmingly
positive. A city council
survey found 93 per
cent of users called for
them to stay.
Committee
chairwoman and city
councillor Pauline
Cotter said the scooters
were bringing great
economic benefits to the city.
“They’ve certainly arrived with
a whoosh and a roar,” she said.
However, Lime wrote to the
city council to put forward a
number of different proposals,
including “exclusivity” in the
city in exchange for it paying
the council $83 per scooter
– $132,800 a year for 1600
scooters.
It also put forward proposals
for a reduced rate of $49 per
scooter for 1000 scooters, a tax
of $0.05 per trip, exclusivity
for four years for $200,000 or
removing the 1600 cap.
However, city council
staff said: “This process is
not a negotiation, nor is it a
commercial arrangement with
a particular operator. Any
concepts of exclusivity
raise several issues
around anticompetitive
practices.”
City councillor
Mike Davidson
opposed allowing
Lime to increase its
fleet to 1000 – he
wanted the number
capped at 800.
“It’s a bit of a shame.
I think if we limited Lime to
50 per cent then potentially we
would have encouraged other
operators to come forward.
Wouldn’t it be great if we
actually had a local provider
instead of an international one?”
he said.
Cr Cotter said there was an
opening for another operator to
come in with 600 scooters.
The city council has had
expressions of interest from
other e-scooter companies,
although none had applied for a
trading permit.
Mike Davidson
SPEEDY: Riders
will now have
more time on
Lime scooters
after the city
council approved
their use for
another year.
Lazy Sundays
Our final session featuring
Lloyd and Doublet, plus
The Ranchsliders
FREE
Sunday 17 February
3–4.30pm
Archery Lawn, Botanic Gardens
ccc.govt.nz/summertimes