Ashburton Courier: October 17, 2019

Local news at www.starnews.co.nz Ashburton’s The Courier, Thursday 17 October 2019, Page 25
Call to clear
out gravel
from stream
Staveley farmer Richard
Bruce knows about rain.
He has seen storms fill
creeks in minutes, sluice
shingle down roads and
lift streams over bridges.
Several streams near
Staveley make their way
into Bowyers Stream ­
Cave Stream, from near
the Victory limeworks at
Mt Somers, Stevenson
Stream, and Reid Stream.
They join Bowyers
Stream on the Mt Somers
side of Staveley.
As the flood water
cascades down the
streams, it brings gravel ­
and it is that Mr Bruce
would like cleared.
He reckons acontractor
with a big machine
could clear the shingle ­
lowering the creek bed ­
and straighten it in an
hour or more.
Mr Bruce took his case
to the Ashburton council
earlier in the year, armed
with photographs of the
area.
Some work had been
done, but Mr Bruce
believes a bulldozer, if
allowed, could ‘‘fix up 40
years of neglect’’.
He said the streams
that fed in to Bowyers
Stream looked innocent
enough, as did Bowyers
Stream, but that could
change in 20 minutes.
He said Mt Somers,
which overlooks Staveley,
was the highest mountain
in the district and a
natural storm centre.
Within a mile and a
half, water could flood
down streams and off
paddocks.
That water made its
way into Bowyers Stream
and aflow meter showed
it, at times, could match
the flow of the Ashburton,
though it had room to
move.
Mr Bruce said the shingle
build up, that one of
the streams curved at
right angles, made the
situation worse.
If Cave Stream had
been straightened ‘‘it
wouldn’t be aworry’’.
Mr Bruce, who farms
on hill country above Staveley,
has lived in the area
for more than 60 years.
The streams, he said,
would continue to cause
trouble.
Mr Bruce is full of
praise, however, for road
work in the area, particularly
up Boyds Road,
where the road had been
built up.
The road, he said, had
runnels, and aroad that
did not shed water was, in
effect, aditch.
Photo: The shingle
higher than the water in
Cave Stream, which runs
into Bowyers Stream near
Staveley.
Falloon thinks
line may shift
Rangitata MP Andrew
Falloon believes the
electorate boundary may
change.
He said that although
Census data just out
showed the population
of Mid and South Canterbury
had grown, that
growth had not been as
high as the rest of the
South Island.
‘‘With large growth in
neighbouring Selwyn
and Waitaki electorates
(which includes Geraldine),
it’s likely that we
will see some change in
the Rangitata electorate
boundaries.
‘‘Forthe lasttwo years
my office has operated a
‘‘no­wrong­door’’
approach to the people
of the Ashburton district
who live in the Selwyn
electorate, and I’ve
worked closely with Amy
Adams (in Selwyn) to
ensure it’s been seamless.’’
Mr Falloon said that
with growth around Selwyn
‘‘I’m hopeful the
boundary will be shifted to
the Rakaia River. As a
born and bred Mid Cantabrian,
I’d relish the
opportunity to serve communities
like Rakaia,
Chertsey, Lauriston,
Dorie and Pendarves’’.
‘‘I’ll be making clear to
the Representation Commissionthe
logic in having
all of the Ashburton district
in one electorate,’’
Mr Falloon said.
Meteoric drop in farmer confidence
Recently Rabobank’s farmer
confidence survey
was released, showing a
meteoric drop in farmer
confidence.
If you were looking for
an illustration of why, the
meeting in Ashburton on
Monday night was about
as stark as it gets. Nearly
500 people from the rural
community crammed in
to the Event Centre to
express their frustration
over the Government’s
proposed water reforms.
There was, as there
always is, an appreciation
of the need to continue
work to clean up our
waterways. Despite the
nation’s most polluted
rivers and streams all
being in urban areas, it’s
been our farmers who
have stepped up with
riparian planting and
unprecedented measures
Learn howtoavoid the
common mistakemade in
planning your retirement
in alow-interestrate
environment.
