Let the record (not necessarily) show

The Invercargill City Council has made a quiet change of practice to how it records some of its decisions.

It came to light after Otatara residents strongly opposed how the council intended to spend the Gostelow bequest.

The council’s infrastructural services committee decided in June that the matter would lie on the table so internal legal advice could be obtained and reported back to the committee’s next meeting.

Committee chairman Ian Pottinger said this clearly before the vote. The public gallery heard it, two reporters independently recorded it that way, and when the minutes of the meeting were first provided to the public online, that’s what they said, too. It was what had happened, after all.

Then the minutes were changed. The amended minutes that were later formally adopted said only that the matter would lie on the table. No particular reason. No timeline.

When I queried this I was told the original minutes were a mistake. Not inaccurate – too much detail. This is not a one-off; it’s a change of practice initiated under chief executive Clare Hadley’s watch.

Local Government New Zealand says when an item is left to lie on the table it’s good practice wherever possible to state what action is required to finalise it and when it will be reconsidered.

The committee had decided legal advice was needed for its next meeting. That was the true bottom line and should have been recorded for transparency and public accountability.

The legal advice wasn’t provided to the next committee meeting, by the way. It took longer.

Nicola Fallow, Invercargill

Hydro to hydrogen

In recent times, there has been considerable comment in the media of the need to transmit power from Manapouri across Cook Strait following the likely closure of the aluminium smelter.

There has, however, been no real indication of the practicality of such a project and, apart from broad estimates of time and cost from Transpower, there is no real idea of the dollars involved.

To do this a second high-voltage DC link, between the islands, and its associated infrastructure would be needed. But at what cost, and would anyone in the South Island be interested in contributing?

What is required is an industry to use the electricity in the region where it is generated, and preferably one that runs continuously. There has been mention in the media of the possibility of producing hydrogen by electrolysis of water.

At Tiwai Point the smelter has equipment that converts the incoming electricity to low voltage, direct current, apparently suitable for electrolysis on a large scale. Perhaps this equipment, which is apparently relatively young, and some of the buildings could be retained to serve this new purpose.

The Tiwai Point site, being isolated, appears to be a perfect setting for what would be regarded as a hazardous industry. There is extensive infrastructure already in place and a wharf capable of berthing large ships.

Hydrogen produced could be shipped to any part of the country or world to be used as transport fuel, replacing carbon-based nonrenewable petrol and diesel.

The reduction of carbon emissions, once the necessary distribution systems had been developed, is self-evident.

In effect, renewable energy in the form of hydrogen would be available for use where required.

Establishing a new industry is never cheap, and might well require assistance from overseas, but the potential benefits, in the long term, make it imperative that this possibility be seriously investigated. This would surely be a better investment than power lines from south to north with the inevitable losses on the way. Robin Webb, Invercargill

Welfare of each other

Regarding your story ‘‘Just don’t call them townies’’ (August 24).

The Electoral Representative Commission moved the good people of Tuatapere, Otautau and Ohai-Nightcaps into the Invercargill electorate, so I agree you just can’t call them townies.

But what are they? Over the past few months the members of the Riverton MenzShed have been debating over a cuppa whether they are urban (townies) or rural.

A survey showed a 50-50 split. So each person has their own view but it doesn’t matter if they are seeking the welfare of each other.

The Southland Regional Development Strategy (SoRDS), which was a top-down businessdriven exercise, identified two things the province required: 1) 10,000 more people; and 2) an increase in GDP.

Great South is tasked with the implementation.

Then along comes the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fourteen months ago a bottomup approach of growing and living faithfully in the community was proposed at the National Permaculture Hui held in Riverton.

Robyn Guyton spoke on the ‘‘Round the Mountain’’ project for the local rural economy of Western Southland.

Dave Diprose spoke on changing the face of Southland farming, including the work of the local water catchment groups, and Stuart Bull on ‘‘What is mana whenua O¯ raka/Aparima – caring in community’’.

From The Southland Times’ article: ‘‘On the upside, this is the district that, as best as could be assessed, was leading the way in Southland for volunteerism and assisting others in the community’’.

‘‘Just don’t call them townies’’ – but they are and will be ‘‘Seeking the welfare of the city’’, which was the title of an open lecture by Professor Andrew Bradstock, then of the University of Otago.

Rev. Denis Bartley, Riverton