Wednesday 28 November 2012

Environment and Infrastructure Committee meets today

The Environment and Infrastructure Committee today discussed a draft
Cemeteries Master Plan 2013 that sets the direction for the development
and management of cemeteries for the next 50 years.

The committee recommended the Council accept a proposal for a new,
integrated cemeteries bylaw for Christchurch, a cemeteries handbook and
a strategic Master Plan. Residents can provide feedback on these draft
documents after the Council approves a consultation process at its next
meeting, says acting committee Chair Aaron Keown.

"We're looking forward to feedback on the draft Master Plan from all the
diverse communities in Christchurch, as this will to allow us to embrace
and celebrate all our cultural needs."

Infrastructure rebuild
The committee received the Infrastructure Rebuild Monthly Report, which
showed that during October the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure
Rebuild Team (SCIRT):
* Repaired 657 metres of water supply pipe, bringing the total
length of water supply pipe repaired so far to 19,320 metres or the
distance from central Christchurch to Kaiapoi.
* Laid 13,939 square metres of pavement, bringing the total area
of pavement laid so far to 111,157 square metres or almost 16 rugby
fields.
* Repaired 13,430 metres of sewer pipe, bringing the total length
of sewer pipes repaired so far to 77,103 metres or the distance from
central Christchurch to Greta Valley.

There were 131 construction projects underway in October with a total
estimated value of $401.4 million. Normally, the council's annual
capital expenditure is about $200 million. SCIRT has a grand total of
563 projects underway, either in the design, construction or final
completion stage with a total value of $1,602.6 million.

Stolen wheelie bins
A report on stolen wheelie bins was discussed at length. Staff were
asked to organise a meeting with the Council's contractor Transpacific
Industries, who own the bins, then bring the outcome of discussions back
to the committee.

Greater Christchurch Transport Statement
The committee also discussed the Greater Christchurch Transport
Statement, which aims to bridge the gap between the various regional,
area and local transport plans.

"We accepted it as a regional strategic transport network plan but we'd
like the statement to reflect that the Council's priority projects, as
developed through the Long Term Plan process, may not be simply those
five top priorities as outlined in the statement," said Aaron Keown.

- ends -

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Public Address Link:
A (Sweary) Analysis Of Urgency Abuse And
The Consititution

Keith Ng: You’re looking at the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) for the Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill. Basically, the courts said that the Government had to pay family members who looked after people with disabilities (because not doing so was discriminatory), so the Government passed this law to say: “Yeah nah.”

The RIS isn’t just redacted for the public – it was redacted for MPs. *Parliament* voted on this, with all the relevant facts blacked out.

Sure, it’s understandable, right? If you’re passing a law that’s really dodgy, you don’t want advice from civil servants saying “uh, this is pretty illegal” to be public. But actually, that’s not really a problem here, because in the same piece of legislation, THEY SAID THEY CAN’T BE TAKEN TO COURT. More>>