Ashburton District newsletter
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Seven-term Mayor of Masterton, Bob Francis CNZM QSO MBE JP, has been named the 2024 Ryman Healthcare Senior New Zealander of the Year Te Mātāpuputu o te Tau.
Affectionately dubbed ‘Mr Wairarapa’, Bob has served his community in multiple areas, including health services, commercial … View moreSeven-term Mayor of Masterton, Bob Francis CNZM QSO MBE JP, has been named the 2024 Ryman Healthcare Senior New Zealander of the Year Te Mātāpuputu o te Tau.
Affectionately dubbed ‘Mr Wairarapa’, Bob has served his community in multiple areas, including health services, commercial development, the arts, aviation, homelessness, conservation and sports.
Bob’s award signifies the sixth time Ryman Healthcare has supported this category of the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, which provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Kiwi seniors who continue to make positive contributions towards the future of Aotearoa.
Click read more for the full article.
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By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Twelve presentations, five community meetings, three sausage sizzles, and one long-term plan.
It sounds like a Christmas song but it’s a summary of a wide-ranging community engagement strategy the Ashburton District Council is taking.
The draft… View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Twelve presentations, five community meetings, three sausage sizzles, and one long-term plan.
It sounds like a Christmas song but it’s a summary of a wide-ranging community engagement strategy the Ashburton District Council is taking.
The draft long-term plan was adopted this week and a 68-page consultation document of highlights and key decisions is planned to go live on 27 March.
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said the council has the chance to set the direction for the next 10 years and the draft plan it has prepared is the opportunity for the community to say if they have got it right.
There is a focus on five big decisions but the whole plan is up for discussion, he said.
“We need to hear from the public.
“We welcome people’s submissions with comments on how we could do things differently.
“If someone wants to submit that they don’t like something, give us an alternative give us another suggestion and we can really have some meaningful discussion.”
To get that feedback, the council is taking a much more active approach with 25 engagement events over a month.
Councillor Russell Ellis was excited about the change in the consultation approach.
“We are doing it quite differently to any other way that I have done it before.
“This time we are going to the people. Instead of asking them to come to us.”
Councillor Phill Hooper wants the community to engage in the process rather than rely on online rants.
“I implore those people on social media who say council don’t listen to have their say officially.”
The consultation calendar opens with a community meeting in the Rakaia Community Centre on April 4 followed by a sausage sizzle at the Tinwald Pool on April 7 between 10am and 2pm.
Further community meetings will be held in Mount Somers (April 9), Ashburton (April 16) and Methven (April 17).
A meeting specifically focussed on stockwater will be held at the Hinds Community Centre on April 15.
Other sausage sizzles are planned for Baring Square East (April 13) and the Methven iHub (April 20), with five day-time pop-ups also planned – four in Ashburton and one in Methven.
Councillors will also visit 12 community groups at their monthly meetings.
The consultation closes on April 27.
The long-term plan is due to be adopted by June 26.
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By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Looking around the country, the Ashburton District's proposed 9.9% rate rise next year is on the lower end of the spectrum.
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) collated the planned rate rises of 48 of the country's 78 councils to determine… View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Looking around the country, the Ashburton District's proposed 9.9% rate rise next year is on the lower end of the spectrum.
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) collated the planned rate rises of 48 of the country's 78 councils to determine Kiwi homeowners are facing an average rate rise of 15% over the coming year - and there is no sign of relief in sight.
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown said the 2024-25 budget focused on core infrastructure.
“We are spending a lot more money on roads and water but what we are getting caught up on is the three I’s – inflation, interest and insurance.
“We are spending more and more on roading, but we are not getting any better level of service for it because of the inflation.
“People will see the same when they go to the supermarket and are paying a lot more to get the same.”
The draft long-term plan goes before the council for adoption on Wednesday, opening consultation with the community and starting the conversation with if the plan is right, should there be cuts, or do they want more, Brown said.
While Ashburton is proposing a 9.9% increase, Buller District Council is looking at a whopping 31.8% rise.
Hamilton is proposing a 19.9% rise, Dunedin City Council 17.5% and Whangārei 17.2%.
In Canterbury, Environment Canterbury is consulting on a hefty 24.2% average rate rise.
LGNZ commissioned a report from Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen to show why rates were rising so much.
The report showed that between 2002-22, the average rate rise was only 5.7% per year, but averaged 9.8% in 2023.
It found over the past three years, roads and water supply systems are 27% more expensive to build.
The increases are larger than inflation has been in recent years, Olsen said.
There was a difference of up to 20% between what projects were expected to cost when planned and what they cost now.
"To put that in perspective, if a council had five $20 million projects [in its] last long-term plan, they would now have to cut one of those entirely to pay for the cost escalation on the other four."
LGNZ vice-president and Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said councils were having to grapple with what projects to prioritise.
“Councils are acutely aware they need to balance the need for investment with affordable increases but the pressure has reached tipping point.”
It is time to get serious about ways to pay for local infrastructure that does not involve going deeper into ratepayers' pockets, Barry said.
He said a share of GST on housing growth, which had been put forward by the government, would also help - but by itself it was not enough.
Locals are vowing to fight for Ashburton's outdoor community pool as its future hangs in the balance.
LDR r eporter JONATHAN LEASK examines the scale of Tinwald Pool's problems, and asks an avid supporter why it should be saved.
