Strath Taieri Community Board

MINUTES

 

Minutes of an ordinary meeting of the Strath Taieri Community Board held in the Strath Taieri Community Centre, Middlemarch on Thursday 23 January 2020, commencing at 5.00 pm

 

PRESENT

 

Chairperson

Barry Williams

 

Deputy Chairperson

Mark O'Neill

 

Members

Blair Dale

David Frew

 

Mike Lord

Leeann McLew

 

Robin Thomas

 

 

 

IN ATTENDANCE

Tom Dyer (Group Manager 3 Waters), Kevin Winders (Chair, Dunedin Railways Ltd) and Craig Osborne (CEO, Dunedin Railways Ltd)

 

Governance Support Officer                  Sharon Bodeker

 

 

 

1          Public Forum

1.1       Public Forum - Shawn McAvinue - Star Newspaper

 

Shawn McAvinue, reporter for the Star Newspaper discussed the regular Community Board article in the Star.  All Community Boards have been allocated eight columns each in the Star Newspaper through to December 2020. 

Mr McAvinue advised that each column would need to be up to 400 words, and that the Board member writing the column would be speaking on behalf of themselves, rather than on behalf of the Board. 

Mr McAvinue asked the Board to provide him with an order of who would do which columns throughout the year.

1.2       Public Forum – Christopher Le Breton and John Bentham (Questioning 5G in Dunedin)

 

Christopher Le Breton and John Bentham spoke on the issue of LED lighting and 5G.

Mr Le Breton advised that the “Questioning 5G in Dunedin” group consisting of 70 members is not anti 5G but it wants more information on the new technology before it is rolled out in Dunedin.  Mr Le Breton and Mr Bentham felt that the public needed more information on how the technology works and what the health risks would be.  There was not enough science to say if 5G was safe or not.  They noted that the technology for 5G is installed in Dunedin, and the new LED lights will interface with 5G.

They asked that the Community Board asks Council to delay any roll out of 5G in Dunedin.

  

 

2          Apologies

There were no apologies.

 

3          Confirmation of agenda

 

 

Moved (Mike Lord/Leeann McLew):

That the Board:

 

Confirms the agenda with the following additions and alteration:

a)      That a funding application from the A&P Society be included in section 7 of the Agenda. 

b)      That item 14, Council Activities be taken after item 8, 3 Waters Update in the agenda. 

Motion carried (STCB/2020/001)

 

 

 

 

4          Declarations of interest

Members were reminded of the need to stand aside from decision-making when a conflict arose between their role as an elected representative and any private or other external interest they might have.

 

 

Moved (Mark O'Neill/David Frew):

That the Board:

 

a)     Notes the Elected Members' Interest Register; and

b)     Confirms the proposed management plan for Elected Members' Interests.

 Motion carried (STCB/2020/002)

 

5          Confirmation of Minutes

5.1       Strath Taieri Community Board meeting - 21 November 2019

 

Moved (David Frew/Robin Thomas):

That the Board:

 

Confirms the minutes of the Strath Taieri Community Board meeting held on 21 November 2019 as a correct record.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/003)

    

Part A Reports

6          Taieri Gorge Railway

 

 

Kevin Winders (Chairperson) and Craig Osborne (Chief Executive of Dunedin Railways Ltd) spoke to the Board about ceasing trains to Middlemarch and the company’s plans for consultation with the Community.

 

Mr Winders explained that the Dunedin Railways Ltd Statement of Corporate Intent requires that it be run as a commercial company.  Along with the train trips, the business undertakes locomotive and track maintenance.  The core business is not profitable, and so options are being considered to improve this. 

 

There have been 19 scheduled train trips from Dunedin to Middlemarch, but these have been making a loss of $120,000 per annum.  Mr Winders noted that the costs incurred included the maintenance of 18km of rail track between Pukerangi and Middlemarch.  

 

Mr Winders and Mr Osborne advised that there will be a public meeting in Middlemarch in February to discuss the ceasing of trains to Middlemarch.

 

 

7          Project Fund Application – Project steam

 

Project Steam Middlemarch applied for $2,800 to assist with transporting a historic 1902 Hillside built passenger carriage and two cattle wagons to Middlemarch from Ocean Beach Railway.

 

Mr Richard Emerson and Mr Clarke McCarthy were available to answer questions on their application.  It was noted that the total cost of the project is $3,114 of which $2,800 was being sought.  The passenger carriage and cattle wagons would belong to the community.  If use of the rail tracks no longer became an option, a static display of the carriage and wagons would still be a great asset to Middlemarch.

