Whether next year’s general election scuppers the Labour Government’s Three Waters Reforms or not, it seems Central Otago is likely to still face hefty bills sorting water issues.The reforms, due to go to Parliament for debating in May, would see the whole South Island’s drinking, storm and wastewater removed from the district council’s books and controlled by one large entity.Mayor Tim Cadogan said if passed into law, the reforms would likely be put into action in July 2024.Ratepayers would then receive two bills, one from the Central Otago District Council for general rates and one from ‘Entity Four’ for water-related rates.Opposition parties – namely National and ACT - had both stated they would stop the reform process if elected, he said.That election is expected to take place in late 2023.In November Mayor Tim joined eight other mayors, nine iwi representatives and two officials from across the country, on a working group to try and improve on what Labour had proposed.With face-to-face meetings difficult due to the pandemic and geographical spread of members, the group persevered with lengthy online sessions in their determination to have input.“We had eight full day meetings, all but two of which were in Zoom. Between preparing for meetings, telephone calls and reading it added up to around 100 hours work.”The working group’s scope was limited by the government but fresh ideas on governance, representation and accountability which they later submitted were described by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta as “helpful”.Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan who recently was part of a national working group on water reforms. Image CODCMayor Tim said the biggest water issue facing Central Otago was in fact the expectation that soon enough, whatever happens, we will no longer be permitted to discharge treated water into other water bodies.“The current 92 percent of our treated wastewater that goes to other water bodies will need to become land-disposal based. That is going to come at a huge cost to ratepayers.”There were also new drinking water standards to meet, something council in 2018 had set itself a target to do, over a 10-year period.He said "substandard" would be too harsh a word, but he didn’t doubt people here had been, and were still, drinking water that did not meet current government regulations.While CODC had benefitted from $9.46M for water upgrades given as a kind of advance of Labour’s reform package, there were other parts that were perhaps not so welcome.The scale benefits of having one huge agency at the helm of the South Island’s water infrastructure instead of dozens of councils doing their own thing, were rather murky.“I’m unsure whether the degree of efficiency claimed will be met, but I do believe there will be some savings. Whether those savings are enough to justify the loss of local control and input is a fundamental question.”He was also unsure how upgrade costs could be fairly spread across regions when each had different requirements.Because, unlike Central Otago, most neighbouring regions did not have water meters, there could be an initial uneven spend to rectify this.“Putting in water meters will, in my view, be the first thing the entity does. Water meters provide a good example of why changes need to be made though. We are one of very few small councils that have meters on all their town supplies.”When these were installed an estimated 80% of consumers received a lower water cost and it was accepted that the use of meters encouraged less usage and therefore savings of around 25%.“A really serious question has to be asked why those other councils have not followed our lead on this one.”While this may lead to Central paying while others upgrade initially, he said further down the track the advantage may swing back our way.“In later years we may be grateful for other places to share the cost of getting us on to land-based wastewater discharge.”

A range of factors – the pandemic being one of them – has prompted the possible closure of Central Stories for the winter.Alexandra and District Museum Inc chairperson Malcolm MacPherson said yesterday it was still just a proposal at this stage and would be discussed with one of the facility’s principal funders, the Vincent Community Board (VCB), next week.The group felt the time could possibly be used to undertake a “major overhaul” of the Bodkin Gallery, something they had wished to do for many years.Dr Malcolm MacPherson, chairperson of Alexandra and District Museum Inc.“We haven’t got to the stage of drawing up a budget for that, it’s really very early days,” he said.In a letter to stakeholders the group said they had found themselves in a “perfect storm” situation with a management transition, pandemic, low visitor numbers, restricted opening hours and empty art galleries.If the facility closed for the winter, a project team may be set up and funds sourced to design and implement the upgrade of the Bodkin Gallery.“We will also use this time to rethink our purpose and align ourselves better with our funders, supporters, mana whenua and the museum sector in Central Otago,” the letter stated.The group planned to invite the Central Otago District Council, VCB, museum staff, board and the Museums Trust of Central Otago Trust to an April workshop. This would focus on helping find the best way to ensure a professional museum director or manager is able to be funded and employed in future. 

Over a third of the $900,000 worth of carbon credits from Central Otago’s pine forests will be sold to offset a considerable budget blow-out from the rising cost of waste disposal.The Central Otago District Council(CODC) own 122ha of commercial forestry blocks near Roxburgh, Alexandra, Cromwell, Naseby and Ranfurly.The blocks are predominantly Radiata Pine, with two small areas of Corsican Pine, representing 11,000 carbon credits.On the other side of the equation, payment must be made to the Government through the Emissions Trading Scheme(ETS) to off-set Central Otago's emissions from dumping refuse.This is done through purchasing ETS units, the price of which is currently “shooting up”, councillors were told last week.The region’s refuse is trucked to the Victoria Flats landfill which is owned by Queenstown-Lakes District Council.Central’s contribution equates to about 20 percent of all refuse that ends up at the site.The price per ETS unit in March last year was around $36 and a series of hikes since then, relating to supply and demand from traders, has now seen it climb to $84.50.Last year the increases added an unexpected extra $103,000 to CODC’s bill from the Queenstown Lakes District Council for ETS units.Predictions for this year are for an extra $326,000 - around double what was budgeted for.Pinus radiata to the rescue . . . trees similar to these will help fund a refuse budget-blowout. Photo: Jill HerronCouncillors approved a budget increase for this year and for both year’s extra funds to be paid from selling carbon credits.All agreed that creating less waste in the first place would be desirable.In his report to council, environmental engineering manager Quinton Penniall gave some hope by explaining that a major landfill gas capture and flaring system was commissioned in June last year to help reduce emissions from the site, located in the Cromwell Gorge near Gibbston.The effectiveness would have to be assessed, but it was expected to make dumping refuse cheaper in future as less ETS units would have to be bought.

