Ashburton Courier: March 11, 2021
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Cousins<br />
ReviewedbyRowenaHart<br />
Connected by blood but separated by<br />
circumstances, three cousins spend alifetime in<br />
search of each other.Basedonthe 1992 novelby<br />
Patricia Grace.<br />
Metatarsal Mita was the pioneering Māori filmmaker<br />
who first wanted toturn Patricia Grace’s<br />
novelintoamovie waybackwhen the book was<br />
published. Thank goodness she carried on and<br />
did it!<br />
It is an emotion-filled tale oflove and loss, of<br />
identityand the institutionsthattry to deny and<br />
reshape it. In this case afather took the little girl<br />
to an orphanage. When the family tried to take<br />
her back the state took over and adopted her to<br />
an old bag who took in young girls. Luckily the<br />
family never gave up lookingfor her.<br />
All this was magnificently played out by a<br />
fabulousensemble of homegrown Kiwi actors of<br />
all ages.Three of us came out of the movie with<br />
our hand on our hearts ...we were all lost for<br />
words. It wasabeautiful story.<br />
bookings ph 307 1230<br />
www.regentcinema.co.nz<br />
Phone 308 7664 l office@ashburtoncourier.co.nz<br />
2361457<br />
NEWS<br />
4 <strong>Ashburton</strong> <strong>Courier</strong>, <strong>March</strong> <strong>11</strong>, <strong>2021</strong><br />
Retailers keep eyes on prize<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> retailers are keeping their<br />
eyesontwo dates in the future they<br />
hopewillbolster their spirits.<br />
One is Boulevard Day on<br />
September27andthe other is the end<br />
of the CBD revitalisation work on<br />
November22.<br />
BoulevardDay is usually held on<br />
East StreetonSouth Canterbury<br />
anniversaryday,but becauseofthe<br />
revitalisation work the event will be<br />
heldthis year in the <strong>Ashburton</strong><br />
Domain off WalnutAvenue, where<br />
the Multi Cultural Bite was<br />
successfully heldinFebruary.<br />
Organiser BobMcDonald said it<br />
wasachancefor Boulevard Day<br />
organisers to try somethingnew and<br />
retailers would be asked to set up<br />
stalls in thedomain.Permissions for<br />
the event werecurrently being<br />
sought but the location had been<br />
agreed after scrutiny of several<br />
possible sites.<br />
BoulevardDay did not go ahead<br />
last year becauseofcovidconcerns.<br />
MrMcDonald said retailers needed<br />
somethingtolookforward to. An<br />
informalsurvey had shown some<br />
were 30 per cent downasaresult of<br />
the CBD disruption and pandemic<br />
tradingenvironment.<br />
He urged customers to keep<br />
supporting local stores and<br />
businesses and be patient finding a<br />
park or navigating workcrews in the<br />
CBD.<br />
Retailers have talked to the<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> District Council about<br />
rates rebates for businesses who<br />
couldprove the loss of custom and<br />
aboutkeeping some intersections<br />
open for traffic rather than<br />
Work progresses on Burnett Street<br />
with the odd motorist still caught out<br />
trying to go the wrong way.<br />
temporary full closures.<br />
Mr McDonald said adding stop/go<br />
traffic controland associated lights<br />
would only add to the $15 million<br />
total cost of the CBD project andnoone<br />
wanted that.<br />
Contractorsare trying to minimise<br />
disruption forbusinesses and<br />
customers as much as they can, and<br />
are scheduling some work at night.<br />
Retailers arekeeping tabs on the<br />
project,making sure as many parks<br />
as possible are availableinthe work<br />
phase.<br />
Mr McDonald said retailers wanted<br />
to be partofabig celebration to<br />
signal the rebirth of the CBD andhe<br />
hoped council would takethe lead in<br />
organising it.<br />
The streetscapeupgrades are<br />
continuing alongthe western side of<br />
East Street, while pipes andother<br />
infrastructure are being installed<br />
along Burnett Street. Garden<br />
plantingandstreetlights are under<br />
way on TancredStreet andsmart<br />
parkingsensors will be installed<br />
later this monthwhen street<br />
markings are completed.<br />
Super<br />
HOTDEAL!<br />
$<br />
14 00<br />
LAST CLAW<br />
BOURBON&COLA<br />
6pack cans<br />
HOTDEAL!<br />
THE WINEMAKER’S<br />
WIFE<br />
Rosé 750ml<br />
ASHBURTON<br />
MSA<br />
