Ag June 18 2021

Since Sept 27 1879 Friday, June 18, 2021 $2.20 Settlement plan an award winner P5 INSIDE FRIDAY We asked . and she said yes She said she cares and would do whatever was needed. Well, perhaps this proves it. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, pictured, will return to Mid Canterbury on Thursday next week to check out the district’s flood recovery. Ardern is returning following a special invite from the Ashburton Guardian. And it will be timely, given the finger pointing the Government has faced over its Ashburton flood and beleaguered bridge response. Read more, page 2 Your leading Mid Canterbury real estate Ph 03 307 7900 Teamwork gets results to subscribe! team with over 200 years of sale experience. Ashburton 217 West Street | P 03 307 9176 | E [email protected] Talk to the best team in real estate. pb.co.nz Property Brokers Ltd Licensed REAA 2008 2 NEWS Ashburton Guardian Friday, June 18, 2021 Ute owners in Govt’s sights By Malcolm Hopwood Nearly 50 per cent of Mid Canter- bury vehicle owners could be “hit in the pocket” from 2023. The managing director of Gluy- as Motoring Group, Peter Gluyas, said 47 per cent of local motorists own utes and they’ll be penalised in two years’ time because their vehicles won’t meet emission standards. He said utes are essential on rural properties and the farming community can’t do without them. “The ute market is a tool of trade and farmers require them to get round their farms and tow trailers,” Gluyas said. “They can’t do it with electric Managing director of Gluyas Motor- vehicles. ing Group, Peter Gluyas. “It’s going to hit them in the PHOTO ASHBURTON GUARDIAN pocket when they’ve already been hit by government regula- Mid Canterbury ute owners could be penalised in two years’ time because their vehicles won’t meet emission stand- “We don’t have the infrastruc- tions.” ards. PHOTO ASHBURTON GUARDIAN ture to move that fast. We are a Gluyas said the farming com- small nation and can’t change munity held the local economy period of years to 2028. In the face of New Zealand’s hicles (EVs) registered after July that quickly. together during Covid-19 and “Farmers need more time to responsibility in addressing cli- 1 will get a $8600 maximum kick- “I also have great sympathy for now they’ve been hit again by re- prepare. mate change, Gluyas supports back from the Government until farmers, tradies and the rural sec- cent floods. “What we’re in for is a honey- the Government’s move to direct the end of the year. tor. He agrees that stricter emis- moon period over the next 18 motorists along the electric car “If the Government has an is- “The Government is very neg- sions standards should be im- months when they trade up and route. sue with climate change, this is ative towards them and EVs will posed, but the government must then there’ll be a turn for the “I don’t have a problem with one of their tools,” he said. never do the job on a farm al- stick to the recommendations of worse. that,” he said. However he’s alarmed at the though they definitely have a its own Climate Change Commis- “The Government has ignored Under the scheme owners of speed of how Labour is ramping place as a second vehicle,” Gluy- sion and introduce them over a its own advice.” plug-in hybrids and electric ve- up the introduction of EVs. as said. PM returns to Ashburton: Money on the agenda By Adam Burns veyed flood damage. phase and now into recovery so Ashburton District Mayor Neil what does the recovery look like? [email protected] Brown told the Guardian he had Because the recovery is the ex- not been officially briefed on pensive bit.” Get the cheese scones ready. the PM’s stopover, but that she The Government has initially It has been revealed that Prime would get a better understand- committed half-a-million dol- Minister Jacinda Ardern will be ing of the aftermath of the flood. lars for allocation towards the returning to flood-torn Mid Can- “It’ll be good to show her car- flood-hit agricultural sector. terbury next week, three weeks ing,” he said. The repair bill for the district after the region was battered by “She saw it in the first few days was heading towards the “tens of an historic deluge. of the event, the water was still millions”. The Guardian made enquiries flowing high, the river was still The Labour Party’s Rangitata with her office this week around full, it’ll be good for her to see MP Jo Luxton said last week that an impending return, with a when the river is normal. establishing a better financial chief spokesman confirming “And you can see the destruc- picture was the priority before she