Agenda of Tekapo Community Board Meeting

Tekapo Community Board Meeting Minutes 5 May 2021

Unconfirmed MINUTES

Tekapo Community Board Meeting

5 May 2021

MINUTES OF Mackenzie District Council
Tekapo Community Board Meeting
HELD AT THE Tekapo Community Hall Lounge, Lake Tekapo
ON Wednesday, 5 May 2021 AT 3.00pm

PRESENT: Chairperson Steve Howes, Chris Scrase, Caroll Simcox, Cr Matt Murphy

IN ATTENDANCE: Cr Anne Munro, Paul Numan (General Manager Corporate Services), Brian Milne (Community Facilities Officer), John Jones (Xyst), Arlene Goss (Governance Advisor), Mayor Graham Smith (from 3.26pm), Ian Duncan (Waka Kotahi NZTA Acting Director Regional Relationships), James Long (Waka Kotahi NZTA Senior Safety Engineer), William Beauchamp (public).

1 Opening

The chairman opened the meeting and noted that today was the one-year anniversary of the passing of Steve Binns - a valued member of the community. A minute of silence was observed.

2 Apologies

Committee Resolution TKCB/2021/184

Moved: Member Caroll Simcox

Seconded: Member Chris Scrase

That the apologies received from member Sharron Binns and chief executive Suzette van Aswegen be accepted and leave of absence granted.

Carried

3 Public FOrum

William Beauchamp raised the issue of a shortage of good-quality, long-term rental housing in Tekapo. He asked for it to be recorded that there was a large group of professional, mature people who couldn’t afford to buy and would like to rent in the town. He knew people who were renting garages or old, cold places and were looking for quality rental accommodation.

Member Caroll Simcox noted that homeowners were interested in offering their houses for rent but then wanted them empty in November for short-term rental, and this was not helping anyone.

Queenstown District Council was provisioning land for developers. Would something like this be included in the spatial plan? Cr Murphy said nothing specific was being discussed. Caroll Simcox said the community board would encourage all of the town’s property managers to re-consider their housing stock.

4 Declarations Of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

5 Reports

5.1 Visitors from Waka Kotahi NZTA

Ian Duncan (Waka Kotahi NZTA Acting Director Regional Relationships) and James Long (Waka Kotahi NZTA Senior Safety Engineer) were welcomed to the meeting.

Member Caroll Simcox outlined the background of the request from Tekapo to make safety changes to the highway running through the town. Speed limits needed to be reduced from 60 to 50km/h and there was also a need for pedestrian refuges in some places.

It was noted that there were funding limits and the community board would not get everything they wanted. Therefore the original plan had changed.

NZTA had agreed to extend the 80km/h speed limit up to Godley Peaks Road. At the other end of the town, open highway speed limits would remain the same. In the town the speed limit would be reduced to 50km/h.

Tekapo had also asked for five pedestrian refuges to be installed, but not all could be afforded. The reason for funding problems was explained by Ian Duncan. NZTA had less money to spend this year due to the impact of Covid. However, there was approval to do this project.

There was a need to put this out for public consultation, and they planned to have the work completed by this Christmas.

Discussion took place on which pedestrian refuges should go ahead. The Lakeside Drive refuge was low priority because there were no logical approaches from either side of SH 8 that met with Waka Kotahi criteria. Cr Murphy expressed disappointment that the Allan Street refuge was off the list.

Mayor Graham Smith joined the meeting at 3.26pm.

The reason given for Allan Street was the need to widen the road and do other work, which made this too expensive. Cr Murphy said the new bus shelter had been put there under the premise that a refuge would be installed.

The Mayor said the highway improvements had been four years in the making and needed to move forward. He was worried that the project might be shelved again.

Ian Duncan offered to make a phone call to NZTA’s David Scarlet, who had previously worked on this, to find out more information.

Discussion moved to the road barrier above Station Bay. NZTA said only the top three barrier sites in South Canterbury would be funded. If this site was in the top three it would be done. He expected to hear about this funding in July.

The NZTA staff then left the room to have a phone conversation and the meeting continued on other matters.

