Newsline 234 - 3 September 2010

Friday 3 September 2010

This page contains articles from Issue 234 of Newsline.
Download as a PDF: Newsline 234 - 03 September 2010

Volunteers Honoured for Tireless Work

Decades of selfless toil were saluted by Tasman District Council recently as seven volunteers received Outstanding Community Service awards.

Ruby Aberhart, tireless advocate for senior citizens, was the first to be presented with a certificate from Mayor Richard Kempthorne. Ruby has chaired the Nelson/Tasman Positive Ageing Forum since 2002 and has been zone director for Grey Power. She was appointed to the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007, for services to netball. Ruby coached Motueka and Waimea College netball teams, plus set up Tasman Children’s Athletics.

“Double act” Heather Best and Gwenneth Carter were honoured for resurrecting seniors indoor bowls in Richmond and for their service to Ladies RSA. They also provide musical entertainment for rest homes, with more than 90 bookings already this year. Both Heather and Gwenneth are involved with Meals on Wheels.

Allan Kilgour has had two stints as Pohara Boat Club commodore. He was one of the founders of Golden Bay Marine search-and-rescue, and is now the harbour manager at Port Golden Bay (Tarakohe). He was an ambulance driver for 22 years and has also given long service to Takaka Lions.

Well-known Motueka identity Brent Maru started his community service while still at school, assisting with programmes for at-risk youth at the Motueka Recreation Centre – which he would end up managing a few decades later. He was one of the first members of the Motueka Skating Club, and has been involved with the Motueka Pool committee, Night Beat, the regional COGS committee and national OSCAR advisory body. While working for the Department of Corrections, he steered his teams of workers to assist with valuable community projects.

Wakefield resident Ross Higgins was a foundation member of the Nelson Farm Forestry Association and helped to promote the planting of both cypress forests and the aboretum at Wai-iti Reserve. He served on the Nelson Catchment Board and the Waimea County Council. As Wai-iti Ward Councillor he was active in the 88 Valley Water Scheme, the Tapawera Bridge and the Lower Moutere River Bridge.

Chris Smith has been a member of the Wakefield School Board of Trustees and the Village Hall Committee. He joined the Wakefield Community Council in the 1990s, serving as chair and deputy-chair. Chris has done his share of track-building and weeding for the Wakefield Bush Restoration Society, is on the Brightwater Community Church management team, and mentors boys through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters programme.

Warm Tasman

Get funding towards a warmer, drier and healthier home with the Warm Up New Zealand:Heat Smart programme from ENERGYWISE™ and Tasman District Council.

Warm Up and Breathe Easy

There are about 18,000 houses in Tasman and many of these were built without adequate insulation or heating. This leads to cold, damp homes. In addition, smoke from old wood burners and open fires is contributing to poor air quality in Richmond.

Why Insulate my Home?

Better insulation means a warmer, drier and healthier home that will be easier and cheaper to heat. Combine your well-insulated home with a clean, efficient heating system for even greater comfort and it will cost you less to keep warm. It will also help clear the air in Richmond.

We can help you warm up your home and breathe cleaner air. Tasman District Council is offering homeowners an alternative way to purchase insulation and/or clean heat. A homeowner can apply for ENERGYWISE funding towards upgrading insulation or home heating under the Warm Up New Zealand Heat Smart programme funded by ENERGYWISE.

To help pay the balance needed for the upgrade, homeowners can now apply to the council for a Voluntary Targeted Rate for up to $2600 towards an approved insulation, and/or up to $3500 for a clean heating solution*. This is paid back with interest over nine years as a separate voluntary rate.

For further information pick up a brochure from any Council office or library, or go to
the Warm Tasman page on the website

Warm Tasman

Insulation

Heating*

ENERGYWISE™ FUNDING**

for houses built before 2000

33% of the total cost up to $1300

$500

Voluntary Targeted Rate Assistance For ratepayers up to-date with rate payments and who get an
ENERGYWISE™ grant

$2600

$3500

Minister of Conservation to Open Godwit Celebration

The Hon Kate Wilkinson, Minister of Conservation, will be in Motueka to open the Welcome to the Godwits celebration on Saturday 11 September 2010, at the Motueka Memorial Hall.

