Ashburton Courier: April 21, 2022

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COUNCILBRIEF ASHBURTONDC.GOVT.NZ/NEWS 5BaringSquareWest, Ashburton |POBox 94, Ashburton, NewZealand 7740 | Telephone (03) 307 7700 | Website ashburtondc.govt.nz Thursday,21April 2022 | ISSUE 75 Pothole eliminatorbusy on Forks Road Fine weather on Tuesday provided the perfect opportunity for Mayor Neil Brown and Councillor Stuart Wilsontosee the pothole eliminator at work on Forks Road. Council added $300,000 to this year’s roadingrepairprogrammetohaveanextra stabilising machinework inthedistrict.Itis focused on potholes. The stabiliser mills the top layer of the road; cement is added andthen theroad compactedready forchipseal. Mayor Brown said while the process looked simple, it relied onexperienced crews testing the road base, milling it to the right height and then adding the required volume of cement. “The extra $300,000 is being used to stabilise around 8000 square metres of road in the Ashburton District. Repairing it now, beforewinter,will stop these roads further deteriorating and lengthen their life.” Council is planning tospend around $18 million on its roads in the next financial year and is looking for community approval inits Annual Plan, out now for consultation. The $18m covers road maintenance, renewals,stabilisationsandrepairs,aswell as reseals of somefootpaths and roads. Mayor Brownsaid Council plannedtouse $1.7mfromaforestryreserve fund to help payfor the work. “Our Annual Plan asks residents what JohnFalloon,Councillor The importanceofreserves As part of the Annual Plan process, Council is currently consulting with thecommunity as to whether or not$1.7million shouldbetaken from the forestry reserve and used forrepairing the district'sroads. Reservesform an important part of any balance sheet,for Councils, businesses, or anyorganisation undertaking significantworks. In Ashburton's case,onbehalf of the community,the Council holds anumber of reserves withatotalvalue of $65.6 million. The forestry reserve is arelatively small part of that, with abalance of $5.1 million, whichhas been built up over timefromthe saleofCouncil-owned forestry andforestryland. By farthe largest component is the propertyreserve,now standingat$27.1 million, whichisfundedfromamix of capitalgains on Council property sales and depreciation. Depreciation is the amountbywhich theythink of using the reservestogiveour roading repairs programme aboost. Last May’srain and floodsdid alot of damage to our network and we need to catch up because roads are vital for people toget to work or school, and take our farming producetomarket. “Weknowthatincreasing numbersofbig trucks on ourroads overthe past yearsare also taking atoll. Roads built 30 yearsago were notsubject to the same volumesof freight and weight.” Mayor Brown said this was coupled with Council'sassets reduceinvalue each year.Each groupofassets is written off overacertain number of years, dependingonthe typeofasset. Forexample,ifabuilding costs$1 million,and is expectedtohavea lifetimeof50years,then forCouncil's accounting purposes thatbuilding will be depreciatedat$20,000 per year. The monies received from ratesand other sourcestocoverthiscostwill be placed in areserve in order to havea fund to coverits eventual replacement. It is arequirement of councils to cover the depreciation of their assets by the amount theycharge forrates. Anumber of yearsago the Queenstown Lakes District Council did notrate for depreciation, which, although leading to lowerrate increases foraperiod, led to arundown in reserves, and eventually ahigher cost when those assets needed replacement. But the importanceofreserves goes beyond justhaving cash stored for assetreplacement in thefuture. In the a reduced amount of money coming from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to maintain roads. “So we will also be lobbying the decision-makers in Parliament to ensuredistricts likeoursget more of ashare ofthe road user charges andpetrolexcise duty thattheycollect.” Ashburton District has one of the biggest roading networks in the country and its roading contractor HEB has had two pothole repair crews, each with aspecial road stabilising machine, working in the districtwhilethe weatherisstill warm. shortterm, theycan be borrowed internallytofund other Council projects,particularly,asisoftenthe case, where the cost of borrowing is greaterthanthe reserves areearning in term deposits or otherinvestments. Majorprojects such as the recently completed CBD redevelopment was partly funded from reservessuchasthe footpaths and roadingreserves, with the balance beingfunded by external funding. This is thecasewith most infrastructure developmentswhich arefunded by a mix of reservesand newborrowing, unless we canobtain central government fundingaswedid recently forthe relief sewerfromBridgeStreet to Milton Road. Community provides feedbackon Annual Plan Ashburton District residents have a little over two weeks remaining to have their say on Council’s Annual Plan. Councillors have taken their plan tothe community via three town meetings and an online presentation, and submissions willbeaccepted until5pm on Friday 6May. Mayor Neil Brown said while they would haveliked to see more people attend the public meetings, the quality of questions and discussionhad been very good. “Some ofthe more common questions havebeen aroundthe state of our roads, which we are proposing to improve with a$1.7m boost from forestry reserves, and about howthe newlibraryand civic centre building is tracking. “The new build isafew months behind schedule because of Covid-19 lockdowns and supply chains issues, but it is still within the budget and itscontingency. Fair to say,though, thatweare keeping aclose eyeonit. “Weencourageresidents to have theirsay on this Annual Plan, which spells out what we aim to do in 2022-23 and howwewill payfor it. “There have been some obvious challenges, like record-high inflation and Covid-19, but the work we plan to do is all about maintainingcurrent levels of service and meetingGovernment compliancefor things likedrinking water.” The overall effect ofthe Annual Plan is a 9.4 per cent averageratesrise. Mayor Brown said people could use the online rates calculator tosee what the result would be for their individual properties. “Bearinmindtoothatproperty valuations havealso gone up much higher forurban people compared to ruralareas.” Residents can find out more about what’s proposed and have their say online at itsourplace.nz. They can also watchareplay of theonline meeting and find explanations of what’s planned for Ashburton, Methvenand Rakaia. All submissions received will be discussed by Councillors following hearings on 24 and 25 May. Haveyour say! Submissions close 6May 1 Thursday,21April 2022 |ISSUE 75 ashburtondc.govt.nz
