Ashburton District newsletter
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These items have been recalled during the month of February for varying reasons. Click on the item below to read more info:
Gluten Freedom Sourdough english muffins & bagels
Belazu vegan basil pesto
Waimata camembert cheese
Longbush camembert and brie
Dick Smith mini chainsaw
… View moreThese items have been recalled during the month of February for varying reasons. Click on the item below to read more info:
Gluten Freedom Sourdough english muffins & bagels
Belazu vegan basil pesto
Waimata camembert cheese
Longbush camembert and brie
Dick Smith mini chainsaw
Kids sequin skirt
Splosh Baby nesting bears
Timetech Ply Ltd chainsaws
Toshiba AC laptop adaptor
We hope this update helps your household stay safe. We'll keep you informed.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Developers want to reshape the historic Triangle precinct in Ashburton by turning it into a laneway and creating something special for the town.
Justin Skilling and Robert Grice have been restoring the old buildings along Victoria St and have big … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Developers want to reshape the historic Triangle precinct in Ashburton by turning it into a laneway and creating something special for the town.
Justin Skilling and Robert Grice have been restoring the old buildings along Victoria St and have big plans for continued major redevelopment
Their latest concept is to close the section of the street off to vehicles to make a laneway.
Skilling said they have been working with the council around the plans and will submit to the long-term plan for the closure.
“We have the plans drawn up and now it’s a matter of engaging with the councillors and the public."
Between them, Skilling and Grice own all the buildings on the southern side of the street, and Skilling owns half of the north side.
Skilling’s redevelopments started with the Triangle Café and then last year Smoke, a restaurant and butcher.
The Rabbit, a dessert and cocktail bar, opened up while Berry Beauty and CosMedics moved into the renovated old Plunket Rooms.
Grice is preparing to redevelop his existing shops into an exciting new mixed-use hospitality precinct named The Ash.
It’s all turning the triangle back into a destination.
“It was never planned, it has just evolved.
“The next step for the regeneration of the Triangle is how we tie that into [Baring Square], the library and event centre.”
The concept will be part of a submission to the long-term plan to have the conversation about how and when it could work, he said.
“While we have the momentum and everyone is saying how great it is, why don’t we make it something special for the town for the future?”
Making the triangle a laneway would provide easy links to the Ashburton Event Centre to the north and Te Whare Whakatere, Ashburton’s library and civic centre, to the south, Skilling said.
Creating the laneway will also help tidy up a dangerous stretch of road, he said.
Living right on the corner, Skilling said he witnessed near misses most days.
“I would rather make the change to prevent a serious incident than it be done as the result of one”.
Another wider aspect to consider is car parking.
Closing off the street will reduce car parking but Skilling sees the Balmoral Hall site as an ideal, centrally located solution “that’s already being used as a car park”.
The council is proposing to sell the Balmoral Hall and Polytech grounds, rather than repairing the building for an estimated $1.4m.
Another option is retaining the site as a car park on the eastern side of the CBD, Skilling said.
The council is undergoing the consent process to build a second public car park on SH1/West St.
“We already have something on that side of the CBD,” Skilling said.
With the planned second bridge expected to bring more traffic through the eastern side of town, providing adequate parking rather than having people travel back across the railway line to SH1 would be beneficial, he said.
French daybed for sale. It is 194 cm long, and 90 cm deep. Sides are 80 cm high and back is 90 cm high. It can be dismantled into a flatpack.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Splashing the cash on swimming pools is considered to be money down the drain.
But the council is still proposing spending millions on an outdoor pool.
A new outdoor pool at the EA Networks Centre, at an estimated cost of $3m, will be the … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Splashing the cash on swimming pools is considered to be money down the drain.
But the council is still proposing spending millions on an outdoor pool.
A new outdoor pool at the EA Networks Centre, at an estimated cost of $3m, will be the preferred option in the long-term plan over repairing the Tinwald Pool ($3m), installing hydro-slides at EA Networks Centre ($3.5m) or upgrading the paddling pool and water play area at the Ashburton Domain ($3m).
The council's people and facilities group manager, Sarah Mosley, told councillors at a recent workshop that outdoor pools simply don’t make money.
In its best season, 3050 people in 2020-21, the Tinwald Pool recorded a $66,000 loss, costing ratepayers around $18 per swim.
Councillor Leen Braam wanted to know how that compared to the EA Networks aquatic centre.
“The challenge is all aquatic facilities lose money,” Mosley said.
“The costs are high and they provide a service that no other people generally want to provide.
“The comparison in cost is: Do you want to lose more than you need to lose?”
It was difficult to make a comparison between Tinwald Pool and EA Networks as the aquatic centre is an annual operation with multiple indoor pools, Mosley said.
