While we've been staying home and saving lives, this has given our district's wide-open spaces and untouched nature a breather, and we can’t wait for everyone to re-join our Coromandel bubble when it is safe to do so.

“I would like to say a big thank you to all our non-resident ratepayers, and to those who stayed at their other home during lockdown and supported the Government stance,” says our Mayor Sandra Goudie.

“As your second home, we know you embrace our communities. Your support helps to keep our businesses, local clubs and rescue services alive. You even volunteer where you can. We are all part of the Coromandel community, whether we live here all the time, or just some of it. So, a shout out and thank you to everyone who has been doing it hard - we’re looking forward to having you back here with us in the near future.”

You can get a peek and taste of the Coromandel in the meantime by visiting one of Destination Coromandel’s webcams: thecoromandel.com/webcams. The still above is from the one in Whangamata today.

Update on our Council services

Libraries – Our three district libraries, Thames, Tairua and Mercury Bay will remain closed to the public under Alert Level 2; however, they will offer a click and collect, call and collect and home delivery service. The book drops will be open, and we will encourage people to return their books so we can quarantine them before re-shelving.

There has been an increase in the use in e-books and audiobooks with a total of 2343 loans last month (2207 loans more than the same month last year). Of the 1685 active titles on loan or reserve, 93.23% were eBooks and 6.77% were audiobooks with 940 active patrons borrowing or reserving titles (906 patrons more than the same month last year.

There are an additional 500 audiobooks available from uLIBRARY, which we don't normally offer but have been given special access to by Ulverscroft until 31 May, because of the lockdown.

Library members can access over 18,000 e-books and e-audiobooks, which can be borrowed online 24/7 - tcdc.govt.nz/libraries. We've turned the free WiFi back on at our district libraries. It's available from 8am to 8pm and log-in details are posted on the libraries' doors, but we ask users to please maintain social distancing from others.

Proposed Annual Plan for 2020/2021 – Online hearings were held earlier this week for people who made a submission on our proposed Annual Plan for 2020/21 to present “in person” over audio-video link to our Council. Approximately 50 submitters out of more than 230 chose to present on their submissions in the hearings on Monday and Tuesday. Recordings of the sessions are available at tcdc.govt.nz/annualplan2020.

Our Council will next examine all the submissions and the presentations when they meet to deliberate on the Annual Plan in early June.

The Annual Plan states what our Council intends to achieve over the financial year, how much it will cost, and how that cost will be funded – including the setting of rates and fees and charges. The final Annual Plan will be adopted at the Council meeting on 23 June.

Alcohol applications – A new piece of legislation (the Epidemic Preparedness (COVID-19) Notice 2020) was introduced that has temporarily extended the time it takes to process a new or renewal applications to allow the Police and Medical Officer of Health to prioritise managing COVID-19. Instead of the usual 15 working days these two agencies had to report on applications, they now have until 5 August 2020. If our Council receives a response from them before 5 August, your application will continue to be processed. This extended timeframe applies to applications received in the last few weeks, however it doesn’t apply to special licence or Manager Certificate applications. For more information see tcdc.govt.nz/alcohollicenceshttp://www.tcdc.govt.nz/alcohollicences

Support Local - We’re looking to host two separate online forums to understand how the building/construction and hospitality sectors may operate in the medium to long-term as we move through the Alert Levels of COVID-19. Both forums will be hosted by ZOOM and tentative dates are Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 May. (Times TBC). Please register your interest to dana.little@tcdc.govt.nz along with any questions that you would like answered.

We’re also looking at another forum in the next fortnight for the retail sector. See tcdc.govt.nz/supportlocal for more information.

Kerbside collections - Tomorrow, Wednesday 6 May:

• Coromandel Town & Te Kouma
• Thames & Surrounds ‘Week 1‘

For the full update on our Council services go to tcdc.govt.nz/covid-19

Chorus to resume fibre installations and build under COVID-19 Alert Level 3

Chorus has announced it will resume work on non-essential fibre installs and UFB build projects nationwide – with strict adherence to safe working practices under Alert Level 3.

Andrew Carroll, Chorus’ General Manger for Network and Customer Operations, says the company has shared its plans with the Government, and its service company partners, and is confident that it can resume work safely.

“During Alert Level 4 we continued to safely offer essential fibre installs at a rate of about 500 per week. However even this saw more than half of our 4,000 or so technicians stood down, or unable to work,” says Mr Carroll.

“We’re pleased to be able to restart work in connecting people to fibre and extending the reach of our fibre network. This is good for customers and it is good for our technicians. We know we can do this safely; the health and safety of our technicians and our customers is front-of-mind for everything we do.

“With retailers continuing to take fibre orders during the lockdown we are aware that there is a backlog of installations to work through. There may be instances where we need to prioritise those most in need as we ramp up capacity and work within the Alert Level 3 restrictions.

“And of course, customers who remain uncomfortable with a technician coming into their bubble are still able to postpone their connection or look at services such as VDSL that we can connect remotely without the need to visit the home,” Mr Carroll says.

Read more here.

Stay informed, get support or contact us:

• Free phone 0800 800 405 is available between 7am-7pm daily for anyone struggling to get food, groceries, medication or other household goods and services. Find more here on what support is available and some ways to stay connected.
• Tune into the radio - We’re advertising on local radio stations any important updates and our Mayor Sandra has an interview with CFM on Mondays, Gold FM on Tuesdays and with Coromandel More FM on Thursdays.
• Newspapers - Keep an eye out in the local newspapers for news and updates from our Council.
• Call us: 07 868 0200
• Email: customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz
• Website: tcdc.govt.nz
• Follow our Facebook page
• Sign up for Email newsletters
• Make Online payments

© Scoop Media