Eight months after a 20-year lease expired at Cromwell’s popular mini-golf business, agreement still has not been reached on a new lease, on what is publicly-owned land.Business owners Shona and Dan Rae have been unable to negotiate what they say is a long enough term to enable the business to remain viable and the landlord - Central Otago District Council – say they cannot change what has been offered.Cromwell Community Board chairperson Anna Harrison said the board were aware no current lease was in place and that it was not uncommon for a lessee to remain in possession of the land while the terms of a new lease were negotiated, provided they continued to pay rent.In August last year the board offered a lease of two years, with a right of renewal for another two, that can be cancelled by council giving six months’ notice at any time.Shona claims the terms offer no future security for the business making it unviable for anyone else to take on and effectively worthless as an asset.There are no plans or funds earmarked for the site in the council’s Long-term Plan which covers the period to 2031.Beyond that, however, it has been identified for possible development in the spatial plan part of the ‘Eye to The Future’ Masterplan.In the spatial plan the area is marked as a ‘Gateway Precinct’ with a possible World of Difference gateway park located on the mini-golf site.Multi-level buildings were a possibility at both ends of the grassed area where signage now stands.Anna said these unconfirmed plans had prompted the board to accept council staff recommendations of a shorter lease. “Although there are no set plans as to what that looks like at this time, the lessee was granted a 4-year lease.The purpose of the shorter term was to allow council time to determine exactly how and when the land would be required for that development.”Cromwell Community Board chairperson Anna Harrison.A similar situation existed for tenants who had previously enjoyed long leases on council-owned industrial land, now tagged for masterplan-instigated development off Cemetery Road.Shona claimed numerous attempts to negotiate with the board and council had been rebuffed or ignored, something Anna refuted.“There has been a lot of engagement with Shona and a decision was made at board level and she does not like the decision,” Anna said. Shona said she had written to council questioning the shorter terms being offered in the proposed new lease and had not received a reply for six weeks.She had followed up with a lawyer’s letter, which received a prompt reply stating the terms had been decided and no changes were possible.She spoke at the community board’s public forum late last year, but said no-one engaged with her at the time or followed up.Later, board member Bob Scott spoke with her, Shona said, and took the matter to the board’s monthly closed meeting, which takes place prior to the public session.Ms Harrison confirmed that Mr Scott raised the issue at the non-public meeting.“The board did discuss quite a number of items at that meeting, the mini-golf lease was one of those."Elected members provided their opinions and gave background to the decision which was made at a public meeting in September 2020.”That decision is understood to have been made in a public-excluded part of the meeting as it does not appear on board agenda items. “The simple fact of the matter is the lease expired in 2021 and did not include a right of renewal,” Anna said.“The risk that should have been identified by the lessee was that they purchased a leasehold business operation that did not contain a right of renewal beyond 2021.”Robbie Dick, long-time worm Cromwell farmer.The similarly effected two businesses off Cemetery Road have been told their leases will not be renewed.Central Wormworx and Otago Metals occupy part of a 52ha block that is currently subject to Plan Change 18.This is aimed at opening it up for industrial development to meet demand pressure for such land, as Cromwell becomes more of a service hub to the surrounding area.Central Wormworx will be required to vacate its site next year, and Otago Metals the following year, as leases expire.Neither tenant welcomed having to relocate or end their large businesses, both earlier told The Central App.Anna said all three businesses were fully aware of their lease conditions and expiry dates.“The Council has made no promises that the circumstances could or would change."The land in question has been marked for much bigger developments with a far more favourable outcome for ratepayers.”

Nearly 1000 more people are now employed in Central Otago than a year ago, but still more are needed.Central Otago’s economy is buoyant with spending up, horticulture strong and construction, education and transport industries showing strong growth in employment numbers, according to a Central Otago District Council economic development report.“It’s good news for Central Otago, people are still moving here, it’s a popular place and that is helping stimulate growth,” council’s economic development manager, Nick Lanham, told councillors at an online meeting this week.He said credit card and eftpos spending was up on pre-Covid-19 times and job seeker numbers – the number of people registered as actively looking for work - which had been up to 375 in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, was back around pre-Covid-19 levels of mid 70s.Inland Revenue data showed there were 943 more people employed in January in Central Otago than in the same month last year.“A lot of that will be in horticulture, probably sixty percent of that and that will reflect more RSE workers in the district and more seasonal workers being employed for a longer time.”Cherry exporters had, had what was probably their most productive year quantity-wise since 2017 and other fruit exporters had also harvested good yields coupled with above-average prices.Primary industry prices were staying high and with the biggest boom in construction since the 1970s happening across the country, Central was no exception, showing good demand and future prospects.“The pinch points are around supply."The supply of labour and the supply of materials.”He said council was looking at longer term solutions to the labour shortage such as engaging youth to raise their awareness of what the opportunities were locally, how they could transition to employment and helping schools navigate employment pathways for students.“It’s coming through from a number of sectors that employers are really struggling to get staff and that is reflected across the industries.”With new plantings going into the ground in horticulture, the number of workers needed each year was set to grow – an extra 1200 may be needed next season.Inflationary pressures were taking a toll on households, however, with costs rising and wages not keeping pace, he said.

