Latest news with #WaimakaririDistrictCouncil
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Postal Voting Made Easier With Orange Boxes
Orange ballot boxes are expected to pop up around North Canterbury later this year. Waimakariri District Council deputy electoral officer Sarah Nichols said orange ballot boxes will be deployed around the district in September and October to make it easier for people to vote in this year's local government elections. ''We are still finalising the locations, but we are intending to have more than we did last time. ''With less post boxes around, we want to make sure people are able to have their say.'' She said voting papers from any neighbouring district will be accepted in Waimakariri ballot boxes, ''as they all end up in the same place''. Christchurch-based runs the elections for several councils around the country, including the Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura districts. Nominations open on Friday, July 4, with 35 positions up for grabs in Waimakariri - including mayor, 10 councillors, 24 community board members. In Hurunui, nominations will be accepted for mayor, 10 councillors, community board members in Hanmer Springs and south ward (including Amberley) and the Cheviot Licensing Trust. Nominations will also be accepted for two councillors in Environment Canterbury's North Canterbury constituency. Ms Nichols said there were more than 80 candidates in the Waimakariri district in 2022, with contests required for all positions. ''It will be interesting how many come forward. We are certainly encouraging people from all walks of life and ages to stand for their community.'' She said she hoped recent publicity about online abuse of female politicians will not deter too many people from standing. ''It is certainly a factor for people to consider. Abuse can range from texts or emails, it can be keyboard warriors and in-person and none of it is acceptable behaviour. ''We hope it is a clean campaign with issues being debated, rather than personal traits.'' Ms Nichols said there had not been too many issues with candidate nominations not complying with the rules in the past. Candidates need to submit a passport sized photo with their 150 word profile. The photo needs to be of your head and shoulders, with no sunglasses, no hat and not accompanied by whānau, pets, friends or kissing a baby. Candidates must be a New Zealand citizen. You do not need to reside in the district(s) you choose to stand in - but your two nominees do. If you or your partner hold a contract of more than $25,000 for your local council you cannot stand, unless you have prior approval from the Auditor-General. Nominations close at 12noon on Friday, August 1, and no late nominations are accepted. Once nominations close, you are on the ballot paper, Ms Nichols said. Voting papers are posted out from September 9, with voting closing at 12noon on Saturday, October 11.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Matariki extravaganza a no go
Matariki will be a lot quieter in Kaiapoi this year, with a popular festival and colourful interactive Light Path cancelled due to funding shortfalls. Karl Howarth, the co-owner of BlueSky Events, which organised the event, says it is sad news. This year Matariki falls on Friday, June 20. ''The cost to run these events is over $60,000, and as Matariki is a free community event the funding comes from grants, sponsorship, vendor fees, and by running a ticketed Lightpath event.'' He said he was trying to pull something out of the fire right up until the last minute, but nothing would work logistically. ''Everybody tried their hardest. We were talking to sponsors and they were all keen to come on board again, but we would have had to find extra sponsors which I already know is very tricky. ''The key thing for us this year was the grant funding bodies. ''We applied to a number of them, but we were only approved by a couple so we have a shortfall of around $10,000 in terms of where I would be comfortable in running the event.'' He says that is still way short of actually covering any of the costs of the event as the sponsorships and grants only cover about a third of the costs. ''The rest of it is made up with market vendor fees, and running last year's Lightpath attraction. ''The Lightpath was how we managed to get the revenue to fund the costs of the Matariki festival, but it's a commercial ticketed event and we don't know how many tickets we will sell until the week of the event. ''It's nearly a $30,000 risk hoping we will sell enough tickets from that event to cover the costs of the Matariki community festival, which we don't charge people for.'' Howarth said this year his risk levels are a little bit lower because he has to cover this himself, because BlueSky Events is not a council funded entity. ''My cafe is my only backup along with the contract work we undertake. ''It's just too great this year.'' If he had been successful with a couple more grant applications, he says he probably would have taken the risk. ''We took a big risk with it last year and we know what we could have expected from the Lightpath, but with a couple of funding bodies not approving our requests we just can't take the risk.'' He says a number of community events have struggled this year because of a lack of funding and this is no different. ''We knew that last year and this year things are a lot tighter.'' The funding bodies all say the same thing - they have more applications than they have money for. ''We have a wonderful relationship with the Waimakariri District Council, they offered us funding and we have several grants from them, but we needed more and a couple of grants didn't come through this year, which in previous years have funded Matariki.'' ''This year it put more onus on the Lightpath to fund that and I wasn't prepared to take the risk.'' Howarth says he is already planning for next year's event. ''We know the event works well, we know people love it, and we know the rural community is bouncing back a little this year and that will hopefully flow through to the general economy and then our normal sponsors will come back on board and the grant bodies won't be so overwhelmed with applications.''
