Ashburton Courier: March 19, 2020

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Local news at www.starnews.co.nz Ashburton's The Courier, Thursday March 19, 2020, Page 25 DISTRICTDIARY ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES FORWORKING BEE ACTIVITIESTHIS NEIGHBOURS DAY /COUNCIL RECEIVES AA+ CREDIT RATING Roll up your sleevesfor working bee activities this NeighboursDay "WorkingBee in Your Neighbourhoodis awonderful opportunity tomake new friends and beinvolved in something that will benefit our local facilities," Ashburton District Mayor Neil Brown says. "Sign uptoday to play your part and help makeapositivedifferenceinyour neighbourhood." and Hakatere Multicultural Council's NewcomersNetwork. Working bee locations will nominate someone from their group or organisation that will coordinate the event, incollaboration with the Neighbours Day Committee. Some clubs may incorporate a‘have ago’ elementtotheir event as well. Neighbours Day 2020 is set to spark the district's community spiritrightacrossMidCanterbury on Saturday 28 March thanks to anew Working Bee in Your Neighbourhood initiative. The Mid Canterbury Neighbours Day Committee, comprised of the AshburtonDistrict Council's Welcoming Communities Programme, Hakatere Multicultural Council, Neighbourhood Support and Mid Canterbury TimeBank are promoting Working Bee in Your Neighbourhood to foster connections, build community morale and raise awarenessoflocal community groups. Schools, groups and clubs who participateinthe district-wide initiative will not only be giving back totheir community but willgointothe draw to win aDominos Pizza delivery for their event. Photosoftheir eventwill also get themintothe draw. Five working bee projects are already proposed at Community House, Hinds School, Our Lady of the Snows Methven, Netherby School andAllenton School. Projects are set to include gardenplantings, sandingand painting, weeding and general tidying and repair work. The NeighboursDay Committee willbe encouraging their members, staff and stakeholders to roll up their sleeves and take part in theworking bees. This includesbusinesses who featured in the AshburtonDistrictCouncil's'Welcoming Workplaces' video series; ACL, Subway Ashburton, ANZCO,Talley'sand Rakaia Island Dairies; as well as Council staff, TimeBankers,Neighbourhood Support To learn more about the working bees in various neighbourhoods, people areencouraged to visitthe Welcoming Communities - Ashburton District Facebook page overthe comingweeks. Lists of registered organisations will be promoted on the Facebook page. To register a school, club or group with the Mid Canterbury Neighbours Day Committee, contact any of the coordinators, e-mail Janice.McKay@ adc.govt.nz or visit tinyurl.com/ MidCanterburyNeighbours2020 Neighbours Day 2020 will take place on Saturday 28 March. Learn more about Neighbours Day at www. neighboursday.org.nz Council receives AA+ credit rating The Ashburton District could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest repayments over the coming years after it wasrevealed this month that the Ashburton District Council has received an AA+ credit rating. Independent credit rating company, FitchRatingsServiceshaveassessedthe Council's ability to service debt against arange of criteria anddeterminedthat the Council and district are inastrong financial position that should provide positiveassurancetolenders. The rating will assist the Council to secure lower interest rates when borrowing from lenders, which will help offset the financial burden on ratepayers. Council Chief Executive, Hamish Riach says the AA+ credit rating means the Council can now access lower interest rates from the Local Government Funding Agencyofupto20points. "Fitch Ratings'assessment is apositive testamenttotheCouncil'sfiscalposition and the effortsofcurrentand previous elected Councils to operateresponsibly and efficiently forour community. "We are very pleased to receive this rating. It will certainly have good outcomes forratepayers, and residents should be proud of theirdistrict'sgood standing." In the last financial year, the Council achieved its Financial Strategy targets to not exceed rate and external debt limits. Its goals for the next 10 years are to ensure the Council remains financially stable; spend money prudently to deliver services, cater for growth and manage assets soundly; ensure rates and fees arekept to areasonable level; and provide clear financial parameters forwork programmes. Information on the Council's financial performance inthe last financial year are available in the 2018/19 Annual Report. ashburtondc.govt.nz 19 March 2020 |ISSUE 144 5
Page 26, Ashburton's The Courier, Thursday March 19, 2020 FIVECOUNCILSSEEK FUNDING TO INVESTIGATEFUTURE WATERSERVICES /ROMANIAN GIFT FINDS HOMEINASHBURTON Local news at www.starnews.co.nz DISTRICTDIARY Councils seek funding to investigatefuture water services Five CentralSouth Island district councils haveapplied forfunding to investigate changes to water services as part of a major Government review. TheCentral South WaterCollaboration (CSW), which comprises of staff from Ashburton, Mackenzie, Timaru, Waimate and Waitaki district councils, is investigating whether acollaborative approach to three waters services delivery could benefit their councils and communities, leading to improved public health and environmental outcomes. Three waters encompasses drinking watercollectiontreatmentanddelivery, sewage transport, treatment disposal and stormwater management. TheGovernment setupaThreeWaters Review team in parallel with the inquiry into the drinking water contamination incidentinHavelock North. It has been considering solutions to the wider affordability and capability challenges facing local councils, and has mooted that there islikely to be significant change to how these services are provided. CSW has applied for $120,000 from aGovernment fund set aside tohelp investigate regional, multi-regional or sub-regional service delivery models. The five councils will split the other $120,000 cost of the work on aper rateable unitbasis. The five councils collectively serve around 115,000 people. The districts are like-minded and share similar sector and populationprofiles, as well as common issues and opportunities regarding three waters. Ashburton District Council Infrastructure Services Group Manager, Neil McCann said, "The Government has made itclear that the delivery of three waters across the country will change, and wethink it’s important to collectively take the opportunity to investigate and propose options using our local knowledge and experience, ratherthanhavealess tailoredsolution imposedonus. “This project will build on work already begun byCSW to understand key principles and objectives for collaborative water services, identify options for collaborative service delivery, and understand costs and widerimpacts to ensureservices across the sub-region are delivered to ahigh quality and in an affordable manner.” Councils in the Mid and South Canterbury area havealonghistory of collaboration on major cross boundary infrastructure, most recently the Aoraki Roading Collaboration which helped standardiseand bringbenefits of scale to roading serviceprocurement. Details of whichprojects will be granted the funding from the Department of Internal Affairs are predicted to be announced in early April. Romanian giftfinds home in Ashburton A family trip to Romania in June last year has established an unexpected relationship between Ashburton and the ancientcity of Constanta,thanks to local school girl, Alexandra Cojocaru. Alexandra (10) who attends Hampstead School, and her father Leonard visited the family's home country in June and July last year, and whilst visiting relatives was introduced to the Deputy Mayor of Constanta. Upon hearing of the vast distancethe family'snew home wasonthe othersideofthe world, the Deputy Mayor asked if Alexandrawould deliver aletterand bookabout the city to the mayor of herhome in Ashburton District. Last month, Alexandra presented the gifts to Mayor Neil Brown, who was delighted at the show ofinternational friendship and diplomacy. "It was Children's Day in the city, and her grandfather knew some local politicians," Leonard said. "When they heardshe wasaKiwi, shewas asked if she would meetthe Deputy Mayor." Constanta is the oldest continually inhabited city in Romania, and was foundedinaround600BCE.Itwashome to one of the greatest poets in Roman history, Ovid. The Romanian book now resides proudly at the Ashburton District Council. Pictured:Alexandrapresentingthe book to Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown. 6 19 March 2020 |ISSUE 144 ashburtondc.govt.nz
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Ashburton Courier: March 19, 2020

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