Ashburton Courier: January 14, 2021

NEWS
Ashburton Courier, January 14, 2021
Busy year ahead for
Ashburton council
Happy New Year, everyone.
Ihope you enjoyed a
refreshing break over the
holidays ready to take on
another year; one which we
all hope will be alittle more
normal than the last.
On the council front, there
is alot on our agenda from
major infrastructure
projects right through to
advocacy and research on
some key issues for our
district.
With the new wastewater
pump station and
underground pipeline across
the Ashburton River now
complete, council is moving
on to our next big wastewater
project to help future­proof
the town.
We are set to receive
government funding as part
of the three waters reform
programme to help install a
new sewer relief system that
will be built to increase the
capacity of our wastewater
services.
This project will begin
shortly in north­east
Ashburton and at the site of
the recently installed river
crossing pipeline, which the
new sewer relief pipe will
connect to.
The year 2021 is hugely
significant for the Ashburton
Library and Civic Centre as
construction is set to begin.
Late last year, Naylor Love
were confirmed as the
preferred contractor for the
build after an open tender
process. Detailed contract
negotiations are now under
way.
Roading will continue to
be abig focus of our services
this year and our new fiveyear
maintenance contract is
now under way with HEB
Construction.
ACL have also been busy
this summer period
resealing several roads as
part of their new two­year
resurfacing contract.
We are very excited to now
be in the second and final
year of the Ashburton town
centre upgrades, with work
now starting on East Street.
Final touches will be made
to Tancred Street towards
the end of this month and
work will be continuing on
Burnett Street as well,
including underground
pipeline installations and
footpath construction.
As you might be aware, one
of the council’s big
considerations this coming
12 months is around water.
The first issue concerns
the Government’s three
waters reform, which is
signalling big changes to the
way drinking, stormwater
27
and wastewater is delivered
in New Zealand.
To put it simply, there is
the potential for these
services to be taken out of the
hands of councils and placed
with new larger governing
bodies, which is avery big
change for the sector.
There will be further
details on this in the coming
months, and the final
decision will only be made
after extensive consultation
with the community.
The second issue is in
regards to the impact of the
Government’s essential
freshwater regulations
adopted in September 2020.
We’ve learned through our
recent economic impact
report that in theircurrent
formthe regulations will
haveahugeimpactonour
local economy.
Council is now moving
forward withproducing a
moredetailedreportabout
how the nitratetargets in the
regulations willimpact our
community, and we will
continue to keep you
updated on our workinthis
space.
There is certainly a
diverse and busy work
programme aheadofusthis
yearand we are eager to
diveinto it.
Keepup­to­dateonour
progress on the council
website ashburtondc.govt.nz
or Facebookpage
(@AshburtonDC).
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MEETINGS
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GENERAL
MEETING
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Thursday21January
2021
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Covid reduces core income, fees
Covid­19 pushed the
AshburtonDistrictCouncil
to a$1.9 millionlossfor the
yeartoJune 30, 2020.
Council’sannual report,
just out, showstotal revenue
was about $5 million below a
budgeted$68.5m.Building
consents andlevies were
down $700,000 and fees and
charges throughfacilities
like theEANetworksCentre
wereabout $600,000 down.
The recreation centre,
museum and librarywere
closed for seven weeks in the
covid lockdownand
patronage was slow to
recover, with May and June
receipts wellbelowbudget.
Subsidies from theNew
Zealand Transport Agency
were $1.7m below budget;
duetothe delay in
completing subsidisable
roading and footpath work.
Operating expensesfor the
yearwere$65.2m, higher
thanthe $59.4m predicted.
Personnel costswere $16.1m
(higher than the$15.7m
budgeted for), depreciation
was $16m (higherthan
$15.6m budgeted for) while
other expenses were $1.4m
greater than expected.
Mayor Neil Brown said
covid had aripple effect on
council business andstaff
worked hard to ensure
essential services were
delivered.
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