Council News – May 2021

18 May 2021

May / June 2021 Council Meetings

18 May 2021

Meeting	Date	Time
Economic Development Committee	Tuesday, 18 May	3.00pm
Council	Thursday, 27 May	1.00pm
Planning and Regulatory Committee	Thursday, 3 June	3.00pm
Community Development Committee	Monday, 14 June	5.30pm
Long Term Plan 2021 – 2031 Submissions Hearing	Tuesday 15 June Wednesday 16 June (if necessary)	9.00am – 5.00pm
Long Term Plan 2021 – 2031 Submissions Deliberation and Decisions	Thursday 17 June	9.00am – 2.00pm
West Coast Wilderness Trail Subcommittee	Thursday 17 June	3.00pm
Council	Thursday, 24 June	1.00pm
Extraordinary Meeting to adopt the Long Term Plan 2021 – 2031	Wednesday 30 June	9.00am

Photo: Pleiades star cluster (Puanga / Matariki)

What’s on at the Library in May & June

18 May 2021

The Library has a range of fantastic events special and regular events. Check out our Facebook page and website for details of all our events and activities. Bookings can be made by contacting the library on library@westlib.co.nz or calling 03 755 6208

Special Events	Date	Time
Digital Upskilling Workshops – Fox Glacier Various workshops focussing on digital skills for everybody, including special workshops for small businesses	Tuesday 18 May Wednesday 19 May Thursday 20 May	2pm – 3pm & 7pm – 8pm 10am – 11am, 1pm – 3pm, 3pm – 4.30pm & 7pm – 9pm 10am – 11.30am
Regular Events
Tea and Tales Dementia friendly book group Registration required	Mondays	10.30 am
Wriggle and Rhyme Storytime Wriggle and Rhyme promotes active movement for babies and toddlers.	Tuesdays during the school term 4 May – 6 July	10.30am – 11.00 am
STEAM Club STEAM Club is a six-week programme for children 8 years and upwards. Registration required	Tuesdays during the school term 11 May – 15 June	3.30 pm – 4.30 pm
Monthly Wellbeing Conversation Group Explore and share the many different ways to become and stay well, in body and mind.	Wednesday, 2 June	11.00 am – 12.00 pm
Justice of the Peace	Thursdays	11.00 am – 1.00 pm
Children’s Book Club A great opportunity for children to meet new people, listen to stories, talk about books and play games.	Thursdays, fortnightly during the school term 6 May – 1 July	3.30 pm – 4.30 pm
Café Books	Saturdays	10.30 am
Ngā Kaikiaki o Tane Become a guardian of our native flora and fauna. Family friendly, all welcome	Saturdays 12 June, and 3 July	2.00pm – 3.30pm
Telling West Coast Stories Online Monthly meetup to contribute to improving the online presence of the West Coast	Saturdays 22 May	1.00pm

For more information about the upcoming events, check out our Facebook page.

Submissions open and roadshow underway

Draft LTP 2021 – 2031

18 May 2021

With the Draft Long Term Plan adopted for consultation, Councillors took to the road last week to speak to our Southern communities about what the Long Term Plan means for them. The Mayor and Councillors thoroughly enjoyed speaking to everyone, and are looking forward to speaking to more residents over the next couple of weeks. They are very keen to hear everyone’s submissions so that they can make the right decisions for the community.

You can check what effect the proposed rates increase will have on your rates in the 2021/2022 year on the Rating Information Database on our website. The Rating Information Database is also available for inspection at Council’s service centre at 36 Weld Street, Hokitika.

The Draft Long Term Plan 2021 – 2031 and Consultation Document are available on Council’s website. You can make your submission here or by downloading the submission form and returning it via email to consult@westlanddc.govt.nz, dropping it into our Hokitika Service Centre or posting it to: Long Term Plan Consultation, Westland District Council, Private Bag 704 Hokitika 7842.

The consultation period runs from 9am, Monday 10 May to 12pm, Friday 11 June 2021.

We look forward to seeing you at one of these community drop-in sessions:

Location	Venue	Dates	Time
Harihari	Harihari Community Hall Main Road, Harihari	Wednesday 19 May	2pm – 3pm
Ross	Ross Centennial Hall 1 Moorhouse Street, Ross	Wednesday 19 May	4pm – 5pm
Kumara	Kumara Memorial Hall 58 Seddon Street, Kumara	Thursday 20 May	4pm – 5pm
Hokitika	Council Chamber 36 Weld Street, Hokitika	Tuesday 25 May	4pm – 6pm

Photo Credit: Westland District Council

Telling West Coast Stories Online

18 May 2021

Westland District Library is looking for volunteers who want to improve the online presence of the West Coast.