An outdoor pool built at the EA Network Centre would lose less money than the Tinwald Pool if was fixed, “due to the operational efficiencies”.
The $3m figure for the Tinwald Pool is for the scope of work believed to be required, but as with any restoration “you don’t know what you are going to find”, Mosley said.
“When we find something that is out of scope, that could skyrocket the cost and we wouldn’t know that until we find it.
“That’s one of the risks of the Tinwald Pool project versus a greenfield new pool project, which also has a risk of cost escalations but not as many unknowns.”
The $3m would cover repairing the Tinwald Pool but would not include any other upgrades and wouldn’t solve the lifeguard shortage that hampered its operation last summer.
While the outdoor pool options would lose money, hydroslides would be a year-round income stream.
Hydroslides at EA Networks Centre caused plenty of debate back in 2015 but the council of the day opted not to install them.
The proposal is a joint venture operation, partnering with an outside party providing the slides that share the costs and the income.
The Domain Paddling Pool project was included in the Ashburton Domain Development Plan. The project would relocate the paddling pool next to the children’s playground and add a water play area.
It is free to use but doesn’t require lifeguards.
The long-term plan will also have a fifth option – do nothing, saving the community from funding the $3m.
If another option is chosen it will signal the long-term closure of the Tinwald Pool and alternative uses of the site will be investigated.
Councillor Phill Hooper proposed handing the Tinwald Pool back to the community to crowd-fund the necessary repairs and then run it as a community pool with a key subscription system.
It could be an option for the future but it comes with complications, Mosley said.
“It is on council land so the council does not relinquish its overriding health and safety obligations.”
As well as the health and safety factor, pools on council land still need to reach water treatment and water quality standards, Mosley said.
Councillor Lynette Lovett said Tinwald Pool needed community ownership.
“If people raise funds and put money into it they will take ownership. If council just goes and puts a [new] pool in there it will keep running the same and be closed more than it
You've likely heard about the shoppers encountering those cheeky rodents in our local supermarkets around the country. Have you yourself stumbled across something unexpected while shopping?
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column… View moreYou've likely heard about the shoppers encountering those cheeky rodents in our local supermarkets around the country. Have you yourself stumbled across something unexpected while shopping?
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
Make your own portable gardening tool organiser in your favourite Resene colour.
Find out how to create your own with these easy step by step instructions.
Hunger for Colour is back for 2024! Bring two cans of food into your local Resene ColorShop and swap them for one Resene testpot (60-80ml). Resene will donate all food to The Salvation Army foodbanks.
We accept all cans of food in good condition and suitable for humans to eat. If you prefer to … View moreHunger for Colour is back for 2024! Bring two cans of food into your local Resene ColorShop and swap them for one Resene testpot (60-80ml). Resene will donate all food to The Salvation Army foodbanks.
We accept all cans of food in good condition and suitable for humans to eat. If you prefer to bring in canned pet food, we can accept that also and will donate it to the SPCA and local community animal shelters.
By adding a little more colour to your life you can also help those in need.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
After 16 long years, the former site of Ashburton's Chinese market garden settlement finally opens as a community heritage park on Sunday.
The official opening is an invite-only affair and the site will then be open to the public from Monday.
… View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
After 16 long years, the former site of Ashburton's Chinese market garden settlement finally opens as a community heritage park on Sunday.
The official opening is an invite-only affair and the site will then be open to the public from Monday.
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown has described the site as an “outdoor museum” where the community can learn more about the history of Chinese pioneers in Ashburton.
The market garden settlement on Allens Road operated from the early 1920s until 1964, and was the largest Chinese community in the South Island during that time.
The 2.3-hectare site remains home to a group of historic buildings and facilities that have been stabilised to stop further deterioration.
The project was born in 2008 when one of the group of owners, Yep Ng, worked with other family members to have the settlement come under council management.
Representatives of the descendants of the Ng King settlers, the Ashburton District Council and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga will be at the opening, with around 300 people expected to attend.
Upoko o Te Rūnaka o Arowhenua Te Wera King will bless the site during the opening.
Landscaping has been completed and the fencing around the site will be removed just before the formal opening.
To coincide with the opening, the Ashburton Museum is set to unveil a new exhibition on Monday, February 26.
The exhibition A New Era: Ng King Bros. Chinese Market Garden Settlement celebrates the history of the site and the restoration project that worked over 15 years towards the site re-opening as a public reserve this month.
All free pick up in Oxford phone Bill on 0274250998
Feeling the Summer heat? Don't let your power bill skyrocket along with the temperatures!
Check out these 10 simple tips to keep cool and save money on your power bills this season.
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown remains confident that the town's second bridge won’t fall into what could be a $24 billion fiscal hole.
The NZ Herald reported a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) document prepared in November included … View moreBy local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Ashburton mayor Neil Brown remains confident that the town's second bridge won’t fall into what could be a $24 billion fiscal hole.
The NZ Herald reported a Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) document prepared in November included updated cost
estimates for various transport projects and shows a potential fiscal hole of up to $24 billion.
NZTA estimated 17 major projects, including Ashburton’s second bridge, could collectively cost between $30.9b and $46.6b, but National had budgeted only $22.2b for the same projects.
NZTA outlined in the document the costings were preliminary and based on the “latest known project scope”.
The business case for Ashburton’s second bridge came in at $113m but NZTA’s estimates place the project between $100m and $200m.
There is bound to be some variance to the business case prepared in 2022 due to inflation, but Brown couldn’t understand the estimate being as high as $200m.
“This bridge is needed and if those prices are escalating as NZTA says, they need to look at their costs that are way higher than inflation.
“Traffic management may be one place to start.”
When now Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was on the election campaign trail last year, he stood in the Ashburton Events Centre in April and pledged construction on the second bridge would start in his party's first term in government.
The possibility of a cash shortfall casts some doubt on delivering on that pledge, but the mayor remains very confident they will.
“They just need to sort the funding.
“There is always a possibility it could fall into a fiscal hole but the bridge is ready to go, why delay it and have those costs further increase.”
It is all conjecture until the Government releases its revised policy, Brown said.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is finalising the revised draft of the Government Policy Statement on land transport as part of the coalition Government’s 100-day plan.
“The GPS will outline the Government’s priorities across transport, including how projects will be funded.”
The minister declined to comment further on project details, funding, and what projects may be prioritised, deprioritised or even cancelled ahead of the draft policy announcement.
Rangitata MP James Meager said Ashburton’s second bridge remains a high priority.
“Escalating construction and project costs are a concern, which is why it's so important we get started on key infrastructure projects as soon as possible.
“I have complete confidence that we will meet our commitment to start construction on the new bridge in our first term and continue to work closely with the Minister's office to ensure that happens."
Labour’s transport spokesperson, Tangi Utikere, said it was "only a matter of time before the Government would be caught out by the numbers they used during the election".
"NZTA’s figure not only proves Christopher Luxon was not honest about the books in his State of the Nation speech, it also shows the lengths they are going to save face over tax cuts.
"I implore Simeon Brown to uphold his promises to Ashburton."
*LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
The Christchurch Art Show is back at Te Pae Convention Centre March 8 – 10!
Expect amazing artwork of all types, artist demonstrations, and award- winning artists at New Zealand’s largest art show. The Christchurch Art Show’s new VIP Preview event opens 8 March 5pm, the ever-popular … View moreThe Christchurch Art Show is back at Te Pae Convention Centre March 8 – 10!
Expect amazing artwork of all types, artist demonstrations, and award- winning artists at New Zealand’s largest art show. The Christchurch Art Show’s new VIP Preview event opens 8 March 5pm, the ever-popular opening night follows this at 7:30pm. Both are pre- sale catered events and opening night will sell out!
Show Days are: Sat 9th March 10am-8pm and Sun 10th March 10am - 5pm.
Come and view thousands of original quality artworks, meet the artists and view live art demonstrations. Make it a day out and enjoy The Christchurch Art Show!
Buy Christchurch Tickets (New) – ART SHOW TICKETING
Peter is helping us out with something that nearly everyone can relate to – dealing with the unsorted photos taking up space on your phone or languishing in boxes in your home.
“Without fail, when I give a talk about getting organised, I’m always asked how to deal with photos,” says … View morePeter is helping us out with something that nearly everyone can relate to – dealing with the unsorted photos taking up space on your phone or languishing in boxes in your home.
“Without fail, when I give a talk about getting organised, I’m always asked how to deal with photos,” says Peter.
Boxes of unsorted photos can feel overwhelming to organise so they often get left for many years to clutter up our houses. In addition to this, most of us have smartphones that make it easy to take photos anywhere, so pretty soon our digital photo life becomes cluttered too.
Click read more for the full article.
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There have been hundreds of wonderful entries in this year's Prospa Local Business Hero from across the country! If you haven't nominated a special local business yet, do it today.
- Got a great mechanic? Nominate them today.
- A barista who makes you smile? Nominate them today.
- … View moreThere have been hundreds of wonderful entries in this year's Prospa Local Business Hero from across the country! If you haven't nominated a special local business yet, do it today.
- Got a great mechanic? Nominate them today.
- A barista who makes you smile? Nominate them today.
- A reassuring pharmacy team? Nominate them today.
Make a small business' day today by nominating them as your Prospa Local Business Hero - and you could make their whole year (our national winner picks up an incredible $10,000 prize package!)
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