Ashburton Courier: August 26, 2021
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ASHBURTONDC.GOVT.NZ/NEWS<br />
5BaringSquareWest, <strong>Ashburton</strong> |POBox 94, <strong>Ashburton</strong>, NewZealand 7740 | Telephone (03) 307 7700 | Website ashburtondc.govt.nz<br />
HamishRiach -Chief Executive<br />
Lifecontinues in covid wait-and-see<br />
Hanginthere is the phrase of<br />
the week,aswewaittosee if<br />
contacts of theAuckland Covid<br />
cluster develop intocasesinthe<br />
South Island.<br />
We knowthatpeople move around the<br />
countryalot so we all needtohunker<br />
down andrespect thelockdownsoit<br />
willhopefully be as short as possible.<br />
Thank youtothose who have been<br />
doing their part.<br />
Alert Level4means Council facilities<br />
areclosedtothe public, though we<br />
havestaffworkingfromhome to keep<br />
essential services going.<br />
Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern hassaid<br />
thatall of NewZealand willremain<br />
at Alert Level4untilatleast 11.59 pm<br />
Friday27<strong>August</strong> and adecisionwill be<br />
madethatday if some regions canbe<br />
downgraded. Aucklandwill remain at<br />
Alert Level4until at leastnextTuesday.<br />
There arealso newrulesthatrequire<br />
people to wear face masks or face<br />
coveringstosupermarkets,dairies, and<br />
servicestationsfor essential business.<br />
It is alsomandatory to signinoruse<br />
your covidtracerapp whenyou visit.<br />
Council services at AlertLevel 3and4<br />
aresimilar:<br />
Our customer serviceteamisworking<br />
from homeand is setuptotakecalls<br />
and emails to assistyou withyour<br />
enquiries.<br />
Council’sadministration building on<br />
Baring SquareWestisclosed, as is EA<br />
Networks Centre, <strong>Ashburton</strong> Public<br />
Library, theart galleryand museum,<br />
and community halls. All public<br />
playgroundsare closed and taped off,<br />
though publictoilets on main freight<br />
routes areopenfor essential workers.<br />
Council is awarethatratesweredue<br />
on 20 <strong>August</strong>.Given the office is closed,<br />
youare encouraged to payonline<br />
(ashburtondc.govt.nz) if possible<br />
though Council hasdecided to delay<br />
applying penalties forlate rates<br />
because of the country’smove to Alert<br />
Level4.<br />
Our drinking water, stormwater,<br />
stockwater, andwastewaterservices<br />
arebeing delivered as normal. Roading<br />
maintenanceand repairstokeep the<br />
roads safewill continue and under<br />
Alert Level 3, road rehabilitation and<br />
small capital projects can resume.<br />
We will continue to pick up your red<br />
rubbish bin and yellowrecyclingbin<br />
from the kerbsideasper your normal<br />
collection days. Unfortunately,glass<br />
recyclingissuspended until further<br />
notice. We ask thatyou storeyour<br />
emptiesathomeinthe meantime. We<br />
will letyou know whenthis changes or<br />
Thursday,<strong>26</strong><strong>August</strong><strong>2021</strong> | ISSUE 43<br />
Staff respond to covidneeds in community<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>DistrictCouncillifeguards<br />
andotherstaffhavebeenredeployed<br />
during AlertLevel 4tohelp othersin<br />
the community.<br />
In this <strong>August</strong> lockdown, staff have been<br />
delivering prescription medicine on<br />
behalf of local pharmacies, cleaning at<br />
the <strong>Ashburton</strong> Hospital community-based<br />
assessment centre and helping manage<br />
traffic queues, doing extra cleaning of<br />
public toilets foressential workersonthe<br />
main freight routes and preparing the EA<br />
Networks Centreindoor stadiumsoitcan<br />
be usedasavaccination space.<br />
Some staff redeployed are working for<br />
Civil Defence, which links with other<br />
agencies across Mid Canterbury tomake<br />
surepeople’s health and welfareneedsare<br />
metinAlertLevel 3and 4.<br />
NewZealand remains in Alert Level4until<br />
