News Wednesday, November 6, 2013
www.guardianonline.co.nz
Ashburton Guardian
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■ DRAFT LOCAL ALCOHOL POLICY
Three days until submissions close Just three days remain until submissions close on the Ashburton District’s draft local alcohol policy. The policy was formulated by a working party made up of police, bar owners, council staff and members of the community. Two community surveys were also carried out before the policy was written. The draft policy contains proposals designed to address issues around the sale and consumption of alcohol with key
proposals including: A one way door policy for all on-licence premises from 1am through to the latest closing time allowed of 3am; maximum off-licence hours to be 8am to 9pm; clubs required to have a qualified manager on site if there are 20 or more people on the premises and the requirement for BYO on-licence premises to have a qualified manager on site if alcohol is being consumed. To date 45 submissions have been received, with most sup-
porting the draft policy. Council policy advisor Jenna Marsden said there had been strong support for reduced trading hours for off-licences and for the proposed one-way door restriction. “In general, comments on the maximum trading hours for pubs and bars have been mixed. Some are happy with the proposed maximum hours of 7am to 3am the next day, while others think 3am is too late, or 7am is too early,” Mrs Marsden said.
Because the liquor policy would introduce significant changes to when people could buy and consume alcohol, Mrs Marsden said it was important people took the time to have their say. Submissions on the draft LAP will be accepted until 5pm on Friday, online through the council website, or by completing a submission form and dropping it off at council reception. The council will hear and deliberate on submissions later
this month, and will produce a provisional LAP early in 2014. This will be open to appeals, but only people who submitted through the consultation process running now will be able to make an appeal. A summary of the policy, the full draft local alcohol policy and submission form are available from the Council website www. ashburtondc.govt.nz, the Ashburton public library or from the council offices at 5 Baring Square West, Ashburton.
■ CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jessica breaks male stranglehold on chess champs By Sue NewmaN
sue.n@theguardian.co.nz
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Jessica Pelayo has broken a 45-year male stranglehold on the Ashburton Chess Club’s championships. This year the Ashburton College 18-year-old won her way through several rounds of play in the championships to take the title by one point from defending champion Nigel Richardson. She is the fourth college student to win the title but the first female club member to do so. Jessica learned to play chess as a 10-year-old from her older sister but it wasn’t long before she was beating her sister at every match and a short time later posing a serious threat to her dad’s reign as family chess champ. For Jessica, there’s a lot to love about chess. “It’s a great brain exercise, good for thinking and it’s a good pastime,” she said. That she is just one of two girls in the Ashburton Chess Club doesn’t faze Jessica. On the board you’re all equals, she said. On the way to winning the championship title, Jessica soundly beat her school team coach Ken Pow and now
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admits that had been one of her goals this year. For any coach, there’s a certain satisfaction in being toppled by someone you’ve coached, Mr Pow said. “If Jessica was living in Auckland she’d be a lot further on with her chess. She’s got the good memory and the good analytical brain that you need.” In some ways it also seems that to be good at chess at secondary school level, being born outside New Zealand is also an advantage, Mr Pow said. The college’s top team has no native born Kiwi members – number one Vlad Barbu is from Romania and Jessica from the Philippines and among the team lists at the nationals there was scarcely a single Kiwi name, he said. Perhaps surprisingly, Jessica is not the college’s chess champion this year; she’s had to bow to the superior playing skills of fellow student Vlad Barbu. Together they were part of the school’s top team that this year won the South Island title and came fourth in the national champs. The Year 13 student will head to Canterbury University next year to study computer science and says she’s keen to pit her skills against a new group of fellow chess playing students.
At the top of her game, Ashburton’s chess champion Jessica Pelayo. Photo Donna Wylie 051113-DW-067
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