Consent has been granted by the Central Otago District Council for a computer data centre to be built near the Clyde Dam, the first of its kind for the area.A hearing for Contact Energy’s proposal to build the energy-hungry computer processing unit on behalf of UK-based company Lake Parime was heard last month, with the noise of humming fans being one concern from neighbours.In his decision released yesterday, planning commissioner Robert Nixon acknowledged those worries.“I consider that noise is the single biggest issue arising from this application."I am conscious that this application introduces an activity, which is relatively new within New Zealand and certainly within the district and in a location which has perhaps unusual topographical characteristics given the presence of the nearby Clyde Dam.”He said that while the noise of cooling fans may be continuous for significant periods, especially during warm weather, he was satisfied Contact Energy had taken potential effects into account, in its plans.A landscape plan for the data centre shows eight shipping-container-like units at the front and an Aurora Energy substation at rear. Graphic: Contact Energy LtdThe application was to subdivide a plot of land just downstream from the Clyde Dam, on the opposite side of the Mata-au, Clutha River from Clyde township and gain resource consent to construct the unit.The data centre – effectively eight containers each home to 368 computer servers – would be built by Contact, but owned by Lake Parime.It would require 10 megawatts of power from the Clyde Dam, which could generate 464 megawatts at peak operation.Contact could sell power to Lake Parime during times of surplus but when river and lake levels were low and supply under demand, they could request the centre reduce use.New Zealand was attractive to these types of overseas companies who provided electricity retailers much-needed off-peak demand for power.Contact Energy spokesperson Leah Chamberlin-Gunn told The Central App that Lake Parime was currently looking at other sites in New Zealand to build more data centres but Contact had nothing more planned at the moment in Central Otago.

Motorists across Central Otago will likely have to adjust to stepping off the gas on local roads, following a wide-reaching review of speed limits.There will be a chance for feedback first, however, after the Central Otago District Council this week approved public consultation for the 70 changes proposed across the district.Seventy kilometre per hour speed limits will likely become a thing of the past, with a nationwide move to adopt 60km or 80km instead, as safer speeds.The changes have been proposed due to considerable changes in the district since speed limits were last reviewed, according to a report presented to councillors on Wednesday.Rapid growth had seen increased development and traffic on rural residential roads and council had received requests from the community, through service requests and community group feedback, to lower speed limits.Traffic slow-down ahead…Central Otago District Council roading manager James McCallum addresses the council on Wednesday during an online meeting. PHOTO: Jill HerronCouncil’s roading manager James McCallum emphasized that many of the proposed changes were adirec t result of requests and feedback from ratepayers.Some councillors were concerned that having a range of different speeds inside a small area may make it difficult for motorists to obey the new limits.“Consultation will give us a good indication if we’ve got this right or not,” Cr Neil Gillespie said.Experts were engaged by council to provide analysis across all streets in Central Otago with both computer modelling and field work undertaken, with guidance from Waka Kotahi(NZTA).The review process evaluated crash history, road conditions, growth, changes in the speed environment and other factors.CODC then undertook a separate analysis to understand the local impact of the proposed changes with further tweaks made in response to the feedback from the region’s four community boards.The resulting new bylaw proposes reducing speed limits at 70 sites including whole streets, parts of streets, subdivisions, and the Naseby township.Crs Tamah Alley, Tracy Paterson and Stu Duncan were appointed to a panel to review people’s views after the consultation concludes in April.

Central Otago’s affordable housing situation is in “dire straits”, according to a group attempting to find a solution.Yesterday the issue prompted a long discussion by the Central Otago District Council, who were faced with deciding how and if council should get involved.Much of the discussion revolved around whether ratepayers would be prepared to help fund affordable housing projects.The Central Otago Affordable Housing Trust had been working since 2017 to find ways to address what they consider a crisis of housing, the meeting heard.Rental costs for workers were very high as was the cost of building and the area had “missed the boat already” in addressing the issue, Trust representative Glen Christiansen told CODC yesterday during a public forum session.He said an employee had reported having to pay $750 per week for a four bedroom house in Cromwell and that the average build could cost $720,000 in the town.He said local businesses needed staff but there was nowhere for them to live and now some would leave New Zealand to work where the cost of housing better matched wages. Glen, who manages The Gate hotel, felt the issue should have been addressed years ago and Central Otago had somewhat “missed the boat already” in being able to provide suitable housing stock.“We are in dire straits, there’s no nicer way to put it.”The group had said that 1.5ha of land at council’s Gair Avenue subdivision in Cromwell, valued at $12.5M, would need to be gifted to kick start a programme to develop affordable homes. That would represent one third of area. The houses could be managed to ensure they were sold onwithout normal market-led capital gains so they remained affordable for the next purchaser.He told council the group were confident of full support from business ratepayers and predicted around 75% of general ratepayers would also be prepared to help fund such initiatives.The land was needed to leverage funding to secure loans to build the houses, according to a council report presented yesterday, however, that potential income had already been tagged for use elsewhere.“There is significant financial value in this land and the Cromwell Community Board is relying on land sales to help fund the Cromwell Masterplan programme of work. In addition to the value of the land, there would be other real costs council would face including consents, subdivision costs andhorizontal infrastructure costs. None of these costs are currently budgeted for and would likely have a rates impact,” the report stated.Mayor Tim Cadogan felt the community should be consulted before any actions that would effect rates was approved.“The question has not been asked of the community as to are you willing to invest $12M or $15M to do something. We are playing in the dark a little bit.”A motion that opened the way for consultation was suggested by Cr Neil Gillespie but not included in what was eventually agreed. Cr Nigel McKinlay said the Gair Avenue development should go ahead as is and not become tied into a housing trust model.He said he lacked confidence in what could be achieved through such schemes where ownership rules created a situation for buyers, like having a “glorified lease”. “It sets up the council as a landlord and someone plays God to decide who gets that subsidy.”Council’s current Stage 2 development at Gair Avenue involved 110 houses. The Pines housing development in Alexandra was the only other council-owned land available for any such scheme.It was resolved to develop a policy for affordable housing and look for opportunities to collaborate the issue and help fund it from external sources.

