Unless you have lived in another part of the world for the past two or three years, you cannot have missed the problems caused by changing speed limits. The previous government made some very unpopular changes to State Highway 2.
The next Government reversed them, which was good in many people’s minds. However, at the same time the Government prevented councils making some much needed speed limit changes. In particular, there are many roads in the district that in my view, need to have reduced speed limits. Councils are being put through a rather tortuous process to make this happen. If you would like to express a view please do so at https://swdc.govt.nz/news/submissions-open-for-swdc-proposed-speed-management-plan/
In last month’s Star the “Provincial Reporter” compiled an amusing, but also concerning, report on the RAPID numbers along Blue Rock Road and Dry River Road. RAPID numbers are found in rural areas to help emergency services get quickly to where they are needed. I thank the reporter for bringing this to the Council’s attention.
It turned out that there was some confusion. As a result the council, the ambulance service, and the fire service all had a different set of numbers for some properties on those roads. By the time you read this the whole issue should have been sorted out and the numbering should be correct. Let us hope that the emergency service never need to use them.
I like Facebook. It is a way of reaching a lot of people efficiently, which in a spread-out district is very helpful. It enables information to be provided quickly, and it enables me to hear views that I might not get to hear. But every so often Facebook can produce some considerable silliness. And this is what happened recently when the Council announced that it was about to upgrade the Council building on Kitchener Street.
The background to the announcement is as follows: the building leaks and has done so for a very long time. The leaking has resulted in black mould and when that was being investigated, asbestos was also discovered. In my view the building is not a suitable working space, and I thank staff for having tolerated it as long as they have.
One of the silly remarks I read suggested the Council should put a large “umbrella” over the building. I am not sure how that will remove the black mould, which can cause serious infections and respiratory diseases. Someone else suggested that “heads should roll.” I asked “whose head” but never heard back. Possibilities include the original architect or maybe previous Council members who failed to deal with the problem earlier on. Needless to say, these people are no longer around. One resident was outraged that the Council should make decisions to repair the building in committee. All I can say to that person is that no council would discuss a commercial decision in an open meeting because that would undermine their negotiating options. We even had the suggestion to cover up the asbestos and pretend it was not there.
As this Council comes to the end of its term, it will look back on three years largely spent trying to deal with issues where previous Councils delayed making decisions. Fixing the Council’s building is one such decision, added to many more like repairing water supplies and cleaning sewage ponds.
