Celebrating 40 years at Council

Executive Assistant, Diane Maitland (nee Nolan) has just completed 40 years of service with Westland District Council and is happily continuing on in her 41^st year of service.

Diane started work full-time with the Westland County Council on the 11^th of April 1983, having previously worked for 6 months at the Hokitika Borough Council in a temporary position.  On the 1^st of November 1989, the Westland County Council and Hokitika Borough Council amalgamated to become the Westland District Council.

“I started work with Westland County as a Typist Clerk,” says Diane, “and then at the time of amalgamations, I had to apply for a new position at Westland District Council. The role of Executive Assistant is varied and I have previously held other roles in Council, such as the Systems Administrator.”

During that time Diane has enjoyed serving under former Mayors: Durham Havill, the late John Drylie, Maureen Pugh, Mike Havill, Bruce Smith, and current Mayor Helen Lash and the elected members.

“I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to know and working with so many great people – from the Hokitika Borough Council, Westland County Council, through to former and current day Westland District Council elected members and staff.

During that time technology has advanced so much from using fax machines, typewriters, and line flow printers, to Gestetner machines (a couple of which now reside up at the Westland Industrial Heritage Park) and so much more.

I have met the most amazing people who have been the best mentors you could wish for while working in Local Government. I have very fond memories of organising the Zone 5 meetings (Local Government Top of the South) when former Mayor Maureen Pugh was in office. There have been many memorable moments that I have been able to participate in, in the ever-changing environment of Local Government. Working in local government certainly has its challenges, but I go home at the end of every day knowing that I have made a difference and undertaken my job to the best of my ability.

Outside of work, I have heaps of interests that keep me busy – from a lifestyle block to being a Trustee on the Whataroa Cemetery Committee, a Trustee on the West Coast Amateur Sports Trust, life membership of the Westland Mountain Bike (previously being the Secretary of the Hokitika (Westland) Mountain Bike Club for over 20 years), Associate Member of the Whataroa RSA and Committee Member of the Lake Kaniere Scenic Triathlon. It’s such fun to come from a large South Westland farming family and to live and work in Hokitika and marry a Hokitika guy who also comes from a large family.  I couldn’t do what I do, without the unwavering support from my husband Tony, daughter Lucretia and son Brandon and the Nolan and Maitland Families.”

Text: Diane Maitland

Photos: Diane Maitland and Kate Campbell

Westroads keeping people moving

During the storm that hit the West Coast over Waitangi Weekend, slips bad enough to close the road occurred at Bonar Creek, Mount Hercules, and Lake Mapourika. These slips trapped locals and tourists between Hari Hari and Franz Josef.

In events like this, Westroads staff are called in to repair the damage and make the road passable again. It takes a big team effort and staff face challenges from the weather itself, the potential of fallen live power lines, and the difficulty of moving large rocks that can be three times the size of a regular person at 3 – 4 metres high! Despite these challenges, the team of 21 on the 5^th, bolstered to 28 on the 6^th got the highway open by 12 pm on the 6^th allowing the public to get moving and continue their journeys.

Once the initial slip was cleared from the road, stabilisation of the slip and associated drainage work took a further 3 weeks to complete.

Westroads management would like to acknowledge that staff made themselves available and committed to civil defence duties over the long weekend.

Photos: Westroads

Drive Safe West Coast radio advert a finalist

If you listen to the radio on the West Coast, you might have heard the ‘Don’t Drive Distracted’ radio adverts commissioned by Glenys Byrne of Drive Safe West Coast.

In exciting news, Drive Safe West Coast has been nominated as a finalist in the 2023 NZ Radio Awards for this campaign. “Last year we were nominated,” says Glenys, “but this year we have been selected as a finalist. Only three adverts reach the finals so it’s amazing to achieve this. It reinforces that I’m on the right track with the message we are sharing. It is an excellent partnership between Drive Safe West Coast and the three district councils.”

Glenys is the West Coast advocate for Road Safety on Behalf of Buller, Grey and Westland District Councils and receives funding to provide services as the West Coast Road Safety Coordinator. She also actively works with other agencies such as NZ Police, ACC, Crown Public Health, local schools, community groups, and Waka Kotahi to help promote road safety.

Westland District Council Transportation Manger Karl Jackson says, “It’s great to see the road safety messages Glenys puts out on behalf of the group are getting noticed and serves to reinforce the good work being done by all the partners in West Coast Road Safety.”

Congratulations Glenys and good luck at the awards.

Photo: Glenys Byrne

Fire and Emergency – Fire Insurance levy increase consultation

In April Fire and Emergency opened a public consultation on a proposal to increase the transitional levy that provides almost 100% of Fire and Emergency’s funding. Fire and Emergency are proposing a 12.8% increase to the transitional levy component across all levied insurance policies for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, taking effect from 1 July 2024.

Fire and Emergency welcome written submissions from insurance policyholders, their representatives and interested members of the public. Information on this consultation and how to submit a response can be found on the website.

The consultation closes on Tuesday 2 May 2023.

Information: Fire and Emergency NZ

Construction underway on the new Fox Glacier water treatment plant

After several delays, construction is now well advanced on the new water treatment plant for Fox Glacier.

The treatment process involves Membrane Filtration, UV disinfection and chlorination which is designed to provide quality drinking water that meets the new Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules that came into effect in 2022.

Construction at the site commenced in early April. The main skid is ready for shipment from the supplier and other major components have been ordered. The plant is expected to be operational by October 2023. This project is co-funded with MBIE

“After frustrating delays beyond our control, we are pleased to advise the community that there is now progress towards building a compliant water treatment plant. Once this is completed we look forward to being able to lift the boil water notice that we know the community is frustrated by,” says 3 Waters Engineer Martin Ross.

Charging our Future – consultation on electric vehicle charging network

In May 2022, the Government released Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. The plan sets out how Aotearoa New Zealand will meet the first emissions budget for 2022–25 and put us on track to meet future emissions budgets.

The Ministry of Transport need an EV Charging Strategy to provide certainty to all parties about the role government will play in supporting EV charging infrastructure.

This is particularly true given:

• EV ownership is already ahead of projected levels
• the technological environment for EVs is dynamic.

For these reasons, the Ministry of Transport has released the draft Charging Our Future strategy, along with a discussion document, for public consultation.

Visit the website to view the documentation and have your say.

Information – Ministry for Transport