Colourfulauthor shares recipes, lifestories Colourful caterer and former deputy mayor of Queenstown, Margaret McHugh, will talk about her autobiography and cookbook, The Real McHugh, whenshe makesa specialvisit to the AshburtonPublic Library on Wednesday4May. The author’s talk begins at 7pm and is free; shewill present her recipes andtalk about her adventures as the daughter of aWinton dairy farmer who moved to London and rubbed shoulderswith some interesting characters before returning home toQueenstown and becoming the contractcatereronthe TSSEarnslaw. Queenstown in the 1980s and 1990s produced some rollicking stories and McHugh’s book details encounters with the local police, touristsand howshe came to be alocal body politician. She makes no apologies for her “rough edges”. She nowlives in Pictonand is aregularat thelocalfarmersmarket.Sheandhusband Billrun aluxury bedand breakfast. Her book isacollection ofrecipes, life stories andopinionsthathavemorethan aserving of hotsauceand spice. People who want to come along to the event in the Ashburton Public Library should phone 308 7192 toreserve their space, or email library@adc.govt.nz. Margaret McHughhas writtenan autobiography and cookbook,The Real McHugh. RUBBISH AND RECYCLING ANZACDAY Kerbside collections –Nokerbside collections will be affectedover the ANZACDay period. Rakaia Resource RecoveryPark – Closed25April(ANZACDay). AshburtonResource Recovery Park – Open. NO GASBOTTLES AT THE KERBSIDE, PLEASE Gascylinderscannot be putintoyellow wheeliebins forrecycling, or left alongsideany wheelie bins at thekerb for collection.Gas cylinderscan be dropped off at anyresource recovery park forfree. Mayorstakealternative three waters plan to MPs AshburtonMayor NeilBrown joined Mayorsand CEs representing the 32 member councils of Communities 4Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori(C4LD) in Wellington recently topresent politicians with a10-point plan for three waters reform thatcould gain wide support.Mayor Brownsaid peopleinthe Ashburton districthad given aclear messagetheywerenot in support of the Government’s reform model and wanted the process stopped. ANZACDay traffic plans UPCOMING MEETINGS Meetingsare at CouncilChambers, 137 HavelockStreet, unless specified Ashburton Water Zone Committee, Tuesday 26April, 1pm MethvenCommunity Board, Monday2 May,10.30am atMtHuttMemorial Hall Ashburton DistrictRoadSafety Coordinating Committee, Tuesday3May, 9.30am Council Meeting, Wednesday 4May, 1pm (live-streamed) Council ActivityBriefings, Wednesday 11 May,9.30am Audit &Risk Committee, Wednesday 11 May,1.30pm (live-streamed) Council Meeting, Wednesday 18 May, 1pm (live-streamed) Annual Plan Submission Hearings, Tuesday 24 May, 9am (live-streamed) Ashburton Water ZoneCommittee, Tuesday 24 May (live-streamed) AnnualPlan Submission Hearings, Wednesday 25 May,9am (live-streamed) We need a facilitycleaner Hours: From 6am-10am Monday to Friday,two hours on a Saturday morning. Location: Council buildings. Mustbephysically fit andfully Covid-19 vaccinated. Apply nowtohr@ashburtondc. govt.nz. Job details areatwww. ashburtondc.govt.nz/work-for-us PUBLICNOTICES ROAD CLOSURE Ashburton DistrictCouncil givespublic noticeofaroadclosure forthe purpose of allowingthe AshburtonCar Club to hold “Standing QuarterMileSprint” (with the exception of emergency vehicles) forthe period indicated hereunder. Road to be closed: • WINSLOWWILLOWBYROAD, from the Longbeach Road intersection to approximately 500 metres from the intersection of State Highway 1 Period of Closure: From9am until5pm on Saturday,23April 2022. Thisnoticeofclosureismadeunder the Local Government Act1974 -Schedule 10 (11(e)). It will be anoffenceunder the above regulations forany person otherwise than under authority ofan authorised permit to usethe roads / streetsfor ordinaryvehiculartraffic during the periodofclosure. NEIL McCANN InfrastructureServices Group Manager COMMUNITYNOTICEBOARD Biketip:Communicateyour intentions Usearm signals to letother people on the road knowwhatyou'redoing, so they cananticipateyour movements and giveyou space. Always checkto makesurethe traffic around youhas seen and understood your signals beforeyou move.Ifindoubt, pull over and wait. BaringSquare Westwas receiving some special attentionfromOpen Spaces staff this week, ahead of Anzac Day services at the Cenotaph on Monday 25 April.Roads aroundthe square, including State Highway 1, will be closed forservices on Anzac Day and traffic will be detoured. COUNCIL OFFICE 5Baring Square West Mon, Tue, Wed &Fri 8.30am -5pm Thursday 9am -5pm ASHBURTONPUBLIC LIBRARY 180 Havelock Street,Ashburton 7700 Mon -Fri 9.00am -8.00pm Sat10am-1pm | Sun 1pm -4pm EA NETWORKSCENTRE 20 River Terrace Mon -Fri 6.00am -9.00pm Sat&Sun 7.00am -7.00pm ASHBURTONART GALLERY & ASHBURTONMUSEUM 327 WestStreet 10am -4pm daily.Closed Public Holidays. ashburtondc.govt.nz Thursday,21April 2022 |ISSUE 75 2
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Ashburton Courier: April 21, 2022

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