North Canterbury News: June 10, 2021

OPINION
6 North Canterbury News, June 10, 2021
In the Electoratewith
MattDoocey
MP forWaimakariri
Authorised by MattDoocey,Level1ConwayLane,188 High Street,Rangiora.
Let'sget help to Kiwis
Watching afamily memberlose the
struggle against anegative body image is
one of the most devastating experiences a
family can go through.
Last week, Iwas honoured to accepta
petition in Parliament from Canterbury
mum Rebecca Tomms,the motherofan
eating­disorder survivor.
Rebecca’s petition callsonthe
government to provideurgent expert care
and subsidy assistance for young people
with eating disorders. Rebecca reached
out to me as National’s spokesperson for
Mental Healthbecause she felt she
couldn’tget the government to listen.
Iwas honoured to be able to helpher
and the manyotherparentswho attended
from around New Zealand to standonthe
Parliament forecourt in support of
Rebecca.InParliament,Ihave been
holding the government to accountfor the
millionsofdollars in mental health going
unspent while vulnerable Kiwisaren’t
gettingthe help they need.
We shouldn’tbegiving parents end­oflife
plans for an illness that could be
easily prevented with earlyintervention.
Canterbury’sdevastatingweather
eventhad ahuge impactonour region.
Checking in on our residentsand being
briefed by our mayorand Waimakariri
District Council chief executive, Iwas
impressedbythe response of all
agencies.InParliament,Ispoke with
acting EmergencyManagement Minister
Little interest in roading upkeep
DearEditor
There seems to be alack of interest by
the Waimakariri DistrictCouncilto
address long overdue road damage.
Hereisone story of many. Someofyour
readers will be aware of Revells Road,
thatruns between Tuahiwi and Lineside
Road.
When theSmith/Linesidejunction
was redeveloped, (many years ago),
Revells Road was used to cart all the
shingle from the AshleyRiver.
Revells Road was never built to carry
suchheavyvehicles.
Promises have been made and never
kepttorenew the road.
Ibanged on the Waimakariri District
Councilroading door afew years ago,
Kris Faafoi and AgricultureMinister
Damien O’Connortoensure they were
aware of localneeds.
Thank you to themany farmers, and
our new North Canterbury Federated
Farmers presidentCaroline Amyes,for
updatingmeonissuesonthe ground
when Ireachedout to checkoneveryone.
I’ve also reachedout to our counciland
theNew ZealandTransport Agency to
stay updated around timeframes to
restore access to Lees Valley residents.
OverQueen’sBirthdayweekend, Iwent
to Ashburton with Selwyn MP Nicola
Grigg to offerour support as Canterbury
MPs to that hard­hit community, and to
meetwith Ashburton MayorNeil Brown.
We visited the EmergencyOperations
Centre andlocal farms, and were
updated onsiteonthe Ashburton Bridge.
It’simportant as Canterbury MPs thatwe
takethe concernsofour regionto
Wellington to ensure thatthe focus
remainsonrecovery.
Areminder of my publicmeetingon
health services in Waimakariri in the
RangioraTown Hall on Thursday,June
17, at 6.30pm. The Canterbury District
HealthBoard’s new chief executive will
talkaboutits plans for health­service
deliveryinthe district.
I’m receiving aqueries around health
issues, including deliveryofCovid­19
vaccines for over­65s, andI’m inviting
residents to bring their questions.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
but was effectively told,‘‘shove off we
have no money’’.
The council would prefer to spend
money on feel­good projects (sports).
Revells Road is aprime example of a
road being‘‘let go’’.
Ihave foundthat talkingtothe
roading division at the councilisawaste
of time.
Infact,myletter will be awaste of
time. Anybody else gotbad road stories?
Let’s hearyours, please.
Yours,
Paul Markholm,
Tuahiwi
Waimakariri
Focus from Dan Gordon, Mayor
Flood-hit district again
shows its resilience
The flooding last week caused significant
challenges for our community.
The huge amount of rain caused riversto
rise and surface floodingtodevelop. The
situation was fluid and changingquickly.
The Civil Defence Emergency
OperationsCentre was activated to make
sure our district was in aposition to
respond. Iwas present at the centreand on
the Sunday evening Isaw extraordinary
leadershipfrom councilstaff, the fire
service and police.
