We had two “Meet the Community Board” sessions in April – One at the Waihinga centre and for the first time a session was held at The Land Girl in Pirinoa. (Thank you Andrea) It was great to get out and engage with the rural community and listen to their concerns. A major concern was the road out to Cape Palliser and future funding. The council are working on a date to hold a meeting at Ngawi to discuss this.
If you have a suggestion of a time and location for one of our sessions, please let us know. Alternatively we could attend a meeting of your local group, just reach out to anyone of us.
In response to concerns raised at recent sessions regarding footpaths the mayor put his hand up to ride a mobility scooter so he could see for himself issues faced by those less mobile. Talking about it is one thing but experiencing it gives a whole different perspective. (Thank you to Bruce at Kitcheners for the loan of a scooter) Ted Colenso did a great job taking Martin around and pointing out some of the hazards. If you are out and about walking look out for potential difficulties, potholes, tree roots, encroaching hedges etc. If you see anything report it to the council. They cannot fix something they don’t know about. Parents with prams, wheelchair users and children on scooters are also affected by the poor quality of our footpaths and roads.
The first meeting for the year of the Considine Park User Group was held in April. We are so fortunate to have this green space close to the centre of town. The swimming pool is a real asset during the summer. Now the season is over a maintenance schedule will be collated by the amenities team. There was a discussion about heating the pool. This would be amazing but would require some very creative funding initiatives.
Charlotte Harding was able to bring us up to date with the Pump track. Fundraising is difficult just now, but every little bit helps. If you have any ideas how to support this, I am sure The Marty Pump Track team would love to hear from you. Contact NZLOTTIE@hotmail.com.
Well done everyone who took the opportunity to order water storage tanks via the council during April (if you missed the cut off date contact them, they can add you to the list). This month to “Get Prepared” Take time to create an emergency plan for your household, a template for this can be found on Wremo.nz. We have a lot of commuters who may be separated from their families. Make sure you have made plans for children and pets should this happen.
Did you know If you would like to be kept informed about what is happening and prefer not to rely on Facebook you can sign up at the council to receive updates via email. You can select the topics of interest and the communication team will do the rest – https://swdc.govt.nz/your-council/subscribe-to-meeting-news-notifications/.
Look out for our next pop in sessions – or contact us via FB or email angela.brown@swdc.govt.nz
