Councils roll out virus plans
With the country in the grip of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Tasman District and Nelson City councils are taking steps to make sure the water still flows from the taps and the rubbish is collected.
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said her council was in ‘‘uncharted territory’’ when it came to what the exact effects would be on the region, but it was well prepared for a worsening situation.
‘‘We’re preparing for all contingencies. We do test runs on all sorts of scenarios, and we tested the pandemic plan last year, so there’s good structures in place.’’
Reese said the council was preparing elected members and staff for working from home, and helping to boost contractor staff on critical services.
‘‘If we end up with some cases [of Covid-19] in the community, or a community outbreak, then we’ve got teams organised to support [those services].
‘‘Even now, those [critical services] teams . . . are already operating in isolation from each other.’’
Changes had also been made to the likes of cleaning schedules for public transport and toilet facilities, such as buses being
Nelson City mayor
cleaned after each trip, and more frequent checks of public toilets to ensure soap was always available, Reese said.
Tasman District Council community relations manager Chris Choat said it was working to ensure that essential services were not disrupted by the virus or the measures being taken to contain it.
Utilities manager Mike Schruer said it was standard practice for the council’s water and wastewater teams to work separately, with their own equipment and vehicles. As part of its pandemic planning, the council was working with its contractors to develop contingency plans in case of reduced staff numbers or other potential effects, to ‘‘keep essential services going’’.
Choat said the council was also taking ‘‘sensible steps to strengthen hygiene practices in service centres and libraries’’.
It expected all staff to comply with the Government’s directions on self-isolation, and was monitoring government guidance on public events and non-essential services and contracts.
‘‘We have activated our pandemic planning, and are prepared for more severe measures should they be deemed necessary.’’
Tasman District resident Kevin Walmsley on Monday called for Waimea Water Ltd to activate a force majeure clause to suspend construction of the Waimea
dam and costs.
Waimea Water Ltd (WWL) – a joint venture between the Tasman council and Waimea Irrigators Ltd (WIL) – is responsible for managing the construction, operation and maintenance of the dam, being built in the Lee Valley.
‘‘The effects of Covid-19 have pushed NZ’s economy immediately into recession,’’ Walmsley says in an email to Waimea Water. ‘‘The flow-on effect is that over the next two years, revenue streams that WWL are reliant upon for construction and operating expenses for the dam project from its shareholders, TDC and WIL are in jeopardy.’’
However, Waimea Water chief executive Mike Scott said that if large infrastructure projects such as the dam were stopped ‘‘it would be economic carnage’’.
‘‘It would spook the local economy and New Zealand.’’ It would also cost more ‘‘to undo the dam than it would to finish it’’.
In a statement, the Nelson Regional Development Agency said it was hard to quantify the economic effect on the region.
‘‘We are currently pulling together intel from the business community to try and understand this better. We surveyed hundreds of businesses in the region on Friday, and have been talking with the visitor sector since announcements over the weekend.
‘‘We will be pulling this all together over the next couple of days to better inform the best utilisation of resources to respond to this situation.’’
However, the agency said it was ‘‘pretty clear there will be a significant short-term and likely medium-long term effect on the visitor sector, in particular, which will flow through to retail, hospitality etc’’.
‘‘We tested the pandemic plan last year, so there’s good structures in place.’’ Rachel Reese,