The owner of a Tarras farm being subdivided into a 17-lot lifestyle development, says its possible future neighbour, an international airport, is neither justified nor desirable for the region.Lloyd Morris, whose 132ha farm-park housing development was given the go ahead this week by the Central Otago District Council(CODC), says the airport would detract from, rather than add to Central Otago as a region.One of two flightpaths being investigated by Christchurch International Airport Ltd(CIAL) for its proposed Central Otago international airport would cross directly overhead of the Jolly Road farm, if the airport was consented.CIAL have indicated they will begin seeking consents for the 2.2km runway and associated development from 2024.Morris, a civil engineer, says such a development was at odds with what made places like Tarras attractive.“Central Otago has something that is unique and of such a quality that it’s what draws people to the area. It seems strange that in a bid to, and the words I keep hearing are, re-energise and revitalise, lets do it through an airport. It seems counterintuitive.”He described the proposal as a large commercial transport hub, “no different to a port or a railway” but in this case, one that was not required.“The public is being fed a story, a narrative that is refreshed every now and then so it is in front of the public’s mind - an airport is coming, an airport is coming. But the benefits are confused, they don’t make sense in my humble view.”He said large airport companies like CIAL were essentially property developers who, like any transport hub providers, generated revenue from building and activity such as providing commercial space to tenants.“What they are, are property companies. Christchurch Airport is in reality, a property company, that’s all it is. It offers sincerity and justification to its mandate by saying here we are, we’ve given you an airport.”He questioned the flight capability to take produce direct to Asia from the site, and to fill back-loads from there, due to the decline of high-volume tourism.Morris, who is also a pilot, believed the proposed flight paths within the mountainous area would not allow for fully loaded and fuelled aircraft, capable of flying direct to markets like Shanghai, to operate.He says the southern region already had three international airports at Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown, as well as Wanaka Airport for domestic traffic, servicing a population less than that of the city of Hamilton.“Also it wasn’t that long ago that Queenstown themselves were venturing to say ‘we are at peak tourist’. When is enough, enough. I can’t see, myself personally, that Christchurch Airport is in a position to make a sensible, credible or even robust business plan. CIAL project director Michael Singleton said the Tarras airport proposal was in response to rapid population growth the southern region.“Our project is investigating an option for addressing the airport infrastructure gap the region will face. The benefits of airports and the connectivity they bring to the places they are located in are widely recognised and understood.”CIAL were undertaking detailed investigations into the “specific benefits” of the project at a local and regional level. He said Douglas Developments Ltd’s farm-park subdivision was one example of a planned investment in Tarras and there would be others.“That investment highlights that others see Tarras will continue to be an attractive place for people to move to.”CAPTION: The site of the Tarras farm-park. CIAL’s international airport, if it proceeds, would lie directly to the south, across the highway.Morris did not want to speculate on whether Douglas Developments Ltd would oppose any future applications by CIAL, as all directors and the family had not yet reached a final position on the matter.At his Jolly Road site, the 17-lots will be held as unit titles under a body corporate and each will share ownership and access to the what was a working farm. This would ensure, according to a report presented to CODC, that purchasers had an interest in farming activities and how the farm was managed.This shared-ownership development style has been seen in neighbouring areas such as at Bendemeer, Lake Hayes, but is fairly new to Central Otago.Considerable plantings and landscaping designed to help the development tie in with surrounding lifestyle developments, would undertaken as priority, Morris said. It was possible lots could be available by next summer.

Concerns over the potential growth in traffic entering SH6 from Cromwell’s industrial area has prompted government transport agency Waka Kotahi to oppose the rezoning of 52ha for subdivision.The block is being rezoned for industrial development after being added to the Central Otago District Council’s existing new industrial areas, in response to demand.Changes for the block, located between Cemetery and Bannockburn roads, along with another smaller area currently planted in cherry trees and fronting onto SH6, will be the subject of a hearing.The larger block is currently home to a motorcycle club, Central Wormworx and Otago Metal’s Cromwell depot.The latter two have been told their leases will not be renewed after 2023 and 2024 respectively.The Department of Conservation, which looks after the neighbouring Cromwell Chafer Beetle Nature Reserve and planner Werner Murray, who is a Cromwell Community Board member, also opposed the rezoning.Two neutral and four supporting submissions were also received.Those in support said the development was needed to accommodate Cromwell’s growth as the town cements its position as a service hub for the surrounding area.Waka Kotahi felt the effects of increased traffic on the state highway had not been addressed by council.No funding had been set aside by the agency for any possible upgrading.“It appears to Waka Kotahi that the users of SH6 are expected to tolerate adverse effects on the state highway, from the plan change until intersection improvements can be funded and completed.”The agency said there appeared to have been an assumption that upgrades would happen in due course, but that was not the case.“These intersections are not on any programme for upgrading and are not included in the National Land Transport Plan for funding in the 2021-2024 period or beyond.”Submissions on Plan Change 18 closed in December last year and no date has been set for the hearing.The council is currently selling sections from an already-established industrial subdivision nearby and demand has been strong from Cromwell businesses relocating as well as newcomers.McNulty Road bustles with industrial and other traffic and is getting busier. At top left is the T-junction with SH6 and bottom right is the 52ha block being rezoned for industrial subdivision. PHOTO: SuppliedMeanwhile this week, Waka Kotahi principal safety engineer Roy Johnston told The Central App the agency was aware of high existing traffic levels at the McNulty Road and SH6 T-junction.He said it had been “looked at” in terms of how it is serving traffic at present and there were ways safety could be improved to accommodate existing use.This was not related to Plan Change 18.“To make it safer we would consider a roundabout, intersection speed zone - where traffic approaching the highway from the side road triggers a flashing speed sign on the main highway, to encourage drivers to slow down - or general speed management.”  Waka Kotahi funding, to address the immediate needs of the junction was not available at present.

How a 1970s high country farmer developed such a keen eye for haute couture will probably always be a bit of a mystery, but the fact that he did, is still intriguing the public decades later.Eden Hore, who died in 1997 aged 78 years, was a successful businessman who collected and displayed not just fashion and accessories at his Naseby farm, but also exotic animals, plants and vehicles.Many of the flamboyant gowns he purchased were the pick of New Zealand’s top designers of the time, often featuring suede, wool and leather.The Central Otago District Council (CODC) purchased the collection of more than 200 gowns from Mr Hore’s descendants in 2014 and in 2019 an expert team, led by renowned photographer Derek Henderson, created a series of photographs set in stunning Central Otago landscapes. The photographs are testimony, according to a press release from CODC, to the collaborative efforts of many helpers, fashion curators and textile conservation specialists, all drawn by the mystique of the Eden Hore Central Otago collection. The collection is “on tour” around Central Otago and had already been met with great interest and enthusiasm in Naseby and Alexandra.The large-scale images will be displayed in the elegant McNulty House in Cromwell during March. At Alexandra’s Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery, the display was viewed by more than 620 people, many of whom had fond memories and fascinating stories to share around the Eden Hore Collection, according to CODC’s community and engagement manager Paula Penno. “The exhibition is helping us discover old tales and connections from people with personal recollections of this high-county farmer and his exquisite fashion collection."It’s also helping us introduce Eden to people who are unfamiliar with this unique story.”.Co-curator of the Eden Hore: High Country High Fashion exhibition in Wellington, Josephine Hughes, inspects a Kevin Berkahn dress, one of more than 200 that make up the Eden Hore collection. At right is Claire Regnault and at rear (obscured) are fashion historian Jane Malthus and NOM*d creator Margarita Robertson. Images of the gowns, shot in Central Otago, will feature at an exhibition opening soon in Cromwell. None of the dresses themselves will feature at the exhibition but the scale of the images, the settings and styling create a unique and inspirational look into the collection. The photography project was developed in partnership with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongawera and CODC to bring Mr Hore’s exceptional collection alive and demonstrate its relevance to contemporary fashion and design, within its Central Otago “home”. The photographic exhibition coincides with the “Eden Hore: High Fashion/High Country” feature exhibition, which is currently showing at one of New Zealand’s leading contemporary art galleries – The Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt.The Dowse exhibition features these photographs alongside 25 of Eden’s couture garments and is on display until March 22, 2022. At McNulty House, which is part of the Cromwell Heritage Precinct off Inniscort Street, the exhibition will be open from March 11 to 21, from 10am until 2pm daily.The elegant historic homestead is looked after by Old Cromwell Incorporated, which completed a major rebuild and refurbishment of the property last year.

A comprehensive report with input from tree experts and neighbouring farmers has been compiled by a group in Alexandra, in an attempt at a compromise over the planned felling of a block of trees.The 14-hectare Half Mile Reserve at the southern entrance to the town is owned by the Central Otago District Council and was identified last year as a seed-source contributing to the spread of wilding pines.The notoriously invasive species are being targeted by The Central Otago Wilding Conifer Control Group (COWCCG) using specific government funds and while the Alexandra residents acknowledge the problem, they don’t agree on the facts.Neighbouring landowner Chris Winter said since the council abruptly announced last year all the trees were to felled, the issue has been looked into in detail by the resident group.While council maintained the trees were wild not planted, the residents claim many were in fact planted, probably as shelter.He said wilding pines some kilometres away across the Mata-Au Clutha River, which were said to have been sourced from the Half Mile, were historically seeded by farmers as shelter for stock.“There’s historical accounts of people flying over and dropping seed there."When you look at the size and formation of those trees and where they are located you can see they are of a similar age, you can tell they’ve been seeded in one event."The chances of those trees spreading from our reserve would be next to zero.”The group believe the only seeded spread was within 200m of the block, which has become a well-loved neighbourhood walking and biking area.Chris said potentially effected neighbours had been canvased and none were concerned about the issue and they were already removing any trees thatpopped up.He said advice of the Otago Regional Council(ORC) - whose regional pest plan is the ruling document on wilding pines - had been carefully assessed and that from the COWCCG and tree experts.Neighbouring tree park owners Jolyon Park and the QEII National Trust has given advice, particularly about the prospect of re-establishing vegetation at the site if all the trees were to be removed.“We’ve put a lot of effort into that report."It’s a case of trying to point out some of the facts."I think a lot of the arguments that have come from the council haven’t necessarily been factual, they’ve been people’s opinions.”He said the ORC stipulated that landowners, which included councils, had to be a ‘good neighbour’ in terms of controlling pests.“If you read that legislation there are definitely some questions around that in relation to the Half Mile.”The COWCCG had “removed themselves from the argument”, having given their advice and as a community group did not want to be further involved.“There’s area in Queenstown where they are controlling boundaries, but leaving blocks of trees for the public to use."We’d like to see the trees remain and then if the council wanted to invest some money in the reserve … to plant some natives and get them established in the meantime and over time remove some of the pine trees.”He said advice from arborists had been that to take the trees all out “in one fell swoop” would make establishing native plantings afterwards next to impossible due to a lack of shelter.The 10-page report had been sent to council staff, mayor Tim Cadogan and also to members of the Vincent Community Board.The Board will discuss the issue at its next meeting on March 22.Vincent Community Board chairman Martin McPherson.Board chairman Martin McPherson said yesterday while it was too early to comment on the report, he believed some points of interest had been raised and those would be followed through, particularly around ORC rulings.“We are obliged to be good neighbours under the rules, but does it apply to this block?”.He said ORC would be invited to the March meeting to assist and he was looking forward to a “robust and informed” debate.

