The Star: March 21, 2019

2
• By Louis Day
[Edition datE]
MORE THAN 20,000
households across Banks
Peninsula may have to
pay a targeted rate for pest
control.
Environment
Canterbury’s proposed
Pest-Free Banks Peninsula
strategy would affect
21,276 rateable properties
on the peninsula.
Public consultation on
the proposal has closed
and it will go to a hearings
panel next month before
the plan is finalised.
Different properties
would pay different rates,
depending on their size
and value.
“It would be based 80
per cent on land value, and
20 per cent on land area.
The targeted rate formula
would be approximately
$5 per $100,000 land value
plus $0.65 per hectare of
land,” said Maree Willetts,
ECan team leader of strategy,
planning, biodiversity
and biosecurity.
Ms Willetts said the
project would focus on
eradicating feral goats and
controlling pests, such as
possums, feral cats,
ferrets, stoats, weasels and
rats.
The project aims to help
meet the goal of a pest-free
peninsula by 2050.
“The removal of pest
NEWS 25
Targeted rate plan to get
rid of pests on peninsula
TARGETS: Environment Canterbury is planning a
targeted rate to help eradicate all pests on Banks
Peninsula by 2050.
Examples of the annual cost for the
proposed targeted rate:
•800m² property in Sumner, $455,000 land
value: $22.85.
•1000m² property in Lyttelton, $240,000
land value: $12.09.
•980m² property in Akaroa, $315,000 land
value: $15.84 p.a.
•95ha property in Little River, $600,000 land
value: $91.97 p.a.
animals from the Banks
Peninsula will ensure
indigenous species become
more abundant and
widespread across the
peninsula and into the
city,” she said.
ARA INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY
The Star Thursday March 21 2019
Retraining puts
new career within
easy reach
It’s never too late to completely change
career, as Reece Scott has discovered.
Calling time on his 17-year career in the
travel industry, he’s completely changed
path and is now focused on becoming
a chef.
“At the time I was the South
Island sales manager for The Travel
Corporation, which involved
representing the company’s award
winning travel products to travel agents
and consumers throughout the South
Island, from Invercargill to Nelson,”
Reece says. “By then I’d been in the
industry for a long time and I just felt
the need to challenge myself again.”
In order to forge a new career path,
Reece knew he needed to retrain. “I’ve
always enjoyed working with food and
have had experience in the industry
before so I wanted to brush up on my
skills and seek employment in cookery.”
Reece says he chose to study at Ara
Institute of Canterbury because of its
reputation as a world-class tertiary
training centre. “The cookery school
at Ara has a reputation for preparing
students to a high standard and giving
them the best skills for employment.
They also have great facilities and
inspiring, knowledgeable tutors.”
One of those tutors is Stuart
Goodall, who’s had a hand in
training many students who’ve
gone on to become top chefs,
both here and overseas. “He really
knows his stuff,” Reece says. “He
bestows his knowledge to us in
a very relaxed way that’s easy to
understand.”
While Reece undertakes his
cookery course, he’s getting
to put his training into
practice at Ara’s on-campus
restaurant, Visions. “It’s
great to see how it all works,
from when an order comes
in right through to producing
a saleable product for paying
customers. It’s giving me the skills
and preparation to be ready for
employment.”
Reece is keen to encourage others
– especially those who aren’t happy
in their current career - to follow
his example and study towards a
new career. “Definitely do it,” he
says. “Retraining has prepared
me really well for employment
in this industry.”
UNSAFE: The Governors Bay jetty has been closed since 2011 after an
engineering inspection found it to be unfit for public use.
Fete and music festival to
restore Governors Bay jetty
• By Louis Day
A FETE and music festival
will be held next week
in a bid to restore the
Governors Bay jetty.
The Governors Bay
Community Association
and Governors Bay Jetty
Restoration Trust have
joined forces to organise
the annual fete and a “save
the jetty” music festival on
March 30 at the Allendale
Reserve.
The Governors Bay
Jetty Restoration Trust is
currently raising money
and working with city
council on a project to
restore the jetty.
The jetty has been
closed since 2011 after an
inspection from engineers
found it to be unfit for
public use.
Trust secretary Louisa
Eades said $735,000
has already been raised
towards the project.
However, she said the
restoration project was
likely to cost $3 million in
total.
“We are working
with the city council to
get them to allocate more
money towards the project
in the Annual Plan. If all
goes to plan, we would
like to start the project in
the spring, but that totally
depends on fundraising,”
she said.
Proceeds made from the
fete and music festival will
go towards the restoration
of the jetty.
The fete will run from
noon-4pm and include
entertainment, stalls, a fire
brigade demonstration,
white elephant, a vintage
car showing, food and a
pop-up bar.
From 6-10pm, the trust
will hold the “jetty music
festival.”
Local bands will provide
entertainment and there
will be food stalls and a
pop-up bar run by Two
Thumbs Brewing Co. The
line-up will include The
In Crowd, 3KG and James
Constable.