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It’s going to take more than a lick of … View moreLocals are vowing to fight for Ashburton's outdoor community pool as its future hangs in the balance.
LDR r eporter JONATHAN LEASK examines the scale of Tinwald Pool's problems, and asks an avid supporter why it should be saved.
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It’s going to take more than a lick of paint to repair Ashburton's only council-run outdoor community pool, but resident Myshell Box says it’s worth it.
The Tinwald Community Pool was closed over the summer after it was found to be leaking 17,000 litres a day, had low pool users and staffing issues.
Its future is up for debate in the draft long-term plan, where the Ashburton District Council has $3 million to spend on a pool.
Building a new outdoor pool at the EA Networks Centre in the Canterbury town is the preferred option up for consultation.
But other options are on the table - hydroslides at EA Networks Centre, upgrading the waterplay area at the Ashburton Domain, repairing the Tinwald pool or doing nothing.
The Tinwald community is rallying support to retain and repair the pool.
Myshell Box said the pool's potential closure “really infuriates me”.
Box has lived in Tinwald for over 35 years and was involved with the pool’s committee in the past.
“I’ve brought up four kids, have 13 grandchildren and have been a regular user of the pool.
“We need an outdoor pool so why can’t it be in Tinwald?
“It doesn’t always have to be at the EA Networks Centre. You don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket."
She couldn’t understand how the repairs could be $3m.
“It doesn’t need to be anything flash, we just want to be able to sit outside, have a picnic and swim.
“If councils have assets they should be maintaining them and shouldn’t let them get to the state of disrepair.”
Other community feedback has baulked at the hefty price tag to repair the pool, with plenty pointing at a $213,000 upgrade of Waimate’s Norman Kirk Memorial Swimming Pool, a Waimate District Council project is to upgrade the pool with a PVC membrane to stop water leaking.
The council’s people and facilities group manager, Sarah Mosley, said the Tinwald pool needed a lot more work than a reseal.
“The Tinwald Pool would be repaired and relined with a full replacement of piping and plant.
“The exact status of the current pipework is unknown due to being underground, but significant earthworks would be required to remove and replace all pipes to link the rebuilt pools to the new water treatment plant.”
A rural pools report in 2021 identified that the operational plant had reached the end of its useful life, Mosley said.
The council then used $36,100 of its better-off Government funding for surveying, concepts, and design works in 2022-23 for a potential rebuild.
“The funding from the government allowed the council to engage experts to complete an in-depth analysis of the issues and determine what we would need to do to bring this pool up to NZ standards.
“Once experts were involved it became clear that not only did the filter, chlorinator, pump and pipes all need replacing, they also need to be larger commercial units to meet the standards and a new plant shed to be built.
"To meet NZ standards, the pool design needed to change to accommodate entry ramps, make the main and children’s pool two separate bodies of water, install overflow channelling and balance tanks were also required.”
The estimated cost of all that work was $3m, based on the Rawlinsons QS Estimate, Mosley said.
It also doesn’t solve the other major issues facing the pool.
“The parallel issue for the Tinwald Pool is the challenges and costs associated with lifeguarding and operating a satellite pool.”
Mosely said a council decision in September to close the pool over summer was caused by several issues.
The pool had been plagued by ongoing lifeguard shortages - a nationwide issue.
It had also reached its end of life with a plant failure imminent, had variable summer weather, and received low swimmer visitors, Mosely said.
In its best season, 3050 people visited in 2020-21. The Tinwald Pool recorded a $66,000 loss, costing ratepayers about $18 per swim.
The arguments over declining patronage also anger Box.
“How can you go when it’s never open because the council didn’t have lifeguards to open it?
“It was hardly ever open and it was frustrating because you didn’t know if it was until you turned up.”
The Tinwald community is coming out in support of retaining the pool, she said.
“It will be for everybody.”
The whole district is paying for it.
The uniform annual general charge, a flat rate ($717 in 2023/24) charged to properties in the district, contributes to running the EA Networks Centre which ran the Tinwald Pool.
And it would also fund its rebuild – or whichever option was decided up.
Other community pools under council control were funded in a completely different way to Tinwald Pool, Mosley said.
“The council supports each pool on reserve land with a grant up to $6k per year to address any health and safety matters, and then there is a $15,000 contestable fund for capital improvements.”
The other community pools also fundraised or received financial support from their reserve board’s operation, she said.
Community pools not on reserve land, such as Lauriston, Willowby, Hampstead, Dorie, Fairton, Wakanui, could receive a share of $5000 per year to assist with their pool costs.
Methven Community Pool was also not on reserve land, however, the community requested $15,000 per year for funding towards their swimming pool, funded through a targeted rate on the Methven community, Mosley said.
The long-term plan will be out for community feedback on March 27 and people can get a first-hand look at the state of the pool at drop-in session on April 6 from 10am to 2pm.
Councillors and staff will be walking groups through the pool facility, explaining what needs to be repaired.
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Pool ownership
The Tinwald Community Pool was constructed in 1968 and was initially owned and operated by the Tinwald Swimming Club. Before the clubs closure, it was gifted to the Tinwald Reserve Board who either directly managed or contracted its management out to the Ashburton Community Pool.
In 2012 the reserve board and community organisations funded a cosmetic upgrade and significantly improved the pool’s heating.
The Ashburton Community Pool closed in 2014 when the EA Networks Centre opened, coinciding with the council taking over the operational management of the pools.
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