4
Tuesday October 6 2015
One shop still to open in development The booming Hornby Working Men’s Club is about to finish developing its property portfolio with retail outlets. Club president Kevin Cole said the population movement from the east of Christchurch to the west, including to Rolleston, meant more retail was needed. At the end of the month the Coffee Club will open for business, completing the sixth outlet in its newest development. The club owns about 3.9ha of land from Carmen Rd to Denton Park. While The Warehouse has leased some land for about 20 years, the former bowling green was turned into retail space in 2012, some 4000 sq m. It is now home to Rebel Sport, Anytime Fitness, Bed Bath & Beyond, Toyworld and the Baby Factory. Mr Cole said the number of people using the bowling club had dwindled and it was a valuable site. “We originally wanted another large business to use the land but decided to go smaller,’’ he said. In Environment Canterbury’s Land Use Recovery Plan review decision document it was stated that Hornby had experienced growth in the retail sector at “the expense of industrial employment.”
SELWYN TIMES
Farmers wary of water quality study BY TOM DOUDNEY Plans for managing water quality still have some way to go before gaining farmers’ trust, survey results show. An Environment Canterbury survey on farmers’ attitudes to new rules being introduced through the Canterbury Water Management Strategy found that only 29.3 per cent of those in Selwyn trusted that a fair balance in water use for recreation, urban supply and farming needs would be achieved. By comparison, 27.3 per cent saying they were distrustful that that this would be the case and 43.4 per cent were neutral. However, this was still a more favourable view than the overall survey results, which showed that 23 per cent of farmers across Canterbury trusted that a fair balance would be achieved and 30.3 per cent were distrustful. Most Selwyn farmers (53.5 per cent) felt the plan would be “somewhat effective” at protecting water quality and keeping decisions about water use out of the courts, while 20.2 per cent felt it would be ineffective and 13.1 per cent thought it would be effective. To the question of whether farmers would be treated fairly, 35.4 per cent in Selwyn responded ‘yes’ while 29.3 per cent said ‘no’ and the rest were unsure. Selwyn Waihora Zone Committee member John Sunckell, who is also a dairy farmer, said he was not concerned about the figures which were “about where I would expect.”
ENVIRONMENT: Across all areas, dairy farmers had made more progress than sheep, beef and cropping farmers. Considering the diversity of people and views the plan had to deal with and that some of the rules were yet to be finalised, it was not surprising that there would be those who were yet to embrace it. “If we have only a third that are distrustful at this point, then I am actually quite happy.” He believed more farmers would view it positively as time went on. CWMS programme manager Christina Robb said the survey results were actually very encouraging. “It is understandable that some people not directly involved with this process are still cautious about what has been put in place via the
Selwyn Waihora section of the Land and Water Regional Plan (Plan Change 1),” she said. “We are continuing to build trust in the process through the zone committee, as well as helping farmers better understand what’s being asked of them.” The survey also found that only 11.7 per cent of Selwyn farmers had a farm environment plan in place, with more than half (56.2 per cent) not having started the process. This was near the bottom of the table for the four areas surveyed, with only Waimakariri (8 per cent) having a lower percentage of farmers which had started their plans.
Across all areas, dairy farmers had made more progress than sheep, beef and cropping farmers, with 29.7 per cent having a farm environment place and 39.1 per cent having started the process. Under Plan Change 1, many Selwyn farmers will need to have their environment plans submitted by January 2017. Mr Sunckell said there was still enough time for farmers who hadn’t started their plans to get them done and it was likely that some were waiting for the appeal process on Plan Change 1 to be over and done with before getting started.
WE HAVE MOVED
SHANDS TEMPLETON 03 349 8955 Now located at our new premises
706 Main South Road
Z Templeton
Main South Road
CUP DAY - TUESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER Breakfast, Bubbly & Bus
$35 per person | Breakfast from 9am | Bus leaves The Rock at 10.30am and returns from Addington at 6.00pm See bar staff for details or contact us on 03 347 4190 | andy@therockrolleston.co.nz
Tavern Hornby
www.shandsoutdoorpower.co.nz
You must be 18 years old or over to attend. Ticket includes Breakfast, 1 x Glass of Lindauer or Stella. Return bus ride to The Rock. The Promoter is The Rock Rolleston.