Ashburton Courier: October 14, 2021

NEWS
16 Ashburton Courier, October 14, 2021
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Upgrade work moves to Havelock Street
AshburtonDistrict Council’s
CBDupgrade work is now 90 per
cent complete andcoming to its
final stages.
Work on theEastStreet
footpathshould be finished
tomorrow.
Theremaining work in East
Street includes completing the
footpatharea just north of the
public toilets, whichshouldbe
done by theend of October.This
will includeanarea wherethe
town’sChristmas tree will be
placedfor the upcoming festive
season.
Installation of tree edging
around theoak trees and
grassing of the green belt is due
to start.This willalso enable the
completion of thechildren’splay
area.The last of the garden
planting will also be carriedout.
HavelockStreet is thelast
street in the project for major
reconstruction andwillbe
closed toall through traffic in
two stages.
From October18toOctober 24
Havelock Street will be closed
between East Streetand just
eastofthe MSAcarpark
entrance.Traffic will be able to
enter Havelock Street from Cass
Street.
Other carparks will need to be
accessed viaBurnett Street
duringthisone week period).
From October 26 to November
2HavelockStreetwillbeclosed
betweenthe MSA western
carpark entrance and Cass
Street. Traffic will be ableto
enter Havelock Street from East
Streettoaccess MSA carparking
and other associated businesses.
Roadworks on Havelock Street.
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Vaccine rollout
ateam effort
Our vaccineroll out is all go
and NewZealandershave
consistently shown over the
lastyearthatthey’re willingto
pitch in andconfront the
Covid­19 challengehead­on.
Our goalistoget thevaccineto
people,before Delta reaches
them–but it will requirea
combined effortfrom allofus
to makeithappen.
We’re askingeveryonetobe
partofabig, nationwide push
for vaccination with aSuper
Saturday, National Dayof
Actionfor Vaccinationonthis
Saturday October 16.
On Saturday16October
there willbeeight vaccine
clinicsopenthroughoutthe
Ashburtondistrict with
vaccination clinicsinthe
AshburtonTownship, Methven
and Rakaia.
We havehad successful
clinicsinHinds, Rakaiaand at
Haketere Marae,Iwantto
thank every single personthat
has got theirvaccination.
Vaccinations help us do the
things we love, and seethe
people we love.
Ikeepinregularcontact
withthe CDHBontheirplans
(andhave offered ideas) to get
out to more partsofour region
so thatvaccineclinicsare
accessiblefor our rural
people.This week Iam
meetingwith Canterbury MPs
and theCDHB to get another
updateonthe rollout.
Iamnow fully vaccinated–I
want to get back outinthe
community safely,tosupport
our local businesses so they
can thrive oncemore.Iwant to
do my bittoprotectour
communities,particularlyour
vulnerablepeople –for the
team of five million. Let’s do it
together.
Ialso want to mention the
announcement of the
Ashburton railhub last week.
This project has been on my
radarsinceIwas aListMP
after firstdiscussing the
potential of the Ashburtonrail
hubmoving fromcentral
Ashburton to Fairfieldwith
Mayor NeilBrown.
From thereIinitiatedphone
calls andmeetingswith
KiwiRail,the council,
Wareings,aswell as meetings
with Transport Minister
Michael Wood to pushforward
thecompelling casefor
funding this project.
I’mthrilled that the work
hasculminated in $2 million
beinginvested into the rail
hubtounlock a$14 million
upgrade to freightoperations.
This partnership with
Wareings,KiwiRailand the
council will triple rail freight
capacity, helping to getmore
trucksoff theroad, reducing
emissions, andsupporting our
localeconomy.
Allinall, afantastic
investment in ourdistrict,and
onethat Iamproudtohave
playedaroleinmaking
happen.
Fonterra profit drops
Fonterra’snet profit dropped
by $60 million in the financial
year, drivenbyhigh milk
prices.
Net profit of $599m for the
yearcompared to $659m in
2020.
The co­operative has
announced adividend of 15c a
share, taking the total to 20c,
comparedwithlastyear's total
of 5c.
Fonterrasettled on a$7.54
per kg of milksolids milk price
for theseason just finished,
taking thetotalpayout for
2020/21to$7.74/kg
For the current season,
Fonterra'sforecast has
remained at $7.25­$8.75 per
kgMS,with amidpoint of $8 per
kgMS.
Chief executiveMiles Hurrell
saidthe last threeyears had
beenabout resetting the
business.
‘‘We've stuck to ourstrategy of
maximising thevalue of our
New Zealandmilk,movedto a
customer­ledoperatingmodel
and strengthened ourbalance
sheet,’’ he said.
Fonterra also presented a
revised capital structure
proposalthat it will discuss with
farmers over the coming weeks
before deciding whether to
proceedtoashareholder vote.