North Canterbury News: February 13, 2020

Park-and-ride option
gets council backing
NEWS
North Canterbury News, February 13, 2020
17
By DAVID HILL
The Waimakariri District Council is
backing the creation of park­and­ride bus
services for thedistrict.
Park and ride facilities, waste reduction,
urbandevelopment, Fire and Emergency
New Zealand (FENZ)funding, water
supplies, rural leases and the Coldstream
Rd tennisdevelopmentwere amongthe
majortopics discussed at the recent
council meeting.
Councillorsvoted to endorse
Environment Canterbury’s preferred parkand­ride
option of four busruns each
week­daymorning directly fromRangiora
and Kaiapoi to the centralcity and
returning eachevening.
This would incura$30 ratesrisefor
urbanratepayers and$10 for rural
ratepayers.
Deputy Mayor Neville Atkinson backed
the proposal, saying ‘‘it’salready
happening’’.
‘‘There’shalf adozen cars parkedat
Tram Road on week days,sowealready
know it works.This is an intergenerationalchange.
If no­one starts it,
then it will never happen, so our
generation needstostart it.’’
Concerns wereraised overthe Ministry
for the Environment’s proposed waste levy
increase.
Cr Robbie Brine acknowledged the levy
needed to rise,but not at the level
proposed as it couldhave‘‘a negative
impact’’. But he hopeditwould leadtoa
regional solution to recycling.
Councillors opposed aDepartment of
InternalAffairsproposal to fundFENZ
through rates, rather than insurance.
MayorDan Gordonsaid ‘‘volunteer
brigades should be properly funded’’,
including vehicles and function rooms, so
they werenot having to constantly
fundraise.
Cr PhilipRedmondsuggested FENZ
shouldbefunded, at leastinpart, through
taxation,asnot all fireswere related to
properties.
Cr Atkinson began the meeting by
commendingthe efforts of localvolunteer
firefighters in respondingtolast week’s
Ashley Riverfire.
At present, the councilhas more than
490 leases and licences on councilland,
with around 265 for ruralgrazing androad
crossings. The remaining 230 are reserves,
commercialorcommunity­basedleases
and licences.
Anew land leasing and licences
managementstrategy has beenapproved
and can be viewed on the council website.
The proposed Coldstream Rd tennis
development is proceedingtothe resource
consent stage to build 10 tennis courts. The
council is contributing $1 milliontowards
the project, withthe Rangiora and
Southbrook tennisclubs planning to make
contributions from the sale of their
existing sites.
Mr Gordon says the project is an
importantone for tennis in the district.
‘‘We are now at apoint wherethis looks
like it will be areality which is great for
tennisinthe Waimakariri district. Tennis
clubs aroundthe district are very
supportive of thishappening because they
see thevalue of thisinvestment for the
sport of tennis as awhole.’’
With work on Stadium Waimakariri
progressingnext door, contractors will be
asked to linkthe services to theboundary
of the proposed tennis site.
Paddleboat fun ... Millie Steel, aged 6, of Loburn, enjoys apaddleboat at the
inaugural Inflatafest in Rangiora’s Victoria Park on Waitangi Day.
PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP
Inflatafestpopular
By SHELLEY TOPP
The success of the inaugural
Inflatafest,held in Rangiora’s
VictoriaParkonWaitangiDay, has
given the organiser muchto
consider.
Alarge crowd packedthe park for
the event, whichran fromnoonto
5pm.Itincluded 16 children’s
entertainmentinflatables.
OrganiserGraham Moss, of
Mandeville, who ownsFun HQ,said
he was happywith theturnout.
The feedbackfrompeople
attending the event had been great.
Parentsliked theidea of the entry
feegivingkids unlimitedaccess to
each inflatable throughout the day,
Grahamsaid.
He is keen to hold another
Inflatafestnext year,but thatisgoing
to require much consideration about
howtoprevent it frombeing moved
to abigger venue.
‘‘Ireally likeVictoria Parkasa
venue. Aesthetically,itisthe place to
be,’’ he said.
However, if the event becamemore
popular next year, abigger venue,
maybeDudley Park, might havetobe
considered.
WAIAU BRIDGECLOSURES
To repair all 33 expansion joints
on the Waiau Bridge,the North
Canterbury TransportInfrastructure
Recovery (NCTIR) alliancewill need
to close it forshortperiods each
week foruptoseven weeks.
WHEN
Wednesdays –midday to 2pm,
from 19 February to the endof
March.
Thecontingency dayfor these works
will be Thursdaysifrequired.
Night closure
We also need to close the bridge for
one night to add additional guardrails
and carry outworktoreducethe
bridgenoisewhen vehicles travel
acrossthe BaileyBridge.
Theclosureisexpected to happen
in the next twoweeksbetween
8pm and midnight but we areyet to
confirm the actual date.Ifyou want
to be notified of the date, please
email us to receivethe InlandRoad
weekly updates – info@nctir.com
Howwill this impact me?
While the bridge is closed, there
will be a40-minutedetour via River
Road, continuing along Leslie Hills
Road ontoMouse Point Road (SH7).
Detour arrowswillbeset up to direct
traffic.
Howtostayinformed
To receiveweekly email updates,
send your email addressto
info@nctir.com or youcan call us
on 0800 628 4737.