Ashburton Courier: November 11, 2021

NEWS
26 Ashburton Courier, November 11, 2021
Loss spurs motorbike campaign
SUSAN.SANDYS
@starmedia.kiwi
Nigel Ransonhas one verygood
reason why people should take
note of motorcycle safety
messagessuch as those raised
in anew Selwyn District
Council campaign.
His brother Mike, 52,was
killedinahead­on crashonthe
Rakaia bridge on Labour Day.
Nigel is amongfamily
members left behind who are
dealing withthe tragic death of
their much loved brother,
father,grandfatherand uncle.
“Hewasagood fella, he
would do anythingfor
anybody,” he said.
Nigel said safety messages,
such as those promoted in the
district council’s Motorcycle
Campaign 2021 video series
launched lastweek were “very
important.” Both motorists and
motorcyclistsneeded to be
more careful on the road, he
said.
There have been66crashes
involving motorcycles in the
district since 2017, withfive of
thosebeing fatal and23serious.
Mikewas one of afamily of
keen motorcyclists, and would
often ride with Nigel andson
Devon and their other brother
David.
Theaccident on the bridge
that took Mike’slife,which
occurred about 10am, involved
Nigel Ranson (left) is reeling from the loss of his brother Mike.
PHOTO SUPPLIED
Mike overtaking acar as he was
travelling south to Ashburton
from his homeinChristchurch,
andcolliding with atruck,
Nigelsaid.
“The truck driver had
nowhere to go, and Mike had
nowhere to go either.’’
He said safetymessages for
both motorists and
motorcyclists were important to
reduce theroad toll for
motorcyclists.One important
message for motorcyclists was
to alwaysmake sure it was clear
for at least 100m in front before
overtakingvehicles.
Mikewas aself­employed
handyman, dad of fourand
grandfather of three.
His death was three days
after that of Mongols gang
associate SteveSmith, who
crashed at Burnham on State
Boosting mental health needs
Anew mental health outpatient facility
for children and young people in
Canterbury is set to benefit from the
latest funding push of Māia Health
Foundation.
Māia is hoping to raise $300,000 in the
next six weeks, as part of their Shine A
Light appeal launched this week.
The appeal has a$6million target and
runs until December 24.
All funds raised will go toward anew
mentalhealthoutpatient facility for
children andyoungpeople in Canterbury.
RainbowChildren’s Trust,along with
two other generous donors, has agreed to
dollar­match any donation made to the
Shine ALight appeal, uptothe value of
$150,000.
Māia Health Foundation general
manager fundraising andmarketing Anna
Galvan saideverydonation,nomatter the
size, can be doubled –‘‘meaningthattheir
lightwill shinetwice as brightfor the
children andyoungpeople so desperately
needing our support,”
Since January2018there hadbeena140
percentincreaseindemandfor child and
youthmentalhealthservices,and last
year4614new young people were
referred to Canterbury District Health
Board’s (DHB) Child, Adolescent and
Family (CAF) service,ontop of the
service’s existing caseload.
Māia was working alongside the DHB
to create amodern,fit­for­ purpose
mentalhealth outpatient facility for
children andyoung peoplein
Canterbury.
Māia Health Foundation trustee
Janine Morrell­Gunn said the new
facility could not comesoon enough.
“Ouryoung people have faced adecade
of extraordinarychallenges andurgently
need our help.
‘‘We have incredible, passionate
mentalhealth staffwho arehamstrung
everyday by the dark,broken buildings
they must bring our most vulnerable and
at­risk young people into for treatment.”
Detaileddesign work is under way for
Highway 1about 10pm on
Friday.
Both deaths coincidedwith
Motorcycle Awareness Month
in October.
Senior Sergeant Stephen
McDaniel said both crashes
appearedtobethe fault of the
motorcyclists. However,itwas
too early to say this definitively
as theywerestill being
investigated.
The crashes highlighted the
importance of motorcyclists
driving to theconditionsand
withinthe limits of their own
ability and the abilityoftheir
machines, he said.
Meanwhile, SelwynDistrict
Council asset manager
transportation Andrew Mazey
saidthe annual motorcycle
campaign thisyear involved the
addition of avideo series that
featured three Ride Forever
trainers andthepolice. Ride
Forever is an ACC initiative,
giving riders information and
access to training.
The campaign involved a
roadsideevent for
motorcyclists which was
planned for last month at the
Glentunnel Community Centre,
but will now be next year
following covid alertlevel
uncertainty.
The districtcouncil also has
freehigh­vis motorcycle safety
strapsatits librariesand
service centres.
thenew CAF outpatient facility, to be
located at the former Canterbury Linen
Services building, on the outskirts of the
Hillmorton campus.
The purpose­designed facility will
bring together thework of the mental
health teams currently based at The
Princess MargaretHospitaland
Hillmorton sites.
DHB’s Child, Adolescent and Family
service manager Deborah Selwood said
there weretreatmentsand therapies the
service would love to offer, butwhich the
facilities did noteasily support.
‘‘While it’s areal challenge working in
an environment that’s not fit for purpose,
we keepdoing it becauseweknowwe are
making adifference.”
“We havenodoubt thathavingwarm,
welcoming,fit­for­purpose spaces will
result in better outcomes for ourpeople
andour patients.
It will be game­changing.”
Anyone wantingtodonate to the Shine
ALight can do so at www.shinealight.nz
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Growers
support
industry
merger
Wools of NewZealand
(WNZ) and PrimaryWool
Co­operative(PWC)
shareholders have
overwhelmingly voted in
favour of aproposed merger
of operations betweenWNZ
and Primary Wool Cooperative­owned
CP Wool
(CPW).
More than 99.7 per cent of
WNZ shareholders and 100
per cent of PWC
shareholders who voted
supported the merger,
which will see both
companies become partners
in anew entity calledWools
of New ZealandLP. It will
combinethe trading and
operating businesses of
WNZ and CPW.
WNZchair JamesParsons
said growers had spoken
and backed thevision to
build oneorganisation with
strength and scale to makea
real difference to New
Zealand’s strugglingwool
industry.
“We are very pleased with
this positiveresult, which
validates our strategy to
consolidate the sector and
better link the supply chain
from the grower throughto
the consumer.
‘‘Bycombining
operations, we can provide
the scale, focus and shared
vision to achieve better
outcomes for our growers.
Richard Young, chair of
PWC and chair of CPW,
whichis100 per cent owned
by PWC, said the result laid
the foundations to deliver
improvedfortunes forthe
wool sector.
“This single growerownedentity
willhelp drive
our shift from wool as araw
commodity to grower­owned
and brandedconsumerwool
products. Ultimately, the
development of an
integrated supplychain
aims to improve returnsfor
our growers.’’
The transactionwas due
to be complete by November
30.
The new entitywill be
called Wools of New
Zealand LP andtransact
approximatelyone third of
NZ’s wool clip.