Freedom campers can look to Nelson for a comfortable stay with plans to set up free wi-fi, portaloos and water facilities within close proximity to the city.
The plan will encourage the campers away from central Nelson car parks and will cost ratepayers up to $80,000 to cover services like security, rubbish collection and $19,000 on internet access.
The Nelson City Council wants to establish new freedom camping areas at Akersten St, Rutherford Park and Haven Rd in hopes campers would congregate there where they could be easily monitored.
The hardstand area at Akersten can accommodate 194 vehicles, Rutherford Park 132 and Haven Rd beside Anzac Park 47 vehicles.
The council voted to allow for $31,000 for the services for the Akersten hardstand. Rutherford Park was allocated $29,000 and Haven Rd was expected to cost $5000.
An additional $13,000 was allocated to secure consents, communications and signage.
The new sites will be advertised through CamperMate, Nelson iSite and distributed via social media platforms, traditional media outlets, brochures and signage.
The consents for the three freedom camping areas will be secured by Friday.
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, December 20th, 2016)
A new luxury town house project on Nelson’s Wakefield Quay is going on the market today.
The three town houses, located directly opposite The Cut on Nelson’s waterfront, are the latest development in the city’s 18 Special Housing Areas.
Bayleys Real Estate agent Julie Ambrose said the properties were ‘‘a rare offering’’ for the waterfront because each town house has its own separate title.
Although Ambrose could not give an exact value to the individual properties at this stage, she said similar new town houses along the waterfront that were slightly bigger in size recently sold for up to $1.7 million.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, December 22nd, 2016)
A cluster-style rural housing development covering 178 hectares of rolling farmland in coastal Tasman has been given the go-ahead on a reduced scale.
US businessman Alan Trent’s 96-lot lifestyle subdivision, Harakeke, was the focus of a prolonged resource consent hearing this year. It changed radically during the process.
The original application sought 116 residential lots, 25ha of productive land, open space, apartments, a village hub and plaza and commercial space.
The Tasman District Council appointed commissioners approved Trent’s revised application this month. The proposed commercial space, hub, plaza and apartments were removed from the plan.
Homes in the development would be now grouped in five clusters. Trent’s first application drew 80 submissions, 45 in opposition – many raising concerns about the erosion of rural character.
Trent now has 10 years to start work on his Harakeke development which also contained, public walking tracks, part of Tasman’s Great Taste Cycle Trail, a historic pa site (which would be vested with iwi) and a 31ha commercial horticultural block.
(The Nelson Mail, Monday, December 26th, 2016)
Less than two months out from a deadline to secure its share of funding, the Nelson Society of Modellers is confident of reaching a concrete solution to its Tahunanui pond dilemma.
However with no resource consent lodged at this stage, time is running out to ensure the work can commence.
In September the Nelson City Council unanimously agreed to give the society until February next year to finalise additional funding to help pay for concreting the bottom of the pond, removing contaminated material and installing sub-surface drainage and aerators.
The council will provide $600,000 for the upgrade, which was estimated to cost $1.2 million plus ongoing annual maintenance of around $45,000.
If the society can come up with the required $590,000 by the end of February next year, the option to modify the pond will be included in the 2017/18 Annual Plan.
President of NMS Nigel Gibbs said the society had so far raised $300,000 towards the required amount.
This month the club had been boosted by a $100,000 grant from the Rata Foundation subject to several clauses, including the council continuing with their $600,000 contribution and that resource consent was gained.
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, December 27th, 2016)
It is unclear yet whether all ratepayers across Tasman district will be asked to help fund the proposed Waimea dam.
Tasman District Council has earmarked $25 million in its Long Term Plan 2015-25 for the project, which it has estimated could have a total price tag of $82.5m.
In the final report on the audit of TDC for the year ended June 30, Audit New Zealand director Bede Kearney refers to the dam project and says it is proposed the $25m from the council will be funded ‘‘through general rates, water rates and charges’’.
However, when asked by the Nelson Mail, TDC could not provide a detailed breakdown of its proposed funding for the project including how much, if any, would be sourced from district-wide rates.
TDC was yet to receive an ‘‘investment ready’’ proposal from dam proponent Waimea Irrigators Ltd, outlining the amount it was able to contribute and how that would be funded – ‘‘which is key information we need before we could put a proposal to the community’’.
However, Waimea Irrigators Ltd strategic adviser John Palmer said ‘‘the numbers’’ around the proposed funding for the project had not changed at $40m from irrigators and $25m from the council.
He added that an investment ready proposal would require an agreement in principle between three major parties: Waimea Irrigators, TDC and Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd, which has indicated it could provide up to $25m as a loan over 15 years. Crown Irrigation acts on behalf of the Government as a bridging investor for regional water infrastructure development.
(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday, December 28th, 2016)
Owners of Anatoki Salmon fishing in Golden Bay have bought the adjacent nature park and cafe that is home to tame eels.
Jan and Gerda Dissel last weekend unveiled the new ‘‘family park’’ and pancake cafe and its new name is Anatoki Eels.
The park and cafe was formally called Wild Earth.
The acquisition of the nature park extends their operation at Anatoki Salmon, which will run in conjunction with the fishing.
Gerda said new additions to the family park included an eel museum detailing the long history of the tame eels at Anatoki, a large sandpit and a variety of giant lifesized family games like Guess Who, Checkers and Pick-up Sticks.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, December 29th, 2016)
A young Nelson couple who have taken over the lease of the former Neudorf Dairy will continue making products out of sheep’s milk.
In April, 24-year-old Julie Brownlee and her partner, Nathan Edwards jumped at the opportunity to lease the farm.
Brownlee managed the award winning Neudorf Dairy for five years until the owner, Brian Beuke retired.
Beuke had run the business for 10 years before offering the lease to the couple.
Brownlee said they were lucky to have been given the opportunity to ‘‘give it a go for ourselves in something that I really want to do’’.
If you do not change direction
you may end up where you are heading.
Lao Tzu