The Sun
Friday September 8, 2017
5
He korero no te Kaunihera o Wairau NEWS FROM THE MARLBOROUGH DISTRICT COUNCIL
Planting along Grovetown School’s creek
Winter warmth for earthquake homes Two truckloads of pine offcuts from Timberlink New Zealand's Blenheim sawmill are going to warm the families living in earthquake-damaged houses on Marlborough’s East Coast. The Council’s earthquake recovery team had trouble finding enough dry firewood for families in the coastal communities to see them through until the warmer weather arrives. Timberlink came forward with the
offer of pine offcuts, gratefully accepted from Timberlink Production Manager Kenny Sherriff by Council’s Earthquake Recovery Manager Dean Heiford. The Australasian timber business earlier donated $5,000 to the Marlborough Mayoral Earthquake fund, set up to provide for the welfare needs of families affected by the quake.
Eltham - Beaver cycleway design gets thumbs-up Last week councillors endorsed the design of the Eltham and Beaver roads cycleway. This follows a community consultation which canvassed a number of design options, and included a public dropin session and letter to local residents. Forty four people gave their feedback in writing or by phone. As a result of the public input, a modified option has been agreed, which retains some car parking outside Whitney Street Primary
School. The 1.5 km cycleway is a north-south route between the Taylor River and the southern part of Blenheim. The partially separated cycleway will provide a safe route for Whitney Street School, Bohally Intermediate and Marlborough Girls' College students. It will also encourage more people to bike to the town centre via the Taylor River Reserve Path. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2018.
Community News Literacy Marlborough provides reading, writing and maths tuition to any interested adult. This can be done one-to-one or in a small group, and can include extra help
Positive Ageing –
for course work, driver’s licences and study. For more information Ph: 03 577 9080.
Get online with SeniorNet
If you’re an older person who is yet to embrace technology and would like to learn how to use an i-pad or laptop, SeniorNet can help. It’s also a chance to learn how to do internet banking – a growing issue as banks centralise their businesses. SeniorNet is holding classes at Picton and Linkwater. The Marlborough Sounds group is based at the Linkwater Hall and
is also running courses at Picton Library. It’s not currently operating in Blenheim but town residents are welcome to contact SeniorNet Marlborough Sounds to attend. It may be possible to arrange a course in Blenheim if there’s enough interest. Contact Bryan Strong, 03 574 1311 or Ian Cameron 03 574 2558.
Boil water notice - Awatere and Seddon Water from Council’s reticulation system in Seddon and the Awatere should be boiled. It does not currently meet the NZ Drinking Water Standard and may contain bacteria or protozoa that are harmful to human health. Treated water is available at the public tap on the corner of Marama
Road and Foster Street. A new Seddon water treatment plant is scheduled for construction this year and will supply treated water to the NZ Drinking Water Standard. For further information contact our Customer Service Centre Ph: 03 520 7400.
www.marlborough.govt.nz
Students, teachers and whanau at Grovetown School have planted almost 600 native shrubs and trees alongside their school creek. The school is part of the Council-supported Enviroschools programme in Marlborough and a supporter of the Grovetown Lagoon Restoration Project. The school creek flows into the lagoon and the Grovetown Lagoon Trust has a shade house at the school, where native plants are grown and students work alongside Trust volunteers, bagging up the plants for planting at the lagoon. The children want to restore the habitat of their school creek, hoping eventually they’ll have ‘tame’ eels which they’ll be able to feed from the bridge over their creek. More than 6000 Marlborough students now participate in enviro-education with 90% of our schools and all kindergartens now involved in the Enviroschools education which Council helps to deliver.
Grovetown school pupils, pictured from front; Luke Register, Devon Ashworth, Maddie Large and James Gilmour.
Last day to pay your rates This is a friendly reminder to ratepayers that the final day for payment of instalment one is Tuesday 12 September. Late payments incur a 10% penalty. Ratepayers who pay their rates by direct debit never have to worry about missing a rates payment and never incur penalties. It’s the easy
and flexible way to pay. You choose how often you pay – you can even choose what day of the week the payment comes out of your bank account if you pay weekly. If you would like to know more about paying rates by direct debit call our customer support officers on 03 520 7400.
Elizabeth Street footbridge closed The Elizabeth Street footbridge will be closed for two weeks from 11 September, to replace the water mains pipe which runs beneath it. Local residents’ water supply will not be affected. The water main was damaged by the November 2016 earthquake. Construction is expected to be completed by early October.
A&P pavilion back in use The pavilion at A&P Park is back in use again after earthquake repairs. Structural strengthening plus some rewiring and fire safety measures meant the pavilion was ready by the target date - in time for Marlborough Football’s end of year prize-giving two weeks ago. The building is also set for the bustle leading up to Show Weekend in November when the pavilion becomes headquarters for Marlborough’s A&P Show. However, the 90-year-old showgrounds grandstand, closed since the 2011 earthquakes, has been assessed as unsafe for public use and the cost to bring it up to modern building standards
is prohibitive. Council, in discussions with park users, must now decide whether to seek consent to dismantle it. The A&P Showgrounds were redesignated a recreational reserve, A&P Park, in 1975 and Council is now responsible for management and maintenance.
Protection against biosecurity threats One of Council’s important roles in this district with our valued natural areas and primary production economy is providing protection against biosecurity threats. Marlborough is always facing new biosecurity threats or battling some old ones - marine pests in our coastal waters, invasive plants overtaking our pastoral grasses or others new invasive climbers getting established in the wild. Council has a Regional Pest Management Plan which outlines programmes for new threats (keep them out), those only just starting to take hold (nip them in the bud) or those where ongoing management is feasible. Find more information at: www.marlborough.govt.nz/ search?q=pest+management+plan
Street Address: Phone: 03 520 7400 15 Seymour Street Fax: 03 520 7496 Email: mdc@marlborough.govt.nz Blenheim 7201 New Zealand
Council’s Biosecurity team works in partnership with landowners, other agencies and Crown entities on a wide range of biosecurity issues including; • Controlling high priority pest plants in our district such as Parrot’s feather or Purple loosestrife • Working on joint projects like research into the biological control of wasps • Taking a leadership role in the campaign for the battle against Chilean needle grass • Supporting national biosecurity responses initiated by the Ministry for Primary Industries. • Partnering with neighbouring regions to deal with a common threat like the marine pest Sabella • Checking landowners are meeting their biosecurity responsibilities.