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Cabinet minister drops in Three Waters changes

The Government’s recent announcement of a revamp of its Three Waters Reform programme was not unexpected, but the scope and scale of the proposed changes will take Tasman District Council some time to work through.

Tasman mayor Tim King believes there are democratic benefits resulting from the change to the so-called Affordable Water Reform, but they will come at a financial cost.

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“Under the four-entity model we saw the benefits of aggregation with a greater number of people sharing the costs of essential infrastructure”, says Tim. “However, the trade-off was a greater distance between communities and the decision-making process.”

The new 10-entity model revises the centralised governance structure and will provide a greater opportunity for local input and decision-making but with the costs of management and development spread across fewer households.

“While these costs are less than the costs per household of the status quo, they are higher than what the four-entity model proposed," says Tim.

Newly appointed cabinet minister WillowJean Prime dropped in to Golden Bay on Monday, part of her week-long visit to the South Island.

She came to speak with community leaders on a range of issues related to her broad portfolio, which encompasses conservation, youth, arts, culture and heritage, and health.

The main focus of the minister’s discussions was on health, where she holds associate ministerial responsibility. During the day she met with vice president of Federated Farmers and mental health advocate Wayne Langford who had organised the visit, the general manager of Golden Bay Community Health (GBCH) Ruth Robson, and the general manager of Te Whare Mahana Durham Quigley.

Willow-Jean’s whistle-stop tour of the Bay began with a discussion with Wayne, held in a paddock of dairy cows. “It was really good,” said Wayne. “She came up to the farm to chat about mental health in the rural space and also things to do with her conservation portfolio, as it affects the farming sector.”

Moving on from the farm, the minister met with Ruth and Durham at GBCH for a walk and talk around the facility. Willow-Jean explained that her visit to the South Island was part of a commitment to “get out to the regions” in order to understand the challenges facing rural health services, inform the Government’s Rural Health Strategy (which is due to be published in July), and learn about the local implementation of its 10-year plan to improve mental health outcomes.

The minister was clearly impressed with GBCH, specifically how it had been “community driven” and provided “wrap-around services”, which responded to local needs in a “remote rural” setting. In response to a question from The GB Weekly , she explained Government was working with the Rural Health Alliance to address the sector's staffing issues by delivering more training opportunities.

She then engaged with another area of her portfolio, enjoying an “excellent discussion” on local youth issues with Golden Bay High School Student Board representative Jodi Jefferson over coffee at the Wholemeal Café.

Reflecting on the minister’s visit, Ruth said it had been very positive. “She understands some of the challenges remote rural health services have, as she comes from Northland.

Durham concurred, saying the meeting had provided “a great opportunity to highlight some of the successes we have here in Golden Bay and our collaboration with other services in health and wellbeing. It was also an opportunity to express concern and highlight the challenges of rural mental health, what would help, and what we in the Bay are doing to improve this in Golden Bay”.

Speaking on Tuesday, the minister said she had “thoroughly enjoyed” her visit to the Bay, highlighting “the community spirit behind the Golden Bay Community Health Centre – Te Hauora o Mohua, and the range of services provided there, including its very own community garden”. She noted that the Bay’s model could provide a template for the rest of the country. “With the range of primary, secondary and tertiary health care, the centre is a great example of integrated health care in remote rural New Zealand.”

Acknowledging those who made her trip to the Bay such a worthwhile exercise, the minister said, “I’m grateful for the effort Wayne put in to organise the visit and would like to thank everyone who took the time to talk with me.”

The new scheme incorporates the three waters infrastructure of the Top of the South councils – Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman – into one entity, which Tim says is a step in the right direction. “In our submissions to the previous model, Nelson City, Marlborough and Tasman District Councils along with local iwi strongly supported our inclusion in a South Island entity, we still believe this is the best model.”

TDC has been working with the National Transition Unit (NTU) towards the 2024 implementation of the Three Waters Reform, but the new model, along with its twoyear deadline extension, has added to the uncertainty, says Tim. “With the reshaping of the entities, we will now be working closely with our neighbours, Nelson and Marlborough. One of the key items will be the new timeframe where entities will be in place by 1 July 2026. This will have an impact on our planning and ability to finance essential infrastructure investment.”

The Government’s change of tack, will have a significant impact on the council’s formal planning processes, explains Tim. “As we work through the ramifications with the NTU we will need to update our Annual and Long-Term Plans now that the Government’s plans have changed. We will certainly keep our residents informed as we know more about what these changes mean for them.”

Collingwood Health Clinic - the clinic is currently used 5 days per week with physio, blood tests, two days of GP or Nurse Practitioner appointments, midwife and wellchild clinics.

Doctor/Nurse Practitioner coming and goings - since Dr Peter Gibbs' retirement, we have locum doctors: Dr Iain Russell; Dr Martin Smith and Dr Peter Hall supporting our permanent team (Dr Hannah Cummins, Dr Neil Whittaker; Dr Loren McCuskey; Dr Morgana Woolhouse-Williams and Nurse Practitioner: Megan Collie). Our new Nurse Practitioner Gina Mills starts in August and Dr Rachael Cowie returns from maternity leave, also in August. From August, we will be fully staffed with permanent GPs and Nurse Practitioners, so we feel very fortunate.

Vaccinations Seasonal Flu are now available. These are FREE for those who meet the following criteria:

• Tamariki aged 6 months to 12 years old

• People aged 65 years and over

• Māori and Pacific people aged 55 years and over

• Pregnant women

• People who have a long-term medical condition such as diabetes, asthma, or a heart condition (ages 6 months+)

• People with serious mental health needs or addictions

If you do not meet the funded criteria listed above, the cost for a Flu Vaccine is $35.00.

Booster Covid Vaccinations are also now available in Tākaka – Free for anyone over 30 or at risk of severe illness from Covid-19. These can be given at the same time as the flu vaccine.

Collingwood Vaccinations - There will be WALK IN Vaccination clinics for Flu and Covid Boosters available in Collingwood and surrounding areas in the next fortnight. See other advertising.

Whooping Cough - Whooping Cough (pertussis) is circulating in our region. It is a highly infectious disease that is spread by coughing and sneezing. It’s a serious infection that causes a long coughing illness and can be life threatening – especially for those under 1 year old.

How you can help to stop the spread of whooping cough as well as other infections including Covid:

• Make sure all your children are up to date with their immunisations - please call our wellchild or practice nurses if you have any questions or would like to make an appointment, phone 03 525 0060. It’s never too late to catch up. Whooping cough vaccine is free for all children under 18.

• Keep your baby away from anyone with a cough.

• If you have a cough yourself, have a Covid test, isolate and stay away from babies.

• If you have any concerns or if you have got a cough that won’t go away, request a phone consultation with us at GBCH. Book on line via My Indici or call 03 525 0060.

• You can also call Healthline 0800 611 116 if you are unsure what you should do.

• Consider if you need a whooping cough booster vaccination yourself. Pregnant women should get a FREE whooping cough booster vaccination from 16 weeks’ gestation onwards. At this time, the mother can pass her immunity on to the baby, helping protect them until they are old enough to be vaccinated themselves. Other adults can receive booster vaccinations for a cost. Immunisation is recommended if:

• your work involves regular contact with infants

• you live with or care for infants under 12 months of age – even if the baby has been fully immunised. Boosters should also be considered for other people who are vulnerable to whooping cough and at high risk of severe illness or complications (eg, those with chronic respiratory conditions, congenital heart disease or immunodeficiency). For more information – Whooping cough | Health Navigator NZ

Inpatient Beds - Our residential care beds remain full and we are doing our best to meet the community's needs regarding respite for carers for people being cared for in the community.

Also to note, after a period of 8 months, where we did not have sufficient registered nurses to staff our short stay beds, these are now back open again meaning they are available for local GP admissions and hospital transfers, which is good news for our community.

Notice of Fees Increase – Despite efforts to keep fees down, from 1 July 2023, we wish to give notice that the fee for a standard GP or nurse practitioner consult will increase from $46.50 to $50.00. Other fees will also increase slightly. This is the first increase since 2019. The fee for a community services card holder remains unchanged at $19.50. Even with this increase, it is interesting to note that GBCH is still one of the lower cost practices in the Nelson Region.

10-year Celebration. This year in September, GBCH will turn 10 years old. We are planning on a celebration to both honour the community vision and efforts that enabled the GBCH integration services to be realised in 2013, and to celebrate what a great facility we have here in Golden Bay compared to other remote rural communities around NZ. So, watch out for information about the various events that are being planned.

For more information, please see https://www.gbhealth.org.nz/

If you would like to book an appointment, please ring our call handlers on 03 525 0060 or book online via My Indici.

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