This week has proudly been all about the Ashburton Library and it has been a joy to hear so much positive feedback about the new facility within Te Whare Whakatere.

From the huge David Elliot mural to the outdoor playground, there is much to surprise and delight in the library, as well as it being a functional and comfortable space for the community and staff.

I invite you all to visit and see a modern library in action, because as well as books, you will find Lego, computer gaming and a sound recording studio, plus a whole lot more.

These occasions are special in the life of Council and I know that staff and the community are looking forward to the whole building being fully operational on Monday 29 January.

We’re planning a formal opening in the near future to celebrate the new building and will be sharing details with the community. We’ve also invited the Prime Minister and we hope to announce a date soon.

While it’s been great to pause and mark the new building’s opening, there is plenty of other work that is ongoing and equally important to the community. I’m referring to the Long Term Plan that requires Councillors to think about priorities for the next 10 years.

A lot of ideas have been chewed over and options considered, and we are at the point of finishing a draft LTP and budget for 2024-25. We’ll be taking this draft plan to the community in March and we really want to hear about the ideas that resonate with the community and what people see as priorities for the next decade.

We will be talking about how to spend $3 million earmarked for outdoor water play and people can tell us if they want that money spent on repairing the Tinwald pool, or on a new outdoor pool at EA Networks Centre, or a hydroslide or on relocating the paddling pool at the Ashburton Domain.

There’ll be plenty of different views and we’ll be providing plenty of opportunities to give feedback.

This dry, hot summer has also focussed attention on the wise use of water and while our larger urban centres are not on restrictions, it is timely for everyone to think about sensible use so that restrictions are not needed.

Watering the lawn at noon on a hot day means a lot of water will be lost in evaporation, so it’s better to turn the sprinkler on in the evening, or you could choose to love your brown lawn at this time of the summer.

There’s lots of good information about using water wisely on our website ashburtondc.govt.nz