Tim Newsham News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The Budget set aside $200m for flood resilience infrastructure, including stopbank improvements.

Spring Creek residents did not have to evacuate today as expected - but compromised stopbanks mean the community remains at risk during future storm events.

Newsham called the Marlborough District Council, which sent contractors with sandbags to stack along the stop bank. The banks had been built up to their current height after the Tuamarina flood in 1983. If the river rose only another few centimetres, it would have poured into his property, filled his house and destroyed the vegetable garden, he said. “We’ve dodged a bullet, really.” The police arrived to escort Newsham from the property later that afternoon, on their rounds to check Spring Creek residents had evacuated. RICKY WILSON/Stuff Cars and trucks queue on State Highway 1 wait...

They should be representative of their town and something residents could be proud of, she said. Through a process of community discussions and consultation, taglines and a preferred image had been confirmed for most of the small towns in Marlborough. This included Seddon, Havelock, Renwick, Picton, Wairau Valley and Rai Valley. Work was underway with Canvastown, Ward and Spring Creek. The council was expecting to spend $228,000, including landscaping and plantings, across the 17 sites in the gateways project. Once the taglines, and an image, had been confirmed, each town would have at le...