From the mayor

Spring is here with a vengeance, and if you are like me, we are struggling to keep up with mowing the lawns.

It was great to grab the opportunity and arrange an open day at the Pain Estate recently. Work has been extensive and well managed to a good standard, and will be kept in good condition into the future.

It is a shame Toast Martinborough has been cancelled, however I am working with a number of organisations to replace the event with smaller initiatives to give visitors options during this peak weekend. The sponsor of Toast, Tommy’s Real Estate, has generously offered to divert their sponsorship to this initiative. Keep an eye out for a calendar of events later this month.

Unfortunately the PGF funding for household water tanks was declined (I’m still annoyed about this!) but we will have an option to present to ratepayers hopefully in November. Retrofitting large water tanks, in my opinion, is an essential action for us to manage water resources into the future.

Recently we reported a suspected overflow from the Martinborough Waste Water Treatment Plant. To keep you in the loop, Council has insisted we be transparent on any issues like this. As it turns out, it was probably not a discharge but we feel it is important to be up front. In the past, you probably would not have had this level of reporting, so don’t assume things are not improving – they are!

I recently attended a quick meeting with the Cape Palliser Ratepayers Assn at Ngawi, followed by a quiz night at the Community Hall. The place was packed, and an excellent night was had. I can report your CEO and Mayor’s team placed third after leading most of the quiz, but were undone by a disastrous ‘where am I’ round.

Nga mihi

Mayor Alex