Our Council meeting this week was held a day early so that the Mayor, CE and two councillors can attend the Local Government New Zealand conference and at the AGM, the Mayor will propose a remit on the graduated driver licensing system.

The proposal is that LGNZ advocate for changes to the fee structure for driver licensing, better preparing young people for driver licence testing, and greater testing capacity in key locations throughout New Zealand, in order to relieve pressure on the driver licensing system and ensure testing can be conducted in a quick and efficient manner.

A driver's licence, especially for our youth, is really important for getting to work and for independence.

Our Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) has also been helping our youth with driver licences, with 123 gaining licences over the past year. This includes 36 getting their forklift licence.

Another project that the MTFJ team has been working hard to put together is the Career Fest, which will be held at the Hampstead sports grounds this Saturday from 10am till 2pm. So, if you are thinking about your career options, then come along and meet some of the local employers in our district.

Water is also a subject that is at the forefront of councillors’ minds and last week we held a workshop on the state of Lake Camp.

Staff from Environment Canterbury, DoC and Fish and Game were invited along to present on the low lake levels and the diversion that had been in place from the Balmacaan Stream. We were able to ask questions and get more of an understanding of what is happening up at the lakes.

I had taken a drive up to see the lake to get a better idea of how the old diversion worked and at our Council meeting this week, Council asked for a report from staff to understand the costs and implications of an application for consent to divert the Balmacaan Stream.

On a sad note, the district has lost some good community men and women over the past couple of weeks. I would like to acknowledge Roger, Victor, Sally-Ann, Colin and Tom, who all made an amazing contribution to our district over the course of their lives.