Council defers decision on action group link

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 4

Council defers decision on action group link

The Akaroa County Council has been asked to make a contribution towards the newly formed Canterbury-Westland action group on forced amalgamation, although the council is not opposed to. amalgamation. The group’s aims were to fight forced amalgamation, and in particular to oppose: the methods of polling electors on the local government re-or-ganisation scheme, which was why the council should consider making a contribution of $5OO, said Cr John Corboy at Friday’s council meeting. The present method, where an elector’s failure to vote was seen as a vote in favour of the proposal, cut across the democratic processes, said Cr Corboy. Akaroa County Council had supported a remit put forward by the Heathcote County Council at the Counties’ Association conference at Dunedin last month which urged the Government to implement a simple majority system. By supporting the action group, ’’perhaps the message would get across to the politicians,” Cr Corboy said. The County’ Clerk, Mr Lyn Graham, expressed concern that support for the action group could jeopardise its negotiations on amalgamation with neighbouring councils Wairewa and Mount Herbert.

The council was not opposed to re-organisation if it was in the best interests of the community, but was opposed to. forced amalgamation.

“The issue is whether you want to join a group established to fight forced amalgamation or whether you just want to make a contribution and make it clear that the money be used to oppose the poll revisions,’’ said Mr Graham.

Cr Phillip Cooke said he did not think the council should decide anything until it had ascertained what joining the group would mean.

After discussion, the council decided to seek ratepayer’s opinions on joining or contributing to the action group by including a questionnaire on the matter to be sent out with the rate requests.

In the meantime the council reserved decision to contribute to the group.

Noxious plants

Two property owners in Akaroa County are likely to become “test cases” for the invoking of section 38 of the Noxious Plants Act, as the council has decided to charge them for refusing to clear their properties of noxious plants. Legally, the council can have the weeds cleared and charge the property owners for the work done. If the owners refused to pay, they could be taken to court, said Mr Graham.

The council would invoke the act in respect of the two charges already under consideration, said Mr Graham. The council has been urged by the Banks Peninsula Noxious Plants Association to make an example of the property owners, to see if it would be an effective means of keeping the Peninsula free of noxious plants. The law gave the council the power to act and guaranteed that it would get its money back, but “unfortunately it did not say when,” said Mr Graham.

Once a charge on the land was registered, the debt was recoverable from any new owner of the land, he said. However, Mr Graham said he did not think the matter would “get that far.” .

Clearing noxious plants from properties in these two cases could cost the council up to $l6OO.

Cr Cooke said there had been a tendency for property owners to ignore requests to clear properties of noxious plants. Increasingly notices had to be served by hand. In one instance, an officer had been forcibly ejected from a property. Cr Cooke said he supported the move to invoke the act, because the situa-

tlon was becoming "ridiculous.”

Storms

Storms at the beginning of the month resulted in between $60,000 and $BO,OOO of damage to roads in Akaroa County, the County Engineer, Mr Ken Paulin, told councillors.

Slips on several roads at Little Akaloa and Stony Bay caused drop-outs which will require retaining walls to be built. The most costly damage was at Duvaucheile, on State highway 75, where a 300 mm-diameter pipe blocked, resulting in water reaching road level behind an embankment. The culvert has had to be replaced with a 600 mm steel pipe at a higher level, because the pipe in the original culvert could not be cleared because of its depth and the unstable nature of the terrain, said Mr Paulin. ■ During and after the storms, council staff had worked “very well, sometimes in atrocious conditions,” he said. As a result of the hard work, no road had been blocked for more than four hours, once reported as being closed.

Two macrocarpa trees which fell into the Little Akaloa stream several weeks ago had caused the stream to flow out across paddocks round the lower baches. The council would clear the trees from the stream with assistance from the owner of the bach properties.

As a result of the flooding, Mr Paulin said, he expected the North Canterbury Catchment Board would now suggest that a drainage district be established in the area to ensure that the stream was kept clear, and that those benefiting from {he clearance met a share of the cost. L.P.G. tank

An application by the Akaroa Auto Centre for a seven-tonne. liquified petroleum gas tank to be installed on a site at 55 Rue Lavaud was given final approval by the council.

The application was approved on the recommendation of the town-plan-ning committee, subject to certain conditions.

The main requirement would be /or the bank to be lowered about half a metre so that the tank site could be lowered for safety reasons.

The soil from the excavations would be used for building a half-metre high wall to provide a buffer zone in case the gas should leak, said Mr Paulin.

The application had already complied with the

Dangerous Goods Regulations, but the council wanted the wall built to make the adjoining property owners feel more secure, he said. Two objections had been received by the town-planning committee from neighbouring property owners. The main objections had been concerned with safety from fire and noise. The LPG tank would be the first to be installed in Akaroa.

Councillors agreed that the first consideration was the safety and protection of the neighbouring property owners. Crs Corboy and Tony Tapley said they found the engineer’s solution to the siting of the tank "quiet acceptable.”

Wainui A picnic area in 'stanbury Park at Wainui will be landscaped and planted with trees to make it more attractive to picnickers. A grazing tender from an adjoining landowner to the 2ha scenic reserve was accepted by the council.

The landowner, Mr M. Hogan, will be allowed to graze his stock in the reserve at the cost of $l5O, payable over three years.

In return, the council has accepted Mr Hogan’s offer to landscape, plant and develop the public picnic area in the reserve. Mr Hogan, who is programme organiser of the Wainui Residents’ Association beach beautifying sub-committee, said he believed he could improve the grazing with his stock if trees were planted. In a letter to the council, Mr Hogan said he would also be prepared to put in a water pipeline from his property for watering plants. He would also fence the trees from stock if the council would provide the materials. “I feel my tender and offer of planting the reserve will be beneficial to the public as the reserve is badly- in need of being made into an attractive picnic and recreation area,” Mr Hogan said.