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Ashburton FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
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Friday, March 15, 2013
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Businesses demand local loyalty By Sue Newman Ashburton business owners have accused the Ashburton District Council of turning its back on local businesses and sending its work out of town. The failure to keep work in the local market has long rankled with business owners and while they may not get the job, they say the least they want is the opportunity to submit a quote. For some, the final straw came
when the council went out of town for its new logo design and for signwriting on its vehicles. Ashburton signwriter Simon Worrall is angry that none of the district’s five signwriting companies were given the opportunity to quote on the vehicle rebranding work. If the locals had been offered an opportunity to quote and had either declined or missed out, they could accept that; what they could not accept was being passed over in favour of an out-of-town company, Mr Worrall said.
“And you have to ask, who did the design work? It seems the council couldn’t be bothered getting anyone here to do that either. I’ve spoken to all the signwriters and they’re brassed off. None of us would mind if one of the others in town got the work, but no one did.” As both a businessman and a ratepayer Clive Watson said the failure to use local business ran counter to the philosophy of shopping locally. “At the very least they should check out the locals first and if we
price ridiculously high, then go out of town. A lot of money has gone out of town with this project. And it happens regularly.” Businessman Kieron Breakwell believes the signwriting contract was just one of many council jobs that have not been carried out locally. “We’ve been told that if the job is under $5000 it doesn’t have to be tendered. What does it matter how much it is, why not keep that money in town, why not support the businesses the council wants
to support them.” Business owners accepted they would not get every job they submitted a quote for, but they wanted the opportunity to quote, he said. “The council should be doing everything it can, everything within its powers to support local businesses most of the time. It’s crucial, absolutely crucial in a small town for people to support one another. To send business out of town, you have to have rocks in your head.” Council chief executive Brian Lester defended the council’s out of
town vehicle signwriting, saying it was part of the larger rebranding, logo design project. Before it went out of town with its logo design, he said the council did look locally, but a decision was made to look elsewhere. Mayor Angus McKay was adamant the council tried to shop locally whenever it could. “The logo company was appointed by a staff member to handle design and the first run of the vehicles on the understanding that the rest would be done locally.”
He gave two examples of the council buying product locally – paper for its printers was sourced locally and travel tickets were bought through local businesses. The council has bands for the value of its work and the way in which prices are to be obtained: less than $2000, staff have specific delegations; between $2000 and $5000 quotes and written orders are required; between $5000 and $20,000 competitive quotes are required. Work with a higher value is put to tender.
New pontiff ‘a voice for the poor’ RDR farmers desperate for some rain
By Myles Hume and Gabrielle Stuart
By Susan Sandys
Photo Kirsty Clay 040313-KC-025
St Joseph’s School pupils (from left) Hannah O’Reilly, Claudia Thomas, 8, Georgina Williams-Freeman, 9, and Harry Dargue, 8, share their knowledge on former pope Benedict XVI after hearing Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pope yesterday. have big boots to fill. “He was also the first Pope to own an iPod and know how to use it,” 8-year-old Henry Hobbs said. Pupil Milli Sullivan had high praise for the role, saying “he has to know the whole bible off by heart”. Ashburton catholic Michael Hanrahan said the new Pope would bring a sense of reality to the faith, but he did not expect there to be huge change locally just yet. “He looks as though he might be quite pastoral, which is what we want, someone who understands the people rather than the rules and regulations.” • New Pope known for his humanity, P7
ONLINE.co.nz
He may only be one day into the new job, but Mid Cantabrians already have high hopes for newly-elected Pope Francis I. Early yesterday, 1.2 billion Catholics were told of their new leader as white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, marking a historic and surprising moment for followers of the faith. Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, who is now the first Latin American Pope, walked on to the balcony of the Vatican yesterday morning (NZ time) as Catholics in Mid Canterbury watched on over their breakfast. Seeing the changing face of Catholicism over his lifetime, Holy Name Parish Ashburton priest Father Geoff Gray said it was a touching moment to see a South American pope, a place he held close to his heart after spending several years working in Bolivia. He hoped Pope Francis I would bring a broad vision to the church. Pope Francis I, the 266th pontiff, is known for living a basic lifestyle, taking the bus to work and devoting his life to the poor. A stark contrast to recent popes who have come from educated European backgrounds. Fr Gray spent eight years of his life in Bolivia, a third world country where he helped poverty-stricken South Americans with infant mortality and health, learning to speak Spanish along the way. “A lot of the church come from third world countries, most Catholics in the world are poor and don’t live in powerful nations. “So he will be a voice for the poor.” Ashburton’s St Joseph’s School has spent weeks brushing up on their papal knowledge, and yesterday’s revelation opened the opportunity to spill all they knew on the former pope and what they expected from Francis I. The youngsters said they were disappointed to see pope-emeritus Benedict XVI leave the role, a man who could fly a helicopter, preferred to play piano over sports and enjoyed his pancakes with ravioli. They said Francis I would
To see more or purchase photos RIGHT: Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who chose the name of Francis is the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mid Canterbury farmers on irrigation schemes are desperate for rain and a rise in river levels as tough restrictions set in. Farmers on the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) are on 50 per cent restrictions, after a prolonged dry period, suffering the worst drought conditions for 13 years. RDR Ashburton L yndhurst chairperson John van Polanen, who farms 690 dairy cows at Winchmore, said farmers were coping as cooler weather and dewy evenings had set in. But they were counting on rain and showers forecast for early next week to fall on the plains, or to at least fall in the district’s upper areas and see river levels rise. The RDR scheme carries water sourced from the Rangitata and Ashburton Rivers to about 380 farmers. If the rain did not arrive, then some dairy farmers could be faced with drying off early. RDR Mayfield Hinds chairperson David Keeley said farmers were coping on the 50 per cent restrictions “sort of okay”. “Our irrigation is designed to be supplemented by rainfall, not replace rainfall, when it’s 50 per cent allocation it just puts that pressure on.” RDR Valletta chairperson Alistair Morrison said lower evapotranspiration levels in the past couple of weeks had led to less irrigation demand, and rain forecast for next week would see a further drop in demand if it arrived. “That will be a godsend to us,” Mr Morrison said. “There’s potential for things to get a lot worse if it doesn’t rain.” Meanwhile, the Valletta scheme was kicking into gear a $30 million pipe and storage scheme yesterday with water being fed into pipes for the first time. RDR chief executive officer Ben Curry said it was normal to have restrictions this time of year, but it was on top of a protracted dry
Ben Curry period. Farmers were going into autumn with low water levels in the rivers and low soil moisture levels. “We are looking to the skies and looking for rain,” Mr Curry said. Meanwhile, the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) scheme has been on full restrictions for four weeks. It sources its water from the Rakaia River, which is also distributed via the RDR. Manager John Wright said conditions were “challenging”. The timing of the dry period was proving detrimental to newly sown crops and later crops on arable farms, and was particularly affecting pastoral farms, especially dairying properties. Farmers were having to change stock diets to work around a lack of grass. “It’s not as serious as some of the North Island areas,” Mr Wright said. This was due to lower evapotranspiration levels here due to cooler conditions. Dairy farmers would be looking to offload cull stock earlier than usual, and some might have dropped to once per day milking. “We are obviously looking forward to this weekend where if nothing else we expect to get river water so we can start the scheme up again and can bank some water in Lake Coleridge.”
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