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By Mary Anne Gill

Global automotive and energy company Tesla has approached Waipā District Council looking for space to install a Super Charger electric vehicle site in Cambridge.

The United States-based company has indicated a preference for a 12-park site in Alpha Street, outside St Peter’s Catholic Church.

Tesla would fund all capital and operating expenses in return for the land and a 15-year term with five yearly renewals.

The proposal was discussed by the Cambridge Community Board last night after this edition of The News went to press.

But councillor Mike Montgomerie pre-empted the discussion at the Service Delivery committee meeting on Tuesday when he asked Transportation manager Bryan Hudson for more information.

“Tesla has been asking council and I believe private landowners for the last 12 months,” Hudson said.

The council suggested three of its own sites in Alpha, James and Fort streets.

Hudson said Tesla charging equipment tended to be bigger than other private charging electric vehicle companies, so they needed more space than the ones currently set up in Cambridge.

Council has just renewed a fiveyear agreement with Charge Net NZ Limited to provide two direct current chargers, occupying four public parking spaces: two in Queen Street, Cambridge and two on Scout Lane in Te Awamutu.

Another charger was installed, occupying two parking spaces, at the Perry Aquatic Centre carpark as part of Waipā Networks’ sponsorship of that project.

These are fast chargers, taking about 30-40 minutes to fully charge most vehicles.

Last year council entered a fiveyear trial agreement with Hikotron to provide four alternating current chargers, occupying eight public parking spaces: four in Anzac Street and four in the Mahoe Street carpark in Te Awamutu.

“More and more of these types of facilities are in demand,” said Hudson.

The council would have to issue Tesla with a licence to occupy if the proposal went ahead.

The initial conversation with the community needed to start with the community board. The council had already asked the Chamber of Commerce for feedback too, he said.

Councils across the region had been approached by various providers wanting to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure in public spaces.

By 2035, 30 per cent of the vehicles in New Zealand will be electric, said

How the site could look when charging stations are in place.

Hudson.

“It’s important we touch base with the community and get the best accord we can.”

Tesla wants a 15-year commitment from the council with a five-year renewal period.

A large charging hub in Cambridge could attract electric vehicle users to Cambridge from the Waikato Expressway which could have some financial benefits to local businesses.

In her report to the community board, Transportation safety officer Julie Taylor said this would be contrary to the council’s Transport Strategy aim of reducing the number of private vehicles coming into the town centre.

“Therefore, a hub of this size may not be appropriate in public space.”

Tesla has manufacturing facilities in the US, Germany and China and has operations across Asia Pacific and Europe. Its headquarters are in Austin, Texas.

Shareholders include controversial billionaire Elon Musk, who recently sold billions of dollars of shares to fund his purchase of Twitter, and fellow billionaire, Oracle’s Lawrence Ellison.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 8, 2022 CJD blood ban will be lifted

Cyril Mateum, left, and Steve Dalgety were sharing the good news.

Blood donors who have been turned away in New Zealand if they were in parts of Europe between 1980 and 1996 are to be made welcome again.

People who lived for more than six months in the United Kingdom, France or the Republic of Ireland in those years were made ineligible to donate blood because at that time there was an epidemic of the human variant of CreutzfeldtJakob Disease (vCJD), also known as ‘’mad cow disease’’.

The NZ Blood Service website says people in that category are permanently deferred from donating blood and plasma in New Zealand but “that said, we’re currently in the process of reviewing our vCJD deferral following recent developments overseas to ensure that it remains relevant”.

Australia and the United States did away with the eligibility criteria this year and the site says it plans follow suit – “however, a number of steps need to be undertaken before the criteria can be changed”.

Visitors to the Blood Service site at the Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing Hub at Fieldays were given an update – and told the door will be reopened next year.

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 8, 2022 Land bought for sport

Waipā District Council has bought 6.6ha of land for millions of dollars in Cambridge to be used for sport and recreation.

It comes on the back of an acknowledgement that the town’s winter sport players are bearing the brunt of a shortage of sports parks across the district.

The 6.6ha at 397 Grasslands Drive is adjacent to the giant 3Ms development and has been purchased from Frank and Colleen Ritchie and John Coltman.

The council said the price of the land was commercially sensitive and would not be disclosed. However according to Waikato Regional Council records, the land at that address is 10.3761 hectares and has a value of $5.17 million.

The News went back to the council with several questions including how they would “hide” the price in the annual accounts and how the land purchase would be funded.

A spokesperson said the price would not be disclosed “at the moment”.

“It will not be ‘hidden’. It will be included as a land purchase addition in the Property Plant and Equipment note to the financial statements as required by Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.”

The council will have to borrow the money to pay for the land although long-term it will be funded by development contributions.

It is earmarked for an active recreation area to include a new cricket pitch and oval and two rugby grounds and alongside a new destination playground.

Some of the land will also be used for roads and stormwater drainage needed to support the urban area known as the C2 growth cell. That cell, now under construction on Cambridge Road, will eventually hold 2500 houses. When complete it will include different types of housing, the Ryman Retirement Village, a new primary school and neighbourhood shops.

A Waipā-wide review in 2020 identifying a shortage of sport parks, largely in Cambridge, said rugby and football were hardest hit.

Group manager growth and regulatory services Wayne Allan said the existing structure plan for the area called for sports fields in the housing development. A structure plan is created before any land is developed to determine how an area will look and where everything will go.

“Green space is hugely important and that is recognised in all of our long-term planning,” Allan said.

“Specifically, this land has been tagged for sports fields because council’s community services team has identified a shortage of sports fields in Cambridge, particularly for winter codes. But the area purchased will also allow for roads, swales and other infrastructure needed to support new housing.”

Allan said securing land was the first step in the process - full development of the sports fields would be at least three years away. Funding to pay for the development will be budgeted as part of council’s next 10-Year Plan.

CAMBRIDGE OWNED 100%

Central’s winning team – from left, Lisa Mundell, Jenny Hobson, Janette Mann, Bronwyn McGowan, Raewyn

Bovey, Glenys Carter and Alison Winter.

Cambridge’s Central club has won Bowls Waikato premier women’s interclub tournament.

The tournament, played over two weekends, was for teams of seven from each club, playing fours, pairs and singles. The winning combination will represent Waikato at the national club championships in Wellington in March. Central beat Pirongia in the final after a semi-final win over a Hinuera combination with a history of success in the competition. US glory for BMX riders

Cambridge riders have excelled at the BMX Grand Nationals in the US.

Lily Greenough won the 15-16 years Mixed Open and was second in the 15-16 Expert Girls class while Luke Brooke-Smith celebrated wins in the 13-14 Open and 14 years Expert Boys “It was so good to race with lots of new people and a great way to finish the year of racing,” Lily said.

Cambridge was also represented by Hazel Gardner, Tim Ferguson and Luey Cottam at an event which drew more than 3500 racers from 49 US states and 18 countries to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Grands is a Thanksgiving tradition for thousands of American BMX riders competing in the season finale of their national series.

Professional BMX racers from all over the world, North America’s fastest amateur riders and international riders competed throughout the four days of racing.

It was the 25th year of an event expected to bring in $15 million to Tulsa.

The riders will now enjoy the summer racing on the New Zealand circuit, training at the Cambridge track and looking towards more international races in 2023.

PROUDLY SERVING OUR COMMUNITY FOR 50 YEARS

At Cambridge Resthaven, we’re not your usual retirement village! We are a local charitable trust and that makes us quite different from most retirement villages. We are 100% Cambridge owned, with a community ethos to provide exceptional retirement living options and aged care services to enhance the lives of seniors in our community.

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