Data centres such as that proposed for a site by the Clyde dam are likely to become “a feature of our landscape” in New Zealand, Contact Energy’s Central Otago-based head of hydro generation Boyd Brinsdon said, yesterday.Several overseas operators are interested in developing data centres in New Zealand at present and although Contact is keen for more here in Central Otago, none are currently being worked on, a company spokesperson confirmed.A hearing for Contact Energy’s proposal to build the energy-hungry computer processing unit on behalf of UK-based company Lake Parime, began yesterday.The application is to subdivide a plot of land just downstream from the Clyde Dam, on the opposite side of the Mata-au, Clutha River from Clyde township, and gain resource consent to construct the unit.The data centre – effectively eight containers each home to 368 computer servers – would be built by Contact, but owned by Lake Parime.It would require 10 megawatts of power from the Clyde Dam, which can generate 464 megawatts at peak operation.Brinsdon said Contact could sell power to Lake Parime during times of surplus but when river and lake levels were low and supply under demand, they could request the centre reduce use.He said New Zealand was attractive to these types of overseas companies and they provided electricity retailers much-needed off-peak demand for power.Contact Energy spokeswoman Leah Chamberlin-Gunn told The Central App earlier this week that Lake Parime was currently looking at other sites in New Zealand to build more data centres, but Contact had nothing more planned at the moment in Central Otago.“At this stage, we have no concrete plans for further data centres in the area."Although this is a space we see bringing further opportunities to the area."We know there is a large global industry in data centres and we are excited about what it could bring to Central Otago.”New Zealand’s inability to store its abundance of renewable electricity and ensure a steady year- round supply has to be managed.Data centres provide something of an ideal side-hussle allowing power retailers to make money when demand was low in New Zealand, without being committed to using precious energy in low-supply times.“Contact is both a generator and a retailer, so we both make and sell energy."The data centre is part of our plan to grow industrial demand for electricity."This is part of our strategy to reduce New Zealand’s reliance on the Tiwai smelter and to ensure the abundance of renewable generation isused productively rather than it being trapped in the lower South Island and wasted in the form of spilled water.” She said Contact’s motivation was to build industrial demand for renewable electricity and data centres were an excellent potential source of this.“Arrangements with data centres are essentially generating economic benefits for New Zealand by exporting renewable electricity that would not otherwise be used here."We are aware of several credible data centre operators being interested in building data centres in New Zealand over the next few years and are keen to help by providing a source of renewable energy.”She conceded that Contact spilling water that could have been used to make power did not make a difference to people’s household power bills, but said having a chance to sell that surplus allowed Contact financial benefit to be able to invest in more renewable energy projects. The Clyde data centre would likely provide two fulltime jobs once operational.A substation would also be built by Aurora Energy Ltd on the site, if that company’s related application is successful.This would connect the centre onto the local grid and give a welcome boost to local power supply reliability.A landscape plan of the data centre showing eight shipping-container-like units and a substation. Source: Contact Energy LtdThe 2944 servers, which are computer hardware or software programmes providing functionality to computers elsewhere, are cooled by fans.These make constant humming noises which was of concern to the three submitters who oppose the development.When the centre plans were first made public, some residents were worried about its visual and noise effects and the Central Otago District Council noted this wider worry in its report to yesterday’s hearing.Seventeen neighbours and groups were invited to have input to the formal planning process.The application was ‘limited notified’ rather than being ‘publicly notified’ as council were not required by law to do the latter.Only three of the 17 parties invited to submit took up the opportunity, all three opposing over noise and related concerns.Hearings commissioner Bob Nixon yesterday heard some evidence then adjourned the hearing for ten days.Once all parties had been heard and possible conditions of consents reviewed, a decision would be released within the required 15-day period.

A unique and, somewhat, unconventional farm park residential development at Tarras would create less fragmentation of rural land than a conventional subdivision, the Central Otago District Council’s hearings panel were told yesterday.The 16- lot subdivision off Jolly Road, being proposed by Douglas Developments Ltd, would form a working farm park where homeowners would all own a share of the whole 129ha block.Planning consultant Kirstyn Lindsay advised the panel it would create a “more cohesive use of land” than the more conventional approach to subdivisions, set out as separate blocks.The land is zoned as a Rural Resource Area and the bulk of it would continue to be farmed, while 16 lots, each under 2ha in size, would be created for residents.Panel chairman Neil Gillespie questioned the company as to the prospect of the farm being later considered for further subdivision.However, spokesman Lloyd Morris said people were attracted to this type of shared-ownership park because of its open nature and likely would not desire future subdivision.“Examples of other farm parks seem to have stood the test of time and not come under pressure for rezoning.”He told the panel any future subdivision would have to be agreed by all residents and he likened trying to achieve this as being “like herding cats.”Lloyd Morris, of Douglas Developments Ltd, the company proposing a farm park residential development at Tarras, speaking to the Central Otago District Council’s Hearings Panel, via video link yesterday.It would also be covered by private covenants that outlined a range of guidelines for living in the park such as having pets and keeping properties neat.The application originally attracted seven submissions, four in support and three opposing the resource consent application. Prior to the hearing, neighbouring landowner Molyneux Farm Ltd had withdrawn its opposing submission after further negotiations with the developer regarding boundary plantings and set-back distances.In opposing the development, the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and Hokonui Runanga both raised concerns over the grouped housing having a potentially negative effect on the retention of the open rural nature of the landscape.ORC said the density and scale of development was ‘residential’ in character and nature, as was its associated roading. The body felt that granting of the proposal would set an undesirable precedent for other similar applications and would also be more properly considered through a plan change than a resource consent application.Supporters of the development said they believed it would attract new families to the area and allow it to grow without detracting from its rural nature.In his submission Stuart Ward stated the development would offer a modern and sustainable approach to breaking up rural land, while “offering a rural lifestyle to those who value it but acknowledge that they are not farmers.”An adjacent lifestyle developer Greenlight Land Ltd believed the proposal to be well thought out, spokesperson Chris White told the panel yesterday.However, Mr White outlined concerns over potential build heights and densities of housing if all were located on the upper terrace of the block.He said Greenlight would be “vehemently opposed” to any buildings going higher than 5.2m, but otherwise felt the development would be beneficial to the Tarras community.“It’s a great plan and something we will see more of.”Water would be sourced from an existing bore, rainwater - some of which could be stored in underground tanks - and possibly also from the Lindis Irrigation Scheme and three future bores on the lower terrace area, the meeting heard.The fact that in assessing the proposal, no consideration could be given to possible future applications of any nature, was mentioned throughout the hearing.The site is located near land owned by Christchurch International Airport Limited (CIAL), which is proposing a greenfield international airport at Tarras. CIAL has yet to lodge any applications.The panel reserved their decision on the farm park, advising it would be released within 15 working days.

