Nelson Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
03 548 2770 41 Nile Street East, Nelson
03 548 2770 03 548East, 2770 41 Nelson 41 Nile Nile Street Street East, Nelson 41 Nile Street East, Nelson
Wednesday 15 November 2023
National honour for Barney Page 5
PAGES 16-17
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS IN BUSINESS
Silver Ferns call Page 25
MTB access agreement not reached three years on MAX FRETHEY
Local Democracy Reporter
A deal to secure ongoing access to popular mountainbike tracks in Nelson is still being worked on, three years after discussions first started. Nelson City Council resolved in 2020 to negotiate a funding agreement with Koata Limited to secure public access to the tracks, but a final deal remains unlikely until next year. Group manager community services Andrew White says an agreement with Ngāti Koata remains a priority. “The significance and complexity of a long-term agreement means council will seek input from the community,” he says. Consultation on the potential agreement will be conducted as part of the council’s Long-Term Plan which is expected to occur in early 2024. In a meeting in November 2020, council proposed a $100,000 budget for 2021 – consisting of an $80,000 grant and $20,000 for investigation works – to allow continued public access into the Codgers/Fringed Hill area, and to work to find an agreement. Now, three years later, almost $217,000 has been invested by the council for interim agreements that have ensured continued recreational access onto Ngāti Koata whenua.
SEE PAGE 2
Alison Kelso with one of the monarch caterpillars she is raising at her Atawhai home. Photo: Kate Russell.
Giving monarchs a fluttering start KATE RUSSELL Alison Kelso has loved monarch butterflies for as long as she can remember, and now she is helping 15 of them get a head start in life. Alison, who turns 82 next month, is keeping the cat-
erpillars indoors to protect them from predators such as paper wasps and praying mantis, which she says are “destroying” the species. “I grew up in Auckland in the 1940s and we always had monarchs. There were never any paper wasps back then,
there used to be so many more butterflies around. It really breaks my heart to see them in decline,” she says. “They are so special; I absolutely love them.” The monarch butterfly is one of the best-known butterfly species in New Zea-
land. Originally from North America, it was first recorded here in the mid-1800s. They are considered native to New Zealand because they flew or blew here without human help.
SEE PAGE 2
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