The event, organised by The Motueka Arts Council, is to celebrate the return of the godwits to the Waimea Estuary. It will include displays, art, slide shows and photographs of godwits and the estuaries around Motueka. There will be stands from DOC, Tasman District Council, Ornithological Society NZ (OSNZ), Forest and Bird, local schools and a godwit song from Paul Bond and his ‘Ukes Of Hazzard’. Speakers include: Trevor James, Tasman District Council Resource Scientist, on the importance of the estuary, and David Melville with the latest research on godwit migration. On Sunday 12 September 2010, members of the OSNZ will be present at the old wharf in Motueka

to help you view the newly arrived godwits with their telescopes.

Programme

Saturday 11 September 2010

10.00am – 4.00pm – Memorial Hall open to view displays

11.15am – Karakia, official opening and speeches

11.50am – Ukes of Hazzard godwit song

11.55am – Kate Wilkinson, presentation of competition prizes

2.00pm – Trevor James, Tasman District Council Resource Scientist

2.30pm – Readings and poems

Sunday 12 September 2010

10.00am – 4.00pm – Memorial Hall open to view displays

1.30pm – David Melville, ornithologist, godwit research

3.00pm – Viewing of godwits from Motueka Quay

Ecofest Celebrates Tenth Birthday in Style

Nelson turned on the sun for the tenth annual Ecofest Expo with the event attracting over 6,000 visitors who came along to see and learn more about everything from clothes shwapping to composting, recycling and rubbish-free living.

Held at the Trafalgar Centre in Nelson on 21 & 22 August, Ecofest 2010 featured workshops and seminars on a variety of eco topics. Free buses were available all weekend from Richmond and Stoke, and arrived at the Expo packed with visitors from Golden Bay and Motueka who had parked for free in Richmond. Visitors also took advantage of the carpooling website link on the Ecofest website.

Workshops at the Expo included cheese-making, reducing rubbish and greening your school. Guest speakers at the feature seminars included Kay Baxter of The Koanga Institute talking about heritage seeds, Lynda Hallinan, editor-at-large of NZ Gardener magazine, and leading gardening writer and photographer Dennis Greville.

While the Produce Schwap (which was a new event this year) did not attract a large number of entries, organiser Jo Reilly said the feedback from those who did take part had been very positive. The big Fashion Shwap organised by Labels Resale and Designer Clothing was open on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and was once again a roaring success. Christine Johnston of Labels also organised and compered the Funky Fashion Show, which saw Waimea College Year 8 student Georgia Hamilton win the junior section with her garment “Miss Chip” made from 365 chip packets and a team from Salisbury School win the senior section with their garment “Give us this day our daily bread… bags” made from knitted Tip Top bread bags.

The Expo also featured organic cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef and author Julie Biuso, Marlborough chef Chris Fortune, NMIT culinary tutor Matt Fahie and Masterchef local finalist Karyn Fisk.

Ecofest was a zero waste event and visitors were encouraged to bring their own drink containers and take their rubbish home with them – leaving a clean, green space behind when they left. The event was also undergoing certification as a “Carbon Conscious” event, through Nelson-based company ‘Offset the Rest’.

Lucky winners from the weekend included Jill Cott of Brightwater who won the Home Energy Centre prize valued at over $6,500 including home insulation and a marble radiant wall heater. Pip Hall of Aniseed Valley won the use of a Toyota Prius for a week plus two nights’ accommodation at Golden Bay Hideaway - New Zealand’s highest rated energy-efficient home, while J Bobak of Nelson won the use of the Toyota Camry Hybrid plus two nights at Golden Bay Hideaway. The Organic Cuisine Prize of a night’s pampered luxury at Stonefly Lodge was won by Carol Webster of Nelson.

Ecofest organiser Jo Reilly said she was very happy with the turnout and atmosphere at this year’s event.

Ecofest is a joint event between Nelson City and Tasman District Councils and celebrates all things ‘eco’. Since its beginnings in 2001, Ecofest has quickly become established as one of the biggest showcases for eco-innovative products, services and messages in New Zealand.

Plastic Arteries Slide into Place

Old pipes have been transformed into new to carry sewage from Mapua to the treatment plant at Bell Island. The magic is all in the engineering, with Tasman District Council contractors “sliplining” black polyethylene pipes into existing PVC pipes crossing the estuary from Rabbit Island.

