Selwyn_Times: February 07, 2024
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<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>February</strong> 7 <strong>2024</strong><br />
4<br />
NEWS<br />
Council<br />
removes<br />
chlorine<br />
from list<br />
• From page 1<br />
Chlorine has been a contentious<br />
issue since it was forced upon<br />
the councils in 2021 by drinking<br />
water regulator Taumata Arowai.<br />
In the 2021-31 LTP, the council<br />
committed to getting a clear understanding<br />
of the cost and time<br />
it would take to remove chlorine.<br />
During that process, it became<br />
apparent the removal would come<br />
at a significant cost, and supplies<br />
would still require intermittent<br />
chlorination.<br />
Rolleston Ward<br />
councillor Nicole<br />
Reid said taking<br />
out the chlorine<br />
would be too<br />
risky in bigger<br />
supplies such as<br />
Rolleston.<br />
Nicole Reid<br />
“I think we<br />
are opening a big<br />
minefield that we<br />
can’t do anything about.<br />
“This is literally the only place<br />
that I have lived that wasn’t chlorinated,”<br />
Reid said.<br />
Council will still put<br />
information into the public<br />
consultation as to why they chose<br />
not to pursue the exemptions.<br />
Rakaia Huts<br />
JUST AS the council pulls the<br />
pin on chlorine exemptions, the<br />
Rakaia Huts has been granted<br />
one – but the removal of the<br />
chlorine is still a long<br />
way down the line, if at<br />
all.<br />
On Thursday, the<br />
council became the first<br />
in the country to receive<br />
a residual disinfection<br />
exemption from water<br />
regulator Taumata<br />
Arowai to remove chlorine<br />
from a water supply.<br />
The exemption comes<br />
with a set of criteria, which is the<br />
next step for the council to meet.<br />
Criteria includes installing smart<br />
meters that actively measure<br />
water flow, and additional water<br />
quality testing.<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
gets exemption<br />
• By Daniel Alvey<br />
Sharon<br />
Mason<br />
Rakaia Huts has about 85 permanent<br />
residents.<br />
“Just because we may have been<br />
granted the exemption it doesn’t<br />
mean to say we are going to take<br />
up that opportunity,”<br />
council chief executive<br />
Sharon Mason said.<br />
“Now we will work<br />
through the appropriate<br />
governance channels,<br />
which will then<br />
provide guidance and<br />
recommendations on<br />
possible next steps.”<br />
The cost of required upgrades<br />
is about $217,000.<br />
The council first applied for<br />
the exemption in September<br />
2022. It was refused in April last<br />
year, after which it changed its<br />
application to meet the criteria set<br />
out by Taumata Arowai.<br />
Community to<br />
sports facilities<br />
• By Daniel Alvey<br />
THE COUNCIL has confirmed<br />
the big decisions it will present<br />
to the community as part of the<br />
plan for the next 10 years in the<br />
district.<br />
The big decisions are the key<br />
questions the council wants to<br />
gather community feedback on<br />
to help form its <strong>2024</strong>-34 Long<br />
Term Plan.<br />
The decisions heading to<br />
the community cover a parkand-ride<br />
facility to be built in<br />
Lincoln and two to be built in<br />
Rolleston, a new library and<br />
community facility in Leeston,<br />
an upgrade to Leeston Park, and<br />
a new indoor sports facility in<br />
Darfield.<br />
The community decisions may<br />
also have an impact on rates.<br />
Currently, the council is forecasting<br />
a 16 per cent average rate<br />
rise. For each big decision, there<br />
is one budgeted option which<br />
forms the rate rise.<br />
If the community were to<br />
decide it wanted something different<br />
to the budgeted option, it<br />
could either raise or lower rates.<br />
The removal of chlorine was<br />
also set to be in the LTP, but<br />
was removed by councillors last<br />
week, who deemed the project<br />
too costly.<br />
Big decision one covers public<br />
transport and the potential for<br />
park-and-ride facilities to be<br />
built in Lincoln and two to be<br />
built in Rolleston.<br />
While Environment Canterbury<br />
operates the Metro service,<br />
it is the job of the council to provide<br />
the infrastructure, such as<br />
bus shelters and park-and-ride<br />
facilities.<br />
The council will present three<br />
options. Option one is to build<br />
the new park-and-ride facilities,<br />
but only if it receives 51 per cent<br />
co-funding from NZ Transport<br />
Agency Waka Kotahi. It would<br />
increase rates by $7.94 in years<br />
one to three and $19.70 by year<br />
four of the LTP.<br />
Option two is to complete<br />
the project regardless of NZTA<br />
funding. It would increase rates<br />
by $15.58 in years one to three<br />
and $38.63 by year four of the<br />
LTP.<br />
Option three is to build nothing<br />
until the next LTP in 2027.<br />
Big decision two covers Leeston<br />
and is split into two sections.<br />
Big decision two A covers the<br />
future of a new community centre<br />
and potential sports centre.<br />
Option one is to keep the<br />
existing library and have no<br />
Allwood:<br />
for garden<br />
and<br />
landscapes
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