Make positive difference by becoming a volunteer

Kia Orana, Kia Ora, Welcome to our new fortnightly councillor column.

I’m Victoria and proud to be your Levin Ward councillor for a third term.

What a fantastic, busy, fun filled first few months of 2017.

Local and district-wide we have celebrated Children’s Day (our future problem solvers). Solway Park shared their international food festival with many supporting the occasion. The rain didn’t stop the crowds — there’s no inappropriate weather just inappropriate clothing.

Last Saturday Pasifika celebrations were held at the Levin Adventure Park, another awesome day with food from the islands and great music and entertainment enjoyed by all.

These are fine examples of our community making a huge difference, in building strong relationships by bringing families, friends and visitors to our district. Being together to truly enjoy and appreciate a small part of what makes our place so special to live, work and play the Nua way.

Friday March 17 was our first annual plan meeting at the councillor’s kiosk in the Levin Mall. This ran from 1pm to 2.30pm and it was wonderful to engage with members of the public to discuss any issues, good or bad.

One popular discussion was the rate rebate, as mentioned last fortnight by councillor Gimblett. If you’re unsure as to whether or not you’re entitled it’s only a phone call away or a simple drop in and chat to the staff who are only too happy to assist.

Also, in regards to our infrastructure, yes a lot of money has been spent in this area. For so many years rates were kept very low, too low, and now we are having to play catch up. This was one reason for my decision to run for council in the first place. We needed better water quality, improvements regarding treatment, storage, pipes, replacement, upgrades. There is nothing sexy about infrastructure, especially a $7m dollar pipe in the ground, compared to a building you look at every other day.

Lastly, if you are keen to join ‘Keep Levin Beautiful’ I would love to hear from you. We always need new volunteers from across our district. We are a small group, we create a presence in and around the Nua, as well as facilitate Clean Up Week in September for our district. Smile, share your knowledge and go and make a positive difference.