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Crimeline
Hunting the hunters
I hope everyone is making the most out of this outstanding run of weather we are having and taking in all that our town has to offer.
I would like to start of this weeks Crimeline by bringing your attention to some unlawful hunting. On March 20 at around 8:15pm a boat on Lake Wānaka, north of The Faces near Glen Dene Station, was observed using a firearm to shoot at wild animals on private land.
There were two males onboard, the boat is described as a hard top Mclay, possibly a 725. The back half of the hull appears dark in colour with a large mural/picture on the side. Police have images of the boat and are keen to hear from the owner or anyone who may know the owner.
Police have been kept busy over the past week undertaking their gardening duties. A number of cannabis plants have been located and seized by Police around the area.
Burglaries continue to be a trend in our community. Again, this is a timely reminder that whilst you may trust your fellow Wānakaites and leave properties or vehicles unlocked, there are some in our community who look for any opportunity to take your highly valuable and personal belongings. Please be vigilant and lock your homes and vehicles.
The youth of Wānaka have come to the attention of police for a variety of reasons over the past week. This may be due to them being up to no good, metal health, driving or social media. Please check in with your children and ensure you know what they are up to, thinking and feeling. It doesn’t have to be an awkward conversation, just a check in and it is always worth following up with where they say they are going.
Alcohol and drugs have been a strong influence in many of the cases we have dealt with this week including youths.
We attended a near miss between a motocross bike and a pregnant female in the Dublin Bay area.
The motorcyclist fell off soon after which indicated his level of ability. Dublin Bay is a road including a 4wd track around the bay. If it is not a road legal bike you cannot ride it on Dublin Bay Road.
This week we are focusing on speed, restraints and distracted drivers. Leave your phone alone while driving and make it click.
– By Andrew Bremner
Constable
PHOTO: WĀnaka Sun
Talk to us…
There’s a lot to talk about this month, literally. The Queenstown Lakes District Council is running a host of consultations and we need to know what our community thinks, so we can influence decisions.
Let’s Talk Upper Clutha
The draft 2022-23 Annual Plan and the draft Climate and Biodiversity Plan are both up for discussion. You can read the details and provide feedback at letstalk.qldc.govt.nz until April 25. A public drop-in session for those keen to chat about the plans will be held at the Lake Wānaka Centre from 3-6pm on Monday.
The Annual Plan is the work programme for the year and lists key priorities for QLDC to deliver on behalf of the community. It sets out proposed spending on capital projects, and budgets for services such as rubbish collection, recycling, parks and community facilities. Importantly, it shows how these affect the rates you pay to keep the district humming.
The Climate and Biodiversity Plan explains how we’re going to respond to climate change in our district. The plan has more than 60 actions, ranging from improving public transport to building food security.
Community Grants
Applications for grants for one-off community projects or operational costs for the 2022-23 financial year are considered as part of the Annual Plan process and also close on April 25. For details, see www.letstalk.qldc.govt.nz
Waste Minimisation
Applications for grants from QLDC’s Waste Minimisation Community Fund, which has $120,000 to distribute, are also open. The fund supports projects to minimise the generation of waste across the district and to divert waste from landfill.
Recipients last year included the Wānaka Community Workshop Trust, Wanakup, and the Wānaka-based Wao Charitable Trust. Money also went to a food rescue charity, a worm farm for a preschool, schemes to salvage materials from building sites, and a project to compost food waste from a hotel.
If you have a great idea to solve a waste problem, apply online at www.qldc.govt.nz/wmcf.
Mount Iron acquisition
QLDC is in the process of acquiring more than 100ha of land on Mount Iron and Little Mount Iron, but to settle the deal it needs resource consent for vegetation clearance, and approval to acquire and classify the area as Recreation Reserve. Hopefully, this will be granted by the end of the year.
There will be no immediate changes to public use of the Mount Iron walking tracks, and Council will work closely with the community, iwi, and the Department of Conservation on long-term plans for the area.
If you're interested in this project, subscribe to a regular update at www.qldc.govt.nz/ mount-iron-acquisition.
Water upgrade
Good progress is being made on the Western Wānaka water upgrade. Golf Course Road is still limited to one lane of traffic. The southbound lane is open for resident and business access only. Access to Golf Course Road is via Ballantyne Road only with a diversion in place along McDougall and Brownston streets.
Work along Golf Course Road is expected to be completed by the end of April/early May. Work on the pipeline will then continue along the remaining streets.
Both the pump station and pipeline are expected to be complete by the end of 2022.
Relationship Manager
Council has appointed a Community Associations Relationship Manager, who will work closely with the board and support recognised community associations in Upper Clutha. Amy Wilson-White starts in this new role on May 2.
Elections
Local government elections will be held in October. Now’s the time to think about who you would like to represent you on the Council and Wānaka Community Board. Or consider standing yourself! Nominations open on July 15.
Drop-in session
An easy way to give us feedback on the Council’s plans is to drop into the Wānaka Recreation Centre between noon and 1.00pm on April 6. Members of the Wānaka Community Board will be available for an informal chat about any issue, large or small.
Building up our leaders
A second Ignite Wānaka Leadership Academy will start in May.
The programme, completed over five weeks, aims to provide leaders with the opportunity to build capabilities through their own personal development and by learning from the experience of others.
The Leadership Academy enables participants to be better equipped for leadership roles and opportunities. It is open to anyone, but Ignite members get first priority.
The Leadership Academy is for people looking at developing their existing leadership experience and who have the potential for holding senior positions or governance roles.
It can be of use to business owners, team leaders in a large organisations, site supervisors, managers of not-for-profit organisations or people managing a retail or bar outlet.