At 4.13pm James Long and Ian Duncan returned to the meeting. They provided feedback on the area next to the bus shelter at Allan Street. Due to gradients there would be earthworks required and this would increase the cost. They suggested taking a different approach to this area that would provide a solution. Discussion took place on other options that included moving the pedestrian refuge area along the road.

James Long offered to do some more work investigating this and come back to the community board.

The NZTA staff were thanked and left the meeting at 4.20pm.

5.2 Minutes of Tekapo Community Board Meeting - 17 March 2021

The community board asked for one change to the minutes. On page 27 under Action List-Western carpark, they asked to remove the words “The community board said this was not safe” and replace them with “The community board said this would present a problem for snow clearance.”

Committee Resolution TKCB/2021/185

Moved: Member Chris Scrase

Seconded: Member Caroll Simcox

That the Minutes of the Tekapo Community Board Meeting held on Wednesday 17 March 2021 be received and confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting, with the change noted above.

Carried

5.3 Community Board Financial Report

Chris Scrase thought there was a financial contribution from Earth and Sky towards grassing the area on lakefront. It was explained that the amount in the accounts was the net cost, rather than the whole cost of the project.

Cr Murphy asked for a damaged lamp post to be replaced in this area. This was an Earth and Sky lamp. Staff to follow up on this.

It was agreed to ask Council to carry forward the balance of the grants fund to the new financial year.

Committee Resolution TKCB/2021/186

Moved: Cr Matt Murphy

Seconded: Member Chris Scrase

That the Tekapo Comm Boards requests that council carry forward the balance of the Tekapo grants fund to the new financial year.

Carried

5.4 Proposed Fees and Charges 2021/22

The purpose of this report was for the Community Board to consider the proposed 2021/22 Fees and Charges for the community facilities within the Community Board area.

Strategies to increase hall usage and revenue have been discussed. The community board has had reports of people having trouble making bookings.

Brian Milne said the Twizel Community Board had noted that the discounts that apply to regular users of the community centres were not standardised. Mr Milne said he had been working on that and suggested a standardised approach of a 20% discount for regular users who use the facility 10 times or more.

Chris Scrase asked for some transparency around the booking system. Nobody had contacted Angie Taylor regarding her offer to manage the Tekapo Hall. Currently bookings were taken by the Fairlie council office. An automated key system was planned.

The Mayor noted that there had been issues with booking other halls like the Albury Hall. He said this needed to be made easier for people to book and get a key. The chairman offered to hold a key for the Tekapo Hall in his safe and Brian Milne agreed that the community board members could organise cutting a key.

Regarding increasing the hall usage. How will council be promoting the use of the hall? The Mayor suggested advertising the upcoming price changes, especially the new discount for regular users. A pdf of the hall charges was requested from the governance advisor, once the new charges had been approved.

Committee Resolution TKCB/2021/187

Moved: Member Caroll Simcox

Seconded: Member Chris Scrase

That the Community Board recommend that Council adopt the 2021/22 fees and charges for the community facilities within the Community Board area as proposed, with the change to a standardised approach of a 20% discount for regular hall users who use the facility 10 times or more.

Carried

5.5 Community Facilities Update

Strategy Development – Chris Scrase asked whether the trails strategy could look at providing more bike stands throughout the village. The Mayor said the bike stands at the start of the Alps2Ocean were in the wrong place and needed to be moved to the village.

Lakefront Development Project – The chairman asked if the postponed workshop with Boffa Miskell could take place within the next two weeks, rather than at the time of the next community board meeting.

Rabbit Control – A shooter did one night of control and 180 rabbits were shot. Would this take place over a period of time? No it’s a one-night event. The intention was to do a follow up. This needed a coordinated effort with Ecan and the regional park. Staff were asked to ensure regular shooting occurred. Brian Milne said poisoning and shooting were also planned at Lake Alexandrina.

Church of the Good Shepherd Planting – completed. Remove from list.

Barbara Hay Reserve – The concrete path was started today and the drinking fountain would go in, but won’t be connected before spring to avoid icing up. Project to be completed before the end of the financial year.

D’Archiac Reserve – Brian Milne to work with the community board on tree planning, with planting to take place next season.