Concerns of some local residents feeling apprehensive about a slightly mysterious data centre proposal near Clyde, will not be considered at a consent hearing next week.Contact Energy Ltd’s application for subdivision and land use consent for the project was only required to be notified to selected neighbours and Aukaha and Te Ao Marama representative groups.Three submissions were received, all from neighbours opposing the plan. The neighbours’ concerns centre around noise and a belief the proposal would be out of character with Clyde’s historic and tourism-orientated nature.Next Friday, hearings commissioner Bob Nixon will review the proposal at a Central Otago District Council planning hearing.In a report, the council’s planning consultant acknowledged concerns received from people outside the formal planning process.“Council has received a number of comments from parties who were not notified under Section 95B."Comments from these parties reflected the concerns raised by the submitters and also raised concerns related to visual effects, the use of water and electricity, and questioned the potential economic benefits of the proposal,” the report by planning officer Adam Vincent said.Contact are applying to subdivide a plot of land just downstream from the Clyde Dam, on the opposite side of the Mata-au, Clutha River from the Clyde township, into two lots. A data centre – effectively eight containers each home to 368 servers – would be built by Contact, but owned by a third party. The third party, understood to be UK-based company Lake Parime, would also lease the land from Contact and generally use power when surpluses were available.A substation would also be built by Aurora Energy Ltd on the site, if that company’s related application is successful.This would connect the centre onto the local grid and boost local power supply reliability.The 2944 servers, which are computer hardware or software programmes providing functionality to computers elsewhere, are cooled by fans. The fans make constant noise, but a special acoustic barrier wall, plus plantings of native and exotic species around the development is expected to muffle this effectively enough to be acceptable.A representation of the eight-container data centre, substation, noise-blocking wall and plantings.Each pair of containers would be linked to a docking station full of electrical equipment, but these and some small transformers would not make significant amounts of noise, the report said.Neighbours opposing the project were worried it would produce a “constant white noise” and that noise would impact their enjoyment of their properties and their mental wellbeing.Contact say the development would create employment for technical staff although no-one would work at site on a daily basis. The centre’s function was to provide data-processing capacity for a fast-growing market. “Data centre operators are looking for secure renewable energy sources to power computers that are designed to process large volumes of data to emerging markets such as machine learning, data modelling and cryptocurrency mining,” Contact’s application stated.The latter is related to the operation of global cryptocurrency (digital-only currency) markets and the processes are energy-hungry, involving expensive hardware and software.Council’s planners have recommended the project be approved subject to various conditions including that mature plants be sourced to screen the buildings, rather than seedlings that would take years to establish. A date for a release of the commissioner’s decision has not been set.Contact Energy has been approached for comment.

A site has been suggested for a future crematorium in Cromwell, along with land set aside around it to allow for burials through the coming decades.The Cromwell Community Board, yesterday, approved a concept plan for future extension of the current facility on Cemetery Road, including moreburial areas, a chapel, crematorium, plantings and roads.The Cromwell Cemetery was established in 1879 during goldrush days and today, over 140 years later, it neighbours a modern motorsport parkand rapidly-expanding industrial developments. The Community Board has approved an extended land area around the currently-utilised site be designated as Local Purpose Cemetery Reserve, for future use.Board member Werner Murray, however, voted against the proposal, believing that leaving some free of reserve status would allow more flexibility of useof what was very valuable land and open up opportunity for commercial interests -such as a private crematorium operator - to utilise it.It would also leave options for burials to perhaps move, in the future, to land elsewhere, as industrial growth continued and noise-making activities increased.He felt the site, which is close to considerable industrial activity “might be quite a nasty spot” for families to try and hold quiet graveside gatherings in the future.CAPTION: Cromwell Community Board chairwoman Anna Harrison leads yesterday's online meetingOthers disagreed and felt the reserve status could later be reversed if desired, with chairwoman Anna Harrison saying that any future changes wouldremain “under the board’s umbrella”.The chapel and crematorium suggested in the concept plan were not definitive plans, council staff pointed out.“Factoring crematoria into the concept ensures land requirements are future proofed to accommodate growth in demand both in Central Otago andsurrounding areas.Central Otago District Council parks officer for projects Marie Gordon said it was not a commitment to provide the service, nor an indication that an additional crematorium was required in the short to medium term.The only crematorium in Central Otago is located in Alexandra and is privately owned and operated.Council parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey told the board, councils were often not keen to have to operate such facilities themselves,preferring to leave it to commercial operators.He said some that had taken it on had later moved to off-load the operations.Board member Neil Gillespie urged council to clarify the rules for the site to prevent encroachment of industrial buildings around the borders of the cemetery.  

