North Canterbury News: June 09, 2022

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NEWS 2 North Canterbury News, June 9, 2022 Grow customers, salesand profits with North Canterbury’s bestread newspaper Readership: 51,000 weekly Circulation: 30,150copiesdelivered to EVERY farm, RD, lifestyle block and home inWaimakariri, Hurunui &Kaikoura every Thursday. news Robyn Bristow Managing Editor 027 312 1581 robyn.bristow @ncnews.co.nz Reporters David Hill, Shelley Topp. advertising DaynaBurton Sales Manager 027 312 0089 dayna.burton @ncnews.co.nz AmandaKeys Advertising 027 536 6224 amanda.keys @ncnews.co.nz JillianDickie Advertising 022 024 3092 jillian.dickie @ncnews.co.nz getintouch Editorial info@ncnews.co.nz Advertising sales@ncnews.co.nz Graphic Design heather.hood@ncnews.co.nz Distribution/Deliveries 03 314 8335 Rangiora: 03 313 2840 /03314 8335 14 Ashley St, Rangiora Christchurch: 03 364 7460 www.starnews.co.nz Bellgrove could be fast-tracked By DAVID HILL The Bellgrove subdivision in Rangiora could be fasttracked. The Waimakariri District Council made an applicationtothe Minister for the Environment in November last year to speedupthe new northeastRangiora development, following public consultation andan agreementfrom the developer, Bellgrove Rangiora Ltd. The application was made under the Covid19 RecoveryFasttrack Consenting Act 2020, on the basis it wouldprovidemuch needed housing and employment. The proposed development is to the north of Kippenberger Ave and straddlesthe Cam River. The siteisone of the Future Development Areasidentified in the Our Space 20182048: Greater Christchurch Settlement Pattern Update, which was preparedin2018. It is proposed to subdividea20.8 hectaresite initially and construct 209 sections,aneighbourhood commercialcentre, open spaces, restore ecological areasand develop infrastructure including roads, parking and threewatersservices. The fulldevelopmentisover 63ha and couldtotalasmany as 1100 sections to be developedover five stages. The sectionsare likely to be 200 to 400 square metres, whichisasimilar sizetosections in Kaiapoi’s Silverstream subdivision. WaimakaririDistrictCouncil planning managerWendy Harris saysthe process for rezoningthe land, which was previously farmed by the Inch family,has been identifiedinthe Waimakariri District Plan. The Ministry for the Environment was contactedfor comment, but no responsewas received before North Canterbury News went to print. ‘Three Watersisill-conceived’ OPINION By JAMIE MCFADDEN RuralAdvocacy Network chairman and Groundswell spokesperson. There is widespread oppositiontothe Government’s Three Watersproposal and for good reason. To understandwhy, one needs to dig deeper beneath the cries of state theftof communityassets and loss of local democracy. The establishment story of drinking water schemes in the Hurunui District is similar to elsewhere around the country. After arun of dry summers in the1960s, Hurunui farmersrecognised the need for reliable stock water schemes. Proposals forseveral schemes were developed and farmers sought the support of the local council to oversee the build. The farmers saw an opportunity to include towns in these schemes given they too were strugglingwith water reliability. Thus, our water schemes wereborn. In the district of Hurunui thereare 17 water schemes covering 100,000s of hectares of farms for stock water,aswell as water for farm dwellings,towns, lifestyle blocksand small settlements. Mostschemesdraw water from intake galleries under our mainrivers. The cooperation of farmerswas essential in allowing their land to host over2000 kms of pipework (the equivalent of Cape Reinga to Bluff)and more than 100 county reservoirs. Farmers also provided labour to helplay the pipework. Since then,arelationship of trust and goodwillhas enduredbetween farmers who providethe land for the water scheme infrastructure, and the councils who require access to maintain the water schemes. On ahigh ridgeonour farm, we host one of thelargestcounty water scheme reservoirs,which has recently been renewed. Apositiverelationship forover 50 years of access is testamenttothe goodwill between the counciland landowners. The councilhelp us with maintenance of our farm tracks that they use to service the waterschemes. They really are communityschemes, henceone of