Letters
Dog attack
I was concerned and shocked to learn of the dog attack on Pakawau Beach. The lovely beach is considered a family holiday destination enjoyed by tourists and local community.
In my opinion the TDC has not addressed this unprovoked brutal attack in the seriousness it warrants. The dog that attacked the small dog and in turn its owner trying to protect her pet should be destroyed! At any point in time the dog concerned may bring about serious injury to a defenceless child or holidaymaker. TDC, the dog acknowledged as dangerous is a threat to the safety of residents and tourists and particularly small children. Shape up and be accountable and responsible to your ratepayers please.
Jean McHardy
Withdrawal from A&P Show
I must comment on the decision by the A&P Show committee concerning entry for display vehicles. For the last 15 years those arriving in a vintage car have had free entry, leaving our kids extra dollars to spend at the show. For the last two years this has been dependent on who is at the gate when you arrive. Some charged and others not.
Now, from above has come the edict that only the driver may enter free. I feel this is punishing those family members who have spent time preparing their pride and joy for showing, distances them from a local event, and is a great disappointment to them. Are financial issues replacing community feelings?
I will not be attending with my vehicles this year.
Nikita Meares
Golden Bay: paradise plus
Golden Bay’s land shape from an aerial perspective is both a Kiwi and a heart in shape. The heart shape is more than significant, proof exists (heartmath institute), compassion creates a cascade of heart-shaped energy fields (infinite heart within heart within heart).
To me, heart-shaped land suggests mature deva presence, optimum nurturance, profound beauty, naturally magnetic, a location where friction is minimal, acceptance maximised, equality of sexes (heart shape is product of two equally sized opposing spirals nesting), willingness to share, empathetic, a contemporary mists of Avalon (in the future noted as a place of magical happenings). The curving shape of our mountain ranges and rolling hills creates a gravity-well vortex attracting coherent weather and distributing charge throughout the land.
Golden Bay is rich with quartz; interestingly the recently discovered fractal-shaped particle ‘Ganesh’ is found in stimulated quartz (it has hyperdimensional capabilities). Solar flares (flare season has begun) charge up the atmosphere which can charge up quartz. Many folk here understand nature herself is guiding Golden Bay towards a specific goal.
Grayham Forscutt
Auction to raise funds for Search & Rescue
Just like the awesome advert that’s currently running on TV states, there is no yeti that will save you when you are lost in the wilderness. Search & Rescue will, and we need your help this weekend so that we can help this fantastic organisation of volunteers.
Come and support the Harcourts Charity Auction at the A&P Show tomorrow between 10am and 12pm. All funds raised go to Golden Bay Search & Rescue. You must register to bid, and cash and eftpos are the only payment options. We have been donated so many wonderful things, including a Robin Slow original, accommodation and meal vouchers (Eatery on the Rock, Golden Bay Motels, Telegraph Hotel, Pohara Beachfront Motels, Shady Rest, Mussel Inn, Ratanui Lodge and Wetland View Park to name a few), tanker loads of water (Takaka and Collingwood Fire Brigades), movie passes (Village Theatre), spider proofing (GB Spider Proofing), Golf Club membership (Takaka Golf Club), wine and Baileys (Liquorland) and much much more! Come along and have some fun while supporting this great organisation. See you Saturday!
Harcourts Golden Bay
The joys of Christmas
Dear BJ White, “Love and truth!” – I don’t think that forcing women to cover themselves in cloth from head to toe is very loving and peaceful - more controlling and demeaning I would say. Father Christmas, on the other hand, brings joy and happiness to everyone. It may be a pagan celebration but it was embraced for good reasons. Perhaps Santa didn’t bring you a pressie this year; sorry about that, but the Tooth Fairy probably lost your address.
Anne Barrett
Community Health Centre
Your latest article on the Integrated Health Property Trust (GBW 29 Dec 2010) adds to my concern about this project.
1. The trust “...will soon be seeking community support for the project in the form of money...” The trust spokesman, John Peters, has indicated on more than one occasion that there would not be a campaign to raise funds from the community for this project. Would the trust please explain this about face?
2. “The Health Centre will be owned... by local people.” It will not be owned by the community. It will be owned by the trust which, as I understand it, is not answerable to the community.
3. I still have concerns that this project will follow the path of the integrated scheme in Taihape, which, three years after local fundraising and integration of services, is now broke. Rest home care has been abandoned, and hospital type services downgraded! I urge your readers to read about the Taihape experience in the Sunday Star Times 26 December 2010, page C4-5.