The main 250mm-diameter sewerage pipe is still in place, and a 150mm back-up was recently hauled through the unused 200mm diameter backup pipeline under the seafloor, at 1-metre depth. The 240-metre drag took three hours, using the advantage of an exceptionally low tide.

Council engineer Kim Arnold says that earlier in the six month project a section of the new 285mm wastewater pipeline, which was hauled across the estuary between Rabbit Island and Bell Island in a marathon 12 hours, was hooked up to the wastewater main crossing Rabbit Island. The new pipe crosses the channel through a hole cut through the seafloor by directional drilling.

The new polyethylene (PE) pipe comes in 12 to 15 metre lengths that are heat-welded onsite into a continuous line. Kim says the joints are so strong that under extreme pressure testing, it is the pipe itself, not the joints that fail first. The undersea line also has to be extremely strong because of the obvious difficulty in repairing a break.

The old sewerage PVC backup pipeline was first cleared using water jetting, followed by inserting directional drilling rods. It will be connected to the new sewer main running 8.5 kilometres across Rabbit Island, and with its new lining should give more than 50 years of service.

Mapua now has rejuvenated arteries for water and sewerage, plus smaller back-up piping.

Kim says Rabbit Island proved to be surprisingly undulating. A 5-metre variation in terrain meant air release valves had to be installed at periodic intervals in the sewer mains. These are housed in concrete chambers weighing 12 tonnes, so placing them has been a challenge.

The chambers also allow access to the pipes for cleaning – “essentially a big ‘torpedo-like’ sponge” is pushed through ahead of the flow.

Engineering consultants MWH oversaw the job, with Chings as the contractor. Downer EDI was also involved, with Sepclean on hand to prevent sewage spills and Underground Brown doing the drilling and hauling.

The entire project has taken a number of years to complete. The Rabbit Island mains pass through several historical sites and areas of significance and the Department of Conservation, the Historic Places Trust, archaeologists and local iwi have been fully involved and kept informed as the project unfolded.

Embracing the Digital Age

New Tasman District Libraries Manager Glennis Coote sees her role as a balancing act between catering for the needs of traditional book borrowers and embracing the digital age.

The revamped Richmond Library expresses that changing function, but is also a “social space”, with meeting rooms, quiet zones and even a cafe, says Glennis. “We see people using the space in ways that suit them.” She believes libraries are more relevant than ever, because although the Internet is a vast storehouse of information, that bewildering size creates the need for “guides, organisers and facilitators”.

Glennis oversees a staff of 38 (some of them part-timers) in Tasman’s four libraries.

The new Takaka Library “is proving to be a wonderful facility”. Motueka is showing the strain of population growth and “space issues” will need to be addressed in the future. “I’d also like to look at how we can enhance facilities in Murchison”, says Glennis.

She was born in Waimate, South Canterbury, and completed her Masters degree in English literature and art history at the University of Canterbury. Glennis began her library career in Palmerston North, at the Teachers College, and also helped to establish the library at International Pacific College, a Japanese-owned tertiary institution with branches in New Zealand and Japan. She moved to Golden Bay in 1991 with husband Max and ran the library there for 10 years. This was just after council amalgamation so the four district libraries faced challenges in aligning policies and becoming computerised.

Glennis and Max moved to Sandy Bay in the Marlborough Sounds for six years, though she continued working in Tasman on a variety of short-term contracts. Three years ago they moved back to Tasman permanently and Glennis took up the role of Customer Services Librarian in Richmond. She steps into the top job after former manager Catherine Bryham returned to her roots in Northland.

Final Reminder for Owners of Unregistered Dogs

Invoices were sent out at the beginning of June 2010 to dog owners for annual dog registration, with payment due by 1 July 2010. Owners were allowed until 31 July 2010 to pay their registration fee, and penalty fees were then applied at the beginning of August.

Council is now offering this final opportunity for owners of unregistered dogs to pay any outstanding registration and penalty fees by 10 September 2010. Owners of dogs that remain unregistered after this date will receive a $300 Infringement Fine for each unregistered dog that is in their possession.

Water Metering to be Tightened

Many significant water users in Tasman will be required to improve their metering under proposed Government regulations. The new rules are an attempt by the Government to learn more about how and where the nation’s water is extracted. It is estimated that only 31% of water taken nationally is metered.