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Orange ballot boxes to make postal voting easier in Canterbury district
Orange ballot boxes are expected to pop up around North Canterbury later this year. Waimakariri District Council deputy electoral officer Sarah Nichols said orange ballot boxes would be deployed around the district in September and October to make it easier for people to vote in this year's local government elections. ''We are still finalising the locations, but we are intending to have more than we did last time. ''With less post boxes around, we want to make sure people are able to have their say.'' She said voting papers from any neighbouring district would be accepted in Waimakariri ballot boxes ''as they all end up in the same place''. Christchurch-based runs the elections for several councils around the country, including the Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura districts. Nominations open on Friday July 4, with 35 positions up for grabs in Waimakariri - including mayor, 10 councillors and 24 community board members. In Hurunui, nominations will be accepted for mayor, 10 councillors and community board members in Hanmer Springs, south ward (including Amberley) and the Cheviot Licensing Trust. Nominations will also be accepted for two councillors in Environment Canterbury's North Canterbury constituency. Nichols said there were more than 80 candidates in the Waimakariri district in 2022, with contests required for all positions. ''It will be interesting how many come forward. We are certainly encouraging people from all walks of life and ages to stand for their community.'' She said she hoped recent publicity about online abuse of female politicians would not deter too many people from standing. ''It is certainly a factor for people to consider. Abuse can range from texts or emails, it can be keyboard warriors and in-person and none of it is acceptable behaviour. ''We hope it is a clean campaign with issues being debated, rather than personal traits.'' Nichols said there had not been too many issues with candidate nominations not complying with the rules in the past. Candidates need to submit a passport sized photo with their 150 word profile. The photo need to be of your head and shoulders, with no sunglasses, no hat and not accompanied by whānau, pets, friends or kissing a baby. Candidates must be a New Zealand citizen. You do not need to reside in the district(s) you choose to stand in - but your two nominees do. If you or your partner hold a contract of more than $25,000 for your local council you cannot stand, unless you have prior approval from the Auditor-General. Nominations close at 12pm on Friday August 1, and no late nominations are accepted. Once nominations close, you were on the ballot paper, Nichols said. Voting papers are posted out from September 9, with voting closing at 12pm on Saturday October 11. A telephone dictation service is available from the Electoral Commission to assist those who are unable to read the voting papers. In the event a candidate passes away after nominations close, as in the Port Waikato electorate in the 2023 general election, a by-election will need to be held. By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter ■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Waimakariri Remains On Track For Rate Rise Under 5%
Article – David Hill – Local Democracy Reporter The Waimakariri District Council is expected to stick to its proposed rate rise of 4.98%. Supporting growth by investing in infrastructure is the focus of Waimakariri District Council's annual plan, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon says. The council resumed its deliberations on its 2025/26 annual plan on Tuesday morning, May 27, with staff recommending to councillors to stick with the proposed average rate rise of 4.98 percent. Mr Gordon backed the call and said the draft annual plan was in line with central Government direction, focusing on delivering local infrastructure, core services and ''a responsible rates increase''. The council received 787 submissions, with the bulk being on the council's proposed waters services model, designed to meet the requirements of the Government's Local Water Done Well legislation. ''Residents told us they were happy with the direction we've proposed, specifically supporting investing in our infrastructure as Waimakariri grows and demand for service increase.'' The council has proposed beefing up its own internal business unit to manage water services, despite calls from its northern neighbours, Hurunui and Kaikōura, to join a North Canterbury water services council controlled organisation. Around 97% of submissions supported