It is never an easy decision to evacuate
people from their homes. However, when
facedwith the flood information, onground
assessments and modelling, the
decision needed to be madetoevacuate
properties considered at risk, andto
protect lives.
With the help of emergency services,
properties considered to be at risk were
evacuatedaroundthe Eyre and Ashley
rivers, as wellasKairaki Beach. Pines
Beachand theOkuku areas werealso
evacuatedasthe week went on. Thankfully,
the flood waters didn’tbreach as predicted.
As flood waters receded, significant
property damage was revealed in Okuku,
Waikuku Beach and Ashley Gorge.
The council is spending time withthe
owners of each property to best understand
the supporttheyneed. In most instances,
insurancewill lookafter their mainissues,
but thereare needs that go beyond
insurance,and our welfare team is
connecting withaffected individuals,
families and businessestosee what
support can be offered.
Thanks to the Air Force,wehave also
been able to helicopterinto isolatedareas
such as Lees Valley to better understand
the work needed to fix the damage that has
left residentsand farmers cut off.
Engineers and roadingcontractors have
already assessed the damage, and repairs
are under way.
The effects in Lees Valley are far more
than justroading, with significant fencing
repairs and other matters to be considered.
We haveappreciated the support of the
governmentand MinisterKris Faafoi, who
visited the welfare centresand the
EmergencyOperations Centre to offer
support.
We havealso appreciated the support of
localMPs, councillors and Community
Boardmembers who have been supporting
our community.
As we have come to see from past events,
the supportofour community is amazing,
including thosewho took evacuated people
into their homes. The efforts of Civil
Defence volunteers,who staffedwelfare
centres at the Rangiora BaptistChurch,
Mandeville SportsCentreand at Tuahiwi
Marae, deserve acknowledgement.
Our emergency response team,NZRT12,
the Defence Force, Fire Service volunteers
and our police also workedlong hours,as
did councilstaffand contractors. All
deserve thanks.
As Ihave cometosee in my role, we have
acaring communitythat, especially in
challenging times, responds aboveand
beyond to make sure our community is safe.
Therewill be ongoingchallenges in the
months ahead.
Seeing our districtrecover is apriority
for our counciland we willmake sure we
do all that we can to support our
community.
We havehad challenges before and we
will get throughthis.
If you needhelp or know of anyonewho
needssupport, please contact the council
on 0800 965 468.Weare here to help.
Views sought on quake-prone buildings
The Kaikoura District Council is seeking
feedbackasitcontinues to review its
earthquake­prone buildingspolicy.
The development of the new policy
follows the 2016earthquakeand has
identified routes whichhave high vehicle
or pedestrian traffic,orhave the risk of
unreinforced masonry falling in aquake.
Council staff have already identified
‘‘priority buildings’’and are now looking
to identify ‘‘priority routes’’.
Once priority routes have been
identified, staff will assess whether
buildings along this route need to be
added to the priority building list,which
means the council will issue an
‘‘earthquake­prone building notice’’ to
owners requiringthem to take action.
Consultationcloses on June23, with the
document on the council’s website.
McALPINES MITRE 10 MEGA RANGIORA -OCEAN WATCH
This
Week
Sun
Fishing
Guide
Moon
Wind
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Jun 10 Jun 11 Jun 12 Jun 13 Jun 14 Jun 15 Jun 16
Rise 7:56am
Set 4:59pm
Best 12:06pm
Fair
Times
Rise 7:29am
Set 4:39pm
Moderate SW easing
to gentle SE
Good
Rise 7:57am
Set 4:59pm
Best 12:31am
Times 12:56pm
Rise 8:29am
Set 5:20pm
Gentle Sturning
SE
Good
Rise 7:57am
Set 4:59pm
Best
Times
1:21am
1:47pm
Rise 9:25am
Set 6:08pm
Gentle Sturning
E
Good
Rise 7:58am
Set 4:59pm
Best
Times
2:13am
2:39pm
Rise 10:16am
Set 7:04pm
Gentle Sturning
SE
Good
Rise 7:58am
Set 4:59pm
Best
Times
3:05am
3:31pm
Rise 10:59am
Set 8:07pm
Gentle Wturning
S
Good
Rise 7:58am
Set 4:59pm
Best
Times
3:56am
4:21pm
Rise 11:36am
Set 9:13pm
Gentle Sturning
SE
Fair
Rise 7:59am
Set 4:59pm
Best
Times
4:46am
5:10pm
Rise 12:07pm
Set 10:22pm
Gentle Sturning
SE
Swell
Pegasus Bay
Tide Chart
3
2
NE 1.1 m NE 0.8 m E0.9 m E0.7 m E0.7 m SE 0.7 m SE 0.9 m
3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9 3 6 9 NOON 3 6 9
1
0
Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows Highs Lows
Waimakariri 4:32am 2.1 10:43am 0.7 5:14am 2.1 11:26am 0.7 5:58am 2.0
6:43am 2.0 12:38am 0.7 7:29am 2.0 1:21am 0.7 8:16am 2.1 2:04am 0.7 9:02am 2.1 2:49am 0.7
Mouth
4:57pm 2.2 11:15pm 0.7 5:38pm 2.2 11:57pm 0.7 6:20pm 2.2 12:08pm 0.7 7:03pm 2.2 12:50pm 0.7 7:47pm 2.2 1:32pm 0.7 8:32pm 2.2 2:16pm 0.7 9:18pm 2.3 3:03pm 0.7
Amberley 4:32am 2.1 10:43am 0.7 5:14am 2.1 11:26am 0.7 5:58am 2.0
6:43am 2.0 12:38am 0.7 7:29am 2.0 1:21am 0.7 8:16am 2.1 2:04am 0.7 9:02am 2.1 2:49am 0.7
Beach
4:57pm 2.2 11:15pm 0.7 5:38pm 2.2 11:57pm 0.7 6:20pm 2.2 12:08pm 0.7 7:03pm 2.2 12:50pm 0.7 7:47pm 2.2 1:32pm 0.7 8:32pm 2.2 2:16pm 0.7 9:18pm 2.3 3:03pm 0.7
4:41am 2.1 10:52am 0.7 5:23am 2.1 11:35am 0.7 6:07am 2.0 12:06am 0.7 6:52am 2.0 12:47am 0.7 7:38am 2.0 1:30am 0.7 8:25am 2.1 2:13am 0.7 9:11am 2.1 2:58am 0.7
Motunau 5:06pm 2.2 11:24pm 0.7 5:47pm 2.2
6:29pm 2.2 12:17pm 0.7 7:12pm 2.2 12:59pm 0.7 7:56pm 2.2 1:41pm 0.7 8:41pm 2.2 2:25pm 0.7 9:27pm 2.3 3:12pm 0.7
4:43am 2.1 10:54am 0.7 5:25am 2.1 11:37am 0.7 6:09am 2.0 12:08am 0.7 6:54am 2.0 12:49am 0.7 7:40am 2.0 1:32am 0.7 8:27am 2.1 2:15am 0.7 9:13am 2.1 3:00am 0.7
Gore Bay 5:08pm 2.2 11:26pm 0.7 5:49pm 2.2
6:31pm 2.2 12:19pm 0.7 7:14pm 2.2 1:01pm 0.7 7:58pm 2.2 1:43pm 0.7 8:43pm 2.2 2:27pm 0.7 9:29pm 2.3 3:14pm 0.7
4:42am 1.6 10:47am 0.6 5:26am 1.6 11:29am 0.6 6:09am 1.5 12:04am 0.6 6:54am 1.5 12:47am 0.5 7:39am 1.6 1:31am 0.5 8:24am 1.6 2:16am 0.5 9:09am 1.6 3:01am 0.5
Kaikoura 5:05pm 1.7 11:22pm 0.6 5:46pm 1.7
6:28pm 1.7 12:12pm 0.6 7:10pm 1.7 12:55pm 0.6 7:53pm 1.7 1:38pm 0.6 8:38pm 1.7 2:23pm 0.6 9:25pm 1.8 3:10pm 0.5
*Not for navigational purposes. Wind and swell are based on apoint off Gore Bay. Maori Fishing Guide by Bill Hohepa. www.ofu.co.nz www.tidespy.com Graphic supplied by OceanFun Publishing Ltd.
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