Upcoming Council meetings – February/March 2023

Happy tails – Jax gets a good home

In January Dog Control received information from the public about a dog assumed dumped down at a remote part of the beach in Hokitika. The dog had been seen chasing a ute earlier in the week, but when community members kept seeing it without an owner they realised that something was wrong. The power of social media was put into action to try and find the owners of the nervous dog who was too scared to go near kind people who were leaving him food. Once Clare Lomax, the Animal Control Officer received an official report she set out to collect him.

“On arrival, the dog, now named Jax, was happily playing with the finders’ dog and another visiting dog but was still very afraid of the two-legged people around. Armed with a bag of dog roll I soon persuaded him that not all people were scary and he was soon on his back having tummy rubs.

He was popped into the truck and taken back to the pound for checks to be carried out. Sadly no microchip was found and he didn’t have a collar or any other identification. He appeared to be healthy and was just nervous. The local police and vets were contacted in case of a missing person, accident or recognized by the vets but sadly this did not result in finding his original owner. After a holding period of seven days, Council was able to look for a new home for Jax.”

Following the social media interest, there were plenty of people who wanted to know what would happen to this beautiful boy.  Over his week with animal control Clare worked with him, taking him on walks and introducing him to other dogs and places. “He was such a superstar,” says Clare.

During this time a lovely couple asked if he wasn’t claimed please could they be considered to be his new humans. They brought him blankets, toys and treats, knowing that if his owners did turn up, he would have to return to them.

His original owners were not found and no one claimed him, and Jax now has a new forever home with a big brother to show him the way.

“It’s so nice to be able to write a happy ending for Jax,” observes Clare. “Not all dogs have such an ending with pounds and shelters overflowing with unwanted pets right now. So if you are thinking of getting yourself a new member of the family please take time to contact your local rescues and pounds. There’s some very special animals that would love to go home with you. And if you already have a pet, please neuter them to help reduce the number of unwanted or homeless animals. Many charities will help you with the cost if you contact them.”

Jax on the right with his new brother.

Photo Credit – WDC

Census 2023 – All of us count

The next census will be held in early 2023. Census Day is Tuesday 7 March 2023.

The census is a nationwide survey that happens every five years. Every person who is in the country on the night of Tuesday 7 March 2023 will need to do the census.

By taking part in the census, you help create a better understanding of your community and what it needs. People’s responses are combined to produce statistics that provide a picture of life in Aotearoa New Zealand and how it is changing. Your identity is kept private and confidential.

Iwi, community groups, local and central government, and businesses use this census information to make decisions about funding and providing services that affect you, your whānau, and your community.

Stats NZ is doing some things differently for the 2023 Census. There will be more census collectors and more assistance for people who want help filling out their census forms. You will have more choice about how you take part too. You will be able to fill out census forms either online or on paper, and there will be more alternate formats to support disabled people.

Stats NZ will deliver instructions about how to do the 2023 Census to every place where people live or stay. Look out for these instructions from February 2023.

Face-to-face census support locations will be available to assist people to complete their census forms, either on paper or online. Visit them at:

To learn more about the 2023 Census, visit the Census website.

Image and text – Stats NZ

GorseBusters 3 – We missed a bit

GorseBusters is an annual, Kiwi-as, week-long working bee, clearing gorse, rubbish and anything else we don’t like from around the shores of the beautiful Ōkārito Lagoon.

Good buggers from all over the country get fed, led, equipped, housed and entertained to help look after this awesome backyard of ours.

GorseBusters only works due to the goodwill and support of locals from up and down the West Coast, who help provide what’s needed to make this work happen.

Any help with feeding hungry volunteers, driving boats to drop off the GorseBusters on the lagoon, or just getting out and helping us deal to some gorse will be greatly appreciated.

Keen to come to help out? Just get in touch on 03 753 4014 or through gorsebusters@okarito.co.nz

Monday 27th March to Saturday 1st April 2023 – it’s no joke!

Images and Text – GorseBusters

Westland Industrial Heritage Park prepares for a big year in 2023

Between Christmas and New Year we did some fairly major modifications to the railway thanks to some great help from our friends from Halswell. That allowed us to see out last year and welcome in the New Year with a great day on New Year’s Eve. We think it was the busiest day we have ever had with lots of visitors enjoying a sausage sizzle, all our displays, tractor/trailer rides and day time and evening train rides.

Since then we have picked up our various projects where we left off before Christmas but have been pretty quiet on the visitor front. We are looking at ways to make sure people, visitors and locals, know where we are and what we do. So if you have visitors please let them know about us and encourage them to visit. Check us out on Facebook.

We have received some really good news recently. We have had confirmation that our application for a grant from the Government “Better Off” fund, has been successful. There are two projects. One is to build a new Maritime Centre that will house our collection of boats and allow us to expand and develop a marine-themed display. We also need a building to house some of our bigger vehicles like the big Mitsubishi Fire Engine. This will adjoin the Museum of fire which has, itself, had a recent facelift.

WIHP is looking forward to another busy and successful year. We hope the disruption of Covid continues to reduce. We have a big weekend planned for Easter with additional Railway opening, sausage sizzles and you can talk to our members and check out the progress on our other new and existing projects.

If you like what you see, come and join us.

Text – Westland Industrial Heritage Park.

Photo by Mauro Sbicego on Unsplash

Do it online with WDC

Online forms are available on our website to make transactions quicker and easier for Council’s customers. Use is increasing as we add more forms for different functions of Council. We have recently added a form for Manager’s Certificate Renewal and a form to request to speak in the public forum at a Council or Committee meeting.

If there are any online forms that you would like available to use, please get in touch so that we can prioritise what new forms to add.

Well-read Westland

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Westland District Library’s Beanstack Summer Reading Challenge online. 260 badges were earned and a massive 25,292 minutes of reading were logged by participants. Prize winners will be contacted and prizes can be collected from the library.

If you got behind in your recording over the summer and your child would still like to complete the challenge pop into the library and staff can help you record their reading and award them with their certificate.

Check out the Westland District Library’s What’s On page for details of the programmes and events happening at your library.

Remote users scheme – support for internet connectivity

The Remote Users Scheme (RUS) is focused on increasing the availability of broadband connectivity in rural and remote New Zealand.

Digital connectivity programmes have worked to cover large parts of Aotearoa including many small communities, but there are still more remaining to be covered. These are some of the most remote areas and people across the country and are difficult to find a solution for.

Through the Remote Users Scheme, eligible households and communities in Aotearoa’s most remote areas – where broadband is not currently available and there is only access to voice calling and text services – will be able to apply for support. The Scheme will also be available in rural areas with poor internet coverage.

The first phase of RUS aims to provide a broadband internet service to an area by extending existing networks. Those still without coverage after this has been done, may be eligible to receive a one-off grant of up to $2,000 towards set up and installation costs of a suitable broadband solution.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the RUS, applicants should:

Have a principal residence in a rural or remote area. This could include:

• Owner occupied dwellings
• Multiple principal residences on a single property
• Tenanted dwellings
• Farmhouses occupied by share farmers (usually under a “right to reside” arrangement)
• Occupied dwellings on Māori land.

Not be capable of receiving a commercial broadband service or have a poor service. This will include both existing and planned coverage (if any) in the area.

For more information and to apply visit the Crown Infrastructure Partners website.

Text from Crown Infrastructure Partners

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash