TDC CONSIDERS POOL COMPLEX'S FUTURE

The popular Aquatic Centre in Richmond is under scrutiny, with its sponsorship agreement expired and the Tasman District Council looking at how to contain costs. After complaints about the chlorine smell at the centre, the council is looking at spending $120,000 within the next two years on installing a new UV treatment plant designed to reduce the use of chlorine. It is also considering spending another $200,000 in the next five years on installing photovoltaic cells to generate electricity for the centre and reduce operating costs, with excess power to be sold to the national grid.

The 10-year-old, $8.9 million centre, which includes a 25-metre eight-lane pool, a teaching pool, a wave pool, a hydrotherapy pool, a toddlers’ pool, spas, a gym, a cafe and a shop, has about 218,000 admissions a year. Its operating and maintenance costs are $358,000 a year, and it has remaining loans of $1.4m for the original centre, $2m on the learner pool, and $95,000 on the fitness centre.

(The Nelson Mail Monday, February 23, 2015)

COUNCILS URGED TO SUPPORT VENUE

The region’s councils will be urged to allow the establishment of Kohatu Park, a major regional motorsport and adventure venue, in their Long Term Plans. Those driving the $26-million venture plan to make submissions to the two councils’ 10-year plans next month. The New Zealand Central Motorsport and Adventure Park, now branded as Kohatu Park, has gained resource consent following appeals and its organisers have formed an incorporated society as a supporters’ club, and a trust and are applying for charitable trust status as they gear up for major fundraising.

They had planned to hold their first public open day at the site near Tapawera yesterday but it was cancelled after forestry and fire representatives deemed it to be an extreme fire risk. Ironically, it then rained. As an alternative, the society held a display at the Kohatu Flat Rock Cafe yesterday where its board members talked about the project. They plan to hold an open day when the fire risk levels have reduced.

(The Nelson Mail Monday, February 23, 2015)

LAW CHANGES WEIGHED ON LAND REGISTER

Building an accurate picture of the level of foreign ownership of land and houses could breach the Privacy Act and Bill of Rights, officials warn. Documents released under the Official Information Act show that Land Information New Zealand (Linz) began outlining early last year the way in which the Government could build a register of foreign ownership of land. The advice suggests that basic changes could be made to allow information to be gathered, but for a register to be accurate it would require law changes and could create privacy concerns.

(The Nelson Mail Tuesday, February 24, 2015)

VISITORS ARE FLOCKING TO ANIMAL FARM

Animal Farm has attracted 10,000 more visitors than expected in its first year. Owners Vicky and David Pattinson had estimated 15,000 would visit, but this weekend they will celebrate a 25,000-visitor milestone. The 17-hectare venture that specialises in rare breeds and hands-on interaction with the animals, opened in Gardner Valley Rd, off State Highway 60, on March 1. It’s taken an investment of more than $2 million and Vicky Pattinson said financially it was still a struggle, but they were pleased it was proving popular.

(The Nelson Mail Wednesday, February 25, 2015)

CENTRE MUST BE ON FIRM FOOTING

The Nelson City Council will spend around $60,000 to get 3-D modelling done of the ground under the Trafalgar Centre, in an attempt to save millions of dollars on strengthening the building. Acting capital projects manager Richard Kirby told councillors at yesterday’s full council meeting that the initial estimates for ground remediation work might be overly conservative, and current plans were ‘‘hardline options’’ that might lead to over engineering.

The 3-D ground modelling work, called ground response technology, would test the earth under the Trafalgar Centre and determine the level of remediation needed, he said. Even if the tests showed that no ground remediation was needed, the council still needed to strengthen the building, as it was below national building standards and the council had a responsibility to keep the public safe, Kirby said.

The council has a budget of $10m for strengthening the Trafalgar Centre, and the three ‘‘hardline options’’ Kirby referred to would cost $12m to $19m. They are putting a giant steel lattice across the building to hold the wooden beams up like a coat hanger, supported by large foundation piles; replacing the timber arches with steel trusses; or putting tie beams across the building at every timber arch and adding several large underground piles for ground remediation. The tender for contractors will go out in mid-March, and a detailed design and costing is planned to be completed by the end of June, with building work expected to start in July. The council is still aiming to have the Trafalgar Centre reopened by February next year.

(The Nelson Mail Friday, February 27, 2015)

MIGRATION BOOM'S EFFECT ON HOUSING SCARES ECONOMIST

The impact of record migration is going to be ‘‘explosive and huge’’ when Auckland’s house prices are already going ‘‘gangbusters’’, says NZIER principal economist Shamubeel Eaqub. The torrent of migration for the year to the end of January hit a new record high of 53,800 in Statistics NZ figures out yesterday. There would mean massive demand hitting the country, but especially Auckland, fuelling house prices and presenting a nightmare for the Reserve Bank, Eaqub said yesterday.

Arrivals outnumber those leaving New Zealand by two to one, reflecting the strong job economy here, especially compared with Australia, ANZ economists said. The annual migration gain was expected to hit a new peak of 60,000 by the middle of the year, ANZ said, 50 per cent higher than the previous peak more than a decade ago. Now the Reserve Bank was facing the ‘‘perfect storm’’ for house prices, with record migration and cuts to extremely low fixed term mortgage rates, with banks competing hard to win customers. As a result house prices were ‘‘set to rocket at least for the first half of this year’’, Eaqub said. ‘‘And it scares me a great deal.’’

(The Nelson Mail Friday, February 27, 2015)

"THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK"

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