the reasons why theGovernment’sillconceivedtakeover of the controlofour waterassets is so widely opposed. Our district wasthe epicentre of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, and the value of ourexisting waterinfrastructuresupply modelwas evident. Restoringthe function of damaged waterschemeswas aparticular priority; both to supportthe health of peopleand for the daily needsofhundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle on extensive hill country farms. The Waiau Rural Scheme, which services over 90 farms,and the township of Waiau, was almost destroyed. Despitethis, it was abletoberebuiltinjust threeweeks becauseits losswas recognised as an emergency by the council, and because the watermen, engineers, farmers,and other people involved in its reconstruction were part of the impactedcommunity.This meant everythinghumanly possible was done to get the scheme working again as quickly as possible. What would otherwise have been a ‘second disaster’ with large areas of Hurunui hill countryhaving to be destocked for an entire summer, was averted through the heroic efforts of those involved. We wereable to respond quickly because there was only one locally based entitythat managed all our infrastructure and civil defence. If water assets were controlledbyanentity external to the community, it is hard to see how they would havebeen able to respond with the samelevel of urgency or agility, or in away which fitted in withthe overall community response. The case for improvements to managing our infrastructure, particularly quality drinking water, is strong. There are ahandful of councilsthat haveapoor management record, but overall, the biggest constraint is funding. Councils are constrained by debt limitations and the size of rate rises people can sustain. And the biggest burden on council funding is themassive increase in unfair costsrelated to excessiveadministrationheavy government policiesand regulations. The case for the Government’s Three Waters proposal, on the other hand, is not strong. Evenifweset aside the appalling ‘‘consultation’’,there are examples of the Government actively undermining local democracy. For example, creating asituation in which Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ),whose mandate is to provide vision and voicefor local communities, signed an agreement not to actively opposealegislated ‘all in’ dictate by the government. In response, Timaru District Council has refusedtofund LGNZ,and other councils may followsuit. The proposed governance structurefor Three Waters is breathtakinglycomplex and far removedfrom localdemocracy. The governmentproposethat councils and manawhenua appoint representativestoeach Regional Representative Groupwho appoint and monitoranindependent selectionpanel, whose role is to appoint and monitor the entity board who would governthe entity management teamthat would run our water infrastructure. 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Former Mayor honoured By DAVID HILL FormerWaimakaririMayor, David Ayers,doubts he could juggle serviceon the council with ateachingcareer today, given the workload of councillors. Reflectingonbeingawardedthe Memberofthe New ZealandOrder of Merit (MNZM), in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, the former Waimakariri Mayor says thingshave changed sincehe was first elected to the Rangiora Borough Council in 1983. ‘‘If Iwas younger Iwould do it again, but Idon’tknow if Iwould have got started if Iwas ateacher now,’’ says the formerRangioraHigh Schooldeputy principal. ‘‘The RangioraBorough Councilused to meetinthe evenings, whilethe county councils tended to meet during the day, so that was part of the cultural change that tookplaceafter 1989. ‘‘Whenweamalgamated mostmeetings were in the late afternoon or evening which was manageable for ateacher, but with the amount of business now you couldn’t do it.’’ When he was firstelected in 1983,Mr Ayers was 36yearsold and even thenhe was not the youngest councillor. Today Mayor Dan Gordon, at age 46years,isthe youngest electedmember sitting at the counciltable. ‘‘I’venever been the youngest or the oldestaroundthe counciltable,’’ Mr Ayers says. The workload of councillors today means few young peopleput their hand up, as they would need to juggle work and familytime. David Ayers During his 36year local government career, Mr Ayers says the earthquake recoverystands out as his highlight. ‘‘The earthquake dominated people’s lives for quite afew years and some of the regeneration workisstillongoing. ‘‘And it dominated our town centre planning. We were always looking at our two main town centresthroughan earthquake recovery lens. ‘‘Insome ways the earthquake recovery was not ahard time for the council becausewehad the community behind us, but it certainlychangedthe focus of our long term financial planning.’’ In some ways the periodfollowing amalgamation in 1989 was evenmore challenging than the earthquake recovery, as several verydifferent councils cametogether to put together an annualplan. Those werethe days before Long Term Plans,which has simplified planning as annualplans generally follow on from the LTP unless there is amajordisaster like an earthquake or pandemic, or a changeinlegislation,MrAyers says. But the Waimakariripopulation has more than doubled since1989 and continues to grow at arapid rate and legislative requirements are greater, placing greater demands on elected members. Mr Ayers says the honouris ‘‘gratifying’’. ‘‘But you also recognisethat anything you do in the communityyou do with other people and I’vealways had good peoplearound me asupportive council, asupportive community and a supportive family. ‘‘And certainlyhaving Marilyn beside me, keepingmefed and attending events with me made adifference.’’ There weresix North Canterbury recipients in all in the Queen’s Birthday HonoursList, including five Queen’s ServiceMedals. Queen’sService Medals: Christine Joy Greengrass, Kaiapoi, for services to the community. Harry Earl Pawsey, Hawarden, for services to advocacy and conservation. Virginia Ann Pawsey, Hawarden,for services to advocacy and conservation. John Kenneth Wyatt, Kaikoura, for services to the community. Sandra Jean Wyatt, Kaikoura, for services to the community. Aqua park extension sought By DAVIDHILL Kaiapoi’s aqua sport parkislikelyto be given another twoyears to prove itself. The WaimakaririDistrictCouncil willconsidergranting an extension to amemorandum of understanding to allow the sport parkconceptto progress beyond the aquaplaypark. The WHoW CharitableTrust entered into an agreement with the council in August2020, where it was given atwoyear lease on former red zonelandinnortheast Kaiapoiand given timetoconductafeasibility study intothe proposedaquasports park. Following thesuccessofthe Kaikanui AqualandNZaquaplay parktrialonCourtenay Lakeover the summer, theTrustapproached the council to extend theagreement. ‘‘The two years hasgonepretty quick and Ithink everyonewould agree it hasn’tbeenthe easiesttwo years,’’ WaimakaririDistrict Council community andrecreationmanager Chris Brown says. ‘‘Weneed to lookatitinmore detail and consider what do theystill need to provide us with, whatisthe critical pathweneedtofollow andhow long theymight need.’’ Mr Brown anticipates areport going to thecouncil overthe next two to three monthswith a recommendationofextending the agreementbyanothertwo to three years. The trust has athreeyearlicense to occupy agreement to operate the aquaplayparkatCourtenay Lakefor six monthsofthe year, between October and April. While therehad been some oppositioninthecommunitytothe project, feedbackfromthe neighbours at Courtenay Lakehad beenpositive. In itsfirstseason,the aquaplay parkattracted15,000 paying customers, with almost as many spectators, Mr Brownsays. ‘‘That meansitpotentiallybrought 25,000 peopleinto Kaiapoiand they cangolocalcafes, petrol stations and shops, andthey create thatvitalityof people recreating and connecting,it grows confidence and it putsKaiapoi on the map.’’ Thepotential of the proposed aqua play park is thatitcould bring even more people into the district, including visitors from all round New Zealand andeven from overseas, Mr Brownsays. The trust had been successful in meeting its own communityobjectives with the aqua play park,includingplanting trees, offering learningopportunities and givingawayfreepasses to local schoolchildren. ‘‘The threeyear licence to occupy has given them scope to try afew things andget somerunsonthe board and to show thecommunity that they’re serious,’’ Mr Brownsays. 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