going it alone on managing water services. ''This support has vindicated the strong stance and time we have spent advocating for better Three Waters Reform that respected local property rights and had assets remain in the hands of the communities that paid for them,'' Mr Gordon said. Staff recommended minor changes to the budget following submissions, including grants of $10,000 to the Rangiora Bowling Club, $3500 to the Waimakariri Public Arts Trust and $8500 to the Ohoka Domain Advisory Board. Changes to KiwiSaver, announced by the Government in last week's Budget, will also have a small impact on the council. The council's finance and business support general manager Nicole Robinson said the changes could be absorbed in the budget, without increasing rates. She said the council planned to spend $89.6m on capital projects over the next 12 months. The Waimakariri district was continuing to experience growth, with 743 consents for new houses issued in the 2024 calendar year, but the council continued to operate in an uncertain economic environment, she said. Inflation has improved, with Consumer Price Index inflation now estimated at 2.2% and the Local Government Cost Index inflation, which impacted on the council, now at 3.3%. Interest rates have also dropped, with the Reserve Bank's Official Cash Rate now 3.5%, down from 4.25% earlier in the year. The council's interest rate from the Local Government Funding Agency is now 3.48%. Deliberations were set to continue this afternoon, with a reserve day planned for tomorrow (Wednesday) if required. The council is due to meet again on June 17 to adopt the 2025/26 annual plan. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
5 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Waimakariri Remains On Track For Rate Rise Under 5%
Supporting growth by investing in infrastructure is the focus of Waimakariri District Council's annual plan, Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon says. The council resumed its deliberations on its 2025/26 annual plan on Tuesday morning, May 27, with staff recommending to councillors to stick with the proposed average rate rise of 4.98 percent. Mr Gordon backed the call and said the draft annual plan was in line with central Government direction, focusing on delivering local infrastructure, core services and ''a responsible rates increase''. The council received 787 submissions, with the bulk being on the council's proposed waters services model, designed to meet the requirements of the Government's Local Water Done Well legislation. ''Residents told us they were happy with the direction we've proposed, specifically supporting investing in our infrastructure as Waimakariri grows and demand for service increase.'' The council has proposed beefing up its own internal business unit to manage water services, despite calls from its northern neighbours, Hurunui and Kaikōura, to join a North Canterbury water services council controlled organisation. Around 97% of submissions supported going it alone on managing water services. ''This support has vindicated the strong stance and time we have spent advocating for better Three Waters Reform that respected local property rights and had assets remain in the hands of the communities that paid for them,'' Mr Gordon said. Staff recommended minor changes to the budget following submissions, including grants of $10,000 to the Rangiora Bowling Club, $3500 to the Waimakariri Public Arts Trust and $8500 to the Ohoka Domain Advisory Board. Changes to KiwiSaver, announced by the Government in last week's Budget, will also have a small impact on the council. The council's finance and business support general manager Nicole Robinson said the changes could be absorbed in the budget, without increasing rates. She said the council planned to spend $89.6m on capital projects over the next 12 months. The Waimakariri district was continuing to experience growth, with 743 consents for new houses issued in the 2024 calendar year, but the council continued to operate in an uncertain economic environment, she said. Inflation has improved, with Consumer Price Index inflation now estimated at 2.2% and the Local Government Cost Index inflation, which impacted on the council, now at 3.3%. Interest rates have also dropped, with the Reserve Bank's Official Cash Rate now 3.5%, down from 4.25% earlier in the year. The council's interest rate from the Local Government Funding Agency is now 3.48%. Deliberations were set to continue this afternoon, with a reserve day planned for tomorrow (Wednesday) if required. The council is due to meet again on June 17 to adopt the 2025/26 annual plan. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