www.superliquor.co.nz<br />
Manager’s<br />
each<br />
Super<br />
$<br />
15 99<br />
each<br />
Super<br />
HOTDEAL!<br />
$<br />
15 99<br />
THE WINEMAKER’S<br />
WIFE<br />
Riesling 750ml<br />
266 Havelock Street,<strong>Ashburton</strong>.<br />
Ph.308 7149<br />
HOURS<br />
each<br />
Monday<br />
Tuesday-Thursday<br />
Friday&Saturday<br />
Sunday<br />
DEALS!<br />
Super<br />
HOTDEAL!<br />
$<br />
19 99<br />
GOODTIDES<br />
SELTZER<br />
10 pack cans<br />
Assortedflavours<br />
each<br />
Super<br />
HOTDEAL!<br />
$<br />
15 00<br />
FOUR HAWK<br />
DAY<br />
Pinot Noir 750ml<br />
10:00am -7:00pm<br />
10:00am -8:00pm<br />
10:00am -9:00pm<br />
10:00am -6:00pm<br />
each<br />
Offer ends<br />
25 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
*Terms and conditions apply<br />
2355977<br />
Council rent rises<br />
for elderly tenants<br />
Acombination of rentincreases,<br />
ratepayer moneyand<br />
borrowings are being proposed<br />
to make the district’s elderly<br />
personshousing model more<br />
sustainable.<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>DistrictCouncil<br />
provides104 homes for<br />
qualifyingelderly residents at<br />
belowmarket rent, butrenthas<br />
not beencovering ongoing<br />
maintenance costsand cash<br />
reservestocoverthe shortfall<br />
are projectedtorun out in four<br />
years.<br />
Speakingatlast week’s<br />
councilmeeting,councillor John<br />
Falloonsaid councilneeded to<br />
decide now if it wasinor out<br />
with providinghousing for<br />
elderlyresidents. ‘‘Nelson<br />
counciltried one option, but now<br />
they’ve sold the whole lot.’’<br />
Mr Falloonsaid if council did<br />
it themselves, they could pick<br />
who went into the housing.<br />
Economically it could be<br />
better for acommunity housing<br />
providertotake on the role<br />
because they would be able to<br />
access fundsfor building and<br />
rentsubsidies, which council<br />
couldn’t.<br />
Theproblem with getting a<br />
providerinwas that you didn’t<br />
knowwho yourtenants were<br />
goingtobe, said Mr Falloon.<br />
Councillor Diane Rawlinson<br />
said council mustbeseenas<br />
supporting elderly housing and<br />
not social housing.<br />
Councillor LeenBraammoved<br />
the recommendation that<br />
council receive the section 17A<br />
reviewreport into elderly<br />
person housing andconsult with<br />
the community on the proposed<br />
rent increase and on anew draft<br />
policytobewritten by council<br />
staff.<br />
Arecent meetingbetween<br />
council andelderly persons<br />
housing tenants to explain the<br />
proposedrentincreaseand<br />
funding model had beenvery<br />
receivedand tenants hadeven<br />
clapped at theend of the<br />
meeting, Cr Braamsaid.<br />
He toldfellow councillorsthat<br />
the proposed fundingmodel<br />
‘‘might not be thebest option for<br />
council,but it was the best<br />
optionfor this district’’.<br />
Cr Stuart Wilson agreed,<br />
sayingitwas agooduse of<br />
ratepayerfunds.<br />
In its draftLong TermPlan<br />
<strong>2021</strong>31, council is expectingto<br />
include aproposalfor rents to<br />
incrementally increase until the<br />
year 2026, by which time other<br />
ratepayers willnolonger be<br />
required to subsidise the houses<br />
and reserve fundswill not be<br />
depleted.<br />
It is proposed that rents will<br />
increasebyupto$20 per weekin<br />
the firstyearto$<strong>11</strong>0 for single<br />
unitsand $130 for doubles,<br />
followed by a$10 increase each<br />
year until the singleunits are<br />
$170 anddoublesare $190.<br />
Berwick experience<br />
The Lions Clubof<strong>Ashburton</strong> is<br />
onceagain sponsoring six people<br />
from the districtfor an outdoor<br />
adventure course. Theeightday<br />
course is at the Berwick forestry<br />
campnear Dunedin.<br />
The Lions club is encouraging<br />
peopleaged 18 yearsand over<br />
and who have areasonable level<br />
of fitness to apply.<br />
The course is designedto teach<br />
people self reliance,topush the<br />
boundaries anddevelop<br />
leadership skills through active<br />
teamwork.The fullcost of the<br />
course is covered by theLions.<br />
Applications close on <strong>March</strong><br />
26. The coursewill beheldfrom<br />
May 715. Fordetails, call Barry<br />
on 308 6247 or 027 353 7185.
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