Council and Community News – October 2022

11 October 2022

Vote 2022 – Preliminary election results

Voting in the local elections closed at midday on Saturday 8 October. The preliminary results include a count of all ordinary voting papers, but not all special votes. The results could change.

Once all ballots, including special votes, are processed and counted the official results will be released. These will be available by Thursday 13 October.

Mayor	Helen Lash
Hokitika Ward	Steven Gillet
	Donna Baird
	Paul (Tanka) Davidson
Northern Ward	Reilly Burden
	Jane Neale
	Ian Hustwick
Southern Ward	Brian Manera
	Ashley Cassin
Development West Coast	Rebecca Pearson

Vote 2022 – Preliminary election results

Council Meeting – October

Inaugural Council Meeting

Thursday 27 October

9.00am

The Inaugural Council meeting will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.

Image: Okarito Rock Tower, Matthew Ringel on Flickr

New Milltown Cycle Shelter

Anyone riding the Kumara to Milltown section of the cycle trail recently will have found a new shelter that has replaced the one that relocated itself during the July storms.

The new shelter was funding by MBIE, which is great news for ratepayers! This site now accommodates commercial operators to pick-up and drop-off their customers. It has toilets for trail users and a comfortable shelter area with a picnic table, seating and a bike rack for 10 bikes.

Centennial celebration 4 August 2023

Ōtira Tunnel

Determined to celebrate and remember the people and times of the construction of the Ōtira tunnel, the centennial planning committee has the 4 August 2023, 100 years since the opening, well thought out and organised.

The day will be busy from start to finish with information panels and a plaque to unveil in Ōtira, cake and ribbon to be cut, organised and guided bus tours to the tunnel mouth, speeches and enlarged photographs and memorabilia to view.

Event updates for people interested in attending are on the Ōtira Tunnel Commemorations 2023 Facebook page and those who know they will be coming can register for tickets at Eventbrite. Included in the $21.97 (including fees) registration price is a packed lunch and the bus trip to the tunnel mouth where historical talks will be given and other entertainment planned.

A book about the tunnel: the journey to develop it, the making of it and the living conditions for families of the day, will be published in time for the centennial. Arthur’s Pass will be holding celebrations on Saturday 5th August with a 1920’s open home, guided walks and stalls topped off with a dance and entertainment that evening. There will also be celebrations in Ōtira on Saturday evening. Keep an eye out for updates and the committee look forward to your presence at Ōtira on the day.

Text supplied by Ōtira Tunnel Commemorations 2023

Image: Ōtira Tunnel opening day, 4 August 1923 – Hoken Collection, University of Otago

10 – 16 October

Cybersmart Week

It might seem surprising, but your personal and financial information is gold to cyber criminals, and they’ll try all kinds of tricks to try and get their hands on it.

The impact of an online security incident can impact not only you but your friends and family too. The good news is, CERT NZ and the friendly bots are here with four easy steps to help you protect your accounts, keep cyber criminals out and take your online security to the NEXT LEVEL.

Strengthen your password game

Long, strong and unique passwords are harder to crack.

Up your online security game with long, strong and unique passwords for each account – 15 characters or more is key!

It can be tricky coming up with strong passwords, so try making passphrases instead – a random phrase of four or more words. They’re easy to remember but hard for attackers to crack. For example, BeastModeNowActivated

How to create a good password

Take it up another level: Keep your passwords secure, with a password manager – it’s like an online vault that keeps all your logins in one secure place. That way you online need to remember one strong password – what could be easier?

Find out more about password manager.

Power up by turning on two-factor authentication

Keep attackers out of your online accounts with a second layer of defence.

Double down and protect your online accounts from attacks with two-factor authentication (2FA). It’s like a secret key for your online accounts that’s used on top of your password.

It’s usually a unique code sent to your phone or taken from an app that only you have access to. Having 2FA turned on means even if an attacker gets your login details, they still won’t get in.

Turn on two-factor authentication

Update to full strength

Activate auto updates on apps and devices to dodge security weaknesses.

Updates help keep your apps and devices healthy. Updates aren’t just about getting the latest features available on apps and devices, they also protect you from any weaknesses that could let attackers in. The easiest way to do this is by going to settings and turning on automatic updates – then you just let it do its thing.

Update your devices and software

Boost your privacy defence

Switch social media settings to private to protect your personal info.

Your personal information is gold for attackers. Make sure your social media privacy settings are switched over to ‘Private’ or ‘Friends only’ – this way, you can control who sees what information you share and who you’re sharing it with. This not only protects yourself, but also your friends, family and followers from scams.

Protect your privacy

Report it

If you, or someone you know, experiences an online security incident, report it to CERT NZ. They’re here to help New Zealanders protect and recover from online security threats and incidents.

www.cert.govt.nz/report

Text and images provided by Cert NZ: CERT NZ’s official Cyber Smart Week page: www.cert.govt.nz/cybersmartweek

Lots of activity at the Westland Industrial Heritage Park

At our recent meeting, we decided that we will continue to open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays and the Mudfish Bush Railway will operate on Saturdays. We will also consider openings by appointment and extra opening during school holidays and holiday weekends if we have members available.

Our application for funding from the government Regeneration fund was unfortunately unsuccessful. Our team leaders are reviewing budgets so that we can make further applications to other funders.

In the meantime, some work continues in the Livery with restoration work. The plans for a major upgrade when the boats are moved out are progressing.

Members have been busy sorting, tidying and cleaning around the Park. We have a lot of old equipment around and it is a constant battle to try to keep, protect and repair things or decide that we really must throw them in the scrap!

Four small children with a wire coat Jack Russell dog. — The children are entertained by Chip – one of our Livery staff!

If you hadn’t noticed, the Mudfish Bush Railway encircles a wetland that has developed over the years after the area was logged. Our biodiversity project, funded by the Department of Conservation over several years to develop and enhance the wetland, is coming to an end with the two final information panels to be constructed.

We have also been busy with landscaping and planting with Rooney’s Lookout now a real picture giving a great view over the Park and to the mountains.

The Heritage and Learning Centre has also had a big tidy-up. Maria has added to her collection of sewing machines and looms with an historic costume display.

We recently had a visit from our friends from Halswell with their locomotives. The visiting public enjoyed the day – the children all seemed to want to ride with every different locomotive. We also had an evening run that was also well patronised. The bad news for railway fans is that our Licence to operate has lapsed. The audit of our operation has been completed and our application to renew the licence will go to WorkSafe in the next few days. We hope to be up and running again soon.

Our admin team have been busy as usual with funding applications and also liaison with the Museum staff including the preparation of information panels for the Heritage Walkway around the town.

This report usually ends with an invitation to visit the Park and an invitation for people to join us. It is a pleasure to note that we have welcomed 13 new members to our ranks in the last month!

If you are interested in becoming a member please get in touch:

Email: wihpark@gmail.com

Phone: 027 629 1935

Website: http://www.rustyrelics.co.nz

Address: 9 Brian Waugh Lane, Hokitika 7810

Text and Image of Chip and children supplied by the Westland Industrial Heritage Park

Lots of activity at the Westland Industrial Heritage Park

Swimming Pool Fencing

If you are thinking about installing a swimming or spa pool this summer make sure that you understand the rules. Speak to our Building Control officers to find out more.

Swimming Pools and Spas Pools require a building consent to install. This will require a pool fence to comply with the Act. “Pools” are all pools that have the capability of water depth greater than 400 mm
Gates or doors entering the immediate pool area must have self-closure devices.

You can view a handy checklist on our website.

Photo by Marty O’Neill on Unsplash

Funding for community Christmas decorations

Expressions of Interest are invited from community groups or organisations within Westland to apply for a share of $10,000 to fund street decorations for Christmas 2022. This is a great opportunity for the smaller towns in the district to purchase decorations for their town.

