North Canterbury News: September 03, 2020

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RURAL LIFE 34 North Canterbury News, September 3, 2020 Proudly servicing the North Canterbury Area Ben digs deep for local wildlife By DAVID HILL Fences For • Sheep • Cattle • Lifestyle Blocks 2166308 Built to your budget! • Deer • Horses • Post Driving Based in Loburn 17 years experience Phone Mark Sampson 03 312 8335 or 027 777 2882 mrsampson@xtra.co.nz -All types of fencing including: -deer, sheep and cattle yards -Retaining walls –Timber gates -Full range of specialised equipment for farm fencing and lifestyle blocks, offers you the complete land package. Ashley: 0274 364 776 ah: 314 8541 e: A.Duckworth@xtra.co.nz www.duckworthfencing.co.nz Post &Rail Fencing -Looks great & makes life easy for the Rural Lifestyler! 2258760 AHurunui farmer has been doing his bit to protect native fish on his property. Ben Ensor, who has farmed Willowgrove for 15 years, has been workingwith Environment Canterbury (ECan) to identify ways to improve migratory fish access to awetland habitat. “The waterways are amazing withtheir water qualityand clarity, so we want to do what we can to make thembetter,’’ he says. “The streamhas been our farm’swater source,with pipes and troughs added as we fenced areas off for protection. ‘‘The next stage is lookingatwhat we can do for everything that lives in the stream.’’ Surveysconductednear the Cold Stream culvert revealed several migratory speciesincludingredfin bully, not previously seeninthe area. The findings will inform recommendations on how to alter, build upon, or shift the culverttoallow safe passagefor the fish. The projecthas been funded by the ECan regional fishhabitat fund and all data will be addedtothe national freshwater fish database, which stores and displaysmore than 34,000 freshwater fish observationsacross New Zealand. Mr Ensor saidboth longfin and shortfin 2276972 HOMEKILL Butchery &meat processing 313 0022 MEAT2U.NZ Cold Stream culvert ... Hurunui farmer Ben Ensor has been working with Environment Canterbury to protect waterways and native fish on his property. PHOTO: SHANE ORCHARD tuna/eel were found in the creek, along with some other native species. ‘‘We also see flounder in thereon occasion.’’ Culverts,dams and fords present a variety of challengestomigrating fish because different species have different abilities, with some swimming while others climb, ECan land management and biodiversityadviser Heath Melville says. Any changes to fish passages need to be designed to suitthe species thatwill use them. Surveys helptounderstand the number, sizeand type of fish present in waterways, Mr Melville says. ‘‘They also help us find out about freshwaterhabitat, how it connectsto otherwaterways and what may be having detrimental impacts on water quality. “Theycan also reveal the whereabouts of unknownpopulationsofendangered nonmigratory fish species suchas kowaro/mudfish thatmightbeupstream of the barriers thatare protectingthem from predatory trout.” Before any plans for the culvertwere made,investigations were needed to see if any nonmigratory specieswere living upstreamofthe Cold Stream culvert. “It is important that we avoidimpacts on resident speciesifweopen the passage, so we need to know what’s therebefore proceeding,” Mr Melville says. Stream survey ... Asurvey by Environment Canterbury has revealed several migratory species, including redfin bully, on Hurunui farmer Ben Ensor’s property. PHOTO: MICHAELBENNETT SPECIALISTS IN IRRIGATION DRIVELINE COMPONENTS CALL TODAY03307 2662 Forqualityproducts at agreat price visit www.pivotparts.co.nz 2310225
Seasoned shearer to compete By DAVID HILL Oxford shearer Dave Brooker is looking forward to testing his skills against the younger shearers at November’s New Zealand Corriedale Shearing and Woolhandling Championships. Entries are open for the annual competition, which will be held at Marble Point Station, near Hanmer Springs, on November 5to6, after the annual New Zealand Agricultural Show was cancelled because of Covid19. The Shearing Sports New Zealand region 2chairman first learned to shear 45 years ago as ateenager. ‘‘I’m planning to compete this year. Idon’t quite match the speed of those elite shearers any more, but Ihold my own,’’ Mr Brooker says. In his 20s he took up shearing professionally when ‘‘I finally realised Iwasn’t going to be an All Black’’. ‘‘And since then I’ve been trying to make the Golden Shears final, which Ihaven’t managed to do,’’ Mr Brooker jokes. While his All Black dreams came up short, his daughter Grace is amember of the New Zealand women’s rugby team, the Black Ferns. These days, Mr Brooker has his own business, Lifestyle Worx, serving lifestyle blocks and small farms. It includes a mobile shearing service. ❛I’m planning to compete this year. I don’t quite match the speed of those elite shearers any more, but Ihold my own.