Current water use is worth more than $5 billion per year to the national economy and the Government considers that even a small improvement in efficiency makes this investment in better data well worthwhile. The new regulations will not cover small takes for domestic use.

The metering will be staged over six years, with takes of 20 litres a second extraction to be metered within two years of the regulations being adopted, takes of more than 10 litres a second metered within four years, and five litres a second within six years. The national average-sized consented water take is about 10 litres per second.

These metering regulations are the first step in the Government’s plans to improve New Zealand’s fresh water management.

What Does this Mean for Tasman Water Take Consent Holders?

When the finalised details are available, all consent holders will be contacted by the Council directly and informed of the regulations and how users are affected individually. Information available to date shows that many of the current meters would not meet the new requirements and as such a number will have to be replaced.

It is envisaged that under the amended rules all new consents of over five litres per second will be required to use the new meters, so will not be part of the staged rollout. Government expectations are that initial capital costs will be between $3,000 and $4,000 for the average user. There are also a range of costs for councils and central government associated with the implementation and administration of the regulations.

Council will keep all water permit holders and the community informed with the progress of the regulations and their implementation.

Further information is available at Ministry for the Environment
or
Contact Joseph Thomas, Water Resource Scientist

Parking on Footpaths and Shared Paths

The Council has received a number of complaints from around the District about cars parking on footpaths and shared paths. This is not only an offence under the Traffic Regulations, but it can also make it very unsafe for anybody using these footpaths or paths. This is particularly true for children, mobility scooter users, people pushing buggies or with mobility issues and cyclists on shared paths. They can be forced out into the traffic lane instead of being able to walk or cycle safely using the path.

Parking on these paths can also cause damage, increasing the maintenance needed to keep them up to an acceptable standard. It also causes unnecessary cost, which can mean that budget spent on repairs is not available for other projects.

There are many kilometres of footpaths in the Tasman District and the Council cannot patrol these at all times to ensure they are free of cars, so we rely on the public to let us know about cars parking on the footpaths. To report cars parking on the footpath phone Tasman District Council on Ph 03 543 8400 or by email info@tasman.govt.nz

So please, next time you think about parking on a footpath or shared pathway, think about the danger for a vulnerable pedestrian or cyclist and park further along the stretch of road and off the path.

Volunteers Making a Difference

They are like the shoemaker’s elves who beaver away unheralded, yet the handiwork of the Keep Richmond Beautiful volunteers is all around us in the hills and at the beach.

Chairman Colin Andrews says Keep Richmond Beautiful volunteers put in 823 hours of labour on track-building and reserves planting in the year to July 31. If their time was valued at $15 an hour, that equates to $12,315. A further 300 hours spent on planning and arranging supplies pushes the total to $16,845 worth of time.

The highlight of the year for Colin has been the new Jimmy Lee Creek track and bridge off Hill Street to the bird hide. He says it was a pleasure to link up with volunteers from Native Bird Recovery Richmond on the project.

In addition to labour, the beautification group, comprising a committee of eight and about 20 volunteer workers, spent $6155 on materials during the year. It receives $3500 from the Tasman District Council, plus help from the Parks and Reserves Department with plants and materials. Grants from trusts add to Keep Richmond Beautiful's funds.

Keep Richmond Beautiful is always looking for volunteers to give something back to Richmond. If you would like to make your mark – and even lead a project – the AGM will be held at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 8 September 2010 at the Council Chambers in Richmond. Guest speaker Chris Franklin will outline the Waimea Estuary project, with afternoon tea to follow.

Spreading the Words

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne turned storyteller for pupils of St Peter Chanel Primary School in Motueka as part of Library Week recently. The Catholic school invited well-known locals into classrooms in a bid to encourage reading among pupils and instil a love of books.

Mayor Kempthorne chose to read from Soldier In the Yellow Socks, Janice Marriott’s book about double VC winner Charles Upham. The children in Room 1 soaked up the story and were also impressed with the mayoral chains.

Other readers during the week included Father Pat Maloney, the parish priest, Sharon Blackbeard, manager of the Jack Inglis Hospital, and Makos players Ben Coman and Jarrod Aberhart.