Wednesday, Jan 22, 2020 Since Sept 27, 1879 Retail $2.20 Home delivered from $1.40 THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY Water woes Ashburton Horticultural Society president Trevor Gamblin will be out eyeing up Ashburton gardens soon, escalate alongside other society volunteers. PHOTO SUSAN SANDYS 210120-SS-0013 P2 Gardens to come under critical eye BY SUSAN SANDYS “But I can see with this fine weather idents a Certificate of Merit, deliver- [email protected] we have had, things have gone off a bit, ing the certificates to recipients’ letter Soon there will be people slowly driv- and it’s probably just the lack of water.” boxes. ing around Ashburton and peering The retired teacher lives in Ashbur- Last year the society awarded about into gardens, but don’t worry, they are ton with wife Anne, and the pair are 240 Certificates of Merit. It was the not being nosey. keen gardeners from way back, relying first year the competition was held, Rather the Ashburton Horticultur- on petunias in summer and pansies in following the society ditching its pre- al Society members will be scanning winter to ensure there is always out- vious garden competition which saw their critical eye over the abundance door colour at their home. premier and open grades and a host of of flower beds, the greenery of shrubs Soon Gamblin will be among the trophies awarded. and the evenness of lawns. team of society members dissecting “It relied upon people making en- President Trevor Gamblin said early Ashburton’s residential area of an es- tries and it just got fewer and fewer Finalists indications on the quality of all these timated 9000 homes into eight areas. and got to the stage where we had to measures at residents’ properties was Members will divide into pairs and decide whether to toss the whole thing high. take one area each, and drive around or not,” Gamblin said. found “I think just driving around town and write down the addresses of the with a casual look here and there, homes with garden frontages that P24 there’s some pretty good gardens,” stand out for their attractiveness. CONTINUED P2 Gamblin said. Members will later award these res- Local news for local people Mid Canterbury’s only locally-owned daily newspaper Don’t miss out – villa for sale Ph 03 307 7900 to subscribe! • A relaxed lifestyle • A spectacular location • Fabulous amenities Call Donna Coxshall (Facility Manager) today on 03 307 6140 PHONE 03 307 6140 | 37 CARTERS TERRACE TINWALD, Ashburton 7700 www.terraceview.co.nz News 2 Ashburton Guardian Wednesday, January 22, 2020 www.guardianonline.co.nz Crime inquiry a ‘dead duck’ Gardens to BY JAIME PITT-MACKAY come [email protected] An investigation into a crime spree across the district last year under is being described as a dead duck by police. The crime spree which took place in May last year spanned critical eye five hours, beginning at the Z pet- rol station in Tinwald, before pro- From P1 gressing to Mayfield, Mt Somers The competition had run for and Christchurch. about 60 years in this format, with Ashburton CIB detective Craig many prestigious prizes. Clare said it was frustrating to “We have a cupboard full of tro- not have had any progress on the phies that are no use now,” he said. case. However, members were “It is what it is but I am a bit per- pleased they had been able to plexed that we haven’t had any in- retain some sort of competition with introduction of the new for- formation come forward,” he said. A building was seriously damaged by fire in Mt Somers after a stolen car was set on fire as part mat. And not all the trophies were “Normally somebody says of the crime spree across the district in May last year. PHOTO SUPPLIED something and Chinese whispers redundant, as they still awarded start from there and it gets back to From there, the vehicle carried maging through drawers until he in the second stolen vehicle to prizes for the best display of flow- us and we have a point to go from on to Mayfield, where a police car was able to find a set of keys. Christchurch and has set it alight ers, most outstanding lawn and but none of that happened with pulled in behind the stolen vehi- The stolen Toyota Prado was set after a short pursuit near the best special feature. this case.” cle. alight, destroying it, the carport Christchurch International Air- The new format competition The crime spree began at the Z The vehicle was then reversed it was parked under and a near- port that police abandoned due did not require people to enter, petrol station in Tinwald, where a into the police car, ramming it by shed and vegetation as the of- the dangerous driving of the of- but still encouraged gardening person who was travelling in a sto- and disabling it. fender drove off after stealing an- fender. pride and overall beautification of len green Toyota Prado smashed “It was a very cops and robbers other vehicle. The green Toyota Prado that the town. open the glass door to the store situation,” Clare said. Clare said it was a very distress- was used at the beginning of the Gamblin said it was good to see and stole a large quantity of ciga- Mt Somers was the next des- ing situation for the young couple crime spree was stolen in Meth- the town growing with the poten- rettes. tination for the offender, where in the house and that the decision ven between 1pm and 3pm on tial for more and more beautifica- The offender then travelled the situation took a more serious to set the vehicle alight was a dan- May 23. tion in future. south to Hinds, while being fol- turn. gerous decision. Police believe the offender to be “All the new subdivisions at the lowed by a local security firm ve- The stolen vehicle was parked “The fire is the most alarming a caucasian male who is approxi- moment, if a home is brand new hicle. behind the Mt Somers Gener- part as it could’ve led to serious mately 6ft tall and he was wearing all you see is work in action. It’s the In Hinds, the offender then al Store and the offender exited injury or death,” he said. black pants with Athletics Team next year or two they come into used their vehicle to ram the se- the vehicle and entered a nearby The offender has then trave- and 23 in white writing on the left their own if they are keen garden- curity firm’s vehicle. house, turning on lights and rum- led along the inland scenic route leg. ers,” Gamblin said. But he was not a fan of high fences, not that they would deter competition judges who will most likely peek through a gate if they Further restrictions for Mt Somers water supply think there is a worthy garden be- hind. Residents in Mt Somers are urged ply running out of water for res- working hard to investigate the yesterday (January 20) after no- “All these big high fences to me to restrict their water use to only idents. situation, are regularly monitor- ticing water levels had dropped stop the beauty of the town from essential needs, as the council People connected to the Mt ing water levels, and will contin- dramatically in the source catch- growing,” Gamblin said. has introduced a level five re- Somers supply are advised to only ue to re-assess the supply with ment. He said it would most likely be striction for the scheme, effective use water for cooking, cleaning, a view to easing the restrictions The council will advise when next week that society members immediately. drinking and hygiene purposes. just as soon as possible,” coun- the level five restriction can be would be out in force judging gar- The council is investigating “We are urging residents to cil chief executive Hamish Riach downgraded. dens, and this would be followed the low water levels in the catch- conserve water as much as pos- said. See the council website for by a society prize-giving meeting ment, and is upgrading the water sible to avoid a loss of service to The council upgraded Mt further information on water re- on February 24, to which certifi- z restriction to help stop the sup- the whole community. We are Somers to a level four restriction strictions. cate recipients would be invited. 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