5.6 General Business and Councillor Update

Foreshore Tidy Up - A festival is coming up in September and the organisers are working hard on a sculpture walkway. The foreshore needed to be tidied up ahead of this festival. Brian Milne said this was part of the Boffa Miskell project and suggested it be raised at the next meeting with them.

Budget for bike stands – The township budget would be an appropriate use of the funds. Brian Milne asked if the community board had sites in mind. Stands needed to accommodate E-bikes. Discussion was held on the option to provide charging sites for E-bikes.

Building site fencing and rubbish - The chairman raised an issue at the Riverside subdivision. Token safety fencing was being used by contractors but this was not suitable. Some of the fencing was lying on the ground. Does the council have any power of enforcement in this area? The Mayor offered to investigate this. There was also the problem of rubbish blowing around. The governance advisor would put in a service request for the rubbish problem. The problem areas were the Stage 2 Cairns Riverside Subdivision, Andrew Don Drive and tributaries.

5.7 Community Board Action List

Shared Pathway – Request a timeframe from the Roading Manager and email this to the board.

Tekapo Western Carpark – Replace road markings and improve signage. This carpark was chaotic and dangerous over school holidays. Elevate to urgent due to safety issues. Update requested from the Roading Manager.

NZTA – remove from list.

Tekapo Lakefront Improvements – Workshop to be planned.

Streetlights – Noted that accidents are happening in the dark. Another communication to the community is required. A service request was needed for the lights on the Tekapo Hall which weren’t working.

Tekapo bund planting – remove from action list.

Tekapo tavern – A building consent has been lodged with Council to re-build the tavern and is currently going through the process. The Mayor has been told by the owner that the asbestos would be managed safely. The wrap around signage has gone up and looks good.

Cr Murphy was asked for an update on Council activity. He encouraged the community to get onto the Let’s Talk website and provide feedback. There has been a good response to the spatial planning workshops in Tekapo. The Long-Term Plan was going to be late and won’t be adopted until the end of September. Paul Numan explained the Long-Term Plan process and the impact on rates.

Have CCTV cameras been included in the LTP budgets? $55,000 was the price. Unknown. The community board would need to check this when the LTP document came out.

The Meeting closed at 4.55pm.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed at the Tekapo Community Board Meeting held on .

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CHAIRPERSON

Tekapo Community Board Meeting Agenda 14 July 2021

5.4 Tekapo Community Board General Update

Author: Brian Milne, Community Facilities and Services Officer - Contractor

Scott McKenzie, Roading Manager

Authoriser: Tim Harty, General Manager - Operations

Attachments: Nil

Staff Recommendations

That the information be noted.

Background

The purpose of this report is to provide the Tekapo Community Board with a general update on a number of projects and actions related to the Tekapo area in general and Community Board specifically.

Action and projects update

Strategy Development

There are four key strategic documents in the Parks and Open Spaces area that are currently being developed, being the Parks Strategy, Playground, Toilet and Trails Plans and Wayfinding Policy. The first draft has been submitted to staff for initial review and feedback.

A Community Board update on the project was held, via Zoom, on 7 July where the consultants working on the projects provided a briefing. A recording of the session is available for those who were unable to attend.

Lakefront Development

A site walkover to identify location options for a linked pathway from the Maclaren Bridge to Tekapo Springs, plus other enhancements, was undertaken by the Brian Milne (MDC) and Katie Chilton (Boffa Miskell) on June 29^th and a draft plan will be circulated separately to the Community Board prior to the meeting.

Katie Chilton will join the meeting via Zoom at 3.30pm to provide a briefing with the objective of confirming development plans to allow the project to enter detailed design and construction procurement stage.

D’Archiac Reserve

Work on finalising various elements of the development is progressing. This includes design/selection of shelter and other furniture, water and power connections and procurement documentation.

Rabbit Control

A second night shooting operation has been completed and the total number of rabbits killed over the 2 shoots was 668. No further night shooting is planned at this stage.

The poisoning operation at Lake Alexandrina Reserve has now also been completed.

Waka Kotahi Update

Staff and Community Board representative met with Waka Kotahi to discuss the State Highway works and crossing upgrades.

A verbal update can be given at the meeting.