Pegasus Post: August 20, 2020

4 Thursday August 20 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
News
Odour may be stronger or
weaker on different days
•From page 1
“It won’t make it easy to
sell the house. I’m just feeling
resigned.”
She said the smell was
not as bad this month as
it was in previous months,
but “having said that, it’s
still been pretty horrendous.”
While the trials were
under way the plan outlined
that the odour may
be stronger or weaker on
different days.
Operational changes at
refuse and recycling facility
EcoDrop, managed by
EcoCentral, showed a 40
per cent decline in average
“odour units” detected in
July compared to June.
Changes included clearing
odorous waste in sealed
containers quickly, ensuring
all waste was cleared
each night, and prioritising
odorous waste.
However, an increase in
“offensive” reported odours
were identified at organics
processing plant Living
Earth beyond the boundary
of the site.
“Living Earth has been
using misters for a number
of years as a tool to mitigate
odour from the plant. Four
additional, larger misters
have been brought in and
are now in use,” the city
council’s AMP progress
report said.
High-need clients in city
The compost “recipe”
was also adjusted to replace
the odour profile of the
previous blend that was
causing the offensive smell.
“It will take about 12
weeks for all of the compost
from the old blend to
completely cycle through
the composting process
and move off-site.”
Linwood ward city
councillor Yani Johanson
is advocating for better
national air quality standards
and made a personal
submission to the Ministry
for the Environment seeking
as such.
“With two out of the
three months up for significant
reduction in odour
complaints, the problem
is growing which is completely
unacceptable to
the local community. This
highlights clearly that the
Resource Management Act
is inadequate to deal with
these activities.
“There is no way what is
• From page 1
Said Community Law
Canterbury board chairman
Jeremy Finn: “We’re
delighted to get it in recognition
of the huge, unmet
demand that will continue
to increase post-Covid-19.
“But we also know that
demand is at full capacity
now, so we would expect
the funding will allow us
to increase our staffing
and retain experienced
lawyers.”
He said the majority of
issues clients have faced
recently involved employment,
changing work conditions,
family law matters,
immigration, finances and
tenancy issues.
The extra funding comes
at a time when Community
Law Centres around
the country have been
experiencing a significant
decline in donations because
of Covid-19.
The Canterbury facility
will receive their share of
about $120,000 a year for
the next few years.
The extra funding was
important to retain and
increase staff levels to allow
for higher volumes of
casework work to be completed,
and for part-time
staff to move into full-time
roles.
This was especially the
case in Canterbury.
“Our staff have great
experience and have been
working hard to support
high-need clients,” he said.
“Christchurch clients
have high needs, especially
in the aftermath of the
earthquakes, mosque attack
and now Covid-19.”
CLC provide legal help
and advice to those who
are unable to pay for a private
lawyer or have limited
access to legal aid, which
can cost much as $300 to
$400 an hour.
Said Sue Moroney, Community
Law Centres o
Aoteaora chief executive:
“Increased funding will
help community law centres
to help the increasing
PEGASUS POST
STINK:
Odour
reports
from
Living
Earth’s
compost
facility
increased
in July.
occurring here should be
allowable in any community
in New Zealand.”
A screening machine,
which processes materials
twice to ensure it is
fully broken down, will
be installed next month
at Living Earth to further
mitigate the worsening
stench.
Said ECan councillor
Nicole Marshall: “This
three-month compliance
period gives CCC time to
be good neighbours, while
enabling ECan to collect
further data from the site
so we can fulfil our duties
as a regulator.
“It’s important we resolve
the issue for Bromley
without simply moving it
somewhere else.”
The trial finishes by
the end of August, and if
proven unsuccessful, the
city council will consider
longer-term options with
an outcome by the end of
November this year.
BOOST:
Community
Law
Canterbury
will receive
$120,000
annually
for the next
three years.
number of people affected
by the impact of the pandemic
response. It will help
us to support people to
protect the most important
building blocks in their
lives – their families, their
jobs, their homes.
“We expect further
waves of demand to hit for
our services for months
and years to come, with
demand also growing for
legal support on debt and
finance issues.”
Each year, CLCs complete
about 50,000 cases
and provide law-related
education to about 25,000
people.
The Ministry of
Justice forecasts showed
demanded was expected
to spike in the next few
years, and the funding will
support the delivery of
about 15,000 extra cases.