 

 

 

Moved (David Frew/Blair Dale):

That the Board:

 

a)     Approves the funding application for $2,800 from Project Steam Middlemarch.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/004)

 

7A       Project Fund Application – Strath taieri a&p

 

Strath Taieri A&P applied for $1,500 to purchase tables for the next A&P show, which will be held on 21 March 2020.

 

The Board questioned the types of tables to be purchased, and whether the storage of the tables had been agreed with the Hall Committee.  The Board requested that this item be included on the next agenda, and that someone from A&P attend the meeting to answer questions.

 

 

Moved (Cr Mike Lord/Robin Thomas):

That the Board:

a)       Lays the item on the table.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/005)

 

8          3 Waters Update

 

A report from 3 Waters provided an update on water, wastewater and drainage matters in Strath Taieri. 

 

Tom Dyer spoke to his report, noting that 100% of the wastewater network had been cleaned, and 70% of it had been filmed. 

 

Mr Dyer advised that the wastewater consent renewal was due in about 18 months.  A project was planned to go to all houses to check drainage, to see if there is any discharge of stormwater to the wastewater system.

 

DCC staff are working with ORC to ensure that the DCC drainage systems will work with the ORC systems.  The ultimate goal to ensure wastewater cannot get out of the system. 

 

 

Moved (Cr Mike Lord/Robin Thomas):

That the Board:

 

a)     Notes the 3 Waters Update report.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/006)

 

14        Council Activities

 

 

Cr Mike Lord provided an update on matters of interest including:

·         Octagon closure will start next week, with many events on in the city including the Masters Games.

·         Council Annual Plan meeting will be held next week.

·         Council is on track with its spending against budgets.

 

Cr Lord left the meeting at 6.30 p.m.

 

9          Governance Support Officers Report

 

In a report the Governance Support Officer provided an update on matters of interest including:

·        Project Fund

·        Parks and Recreation Update

·        March Creek Update

·        LED Lighting

·        Electric Vehicle Charger

·        FYI Dates

·        Updates/Actions

 

Sharon Bodeker answered questions on her report.  Mr Dyer provided an update on March Creek bridge options.  The Board asked that the FYI topic be included on the next agenda for consideration. 

 

 

Moved (Leeann McLew/Robin Thomas):

That the Board:

 

a)     Notes the Governance Support Officers Report.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/007)

 

10        Community Board - Community Plans

 

In a report, the Team Leader Civic advised that a Community Board workshop was held on 19 December 2019, to consider how Community Boards could develop community plans for each of the Community Board areas, and how those plans may contribute to the DCC’s next 10 year plan. 

 

Community engagement was discussed, and it was noted that there were various ways to do this.  The Board agreed that it would hold public sessions prior to the start of the Community Board meetings to give the community an opportunity to present their ideas to the Board.  They would ensure that the satellite communities would be included.

 

The Board recorded its thanks to the DCC staff for the work done on developing the community plan templates, since the workshop held on 19 December 2019.

 

Moved (Mark O'Neill/Leeann McLew):

That the Board:

 

a)     Notes the process for the development of Community Board Community Plans.

Motion carried (STCB/2020/008)

 

11        Meeting Schedule

 

Consideration was given to the proposed schedule of meetings for 2020.

 

Moved (Mark O'Neill/ David Frew):

That the Board:

 

a)     Approves the meeting schedule for 2020. 

Motion carried (STCB/2020/009)

 

12        Communication and Social Media

 

Robin Thomas provided information about a possible Facebook page for the Community Board.  He suggested that this would be a tool for people to feed ideas into the Community Plan, and it was a platform for providing information to the community.  Mr Thomas was happy to run the page, but felt that it would be good to have two board members act as moderators for the page. 

 

 

Moved (Mark O'Neill/Blair Dale):

That the Board:

 

a)     Supports the development of a Facebook page. 

Motion carried (STCB/2020/010)

 

13        Chairperson's Report

 

The Chairperson provided an update on matters of interest including:

·         The Chair has submitted a vote for Robin Thomas as the Community Board Zone 6 representative.

·    Street trees are needing to be restaked, and would ask that hardwood be used rather than tanalised timber which tends to break in the wind.

·         Note that the Community Board is invited to attend the Hall Committee meeting on 10 March at 8 p.m. in the Community Hall.

 

 

Moved (David Frew/ Mark O'Neill):

That the Board:

 

a)     Notes the Chairperson’s report. 

Motion carried (STCB/2020/011)

 

 

 

The meeting concluded at 7.10 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

..............................................

CHAIRPERSON