Decison to be made on parking
Questions around parking availability at the new library and civic will be answered today.
The Ashburton District Council will consider parking time restrictions around the new library, Te Pātaka o kā Tuhituhi, and civic centre, Te Waharoa a Hine Paaka to meet the needs of visitors to the building, which will open later this year.
Public parking bays will be provided along Baring Square East opposite the building, with further on-street parking available around the building.
A red brick building at 255 Havelock Street, currently used as a base for library and civic centre contractors Naylor Love, will be demolished and will be turned into parking.
Ten of those parks will be for the public with a proposed 120 minute restriction.
There will be 18 angled parking bays at the front of the building along Baring Square East with the recommended option to make five of those 30 minute parks, as well as one 10 minute and five 120 minutes parks on Havelock Street.
Visitors who hold mobility parking spaces or an over 80 parking permit are entitled to extended time limits for the standard car parks - so in a 30 minute parking space they are entitled to stay up to 60 minutes - and there are two mobility parks outside the church.
Another decision facing councillors will be the proposed location for the new bike skills park, with a recommendation for it to be in the Ashburton Domain.
Community service organisations are wanting to develop a bike skills park for young children to learn to ride a bike in a safe environment, in a central Ashburton location.
In a meeting with the organisations interested in being involved, the Ashburton Domain and EA Networks Centre were considered. They opted to request the park be placed in and around the current pump track of the Ashburton Domain.
The council will also consider reserve contributions requests, including a $15,000 application from the Tinwald Reserve Board to establish a disc golf course in the Tinwald Domain.
The council will consider its preference for when it will transition to Entity I: Canterbury/West Coast water entity in the affordable water reforms.
The National Transition Unit is seeking feedback on when councils would like to join the water entity as currently proposed in the Water Services Amendment Bill.
The council maintains its opposition to the reform but to meet its legislative obligations it is being recommended to support establishing the new entity on April 1, 2025.
By Jonathan Leask