North Canterbury News: June 22, 2023

NEWS
2 The North Canterbury News, June 22, 2023
Brakes put on driver licensing
By JOHN COSGROVE
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Ashortage of driver licence testers in
North Canterbury is frustrating
attempts by young would­bedrivers to
sit their practical driving tests.
And parents are fed up trying to get
bookings for their children through the
VehicleTesting New Zealand(VTNZ)
on line system.
Waikukuresident SarahLodge says
when she tried to get avacantslot for
her son in early June, to sit his
restricted licence test,she found it hard
to get anywhere on the VTNZ site.
When she tried to bookitmanually
she was told there werenoslots
available until well after the end of
July.
She asked them to look beyond North
Canterbury, but therewere no slots
anywhere in Christchurch or mid­
Canterbury.
‘‘I was astounded by theirreply. They
said the only thingIcould do was to
continually review the website each
day, and hopeavacancy comesup.’’
The healthcare worker saysthere in
lies another problem.
‘‘The way the websiteworks means I
have to re­input all the relevantdata
each and everytime Ilog on.
‘‘It takes time, time Iamsure many
parentsdon’t have to manually re­enter
all of the data, and there is alot of it,
just to be toldnoslotsare available.’’
Mrs Lodge asks why the system
cannot be set up to store applicants'
data to make it easier to look for any
vacant slots.
‘‘It’s abit of arigmarole to get on
every time, and because it doesn'tallow
you to look past two months ahead there
is no way to plan.
‘‘You just have to keep reconnecting
and coming up against the ‘no slots
available’ message.
‘‘There mustbequite afew people in
the same boat as me, and all we can do
is keep loggingon.’’
Onlinesupport advised Sarahtolook
further afield to Ashburton, Oamaru,
Timaru or over on the coast, but she
came up againstthe same brick wall.
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Finding aslot ... Online booking of driver testing is proving awaiting game for many in
North Canterbury.
PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE
She saysshe has written to Waka
Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, who
contract VTNZtodeliver the licensing
service,and was told it had nothing to
do withit.
Mrs Lodge saysWaka Kotahi should
be keeping tabs on the service delivery.
NZ Salvation Army Driver
Programme co­ordinator for the South
Island regional driver hub,Julia
Graham,says she knows just how
frustrating it is for parents and drivers.
‘‘Weare in the same boat.Every day
we are looking for slots to book our
clients in for testing.’’
She saysthey have had to adaptsince
theycame back from Covid whenthe
problem of no slots became muchmore
obvious.
‘‘Now we log on daily to try to place
our young drivers.
‘‘I hope they get some moretesters
soon.’’
Mrs Lodge saysshe finally grabbeda
sudden vacancyinthe middle of July,
but now both she and her son have to
2589623
take time off school and worktotravel
to the Lichfield Street VTNZtesting
station.
AVTNZ spokesperson says the wait
times in Canterbury have variedover
recentweeks and VTNZ is managing
this by having extratesting officers
assistingfrom Wellington.
‘‘We also havetwo additional Driver
Testing Officers under training in
Christchurch, with training completion
due to finish in late June.’’
She says the waittimes are being
managed, and wait timesshould be on
average 16 workingdays for afull
licence and 24 working days for a
restricted test.
But numbers supplied to the North
Canterbury NewsbyVTNZ show wait
times in Rangiora are around 29
working daysfor both classes of testing.
AWaka Kotahispokesperson said
based on theirfigures,the average wait
time for the Canterbury region as of
June 13, was 33 days for arestricted
test, and 16 days for afull test.
Petitioners brave freezing weather in Oxford
By ROBYN BRISTOW
Aproposed landfill near Oxford has
prompted three Oxford women to bear
the brunt of freezing cold weather over
the past two weeks, to collect signatures
on apetition calling for ahalt to the
proposal.
They have gathered 600 signatures,
and will present the petition to the
Oxford Ohoka Community Board in
support of the board’s opposition to the
landfill, along with that of individual
submitters and other organisations.
Around 400 submissions were
received in response to the resource
consent applications to expand arock
quarry, and develop alandfill at 513
Trigg Road, View Hill, northwest of
Oxford.
Woodstock Quarries Ltd has
submitted five resource consent
applications to Environment
Canterbury (ECan), and aland use
consent with the Waimakariri District
Council, to expand an existing hard rock
quarry, and develop alandfill for
disposal of construction and demolition
waste, contaminated soils and special
wastes.
Ahearing was due to begin in Oxford
on Tuesday, May 16, but has been
postponed until July 3, to allow more
time to consider changes proposed by
the applicant.
Residents concerns are the waste will
be toxic, could contaminate awater
aquifer, the possibility of fire, air
pollution, and damage to roads.
The hearing will run from Monday to
Wednesday, July 3to5,Friday, July 7,
and Monday to Wednesday, July 17 to 19.
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