The Cromwell Memorial Hall, built by the local community in 1960, will close for good in early May, in preparation for demolition.This will make way for the town’s new $16M cultural centre, with construction scheduled to begin in July.In a statement released today, the Central Otago District Council announced the hall would close on May 2.“From this date there will be no more access for regular hall users as well as the wider community.”  The closure date means that, as long as Covid Protection Framework settings allow, the ANZAC day commemorations on 25 Aprilwill likely be the last community event to be hosted at the hall.The new facility has been costed on being 2000sqm in size and planning work was being progressed by various groups of council staff, designexperts and community representatives, all tasked with the project.Decisions around how to provide a new cultural centre and whether to upgrade the old hall or build new, proved difficult and divisive for Cromwell,with debate continuing for around 20 years before the current plan was finally settled on. Now workshops and meetings are well underway with a Project Advisory Group comprising Cromwell Community Board chairperson Anna Harrison,board member Nigel McKinlay, executive manager, planning and environment, Louise van der Voort and property and facilities manager Garreth Robinson,along with project team members, meeting in January for a full-day workshop. This was led by Jasmax, the Christchurch-based firm who, working with Cromwell architect Jess Sutherland as a design partner, were awarded the $2.2M designcontract for the project late last year. It focused on the project’s vision, objectives, sustainability and resilience, according to the council statement.On either side of that workshop, Jasmax held its first round of meetings with representatives from the Cromwell RSA, Cromwell Museum,Cromwell Heritage Precinct and Cromwell Town & Country Club. Meetings with representatives from the Cromwell Cultural Centre Trust and theFine Thyme Theatre Company will take place this week. Council’s Cromwell Masterplan project manager, Darren Penketh, said a lot of interesting discussions have taken place during the sessions.He was excited to see what Jasmax return with after the next round of workshops later this month.These will focus on site constraints and opportunities, benchmarking and building accommodation requirements and the technical,functional and operational requirements of what is a significant project for the town.

Nowhere is immune to the social and economic side-effects of the ongoing pandemic, even the sparsely populated Maniototo.Members of the Maniototo Community Board yesterday reflected on the pandemic’s current diverse and far-reaching effects on it’s community, despite the disease itself still not being present.From a “hissy-fit” by an unvaccinated resident being refused entry to the library, to supply chain issues and the second, and even more tiresome, round of cancellations of much-anticipated community events, the effects were infiltrating many aspects of people’s lives.Supply of goods was anticipated as a worsening issue across industries – from vehicle oil filters to decorating and medical supplies.Tourism had taken a hit with rail trail visitor numbers dropping 40% to 50% over the past month although there was still a reasonable amount of people still riding.Board member and district councillor Stu Duncan said he was aware people were “a bit angry” as stress levels rose and situations had to be dealt with.The potential temporary loss of staff through having to isolate as contacts of Covid-19 cases was a big worry, on top of general staff shortages across a host of industries.The Ranfurly pool had lost a much-needed staff member due to them being unvaccinated and many group activities were being impacted - volunteer fire crews could no longer meet inside the fire station building as it was now a ‘closed venue’.He said a lot of people seemed to be angry about a lot of things at present from building consent issues to pools and roads.He felt, in particular, that council staff had been subject to criticism.“Everyone is trying very hard in testing times at the moment to do their job correctly and it’s very hard."A lot of it has been aimed at staff which is a bit tough."He said people were "angry"."For a lot of people it is financial pressure and the unknown of Covid.“We lost the A&P shows, communities have lost a lot of those things."People are missing out and it’s been tough especially on the elderly."We’ve just got to fumble though and that’s our job, we’re going to support the community,” he said.On a positive note, farm returns were healthy."The industry was spending money and businesses attached to agriculture were going to be carried through the downturn by that.Board chairman Robert Hazlett said people needed to just keep doing what they been doing, in terms of Covid-19 precautions.“You might not like some of the rules that are out there, or the situation we’re in but the rules have proven to be effective.”

A key milestone has been reached in one of the Central Otago District Council’s Water Stimulus projects with the installation of the new Alpha St wastewater pumpstation storage tanks in Cromwell this week. In the past two years, the Council (CODC) has received $9.46 million from Tranche 1 of the Government’s Water Stimulus Funding, which has enabled $5.49 million worth of projects to be fast-tracked through the 2018 Long-term Plan that were in the 2022-2027 years. As one of the first of the Water Stimulus projects, it will increase the capacity of the Melmore Tce and Alpha St pump stations in Cromwell. The upgrade project was tendered at the cost of $630,000 for the installation of purpose-built wastewater tanks at Alpha St and increased storage at Melmore Tce. Delivered on Thursday, these tanks are designed to deal with wastewater overflows during heavy rain events and system outages. This will allow wastewater to be stored for a period, which would mean emergency maintenance could take place, and therefore avoid overflows into Lake Dunstan. Covid-19 restrictions had delayed tank manufacture in Auckland and the availability of a subcontractor to complete site fabrication work, Central Otago District Council Capital Projects Programme Manager Patrick Keenan, said. However, the project was expected to be completed by contractors Fulton Hogan by the end of March. Onsite to see the arrival of the two Alpha St wastewater storage tanks at Cromwell, from left Central Otago District Mayor Tim Cadogan, Central Otago District Council Project Manager Josh Wight (Councillor Nigel McKinlay obscured) Cr Cheryl Laws, Fulton Hogan Project Manager Brodie Flannery and Cr Shirley Calvert. “The project improves the resilience of the Cromwell’s wastewater network and mitigates the risk of unnecessary overflows into Lake Dunstan. Being one of the first project in the Water Stimulus programme it’s great to see it coming to fruition.” Central Otago District Councillor/Cromwell Community Board member Nigel McKinlay was pleased to see the installation of infrastructure that would help sustain the 23% growth the town had seen over the past five years. “We are planning on this rate of growth to continue. The new wastewater storage tanks are part of an ongoing programme to deliver high quality infrastructure to underpin Cromwell and Cromwell district’s future. Our council will be losing control over three waters in two years’ time so it is also important to do as much as we can while we still have the ability to make decisions on what is best for our district.” Mayor Tim said it was great to get a look at these tanks before they got covered. “Infrastructure like this isn’t terribly sexy to the untrained eye but is hugely important to ensure we protect our environment in the event of power failures or other issues causing the pumping system to stall.”The Council is continuing with a programme of other projects which include the Clyde and Roxburgh falling water main replacement, Alexandra Northern Reservoir construction, Wrightson’s wastewater pump station storage improvement and the Naseby water treatment plant clarifier construction.