❜ —Shearer Dave Brooker While there was still some uncertainty with Covid19, Mr Brooker says the intention is for the shearing at Marble Point Station to be open to the public. Woolhandling will be held on the Thursday, with aplace in the New Zealand woolhandling test team to compete against Australia up for grabs for the winner. The shearing will be held the next day, with the annual contest being part of the circuit leading up to the Golden Shears final. The event also includes New Zealand’s premier bladeshearing event. ‘‘So it’s avery prominent competition. It’s just not being held at the show this year,’’ Mr Brooker says. ‘‘We’re not sure yet how many entries we will get, but we are expecting it to be a strong competition.’’ Support from sponsors has been better than expected, he says. ‘‘All of our sponsors bar one Shearing action ... Oxford’s Dave Brooker has decades of experience in the shearing industry. PHOTO: SUPPLIED are on board and we’re picking up more, so we really appreciate their support.’’ Entries can be made through the New Zealand Agricultural Show website. RURAL LIFE North Canterbury News, September 3, 2020 35 Plan change just days away Plan Change 1tothe Hurunui and Waiau RiverRegionalPlan(HWRRP) will be operativefromSeptember 14. This is the final step in the Resource ManagementAct process, and comes afteryears of debate and meetings. The plan change now hasfull legal weight, altering the HWRRP rules to address the cumulative effects of land use on water quality so dryland farmers can continue to operate without theneed for resource consent. Environmental Canterbury councillor Claire McKaysays that before Plan Change 1, the HWRRPrequired resourceconsent for all farms where nutrientlosses had increased by more than 10% since2013. “Dryland farmshave very low nutrient loss rateswith normalfluctuations in stocknumbers or winter feed area, whichcan trigger aconsentrequirement. This planchange addresses that,” she says. To ensurethat the change wouldnot compromise water quality in the Hurunui catchment, Amuri Irrigation Company Limited(AIC) surrendered a portion of itsconsented nitrogen load to offset anypotential increase in nitrogen load from drylandfarming. This willmake sure that the limit set in the originalplan for the Hurunui River wouldnot be exceeded. “The council acknowledged and thanked AIC for its help andcooperationthrough the Plan Change 1 process,”CrMcKay said. “Without thissurrender of nitrogen load,itisunlikely thatPlan Change 1 wouldhave been possible,particularly in this catchment. It will greatly help to maintainwater quality in the zone.” Full Cultivationand Drilling Service Skilled operators of large, efficient, modern equipment •Horsch Terrano 4-metre Primary Cultivator •Amazone Catros 6-metre Multi Discs with Roller •Amazone Cayena Fine TipTyne Drill 6-metrewith Roller •Maxitill andVaderstad Roller Combination6-metre Accurate GPS-controlled tractors in auto steer McHale Fusion Round Baler Wrapper Combi Unit for individual wrap Straw,Hay,Baleage, large 4x3 sqs and round bales. Full Cereal Crop Managementoptions HURUNUI PH 0274 360 342 Sam Bethell (0274) 360-342 or Cameron Gray (027)373-1814 1996974 WE BUY STANDING TREES, TALK TO US FOR ANOOBLIGATION QUOTE Light &Heavy Transport Repairs & Onsite Repairs and Maintenance 24 HOUR SERVICE THROUGHOUT NORTH CANTERBURY Phone 03 313 6361 •0275 200 711 307 Flaxton Road, RANGIORA brooktrucks@xtra.co.nz 2287801 Call Tony 027 436 0338 2301305
Page 1 and 2: Thursday,September 3, 2020 | Issue9
Page 3 and 4: Committee’srole scrutinised By RO
Page 5 and 6: Council accepts $8m for water upgra
Page 7: An expanse of mellow yellow By DAVI
Page 10 and 11: EVERYTHING ON SALE AURORACORNER SUI
Page 12 and 13: KAIKOURA HOP 12 North Canterbury Ne
Page 14 and 15: 55” QLED Smart TV +5.1 Channel So
Page 16 and 17: SPRING GARDENING 16 North Canterbur
Page 18: NEWS 18 North Canterbury News, Sept
Page 23 and 24: FLASH Come On, It’s Spring Let’
Page 26 and 27: NEWS 26 North Canterbury News, Sept
Page 28 and 29: Allessa Sofa with Ottoman WAS $ 299
Page 30 and 31: END OF LIFE CHOICE REFERENDUM —EL
Page 32 and 33: END OF LIFE CHOICE REFERENDUM 32 No
Page 36 and 37: RURAL LIFE 36 North Canterbury News
Page 38 and 39: NEWS AND SPORT 38 North Canterbury
Page 40 and 41: North CanterburyNews PROPERTY Origi
Page 42 and 43: North Canterbury Waikuku Beach 3McK
Page 44 and 45: What’s happening in your communit
Page 46 and 47: CLASSIFIEDS 46 North Canterbury New
Page 48: Arthur BurkeLtd Trusted in NorthCan

North Canterbury News: September 03, 2020

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