www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
THE VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY 24/7
GALAXY SURPRISE TAKING ON FOR NANA JACKSON THE BEST p2 p3 www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
Guardian
Ashburton
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
Farmers first in line for benefits
Looking for a builder with a little more experience? 4 Housing 4 Commercial 4 Farm
Contact Des anytime for an obligation free quote.
Phone 03 308 9936 or 0274 323 258
Home delivered from
90c Casual $1.20
Red Checkers in Ashburton
By Michelle Nelson Changes to a conservation order that will allow water stored in Lake Coleridge to be delivered to irrigation schemes, are unlikely to raise environmental concerns, retired hydrologist John Waugh says. The amendments to the Rakaia River Water Conservation Order, announced yesterday, will allow electricity company TrustPower to release water stored for hydro generation in Lake Coleridge, to irrigation schemes when river flows are low. TrustPower, which applied for changes to the National Water Conservation (Rakaia River) Order 1988, can now apply for resource consent to construct a canal from the lake to link up with the Central Plains irrigation scheme. Plans are in place to install several small hydro power stations on the canal. Last year, ECan adopted the recommendations of independent hearing commissioners supporting the amendments; however, the final decision was left to Environment Minister Amy Adams. Farmers on the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation Scheme will be among the first to benefit from the decision. With increased confidence in the water supply, farmers will have the option of intensifying their existing operations, or expanding into high value crops, vegetable production,
Lake Coleridge is to play a major storage role and is a key component of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy. lamb finishing or dairying. Mr Waugh, who is also a member of the Ashburton Forest and Bird committee, said the environmental impacts of releasing water from the hydro lake were likely to be minimal. “The changes will allow stored water, which complies with existing orders, to be released from Coleridge into the river, where it can be treated as a separate block of water,” Mr Waugh said. “Ecological effects should be rela-
tively minor; it will probably be damned hard to measure them at all – but time will tell.” “If you can get your head around what they are trying to do, making better use of Coleridge makes sense. Coleridge was made by glaciers and recharges itself. “There may be some fluctuations up and down the river, but these are generally naturally occurring storm surges. “The mean flow of the Rakaia is about 200 cumecs (equal to one
cubic metre per second), which drops down to less than 100 cumecs when the river is low. “Between 30 and 40 cumecs go through Coleridge – which is far less than half the river volume at low flow – therefore it is unlikely have detrimental effects on the river.” ECan commissioner David Caygill said the use of Lake Coleridge for irrigation storage was a key component of the Canterbury Water Management Strategy.
Speeding ticket rise hard pill to swallow By Sam Morton Ashburton police officers issued a mountain of speeding fines last year, but the district’s top cop is making no apologies for the 4307 tickets given out. Recent traffic figures, obtained by the Guardian, reveal a steep increase in speeding tickets over two years. More drivers were caught speeding on both open and urban roads last year, compared to the previous year’s total of 3037. On average, police gave out more speed related tickets each year, with the exception of 2010 when the figure totalled a fiveyear low of 2690. However, last year’s total of 4307 was a hard pill for police to swallow – suggesting the safety messages are still not getting
through to motorists in the area. Mid-South Canterbury area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said while police gave out more infringement notices last year, it may reflect the increased police presence on all roads throughout Ashburton. “The level of enforcement has increased in the last couple of years, but it still doesn’t appear the message is sinking in, just yet,” Inspector Gaskin said. “It is sad we are giving out more tickets for most years, but until we can get people to understand the seriousness of their offence, we will continue to put the pressure on speeding motorists.” Inspector Gaskin believes a rapid attitude change is required to bring the figures down, with a recent national report revealing more than one third of New Zealand drivers speed on open
roads. “You hear all sorts of excuses, but until we can get drivers to realise that speeding really is dangerous and that it doesn’t save time, then it’s always going to be an issue,” he said. “We know that fining the driver on the spot doesn’t necessarily have much of an impact on them, but what we also know, however, is that it does affect the behaviour of other drivers in the area, who see us out there doing our job – and often they will slow down.” Meanwhile, more than 1000 drivers in Mid Canterbury were snapped by stationary speed cameras last year, all exceeding 50kmh. In 2011, only 707 drivers were caught, compared to 1138 in 2010, 708 in 2009 and the fivetime high in 2008 of 1710 – all captured by a speed camera.
DEMERITS If you get 100 or more demerit points within two years, you will be suspended from driving for three months. There are no demerit points for speed camera tickets. 1-10km/h = 10 demerit points 11-20km/h = 20 demerit points 21-30km/h = 35 demerit points 31-35km/h = 40 demerit points 36km/h and above = 50 demerit points 41km/h or above = instant suspension of licence
SPEED TICKETS ISSUED IN DISTRICT FROM 2008-12 Speed limit 50 Open (100)
2008 1022 2188
2009 1236 2351
2010
2011
790 1900
1104 2203
2012 1510 2697
photo otago daily times
With the Red Checkers in attendance, there’s bound to be a spectacular display at the Ashburton Airport on Saturday. By Sue Newman All eyes will be focused on the skies over Ashburton Airport on Saturday when the aerobatic team the Red Checkers turn on an aerial display. The team of crack pilots will be flying over Ashburton during the Ashburton Aviation Museum’s biennial Great Plains Fly In. This event has cemented itself in New Zealand’s sport aviation diary as a must attend event and attracts large numbers of pilots and their aircraft from all corners of New Zealand. Spokesman for the aviation museum, Keith Pickford anticipates the event will attract record numbers of aircraft this year, with indications more than 100 will be on the airfield. Aircraft will start arriving on
Thursday with most flying home on Sunday. During Saturday’s show, aircraft will be judged over a range of categories. Several aircraft owned by Ashburton pilots will be part of the line-up. Members of the public will be able to get up close to check out the planes and talk to their owners during the day as well as watching many in action in the sky. While the weather will dictate the final number of aircraft arriving, the forecast is good and this year’s event is likely to see many aircraft lined up on the field by Friday afternoon, Mr Pickford said. “Saturday will be great viewing for the public, particularly with the Red Checkers here, it’ll be great spectator viewing all day,” he said. There will also be an oppor-
tunity to talk to Red Checkers team members after their aerobatics display. The current Red Checkers team is made up of senior instructors from the RNZAF’s Central Flying School and Pilot Training Squadron. They fly the highly manoeuvrable New Zealand built CT-4E Airtrainer and perform a wide range of formation and solo aerobatics. The team traces its history back to the late 1940s in Wigram, and has been flying under the Red Checkers name since 1967. In addition to their full-time positions during the week, the team flies most weekends from January through until May, performing at up to 25 airshows and events around the country The Ashburton display will take place at 11.30am over Ashburton Airport on Saturday.
Source: New Zealand Police
Whether you need help with a single room, or want a total interior design concept for your home or business, we can help you to achieve the look you are after.
Carpet / Tiles / Curtains / Beds
25%FloorOFF ALL TILES tiles from 24.95/m2
Today’s weather
HIGH LOW
18
East to Burnett Street Ashburton Phone 308 5269 Good morning New Zealand www.redmonds.co.nz www.bedrus.co.nz
9