Ashburton Courier: March 26, 2020

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Page 8, Ashburton's The Courier, Thursday March 26, 2020 Driver mentor and firefighter Volunteer of the month -Jill Tomlin Keepingcool, calm and collected is the best way for Jill Tomlin to carry out her volunteering roles. She is amentor withthe Mid Canterbury RuralDriver Licensing Scheme but also a firefighter with the Rakaia Volunteer FireBrigade and is VolunteeringMid &South Canterbury and the Hotel AshburtonVolunteer of the Month. When Jill heardpeople wereneeded to mentor migrant women learning to drivefrom within rural communities around the AshburtonDistrict, she was spurred to actionasitwas something shecould do. She is now mentoring her thirdstudent after the two previous women gained their licences. Jill was just as excitedasthe student’s whentheygot their licences as it opened up so many opportunities for them. It not only gave themfreedom to drive their childrentopreschooland school, attendactivities in the community or go to townbut also opened doorstoother opportunities such as volunteeringinthe community or looking for employment. Jill is passionate about the service and cares for her students. She provides arelaxed environment as apassenger sitting next to the women learning to drive. The regularsessions, either once or twice aweek, involvedriving around Ashburton for around three quarters of an hour experiencing traffic lights, roundabouts or merginginto traffic. Jill says this experience also sharpensher driving skills. She makes sure to communicate clearly, given that sometimesthere can be alanguage barrierbut says that’s where hands signals can be really helpful. There is no timeframe,but training usually takes around six months.It is donein the student’s vehicle and will includetwo lessons with aprofessionaldriving instructor. Teaching someone to drive, and being taught to drive, can be a nerve racking experience for both parties so the ability to remain calm and be relaxed are greatskills for amentor. And the regular contact often sees the mentorand student, along with their family, become friends due to the rapport they build up between themtodispel any nerves about driving. Jill recommends volunteering to everyone. She saysitisagreat feelingbeing avolunteer and something membersofher family know only too well. Her husband,son and daughterinlaw are also volunteers with the Rakaia Volunteer Fire Brigade. Jill likes to be busy which is why she volunteers. Plus there is agreat needfor volunteerswith Fire and Emergency NewZealand, especially duringthe day in places like Rakaia. The decision to volunteer as a driving mentor wasmostlybecause it appealedand she enjoysteaching and driving.The key to being a greatdriving mentor is communication with the student, Jill says. Volunteering Mid &South Canterbury are always on the lookout for nominations. Nomination forms are availableby contacting Volunteering Mid & SouthCanterbury, Community House, 44 Cass Street Ashburton, ph 3081237 ext 240 or email volmidcant@gmail.com or pick up acopy at FourSquare in Rakaia. Local news at www.starnews.co.nz Council delegates decisionmaking Ashburton District Council has established aCovid19 Response Committee to ensure local government decision making continues throughout the Level Four lockdown. Council has delegated powers, duties, and functions to the new committee, which includes all elected councillors and the mayor. Aquorum of two has been set up for the committee, meaning two members have to be physically present at meetings, while others can attend remotely. Council has suspended all of its committees, with the exception of the Library and Civic Centre Project Control Group, with immediate affect and until further notice. The project group has some external members and also delegated authorities already in place. Community board meetings will also not be held until further notice, and where possible council will seek board member feedback on decisions impacting their areas. Having effective governance during this time is important, asisthe need to streamline council and community decision making, said council chief executive Hamish Riach. He said meetings were anticipated to be weekly, or less frequently if no decisions were needed. Every council was going through the same process, with some giving delegated authority to the chief executive. With the country in lockdown, council needed to be ‘‘agile’’ with its decision making and needed to make use of modern technology, said Mr Riach. Some functions must be retained by council, such as adopting the Annual Plan and setting rates, and further emergency legislative amendments would be considered that may relax the requirements. The council closed its community facilities onMonday and is considering the way it delivers services for the foreseeable future. A local Government Covid19 response team has been formed to provide information to councils about contingency measures in the event of a community wide outbreak. One of the issues they are looking at is to modify the quorum requirements. Currently members have to be physically present to meet the quorum and if modified, quorums could meet via electronic methods. Ashburton council recently amended its Standing Orders to enable elected memberstoattend meetings via audio or audiovisual means, should that option be required. The standing order is in place until October and will then be reviewed. Asecond motion agreed by councillors was to reduce the quorum numbers at committee and sub committee meetings by one person, with a review planned again in October. Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said council was ‘‘ready’’ for the lockdown and he praised the chief executive and his staff for their preparation work in recent days. Stage show off BayRoad Merinos 2020 Collection shop online or by phone ProudlyChristchurch-made, BayRoad Merinosare renowned fortheir quality, comfort,softness andwarmth. Beautiful rangeofsoftpastels &vibrant jewel tones. COVID-19NOTICE Our physical storeisclosedfor now. However, we remain open for both phone andonlineorders. Find us just 1 Km off Hwy 1 at Rangitata on Hwy 79. Open 7 days 9am to 5pm, Ph 0508 504 006 thetinshed.co.nz VarietyTheatre Ashburton’s (VTA) 2020 production It’s onlyRock ‘n’RollBabyhas been postponedbecause of coronavirus. Some26singersand dancers weremid way through rehearsals for shows to be performedat AshburtonTrust Event Centre in May. Show directorGavin Templeton said the cast wasdisappointed,but the decisionwas based on the current situationwith coronavirus. The health and wellbeing ofthe community andcast, both on and offthe stage,was paramount. Asecond VTAshow calledJerseyGirlsis scheduled to be performed in early November and updates on it willbeissued over the coming weeks. Tickets purchased online through Ticket Rocketfor It’s only Rock ‘n’ RollBabywill automaticallyreceive a full refund within 60 days. Emailto support@ticketrocket.co. nz forticketspurchased fromthe Event Centre, detailing yourname, the showdetails and abank account forrefunds. 12a Tin 2020 Snow
WHAT’S ON AT FOUR SQUARE? BUY APAMS LARGE HOT COOKED CHICKEN +PAMS ICEBURG LETTUCE Rallou Keeley with dirty items dumped recently at the Mid Canterbury Animal Welfare Centre. Dirtybedding dumped While Mid Canterbury Animal Welfare Centre manager Rallou Keeley is very grateful for community donations of old sheets, towels, pillowcases and blankets, she is saying ‘‘enough is enough’’ to those people using the facility to dispose of dirty, unwanted bedding and pillows. Anumber of dirty items and old quilts were dropped off out of hours on March 16 and ‘‘stunk to high heaven’’. The vast majority of donations to the centre were clean items that were much appreciated, said Mrs Keeley. ‘‘Most people are really good, but there are a few out there that are using the centre to dump things that they should be dumping themselves at an official drop off point.’’ Mrs Keeley said it cost the centre money to dispose of dirty, useless items. Pillows, cushions and mattresses were not needed at the centre because they could be ripped open. Sheets, towels, pillowcases and blankets were useful because they could be cut up and used as cleaning cloths and for cage bedding. Hygiene was a priority at the animal centre, said Mrs Keeley. Districtwide water metering apossibility The roll out of water metering districtwide is once again up for consideration. Ashburton council staff are preparing a cost benefit analysis to investigate installing water meters. The cost benefit analysis will include details on the estimated costs of water metering and council will again have the chance to vote on the matter once the analysis has been presented. If meters are installed, council will be able to collect water use data and better understand patterns and water leakage, and if it chooses, mayconsiderintroducing volumetric charging. Currently council provides drinking water to homes and businesses through 12 potable water supplies, with all properties charged a fixed rate for operating costs. Council schemes service over 70% of the district’s residents through 10,538 water supply connections. Each connected property, with the exception of the Methven/Springfield and Montalto water supplies, pay the same targeted fixed rate and for the 2019/20 year connectedordinaryproperties pay aconnection fee of $450.20 per year. In the Long Term Plan 201828 it was proposed that water meters beinstalled on smaller schemes for asset management and leakage detection purposes, and meters are currently going in in Mt Somers, with Chertsey and Hinds set to follow. Currently athird of properties zoned Residential Dare beingmetered and are charged for the volume of water they use. The rest are set to have meters installed over the next six months after council approving abudget of $120,000 last week to complete the roll out. Mayor Neil Brown speaking at last week’s Audit, Risk &Finance Committee said 51% of water was lost through the reticulation systems and that meant the current systems were not working well. ‘‘We need water meters fitted to help stop that loss and to use water more efficiently,’’ he said. Cr John Falloon said the option of metering needed to be looked atclosely now, and not in five years time. Financial help packages Mid Canterbury’s small businesses should be checking out financial help offered by the Government to survive Covid19, says Ashburton retailers’ spokesperson Bob McDonald. He said workers and business owners could find information on Covid19.govt. nz and they should register and apply for subsidies. Most of Ashburton’s cafes, restaurants and retail outlets are shut in the fourweek lockdown. Mr McDonald said businesses still had bills including rent to pay in the lockdown and they should be seeking help from their accountants and other advisors too. All New Zealanders worried about money are beingurged to seek guidance through official government services Sorted and MoneyTalks. $ 13 99 www.foursquare.co.nz facebook.com/FourSquareNZ AVAILABLE AT SELECTED STORES Specials availableSouthIslandonly from Monday23th March until Sunday 5thApril 2020 or while stocks last.Wineand beeravailable at stores with an off licence.Wineand beer purchases restricted to personsaged 18 years old and over.
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Page 5 and 6: Howto self-isolate if you’re 70+
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Ashburton Courier: March 26, 2020

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