Presidents Welcome
President Rod welcomed all members including our Guest Speaker TDC Mayor Nigel Bowen, then opened the meeting with grace.
President’s Time
A meeting of the organising committee for this year’s Bookarama was held before the regular meeting. All is on track but help from all members is necessary to get the job done. Bookarama is on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th November. A day or two before is needed to set it all up. Sunday late afternoon extra helpers are needed to clear all the books and tidy-up the hall.
St Johns opening day at the new premises on Saturday 31st October 2020
YMCA Charity Golf Tournament this Saturday 24th October at the Pleasant Point Golf Club
Our Christmas Meeting will be held on the 7th December this year.
Announcements
Rob Rhodes advises that luncheon for Paul Harris Fellows will be held on Friday 6th November 2020. at the Town and Country Club. Please advise Rob, by 03 November 2020 if you plan to attend, numbers need to be confirmed.
3-Minute Talk: Noel Crawford talked to us how great grandfather Crawford first worked on farms in Scotland later leased land and farmed it and then took up an offer from the NZ Government that sponsored immigrants to NZ. He and family arrived in Dunedin and again worked on farms and was involved in a Dairy Factory. 1893 came to the Timaru area and in 1916 grandfather Crawford bought land near Cave and that’s where the next generations continued farming to this day.
Sergeant David and Corporal John dug up various stories ranging from General Election to farming practices and unanswered history questions. All good enough for a fine.
Weekly Club-Raffle – was drawn by Mayor Bowen and won by Terry Stagg with ticket 67A
End Polio Fundraiser - Timaru Rotary have secured a showing of “I Am Woman” as an End Polio Fundraiser at Movie Max 5 in Timaru - Tuesday 24th November 5.45pm for 6pm (the start of the movie), the cost is $20 per ticket.
Timaru Rotary would like to open up the opportunity for all Rotarians, their families and friends from South Canterbury and North Otago to attend this movie.
The theatre we have secured has 80 seats, so its first in to confirm Names from each club, who will secure tickets for this event. Names attending by 18th November please.
Any questions, please email Lionel Wilson, Secretary, Rotary Club of Timaru Inc. Email: lwilsonfamily@xtra.co.nz.
Chairman Colin Clemens introduced our Guest Speaker Nigel Bowen, Mayor of the Timaru District. Nigel is a Timaru man by birth married with family and involved in hospitality and has also involved in various local organisations. After one term as a City Councillor he was elected as our Mayor and he and the City Councillors are working on a lot of projects as per the Long Term Plan. He explained that a lot of this work is not “visible” like Water Supply and Waste Water but is very important infrastructure that needs to be kept up to standard. “Visible” projects on the go are the development of the Theatre Royal area and the Art Gallery. All up there are projects for 50 million dollars on the go for this coming year. The Pareora Pipeline renewal is under way now.
Covid19 has slowed down a lot of business and the Council has lost some income because of it but the loss was not significant. A strong farming industry with all the related activities have held up the South Canterbury economy well and the Timaru District came out of the Covid19 crisis a lot better that many other areas in New Zealand. Infrastructure in our district is up to scratch due to work that was done over the last few years and still being done.
The Highfield Recreation Area project is about to get under way and the public has been asked to comment right now. All this information is available on the Timaru District Website and you can follow the progress of these projects as well as looking up what you can do with your section or house and what the regulations are. Showgrounds Hill development is still being discussed. There are a lot of restrictions as to what retail shops can open up there and how big these shops can be. Hospitality businesses are also in the mix. Also in discussion is the Fresh Water Proposal from the Government. Nigel explained that in principle the TDC is looking to take up the offer and the money from the Government and see how things work out but it’s still unknown how much control is given up locally and handed over to a Government group.
Derek Coupland thanked Nigel for his informative address, noting what a big job the Mayor has to perform and commended him and the City Council for job well done
President Rod added his voice bout Timaru and South Canterbury being a great place to live then closed the meeting with some Quotes from History.