Expressions of Interest can be sent to:

Westland District Council, Private Bag 704, Hokitika 7842 or emailed to communities@westlanddc.govt.nz

The closing date for applications is: Friday 21 October 2022

Photo by Mario Mendez on Unsplash

Funding for community Christmas decorations

Information for Incorporated Societies

In April 2022, the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 was passed. Although these law changes largely impact incorporated societies, some charitable trust boards are also affected.

This table summarises the key changes. For more information visit the Companies Office website.

Topic	1908 Act	2022 Act
Minimum number of members	15	10
Internal disputes	No requirement to have internal dispute resolution procedures	A society must have adequate dispute-resolution procedures, and these must be specified in its constitution
Committee requirement	Committee not required	Must have a committee of at least 3 members
Independent members of the committee	N/A	Unless regulations¹ prescribe otherwise, the majority of the committee must be society members
Concept of an officer	Not explicitly defined	Includes all committee members, as well as others, for example, treasurer, CEO
Officers’ duties	Duties are not clearly articulated	Six broadly expressed duties modelled on directors’ duties in the Companies Act 1993 to: Act in good faith and in the best interests of the society Exercise powers for proper purposes only Comply with the Act and the constitution Exercise reasonable care and diligence Not create a substantial risk of serious loss to creditors Not incur an obligation the officer doesn’t reasonably believe the society can perform
Annual General Meeting (AGM)	No guidance	Must be held within 6 months of the society’s financial year-end
Financial statements filed with Registrar	Must be filed annually	Must be filed within 6 months of the society’s financial year-end
Annual return	No requirement to file an annual return	Must be filed annually as outlined in section 109
Manner of preparing financial statements	A society is not required to apply XRB accounting standards, unless it’s also a registered charity	Only a ‘small society’ not registered as a charity is exempt from using XRB accounting standards
Distribution of surplus assets² after winding up	Surplus assets can be given to any party	Surplus assets can be given to any party
Amalgamations	No legislative framework for amalgamations of 2 or more societies	Amalgamations can take place as outlined in the Companies Act 1993, but follow a more simplified process
Criminal offences	Generic offences set out in the Crimes Act 1961	Six offences that target egregious conduct including: Making false statements Fraudulent use or destruction of property Falsification of documents Defrauding of creditors Improper use of ‘incorporated’ or its Te Reo version ‘manatōpu’ Breaching of a banning order

This information is sourced from the Companies Office.

Phasing out hard-to-recycle plastics

Plastic is one of our greatest environmental challenges. It regularly ends up as waste in our landfills, our moana and whenua. Difficult to recycle packaging and products can interfere with our recycling systems and are often used only once before being disposed.

From 1 October 2022 it will be illegal to provide, sell or manufacture certain hard-to-recycle and single use plastic products in Aotearoa New Zealand. These are:

Single use plastic drink stirrers
Single use plastic cotton buds
Plastics with pro-degradant additives (eg. some bin liners, dry cleaning bags and pet waste products)
PVC food trays and containers used for products including meat, fresh produce or baked goods
Polystyrene takeaway food and beverage packaging (eg. takeaway containers and cups)
Expanded polystyrene food and beverage packaging including food serviceware and grocery products (eg. instant noodle containers).

Website guidance for the October plastic phase-out is now live. The guidance includes a description of the banned products, and information about exemptions and suggested alternatives.

Plastic phase-outs: guidance for sellers and manufacturers of products banned from 1 October 2022

Shifting away from hard-to-recycle and single-use plastics will help reduce plastic waste, improve our recycling systems and protect our environment. Further plastic bans are expected to come into force in 2023 and 2025. For an overview of the products included in those bans see Phasing out hard-to-recycle and single-use plastics.

Text and image: Ministry for the Environment