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Bay Harbour: March 13, 2019

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Wednesday <strong>March</strong> <strong>13</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />

Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />

BAY HARBOUR<br />

PAGE 5<br />

Local<br />

News<br />

Now<br />

Fire rages, homes at risk<br />

Outrage after rocket launch causes fire<br />

• By Louis Day<br />

A ROCKET launch by<br />

Canterbury University which<br />

caused a fire on Kaitorete<br />

Spit has left nearby residents<br />

outraged.<br />

Little River Wairewa<br />

Community Trust chairman<br />

Robert Burch labelled the rocket<br />

launch a “silly thing to do.”<br />

“Why are they launching a<br />

rocket when we have a total fire<br />

ban?” he said.<br />

Canterbury University group,<br />

UC Aerospace, was attempting<br />

to become the first student group<br />

in the world to launch a rocket<br />

into space last Sunday morning.<br />

The university said the attempt<br />

was not successful but is saying<br />

little more about the project.<br />

“This is a story that hasn’t<br />

been in the media because they<br />

didn’t get out of the earth’s<br />

atmosphere,” a spokeswoman<br />

said.<br />

But <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News<br />

inquiries reveal the rocket was<br />

launched from Kaitorete Spit,<br />

which protects Lake Ellesmere<br />

from the sea, about 10am.<br />

The rocket, which was planned<br />

to crash back into the sea,<br />

landed in a paddock, causing a<br />

fire which destroyed vegetation,<br />

Little River Volunteer Fire<br />

Brigade acting station officer<br />

Matt Ledgerwood said.<br />

When firefighters arrived,<br />

students involved with the<br />

project had put the fire out.<br />

“With a bit of bad luck, it could<br />

have been a lot worse. Luckily<br />

the grass was quite short and<br />

there was no wind,” he said.<br />

Sue Morrow, who lives at<br />

nearby Birdlings Flat, rushed<br />

towards the fire after being<br />

alerted of smoke coming from<br />

Kaitorete Spit on the Birdlings<br />

Flat Community Residents<br />

Facebook Page.<br />

“It’s bloody stupid doing that<br />

at this time of year when it is<br />

tinder dry,” she said.<br />

The fire had been put out by<br />

the time she got there.<br />

Fire and Emergency NZ<br />

deputy principal rural fire officer<br />

Al Hutt shared the concerns of<br />

nearby residents.<br />

“This has not been handled<br />

particularly well by the<br />

university. My view is that the<br />

timing was probably wrong,<br />

middle of winter and it would<br />

not have been a problem,” he<br />

said.<br />

The university spokeswoman<br />

said the group had all the<br />

appropriate permissions from<br />

various agencies, including the<br />

Civil Aviation Authority and NZ<br />

Space Agency, as well as various<br />

controls in place to prevent harm<br />

in a range of eventualities.<br />

Kaitorete Spit is home to<br />

several rare insects, reptiles<br />

and birds and is of significant<br />

cultural value to Ngāi Tahu<br />

due to the more than 500<br />

archaeological sites found there.<br />

The Canterbury University<br />

launch was part of the<br />

international race to become the<br />

first university group to blast<br />

a rocket beyond the Karman<br />

line. The line is 100km above<br />

the earth’s surface and is widely<br />

recognised as the boundary to<br />

outer space.<br />

RISKY: A rocket launch by<br />

a group from Canterbury<br />

University, which caused a<br />

fire at the tinder dry Kaitorete<br />

Spit, has outraged nearby<br />

residents.<br />

The University of Southern<br />

California’s rocket propulsion<br />

laboratory set the highest<br />

altitude reached by a university<br />

group in <strong>March</strong> 2017 with 44km.<br />

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BULSARA T/A TALL POPPY LICENSED UNDER REAA 2008<br />

Environment Canterbury<br />

ANNUAL PLAN <strong>2019</strong>-20<br />

E19/7226<br />

Environment Canterbury is considering its <strong>2019</strong>-20<br />

Annual Plan.<br />

While the plan largely aligns with the most recent<br />

Long-Term Plan, small changes to our fees and charges<br />

policy and our revenue and financing policy are being<br />

considered. Increased funding of public transport to<br />

match funding from NZTA and increased funding in water<br />

management, pest control and biodiversity are also being<br />

considered, as well as a reduction in air quality funding.<br />

These will impact on some ratepayers, depending on<br />

their location, when the <strong>2019</strong>-20 Regional Council<br />

rate is confirmed.<br />

To find out how these changes affect you, and to provide<br />

feedback, visit haveyoursay.ecan.govt.nz/annualplan<br />

Facilitating sustainable development<br />

in the Canterbury region<br />

www.ecan.govt.nz

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