Bay Harbour: March 10, 2021

Bay Harbour News Wednesday March 10 2021
16
LETTERS
THe Banks Peninsula
Community Board was
informed on December 7 that
the Akaroa Service Centre,
refurbished to meet the needs
of the community at a cost of
nearly $1 million in 2015, was
closing to the public on January
5, 2021.
Customer Services was
moving into the Akaroa Area
School and community library
to form a citizens hub where
the council has installed a new
security system, TV camera
and safe at considerable cost to
ratepayers.
However, the draft Long Term
Plan, page 43, states that service
centre desks in Lyttelton and
Akaroa will close.
The city council provided
misleading and inaccurate
information to ratepayers and
the Akaroa Area School.
It installed unnecessary, costly
security equipment in the school
and community library.
In my view chief executive
Dawn Baxendale’s Long Term
Plan poses a serious threat to the
resilience and well-being
of remote and isolated
communities such as Akaroa
and the Bays at a critical
time when they need support
and assistance. – Victoria
Andrews
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
•City council head of
customer services Sarah
Numan responds
Most people now choose to use
our online and phone services
to make payments to the city
council.
With that number growing,
we’ve reviewed the demand
across the city for face-to-face
financial transactions at our
service desks.
While 10 of our service desks
have high demand, Akaroa
and Lyttelton have minimal
transactions, with a continuing
decline since 2015. Accordingly,
in our Draft Long Term Plan
we are proposing to close these
service desks. We encourage the
community to submit feedback
on the proposed change.
Over the next six months,
we a trialling the offer of faceto-face
financial transactions
at Akaroa Library. The decision
on the proposed move of
customer service functions for
a trial period was introduced
due to a staff change. An
evaluation of the trial will help
inform the decision making on
the proposed change in the Long
Term Plan.
City council staff and Te Pātaka
o Rākaihautū/Banks Peninsula
Community Board will continue
to use the building. All of
the usual meetings will continue
to be held in the boardroom in
Akaroa such as the community
board, Akaroa Urban Design
Panel. Independently of the Long
Term Plan decision for face-toface
financial transactions at
Akaroa, the property strategy
for the old Post Office building is
“retention.”
While the city councillors and
community work through the
Long Term Plan consultation
process, all services will be continue
to offered, and delivered
either directly at the Akaroa
library or in conjunction with
our customer services team.
The Avon-
Heathcote
Estuary Ihutai
Trust is a
non-profit
organisation
formed
to protect
one of New
Zealand’s most important
coastal wetlands. Each
week, board members will
discuss matters regarding
the estuary, its rich history
and what makes it unique.
This week Bill Simpson
writes about a failed
proposal to establish salt
works
IF YOU live on the hill overlooking
the estuary you will be
pleased to know the following
idea is dead and gone and will
not be spoiling your view.
In 1917 Leslie Macarthur asked
New Brighton Borough Council
if he could use 300 acres (121ha)
of estuary alongside the South
Brighton Spit for salt works.
That would have been 15 per
cent of the estuary surface.
ESTUARY MATTERS
Plan for a salt works terminated in 1923
At stake was a £100 bonus offered
by the government for the
first 500 tons of salt produced in
this country.
Macarthur quickly gained the
backing of the borough council
and the Marine Department.
He proposed a pipeline bring
seawater from the coast to the
salt works.
His company had the grandiose
title “Dominion Marine
Electro-Solar Salt Works” but
he evoked the ire of the district
health officer who insisted
that the probable by-products
including alkali acid would be an
“offensive trade.”
Macarthur persisted and further
support came from the city
council and Lyttelton Harbour
Board. In 1921 he was offered a
temporary lease of 20ha.
A company was formed with
a capital of £10,000. Macarthur
asked the government to increase
the bonus to £2000 for the first
2000 tons of salt and also asked for
protection from cheap imports.
The government refused and
in April 1923 the proposal was
terminated. We can only wonder
whether a house on the hill
would have been so desirable if
the salt-works had gone ahead.
There’s a twist to this. One of
the early residents of Southshore,
George Skellerup, was obviously
inspired by the story and started
work on a salt works at Lake
Grassmere near Blenheim.
The government bought a
share of his company and renamed
it Dominion Salt Ltd.
Salt was first harvested in 1949
and to-date Lake Grassmere
has been the main supplier of
kitchen salt for New Zealand.
Ventilation Equipment Suppliers
totrade
retail
Smooth-Air also has a wide range
of ventilation equipment to bring
fresh air into your home.
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heat
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0800 SMOOTH
(0800 766 684)
sales@smooth-air.co.nz
264 Annex Rd
Riccarton
Christchurch
03 343 6184
Monday - Friday
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www.smooth-air.co.nz