5 minute read
Jess Foster-Lawrence and Billy
Network Tasman resumes planned network maintenance
As COVID-19 restrictions on business operations have eased, Network Tasman has resumed work on essential network maintenance and upgrades.
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It is important that we continue to invest in our network as we approach the colder winter months. In some instances, this work requires outages on our network. We recognise that these outages can be difficult for some consumers to manage and we are working to ensure the duration of these outages is minimised. It is in the best interests of all our consumers that we undertake planned outages now, to help avoid longer unplanned outages later. You may see Network Tasman vehicles and field staff out working on the network. In line with COVID-19 guidelines, Network Tasman staff are operating under strict social distancing rules. If you are experiencing a power outage, please call our 24hr fault response line on 0800 508 100.
We would like to thank you for your understanding and support during these difficult times.
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A Garin College teacher will be remembered with respect and love. After 45 years as a fulltime teacher, Mrs Sheilagh Ditchfield has decided to leave school for the last time. Sheilagh joined Garin College in Richmond in 2004 as a mathematics teacher after an already long career. “I started teaching 1975, and it was a different world,” she says. “It’s amazing to see the progression. When I started teaching, we weren’t even allowed a calculator in a classroom. And now suddenly we have gone totally remote. It is really interesting.” Sheilagh has been in a variety of roles throughout her career, including senior management, but chose to step back and go back to the classroom in 2002. She began her teaching career in Zimbabwe, before teaching on the West Coast and finally in Nelson. Teaching was always her calling.
“I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything other than teach.” She says she was lucky in her career. “I’m one of the ones who was fortunate – I did what I wanted to do, and I’ve always been so happy with it, and I’ve had a wide range of positions within the schools.” Principal John Maguire says that Sheilagh’s hard work has been a key part of Garin’s success. John says that as head of mathematics, Sheilagh has gained the utmost respect of students, colleagues and parents. “Garin College has benefited immensely from Sheilagh’s extensive knowledge and professionalism. At the heart of every moment in Sheilagh’s teaching and leadership is her desire for every student to succeed in life and learning.” Sheilagh has always believed education to be a calling, a vocation, John says. “It was always about the students - teaching the student – not just a subject.”
Sheilagh Ditchfield, when she began teaching in 1975, and
now, as she gets ready to retire. Photo: Matt McCrorie.
Nelson Matters
544 Waimea Road, Nelson
My work over the last two months has been frantic supporting Nelson through this unprecedented national health emergency. It has involved getting children essential specialist foods, access for families to dying loved ones, permits for people in exceptional circumstances to travel, delivery of food and getting homeless into safe accommodation. My focus has now shifted to Nelson’s economic recovery. Hundreds of Nelson jobs have already been lost. The sectors hardest hit have been tourism, hospitality, retail, aviation and international students. We have hundreds of small businesses in Nelson that have been bleeding cash for two months who are at risk of going under if we do not act quickly and smartly. The Government should be commended on the wage subsidy scheme modelled on what National did to support jobs in the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes. The problem is it runs out at the end of this month. I am advocating for four things to help Nelson’s recovery. Firstly, we need to get Nelson back working with practical rules. I worry that few Ministers have any real world business experience and that excessive rules will just cause more job losses. The Nelson Council went down this path last week starting $200,000 of work on alterations to Trafalgar Street that would have removed dozens of carparks and making a hotchpotch of our city centre. This was supposedly to make it safe for pedestrians despite the latest evidence showing the risks of getting Covid-19 outside from passers-by is negligible. Thankfully a last minute protest by retailers saw Council boss Pat Dougherty put a stop to the work. It’s a reminder that Councils and Government needs to be closely engaged with business. Secondly, business needs help with cashflow. The wage subsidy was just money to pass onto workers. These businesses have still had rent, insurance and many other bills to pay with little income. The Government’s tax relief package for small business is poorly designed and of little help. National’s announced policy this week would put an average $50,000 into each of Nelson’s 3,000 small and medium businesses. Thirdly, we need specific support to rebuild Nelson’s tourism and hospitality sector. Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has been missing in action. We are an attractive domestic destination but it needs strong promotion. We also need to urgently find safe ways to reopen trans-Tasman tourism and the re-entry of international students. My fourth push is for smart Government infrastructure. I was delighted to see Nelson’s new cycle trials so busy last weekend when biking with family to and from Rabbit Island. This $100m national cycleways came from the 2009 Jobs Summit as part of National’s response to the last economic crisis. We also wisely invested millions in insulating over 3,000 Nelson cold damp homes. The Government needs in this week’s Budget to show the same sort of innovation. I am also pushing to get on with upgrading our hospital and highways. Nelson has showed tremendous resilience and unity in fighting the virus. We now need the same determination to save jobs and rebuild our economy. Advt.