would be in Ashburton on tion on farms now the water has more financial reprieve could be Thursday next week. gone.” offered. No further details of her visit Brown was likely to raise the have been disclosed. issue of further relief funding Ardern visited Ashburton on when meeting with Ardern. June 1 – two days after the dis- “There could be some discus- trict went into a civil state of sion about money by then,” he New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, visits Ann-Marie and Chris Al- emergency – where she met with said. community leaders and sur- lens’s farm in Ashburton. PHOTO CHRIS SKELTON “We’re over the response We are open Our three regular pharmacists are 7 days here to help you and look with professional and forward to seeing discreet advice. you. CONTACT US OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 03 308 6733 Monday to Friday 8.30am – 6pm Countdown Complex, Saturday 9am – 1pm East St, Ashburton Sunday 10am – 1pm Friday, June 18, 2021 Ashburton Guardian NEWS 3 Wellbeing focus in recovery er, Waitaha Primary Health, made a By Adam Burns presentation earlier in the meeting [email protected] where support for residents in the wake of the floods was underlined. The wellbeing of Mid Canterbury Waitaha chief executive Bill Es- residents remains the top priority as chenbach told councillors he was community leaders map out flood re- in negotiations with the Canterbury covery plans. District Health Board regarding ad- A draft flood recovery action plan ditional primary health care support report was presented to the Ashbur- for Ashburton residents affected by ton District Council at Wednesday’s the floods. council meeting. He said he was meeting with local The report by council recovery general practices next week. manager Toni Durham said a focus Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown later on personal wellbeing remained just said that everyone had a role to play. as much of a focus as physical dam- “Council has been looking at the age to the district. welfare of people and we’re sure other “While the event has caused signifi- people are too,” he said. cant damage to the physical environ- “But the council’s role is fixing those ment in some areas, the initial focus roads and Environment Canterbury’s of recovery will be on the social and role is fixing those stopbanks.” economic environments. Brown added council remained a “The Welfare and Social Group will support network if residents weren’t focus on co-ordinating welfare sup- getting their immediate needs met. port services at the local level.” “If people aren’t happy they can Council’s ongoing work remained feed that back into us and we can con- big with plenty of boxes still to tick, tact the right organisation so they’re hinted in the document’s executive getting the assistance they need.” summary. “As recovery progressed and more information was gathered, the plan will be regularly reviewed and is likely to become simpler and shorter.” The Ashburton District Council has begun its transition into the flood recovery phase. Canterbury health service provid- PHOTO ADAM BURNS 040621-AB-5494 Forecast heavy rains headed north backed out quite a bit. By Jonathan Leask “It is still looking like a rainy, cold weekend, [email protected] especially on Sunday, with rain across the whole region, but there shouldn’t be any ma- Farmers will be breathing a sigh of relief af- jor flooding in Mid Canterbury. ter the forecast rains for the weekend were The situation could still revert to lining up downgraded. Mid Canterbury, but Voice said “that’s looking There will still be rain to drench an already unlikely”. rain-soaked region still reeling from the once- There will still be rain, but not to the im- in-100-year flooding event last month, but mense scale of the one-in-one-hundred year Canterbury Weather Updates analyst, Russell levels that caused the devastating flooding at Voice, said the forecast for the weekend is no the end of May. longer for the substantial heavy rains in Mid That is good news for farmers. Canterbury. “It’s good news for the whole community “[Mid Canterbury] will escape the worst of really given the fragile state of the river sys- the rain, getting between 10-30mms at this tem,” Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers stage while the Hurunui and Kaikoura dis- president David Clark said. tricts will not be so lucky, looking at around While more rain wasn’t ideal, Clarke said 150mm,” Voice said. “around 20mm is better than 120mm” with Earlier in the week it had been shaping up many farmers still stuck in clean-up mode.

Load more