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Range still closed eight months on BY SUE NEWMAN SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN
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Eight months down the track, Ashburton shooters are still staring at the closed signs on the Ashburton Rifle Range. Between the April closure and a future reopening there is a $100,000 gap that the Ashburton Range Users’ Association is struggling to bridge. For a small group of people, raising the money needed was a huge task, said the association’s president, John Snowden. The range was closed by the association after safety concerns were raised that a stray bullet fired could ricochet and hit people using a nearby biking and walking track. It cannot be re-opened until it has been certified as safe, but achieving the required safety standards is an expensive exercise, Mr Snowden said. “It’s a big project for us as we need to build a new butts; that’s the thick end
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of $100,000 as we’ll have to build something out of concrete blocks and it needs to be eight metres high,” he said. Ranges had to be inspected at regular intervals to ensure they met safety requirements, but the rules and the frequency of inspections varied from area to area. Ashburton is on a five-yearly schedule. When the river track was established, the association believed that because they were an existing user in the area, there would be no clash of interests, Mr Snowden said. “We accept that now, with the bike track there, we need to look at this a bit harder.” If enough money could be gathered from grants and fundraising, upgrading and reopening the range was ‘doable’ for next summer, he said. “We’re lucky having this place so close to town but of course that creates its own problems.”
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Since the closure, shooters had been travelling to the Malvern range but that meant many simply didn’t bother shooting, he said. “Plus this range is used by a lot of people to sight their rifles in. If we lost it, it would be hard to get somewhere else; we have people who travel from Christchurch to use our range, but I guess this is the bit of a kick we needed to make sure it (the range) is alright.” While the range was officially closed, Mr Snowden said it was off-limits for all shooters, not just association members. The Smallbone Drive range has been operating since the 1870s, but attempts were made to relocate it to a site at Ashton Beach. This project started in 1979 but was canned in July 2007 after Hakatere Huts residents objected. The issue went to an Environment Court hearing where a ruling was made in favour of the residents.
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