There are many ways you can take part, even if you’re not a tech whiz, including: proofreading books, taking photos and uploading them, and researching for Wikipedia articles. Our current group have been photographing headstones at Hokitika Cemetery and proofreading a 1907 beekeeping manual so we can issue it as an ebook.

Everything we do will be freely available for the West Coast community and the world. If you’re interested, come along and see how you could contribute. Ideally, you’ll have a computer, some free time, and a liking for research, writing, or photography (or all three).

We have a monthly Saturday meet-up in the History Room at Westland District Library to catch-up and help each other out.

Photo Credit: Westland District Library

Making Rosemary Wreaths

Anzac crafts at the library

18 May 2021

The library really enjoyed holding Family Anzac Craft sessions last month, it was great observing families spending time together and working together on crafts.

Photo Credit: Westland District Library

Should it be recycled?

18 May 2021

Before you put anything in your recycling bin, take a minute to check if it can actually be recycled. Any items in your recycling bin that are NOT recyclable could mean that everything in that bin ends up going into the waste stream and into landfill. Not only does this reduce the amount of recycling that Council is able to send to recycling centres, but it also costs the rate payer in fees to dispose of the waste.

You will also need to consider the size and cleanliness of any items you want to recycle, as plastic and tins have to be less than 3 litres.

This is what you can put into your recycling bin:

Plain paper and cardboard (anything shiny has a plastic coating so that goes into the rubbish bin).
Plastics that have the number 1, 2 & 5 on them. Their lids have to go into the rubbish bin.
Tin and aluminium cans.

Make sure that anything you put in the bin is clean and loose in the bin.

Glass bottles and jars can be recycled at Council Transfer stations or need to be put in the rubbish bin.

A downloadable poster to remind you of what goes in which bin is available here.

Fox River cleanup complete

18 May 2021

Work to finish cleaning up the rubbish from the Fox River bed began in October 2020 and was completed just after Easter 2021. With funding received from the Covid-19 Shovel Ready pool, a team of workers who live and work in the area undertook the task of removing the remaining visible waste from the river.

Receiving funding for this project allowed Council to employ a team to clean up the environment and return it to a better state. This provided much-needed work that kept people in the communities they had chosen to call home. All visible rubbish was removed from the river bed, with a total of 39 fadges ready to be transported to the Butlers Landfill near Hokitika.

Being able to work in partnership with Fox Glacier Guides meant that the team were well trained and equipped with the appropriate gear to work outdoors and in sometimes poor weather. Westland District Council acknowledges the efforts of the Fox Glacier Guides team, the Fox Community and all staff involved in the clean-up.

Photo Credit: Jenna Pitcon & Westland District Council

Click to the right on the image below to scroll the gallery

Emergency Generator installed at Fox Glacier

18 May 2021

There’s been great news for the Fox Glacier community this month with the delivery and installation of an emergency generator. The Fox Glacier Community Response Group made a successful application to the Community Capability and Resilience Fund for the generator and sundry Civil Defence supplies.

The new generator will provide further resilience to the Fox Glacier Community Centre which has been identified as a potential Community Response Centre following a disaster and the town will soon take delivery of a specially designed emergency supply container, further bolstering resources.

Marius Bron, Community Coordinator for the Fox Glacier Civil Defence team says, “The installation of this generator is one of the final pieces of the infrastructure puzzle needed to support the operation of the Community Centre and will be of huge benefit in a response. A huge thanks must go to everyone involved including Michael & John Sullivan, Fox Glacier Emergency Services Charitable Trust, Cowpower generators, Holmes for Homes and Wire Fox”.

If your community would like information about support for making an application for funding that may become available for civil defence purposes, please contact Lauren Emanuel, Westland Emergency Management Officer: lauren.emanuel@wcrc.govt.nz.

Photo Credit: West Coast Emergency Management

Progress continues on the Arahura Water Treatment Plant

18 May 2021

Factory fit-out of the Arahura water treatment plant continues with most of the equipment now installed.

The prefabricated structure that contains the filtration, disinfection and pumping components is expected to be transported to site in Arahura during July. At that stage the new bore and associated delivery pipework can be connected and commissioning will be carried out in the following months.

Photo Credit: Westland District Council

Inspiring Young People through the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs

18 May 2021

An inspirational careers day was held in Westland in March, with over 500 school students and members of the wider West Coast community in attendance.

Put together by the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs team, the day offered an opportunity to explore employment and tertiary pathways promoted by 23 employers and trainers. The day was also a celebration of the success of the Westland District Council MTFJ programme in supporting 85 employment outcomes and 25 training opportunities for locals under the partnership with MSD.

Mayor Bruce Smith says, “MTFJ has been absolutely unique in connecting our young people with local employers. This programme is just outstanding. You can’t get a better investment than a motivated apprentice, or a young person. Everyone starts somewhere.”

Click here to see a video of what the day was all about.

Photo Credit: EQUIP

Inspiring Young People through the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs