The Star: May 03, 2018

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Thursday May 3 2018
Fire rages, homes at risk
City cops first out of the blocks on e-bikes
• By Bridget Rutherford
SOME POLICE officers ride
horses – but Christchurch cops
ride e-bikes.
Canterbury’s road policing
team is the first in the country
to test out using e-bikes while
on patrol.
Road policing group officer in
command Senior Sergeant Kelly
Larsen said the team has been
trialling two e-bikes around the
city.
She said the results so far had
been positive.
“E-bikes are being trialled to
help understand the benefits
they could offer such as ease of
responding to incidents in the
central city, as well as extending
patrolling areas.”
She said police officers in
Christchurch, Wellington,
Nelson, Auckland and
Invercargill already used regular
bikes.
“Patrolling on bikes is not new
for Canterbury District as road
policing members have been
using bikes for the past
12 months in the central
city.”
Senior Sergeant Larsen said
patrolling on bikes had proven
to be a valuable tool, as it was
easier to identify drivers using
their mobile phones, and those
not wearing seat belts.
Police had received positive
feedback about both the e-bikes
and regular ones, she said.
“Officers on bikes increase
visibility of police in the central
city and the e-bikes are proving
to be a great conversation starter
with the public.”
The e-bikes being trialled are
less than 300w.
•E-bikes, page 20
Dyson sorry for using Labour crest
• By Sarla Donovan
PORT HILLS MP Ruth Dyson
has apologised for using the
official Labour Party
crest to support a
candidate in the area’s
by-election.
Independent Citizens
complained to the
Speaker of the House,
Trevor Mallard, about a
letter Ms Dyson wrote
to Lyttelton residents,
supporting People’s
Choice candidate
Tyrone Fields’ bid for
a seat on the Banks
Peninsula Community
Board.
People’s Choice is aligned to
the Labour Party.
Independent Citizen’s
chairwoman Liz Lovell claimed
Ms Dyson had used taxpayer
resources to ask for votes.
“This sits
well outside the
purpose and rules
of which their
taxpayer funding is
appropriated,’’ she
said.
Ms Dyson rejected
any suggestion
parliamentary
resources went into
the preparation or
the distribution of
the letter.
But she said the use
of the Labour crest on the letter
was an error.
“It was a genuine error. I
Ruth Dyson
have contacted both the speaker
and the head of parliamentary
services to apologise and rectify
the situation,” she said on
Monday.
“The incorrect letterhead
was sent by digital file to the
campaign team. The campaign
team produced and distributed
the material but should have
removed the crest before doing
this.”
Former board chairwoman
Christine Wilson resigned
earlier this year, prompting a byelection
in the Lyttelton Ward.
Voting papers were sent out
last week and people have until
May 16 to cast their votes.
Robyn Struthers is the
Independent Citizens’ candidate
in the by-election.
in brief
Health websites to
cost more than $45k
More than $45,000 is being spent
updating both the Canterbury
and West Coast District Health
Boards’ websites. The new
websites would be launched
between July and September.
A CDHB spokeswoman said
the project costs to replace both
websites was $45,000.
Scooter riders gear up
for alpine tour
About 250 riders on 50cc
scooters will make the 250km
journey from Christchurch to
Hokitika for the Tranz Alpine
Scooter Safari. The trip over the
Southern Alps to Hokitika is
part of a fundraiser for the New
Zealand Cancer Society. The
ride starts 9am on May 19 at the
Mike Pero Motorsport Park.
Later date likely for kids
fishing event
The annual Take a Kid Fishing
event at the Groynes may be
pushed back to a later date this
year. There were fears the event
could be cancelled due to rapid
growth of the lagarosiphon weed
in the fishing lakes. City council
is hoping to tackle the problem
through chemical control. It
will take place this upcoming
spring/summer season, when
the growth begins again. Fishing
cannot take place for six weeks
afterwards.
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