Dick Wenzel
Response to Dick Wenzel from Chris Hill, chair, GBCHT: We never intended to suggest community contributions would be needed to fund the running costs of the Golden Bay Community Health Centre. This is exactly the problem Joan Whiting has and what integration will address.
We apologise if our communication hasn’t been clear that running costs will be fully covered by guaranteed income; hence no need for sausage sizzles.
But we are hoping for community donations to build the centre, as occurred when the current medical centre was built, so we need to borrow less money.
We have said before that some people in the community have indicated their desire to be involved in this project and contribute financially, in cash or in kind, so we can build a strongly funded community asset.
The Golden Bay Community Health Centre will be owned by a community trust similar to the Joan Whiting and Medical Centre trusts. It has charitable status whose purpose is to provide property and equipment to support the provision of integrated health services. Non-confidential business of the trust will be open to the public and annual accounts will be available for inspection.
The interim management group has closely followed the Otaihape saga over the past three to four years and was well aware of its problems. Unlike Otaihape, the Golden Bay Community Health Trust will not run health services.
The trust is simply a landlord, providing a facility to house the integrated services of the rest home, medical centre and hospital. We already have a written agreement with Nelson Bays Primary Health to pay up to $545,000 a year in rent, to cover the costs of a mortgage, depreciation, capital improvements and maintenance.
NBPH, the professional manager, which provides a very wide range of health care services across the region, will have contracts with Nelson Marlborough District Health Board, ACC, Ministry of Health and a range of other agencies to provide health services to the people of Golden Bay.
We are confident we have established the best possible structure to ensure Golden Bay people will benefit from sustainable and improved health services.
Community Health Centre
Your recent article (GBW 29 Dec 2010) advised us eight months after the IMG’s business case proposal in April 2010 that they still do not have Ministerial Approval for the NMDHB to participate in or for the transfer of Crown land to the Community Trust. These seem essential ingredients to the IMG’s plan – however, they have gone ahead with registering the trust without them.
Furthermore, the article advised that the building cost had risen to $7.3m from the $6.3m stated in April 2010. Why?
One wonders whether the April plan was just a sham, as now that the sale of properties and the value of the hospital have been included in the figures (as they should have been included all along) at $2.6m, this has altered all the rest of the figures too. One question is: Is that the full value of these properties, or only a portion?
The mortgage (serviced by income from Ministry of Health, DHB and patient fees) estimate is now $3.5m vs $4.3m in April ’10 – why has this gone down? Has the government reduced its share? Will they reduce it further in these difficult times?
The amount required from charitable agencies is now set at $1.2m vs the previous $2m, although I do see that they now seem to be encouraging local donations and probably sausage sizzles which they said would not be needed.
Of further concern is who will be paying for the upkeep of the site. I see that the NMDHB always carefully say that they will pay for hospital services – but who pays for the building upkeep…is this going to be another GB targeted rate?
All in all, the plan seems to be a way to get Golden Bay in BIG debt with an increase in local RATES by building a new facility which is not much more than the current separate medical arrangements.
Nicola Basham
Response to Nicola Basham’s letter:
We indicated - in July last year, shortly after we made the decision to build extensions on the community hospital site – the approvals process was complex with a range of interrelated decisions that would take several months.
We have strong support from Health Minister Tony Ryall. In a letter to the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board chair Suzanne Win in September he said: “I am committed to ensuring you receive the support you need to develop an integrated family health centre.” The additional government funding to keep the Joan Whiting Rest Home open until the new health centre is open is testament to that.
The time taken to receive ministerial approval solely relates to land ownership issues, which are complex, partly because the Golden Bay Community Health Centre is the first of its kind in the country and the government wants to make sure there are no precedents which affect other similar facilities. We hope the ministerial approval is not too far away.
The community trust was registered on the explicit understanding NMDHB will join as soon as possible. The trust has been registered so the project doesn’t have any unnecessary hold-ups and can apply for resource consents, finance, charitable donations etc.
The numbers provided to the community in April were working figures, based on the information we had at that stage. They were not final, and the numbers we have now remain interim and approximate.
The $7.3 million figure quoted is the value of the property (not the cost of the building additions) and so includes about $1.6 million in hospital land and buildings, which NMDHB proposes to donate to the community trust as its capital contribution.
The variation in the mortgage numbers ($3.5 million and $4.3 million) reflects the range of financing options. If the community trust raises more money through the sale of properties and from donations, we will need to borrow less.
The community trust would like to keep borrowings as low as possible so we can pay off our debt more quickly and put more money back into local health services. This might even include the possibility of lower patient fees.
Nelson Bays Primary Health will run the centre and pay rent to the community trust. It will get the same income to provide health services (a total of around $5 million) from the DHB, Ministry of Health and other sources, regardless of the size of mortgage, as it is largely based on per-head payments. NBPH pays the trust the same rent (agreed to be up to $545,000 a year), regardless of the size of the mortgage.
The difference between the $1.2 million from donations and $2.2 million we described as community contributions is that the latter figure includes proceeds from property sales.
You can see there is some fluidity in the numbers. The trust could borrow more and raise less from donations, but would much rather minimise borrowings. We can afford the higher mortgage but if we have more equity, we can provide better facilities.
So, yes, we want the community to contribute to the cost of this facility. Several people have already indicated they would like to make cash donations and many others are already donating time, goods or services. As the year progresses we hope many more local groups and individuals will become part of the community’s efforts.
The upkeep of the site is covered by the rent received from NBPH. We have allowed an annual depreciation charge of $189,000 as well as $25,000 of capital improvements.
We still don’t know how much the building additions and alterations will cost. Just as anyone building a house would, we want to optimise the design to make sure there is no wasted space, that the traffic flows work well and that those living and working in the building enjoy the best sun, views and other benefits. There is a simple rule with building: the smaller the footprint of the building, the cheaper the cost.
We are grateful for the support of Tasman District Council to the Interim Management Group in the development of the Community Health Centre. At the same time TDC has indicated its intention to exit its interests in health services in the Bay (ie to sell the property on which Golden Bay Medical Centre is currently sited, on the understanding the proceeds are used for this health project). The financing of the centre has, and will not have, any relationship to rates in Golden Bay.
Golden Bay’s proposal springs from the practical need to upgrade and enlarge the existing medical centre and provide safe after-hours and emergency services, coupled with the recognition that our current 17-bed rest home is losing money and cannot viably operate through its current business model. In addition we, like many communities, have struggled to attract and retain professional health staff.
After much useful local debate, we’ve agreed the most practical and cost efficient site to locate an integrated facility is at the existing community hospital, a relatively modern building.
The concept of an integrated centre recognises that running the three facilities under one roof and with one integrated staff will achieve significant efficiencies, while improving the effectiveness of health services delivered to our community. This includes earlier identification of health problems, better monitoring of chronic health conditions and smarter illness prevention strategies.
It will also make it easier to attract and retain staff; confirmation this health facility will go ahead has already enabled NBPH to hire two female doctors after the local community failed for several years to replace a retiring woman doctor.
Our business case shows the efficiencies of integration – sharing overheads, operating only one kitchen to cater for both hospital and rest home occupants, etc – can achieve staff savings of about 10 per cent, compared to the numbers employed by the three existing facilities.
After putting in more than five years of effort to ensuring Golden Bay the best possible health services, we remain focused on how we can make this project happen, rather than why it should not.
Chris Hill chair of Golden Bay Community Heath Trust and John Peters chair of Interim Management Group.
Edible Flood Relief!
One way in which people and businesses have been supporting flood-affected families of the Aorere Valley is with food and serious meals to help everyone get through the hard work. One donation in particular struck a sweet spot for everyone who was lucky enough to taste them. They’re chocolate chip biscuits, as baked by the Sans Souci Inn at Pohara.
Ferntown farmer Sue Brown reported that “everyone who ate them loved them”, and hoped to get the recipe. Generously, Vera Balzer of Sans Souci has agreed to make the recipe available through The GBWeekly for everyone to enjoy at any time, adding “My thoughts are with the farmers affected by the Aorere flood”. Vera received the recipe years ago from a friend, who took it from an unidentified recipe book. Our compliments to the chef and thanks to Sans Souci. Enjoy!
Oat and Chocolate Chip Cookies
250g butter
¾ cup raw sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
50ml milk
200g chopped dark chocolate
Beat butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add flour, rolled oats, baking powder, milk and chocolate pieces. Put dessert spoonfuls of mix onto a greased baking tray and flatten a bit. Bake at 200° C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with icing sugar.
