Waste-water plans “unacceptable” to residents
At the community board meeting this week, back row from left, Cr Noel Riley, board member Mik Symmons, board secretary Nancy Heyes. Front from left, board member Karen Brookes, board member Leigh Gamby, TDC community services manager Lloyd Kennedy, Cr Mar
Public forum
Three speakers were concerned about the planned extensions to the Takaka waste-water plant. Hayley Gale reported that she had presented council with a 340-signature petition asking that the proposed site be scrapped.
“We say that this site is totally unacceptable. It’s intolerable that it’s only about 300 metres away from homes.”
Ms Gale referred to the “misery and suffering of Nelson people even though the sewage ponds there had had a major upgrade. The priority should be to site them away from towns and people’s houses. Council has got permission to dispose of odour into the air and treated sewage to ground for 25 years. This is a community-wide issue.”
Ms Gale was also concerned about the possible contamination of Takaka’s water supplies.
“This extension shouldn’t even be contemplated. It’s on the floodplain too.” She also criticised what she called “the total lack of consultation”.
“The council has already bought the land so the resource consent process is a sham.”
Dave Gowland spoke in support of Ms Gale. He referrred to the frequency of system failures and suggested that a new treatment station be developed somewhere else.
“The process has been done in reverse. The tail is wagging the dog. Montgomery Watson Harza has come up with a solution that is being forced through. Even if the extensions do end up there they need to get the agreement of the residents first.”
Board chair Carolyn McLellan said that engineers had agreed to meet with the board to discuss the matter.
Cr Martine Bouillir said that she had heard “that nothing will happen for quite some time. It’s all being rethought.”
Public sculptures. Toy Murchie spoke on behalf of the Golden Bay Community Arts Council.
“There is some seed money available for some public sculptures in the Bay. We want to make one sculpture involving as many artists as we can possibly manage.”
The arts council would like to have bronze sculptures of mohua (yellowheads) at key points around the Bay. “We spoke to DOC and they are excited because they would like it to lead to a recovery programme for the mohua. They’re not found in the Bay at the moment. The sculptures will be an 18-month project.”
Rest homes rooms. Liza Eastman expressed concern about the changes to the planned rest home rooms in the integrated health facility.
“It’s ironic that the Joan Whiting home has facilitated the Ministry of Health coming on board and helping the integrated health project. John Peters confirmed that there will be considerable changes made to the configuration of rest home beds. The rooms in the rest home part of the facility should be personalised rooms that are set aside from the hospice-style, maternity or medical rooms and are different from them.
“Andy Clark’s original drawings are probably being scrapped at the moment. In Golden Bay we need a rest home for people who are not able to stay in their own home. In a community like ours there are not the carers, so it’s much better to come to one place to be looked after by a group of health workers. If the place is like a hospital it would be very sad. I want the community board to keep an eye on the plans and the changes.”
Mrs McLellan and board member Mik Symmons said that they had seen the latest plans last night for the first time.
“The rest home rooms are bigger than we thought they would be and they’re definitely separate,” said Mrs McLellan.
“They all have garden access,” said Mr Symmons. “All the clinical leaders who were at the meeting were happy with the configuration. Andy’s concepts were magnificent but here are constraints.”
In response to a further question, Mrs McLellan said that public would have a chance to see the plans and that the Joan Whiting board have had three meetings with the health architects, who have addressed a lot of their concerns.
Legislative changes. Peter Foster spoke about some recent legislative changes that he thought had not been publicised enough. “Last month’s change to the Local Government Act involved the removal of the clause that makes the targeted rate on communities with community boards seem illegal. The Government has pulled out of the conversation and left it to local government to solve.”
Positive relationship with TDC. Mr Foster was also concerned that the board’s planned “positive relationship” meeting with Mayor Kempthorne would be a waste of time. “The relationship problem is not with council governance; it’s with council management. Discussions must include management. I strongly recommend independent mediation to solve the very serious problems between community board and management.”
Privatising water services. Board member Leigh Gamby spoke about what he thought was the worst aspect of the changes to the Local Lovernment Act. “We now have a situation where a council can privatise its water services. To me that looks like something that should not be happening.”
Former library building. Chris Finlayson explained his proposal for a mural on the wall that was exposed by the destruction of the former library building. “It came to a sad end but it has given rise to an opportunity,” said Mr Finlayson. “Where walls are exposed, I want to paint them.”
He said that he would donate his time for nothing and involve members of the public in the project. “Whether the artwork stays up for six months or six years it will show the Bay’s vitality.” He also tabled a letter in which he explained that $500 of the estimated $1800 budget had already been pledged.
Agenda items
Civil defence. The board heard from Roger Ball, the manager of the Nelson Tasman emergency management office. He updated the board on his office’s plans for Golden Bay and gave an overview of the types of emergency the Bay might face, the plans in place for our region, the extent of the networks in place and the kind of training undertaken recently.
“Roger Broadhurst, the voluntary local controller, is supported by an incident management team of agencies like fire, police, ambulance and search and rescue, plus the backup of the welfare team of the community workers and their volunteer helpers.
“The main issues you face are the same as for the broader region: a large-scale earthquake, flooding, tsunami, and rural fire. Particular issues for you are slope instability and possible isolation for many days. The Hill road has the potential to fail in many areas.”
Mr Ball said that the community plan was in place for the responding agencies and that, while there was still quite a bit to do, “the bones are there and now we’re trying to put some meat around those bones.”
The organisation’s plans for the next year include some focus on communications. “Through our testing programme we’ve noticed an improvement in the confidence of the people who are using the emergency radio network. And we have funding for a satellite phone to be based at the service centre. There will be another round of welfare training next April. We’d like to see a welfare centre for the Collingwood end of the Bay.”
In reply to a question from board member Symmons, Mr Ball explained that people need to be prepared to be on their own, relying on their own emergency plan and supplies for three or four days in an emergency.
Takaka playground. TDC reserves officer, Glenn Thorn, briefed the board on the status of the Takaka playground.
“It’s not good. A lot of the pieces do not comply with the standards. This is an opportune time, now that the building has gone. I’d like approval to do a complete redevelopment. We can make a high-grade playground.”
Glenn explained the process of consulting and designing a playground and showed some pictures of a recently completed playground in Richmond. The board were enthusiastic about the possibilities and decided to consult widely.
In a similar vein, the board resolved to accept the delegated responsibility to undertake the community consultation regarding future options for the old library site as well as the adjacent reserve.
Neil Wilson