at least11.59 pm Friday 27 <strong>August</strong>.<br />
Strategy and ComplianceGroup Manager<br />
Jane Donaldson said Council would also<br />
remainpart of the Civil Defenceresponse<br />
at Alert Level3,wheneverthathappened.<br />
“Our team did similar work in last year’s<br />
four-week lockdown and we are pleased<br />
to be helping the community again.”<br />
Staff from the EA Networks Centre are<br />
authorised by Civil Defence to deliver<br />
medication for the pharmacies. Patients<br />
areoftenelderly or unable to travel so staff<br />
were providing an essential serviceaswell<br />
as afriendly face.<br />
Open spacesstaff have been on cleaning<br />
duty atthe covid testing centre, working<br />
in full protective equipment to disinfect<br />
spaces after people havebeen assessed by<br />
medical staff.<br />
Roading staff have also been helping<br />
manage traffic queues on Elizabeth Street<br />
as peoplewait.<br />
Ms Donaldson said the Tinwald Medical<br />
Centre had asked to use the indoor<br />
stadium spaceatEANetworks foralarge<br />
group of booked covid vaccinations<br />
and staff had prepared the venue for<br />
that work on Wednesday. “It’s anideal<br />
space asitallows for good numbers and<br />
recommendedsocial distancing.”<br />
Openspaces’ cleanershad also beenbusy,<br />
making surepublic toilets on main freight<br />
routes were cleaned more regularly and<br />
could be usedsafely by essential workers<br />
liketruck drivers delivering goods around<br />
the South Island.<br />
when resourcerecoveryparks areopen<br />
again.<br />
Regulatory services such as building<br />
andresource consentsremain<br />
operational, howevertherewillbeno<br />
physical inspections.<br />
Council will continue to meetremotely<br />
viaZoom,for any regularly scheduled<br />
meetings.Public meetings willbe<br />
live-streamed on the Council’sYouTube<br />
Channeland Facebook Page.<br />
TheCouncil willcontinue to<br />
communicate about any potential<br />
changetoour services or activities.<br />
Followour Facebook page (@<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong>DC), visit the Council<br />
website(ashburtondc.govt.nz), and<br />
signuptoour free text/SMSalert<br />
service(by texting your postcode to<br />
4196) to stayinformed.<br />
Topimage: About to head out on a<br />
pharmacydelivery forCivilDefenceare<br />
(from left) Chinatsu Hunt,LinnMcGregor<br />
and Nora Alteweeg.<br />
Leftimage: EA NetworksCentrewas used<br />
foragroup vaccination on Wednesday.<br />
Wastewater<br />
being tested<br />
forCovid-19<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> District Council has<br />
begun collecting regular samples<br />
of its wastewater tobetested for<br />
Covid-19.<br />
Councillors said last week they were<br />
interestedinjoining other localauthorities<br />
to test their wastewater, which would<br />
indicate if thevirus –especially thehighly<br />
transmissible Deltavariant –was present<br />
in the <strong>Ashburton</strong> network. Samples<br />
are collected from the Wilkins Road<br />
treatment plant andsent to the Instituteof<br />
Environmental Science and Research for<br />
analysis.<br />
<strong>Ashburton</strong> DistrictMayor Neil Brownsaid<br />
the testing would provide some assurance<br />
of potential infection inthe community.<br />
Although the sensitivity of wastewater<br />
testing is notabsolutely clear, it provides a<br />
tool in the kit to detect Covid-19.<br />
“Weexpecttohavethe first resultsatthe<br />
end of this week. Atthis stage, itisjust<br />
the <strong>Ashburton</strong> town wastewater scheme,<br />
but smaller strategic schemes could be<br />
included.”<br />
The MinistryofHealth is currently testing<br />
wastewater from other councils around<br />
the countryfor covid.<br />
1 ashburtondc.govt.nz/news<br />
Thursday,<strong>26</strong><strong>August</strong><strong>2021</strong> |ISSUE 43
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