Organisers say the academy will cover many areas and examples of leadership to help people grow as a leader and as a person.
thewanakasun.co.nz
Sun News Mental Health funds available
More than $50,000 will go towards improving people’s mental wellbeing across the Southern Lakes region in the next few months through Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group’s Connecting Communities fund.
The fund supports community-led not-for-profit activities and events across Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell, and Te Anau/Fiordland that encourage social connection and promote the Five Ways to Wellbeing and Te Whare Tapa Wha.
Among the 54 groups to benefit from the second round of funding was Mint Trust Wānaka school holiday workshop for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group chair Adell Cox said the response from groups across the region and diversity of innovative ideas to improve mental wellbeing was inspirational.
“The Connecting Communities fund is really important because it gives us the opportunity to hear directly from our communities on a regular basis about what they want and need to improve their wellbeing.
“Applications nearly doubled from Round one and they reflect how tough it is out there at the moment so we’ve done our best to support as many initiatives as we can to help people stay well.”
Mint Trust’s Charlotte Jackson said their funding would go towards an ‘I Can’ workshop during their school holiday performing arts programme for people with intellectual disabilities.
“Giant Leaps are the very best industry professionals and their ‘I Can, Speech and Drama Academy’ helps to build communication skills, confidence and self-esteem for those with intellectual disabilities,” she said
“With many of our group experiencing isolation and disengagement from the community during Covid we thought it would be a great opportunity to host this in Wānaka. We are going to hold a primary school and secondary/adult workshop during our April holiday programme to support this awesome group of people get on the stage and shine.”
Eligible groups can apply for up to $1000 from the Connecting Communities fund. The next two funding rounds are July 4-14 and October 31 - November 10.
For more details go to www.southernhealth.nz/tehautoka.
Young people under Mint’s umbrella like Reuben Beston will benefit from the funding.
Trust makes $10 million pledge
PHOTO: Sharron Bennett Photography
Trust Community Engagement Advisor Liz Harburg pictured with Diccon Sim. Otago Community Trust has announced a suite of funds aimed at lifting the capability of young people in the Otago region.
The Trust will invest up to $10 million over the next five years into organisations and initiatives that seek to support the region’s youth.
Otago Community Trust chief executive, Barbara Bridger said in 2019 the Trust commissioned research into the youth sector in the Otago region.
“We gained valuable insights into how we may fund change and the potential of our youth into the future.”
We learnt that investing in community building and the support structures that wrap around a young person’s life plays a powerful and protective role for our children and young people, but current funding models do not resource or support this work well.
Otago Community Trust chair Diccon Sim said that the research allowed the Trust to refresh its overarching strategic plan and develop a new Tamariki and Rangatahi Strategy. The Trust has employed a Community Engagement Advisor and trustees and staff have worked together with the sector to develop the suite of funds. “A lot of work has been done in the background over a number of years - reflecting the Trust’s strong commitment to fund strategically and ensure a lasting and beneficial impact for the region’s young people.” The $10 million will be invested in organisations and initiatives aimed at raising resilience and increasing capacity among tamariki and rangatahi - especially those addressing disadvantage, discrimination, exclusion, and those from the priority communities identified in the Trust’s new strategic plan, said Mr Sim. The largest of the three new funds which will be open in April is the Impact for Tamariki and Rangatahi Fund, this fund will have an annual budget of up to $2 million. It is intended to provide a small number of high investment grants with a focus on supporting projects that have the potential to be game changing and deliver long term intergenerational change. Diccon Sim said as far as the Trust is aware, this will be one of the few funds of its kind in New Zealand that offers a significant amount of funding in a region to develop the capacity of children and young people.
“We know there is already a lot of incredible work happening in this space and we expect this funding to support and build on this work and foster greater innovation and partnerships in the sector.”
The second new fund is a capability-based fund which will open 1 July 2022. The Tamariki & Rangatahi Sector Capability Fund will focus on supporting capacity building among those working with tamariki and rangatahi.
Grants will be up to $10,000, but larger amounts will be considered for projects with significant potential for impact or which encourage collaboration between multiple organisations.
This fund is aimed at strengthening the governance and/or operational effectiveness of organisations, supporting investment in specialised training for management, staff and volunteers and enhancing cultural capability.
The last of the new funds to be launched in April 2023, will be a dedicated Rangatahi-led Fund. This fund will be for youth, by youth and with funding decisions guided by youth. This fund will be focused on empowering the region’s rangatahi to initiate projects that are important to them.
Golfers putt it there for Mint
The Mint Charitable Trust says $41,660.40 was raised at the Hirepool Charity Classic Trilogy Golf Tournament last weekend.
More than 50 businesses contributed to the event which ran over three days and included both a live and silent auction.
Independent board member Bronwyn Coers was thrilled with the result.
“We are so humbled by not only those businesses and individuals who contributed, but those who participated in the auction. The amount raised will go a long way to ensuring Mint can continue to provide the valuable service it does,” Coers said.
Mint, which is set up to support those in the community with intellectual disabilities, offers holiday programmes as well as important social, cultural and sporting opportunities.
Ben Wilson, Mint parent and trustee, is grateful.
“We have a long list of sincere thank yous - too many to name - but we wish particularly to acknowledge Hirepool and the Wānaka Golf Club for this incredible opportunity, Jude Smith, Jaimee Whinston, Bronwyn Coers, Kath Beston and our Mint team of volunteers, Penny Wilson and Duncan Good our auctioneer,” Wilson said.
To find out more about Mint, contact Charlotte Jackson at activities@minttrust.nz.
Sarah Holmes 027 343 4776
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