Whether it’s building funds as you
near retirement,orgenerating
incomeinretirement, we believe
that the keyistotakean
investment, rather than
asavingsa savings, approach.
Martin Hawes, Authorised Financial Adviser and
Chair of the Summer Investment Committee
Join Martin as he outlines the benefits ofadopting aninvestment
approach in the current interest rate environment and explains
the changes to KiwiSaver for over-65’s recently introduced.
Joining Martin will be Authorised Financial Advisers from
Forsyth Barr who will be on hand to answer any questions.
Date:
Time:
Venue:
Time:
Venue:
Wednesday, 23 October
11:30am -1:30pm
Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon comments
to fence waterways.
In recent years dairy
farmers, so often the
brunt of anger from
people in our major centres,
have voluntarily
fenced 98 per cent of
waterways over a metre
wide.
The Government’s
Hotel Ashburton,
Racecourse Road, Ashburton
3.00pm -5.00pm
Sopheze on the Bay,
Maori Hill,Timaru
RSVP:
proposals take little of
that into account. They
have proposed that
waterways will require a
five metre exclusion,
meaning that in the
future farmers would be
required to move their
fences. There’s cost in
doing so, and the result
will be financially punishing
those farmers who did
the right thing.
It’s not the most significant
change in the
proposals, but it typifies
Minister David Parker’s
attitude. The major cost
will come from nitrogen
limits which have been
labelled as “unattainable,”
and for which the
Government are refusing
to release economic
modelling of.
There’s other costs
by Wednesday,
16 October by visiting
www.summer.co.nz/seminars
or callingNikki Stott on
03 363 2423 (Ashburton)
or JackieBennet on
03 6848200(Timaru)
coming. The Zero Carbon
Bill, currently winding
its way through
Parliament, provides for
heavy industry and other
polluters to “off­set”
their emissions by planting
trees. Farmers are the
only sector singled out
and not able to off­set.
Our farmers produce
enough food to feed 40
million people worldwide,
and they do so with
one of the lowest
environmental footprints
of any country. Requiring
them to produce less food
here simply increases global
emissions by having
less efficient food producers
around the world
pick up the slack.
At present our primary
sector accounts for 60 per
cent of New Zealand’s
goods exports, and
employs many thousands
of Kiwis in small towns
and communities across
the country. Jobs that will
be impacted by these
policies.
Many years ago, back
when Iwas working on a
relative’s farm, the saying
was that farmers had
three things they needed
to worry about: interest
rates, farm gate prices,
and the weather. While
access to capital has tightened
up, interest rates
remain at record lows.
Prices across most of the
primary sector are up,
and even the weather
hasn’t been too bad. The
thing that’s changed is
Government policy.
Ultimately it will cost us
all.
Council water submission ahigh priority
Ashburton council’s
submission on
proposed Government
freshwater reforms
was ‘‘highpriority’’
and would focus on the
possible economic
impact of thepolicies,
chief executive officer
Hamish Riach said.
MrRiach said it was
fairtosay the
Ashburtoncouncil
could support the
submission being
prepared by the
regional council.
MayorDonna Favel
saidshe heard thatthe
WaimakaririDistrict
Council submission
wasbeing prepared by
thechiefexecutive
officerand the mayor,
andinSelwyn the
submission was
workshopped by the
full council.
Ashburtonwould try
to look at its
submission as well.
Ashburton council,
along with other
bodies, wasconcerned
aboutthe six­week
submission period ­
since extended by two
weeks by government ­
butwas working with
urgency.
Mr Riach saidatan
earlier meeting that the
shorttimeframe would
not givetimeto
challenge any of the
science in the proposals
and the Ashburton
submission would focus
on the possible
economic impact.
The SummerKiwiSaverSchemeismanaged by Forsyth Barr InvestmentManagement Ltd. Youcan obtain theScheme’s product disclosure statementand further
information about the Schemeonour websiteatwww.summer.co.nz,fromone of ouroffices,orbycalling us on 0800 11 55 66. Disclosure statements are available
forMartin Hawes andForsythBarrAuthorisedFinancialAdvisers, on requestand freeofcharge.
KWS5752-12(AC)-October 2019 -October 2019