Selwyn Times: February 01, 2023

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
irrigator accident
Whittaker said she was glad
to hear the district council had
removed all such irrigators from
operation in parks and reserves.
She said while the caution sign
had been pointed out to Jayden,
he would not have absorbed the
information due to a learning
disability and dyslexia.
“I don’t want it to happen to
anybody else,” she said.
District council group manager
infrastructure and property
Murray Washington said while in
operation the irrigator had three
caution signs “placed at different
points around the reserve to
alert people approaching from
different directions”
Washington said the district
council had the irrigators in three
locations, but had now removed
them. The other two locations
had been the Dunsandel and
Leeston reserves.
“This type of irrigator is
common in rural areas and has
been used by the council for
around 30 years without incident
to our knowledge,” Washington
said.
“We plan to replace them
with modern technology water
cannon type irrigators, which
will minimise any future risk to
the public.
“We are really sorry to
hear about the incident at the
Southbridge reserve. We will
FINALLY HOME: Jayden
now faces a slow recovery
after a 10cm long piece of
bone from his forehead was
removed and replaced with
a plate.
investigate it thoroughly and this
will also inform a further review
of our maintenance activities in
our parks and reserves.”
He also said the council had
notified WorkSafe of the incident,
and WorkSafe advised it has
recorded the notification and
does not intend to investigate.
A sign at the site warned
people to stay away.
• From page 1
West Melton resident Meg
Knowler told the Selwyn Times
she and her partner, who worked
in Dunsandel, had been looking
for a rental property for the last
six weeks after returning from
Australia. They were living with
her partner’s parents but wanted
to get their own place before they
had their baby, due in July. They
were wanting a rental property
for about six months as they
looked around for a home to buy.
Knowler said their budget was
$450 a week. Prices in Rolleston
were too high, at around $540 for
a small house and $670 for three
to four bedrooms. So they were
looking further south; however,
they had not been successful with
the three places they had applied
for so far.
Knowler believed landlords
were favouring tenants who
could stay for a year or more.
Trade Me’s December rental
price index released last week
shows the $600 weekly median
rent for Selwyn in December
was higher than the median for
Canterbury, which was $520, and
higher than the national median
of $580.
The index shows, with the
exception of Wellington, every
region saw rents climb in 2022.
NEWS 5
Rent hike causes
anguish for tenants
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Wednesday February 1 2023 Selwyn Times
“Rents finished off 2022 at an
all-time high, with tenants in
almost every region having to dig
deeper into their wallets,” Lloyd
said.
Ray White Red
Chili Property Management
business
manager Cara Callister
at Lincoln said
rents in Selwyn had
increased at a faster
rate than the rest of
the country, mostly
due to three factors.
There was a large amount of
new builds, which attracted
Cara
Callister
higher rental prices than older
homes, a population explosion
in Rolleston increasing demand,
and not enough stock to keep up
with demand.
Callister said most annual rent
increases recently had been up
to $50.
“The rental market is strong
and there are plenty of families
looking for new homes in the
area for a more suburban familyfocused
lifestyle,” she said.
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From early February we will be using helicopters for aerial spraying of
targeted weeds on rivers across the region, including the Selwyn River.
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The riverbeds will be surveyed, and only targeted weeds will be sprayed.
E23/7516
For more information, visit ecan.govt.nz/current-works or call us on 0800 324 636