COVID19

This page has been set up to give you the latest council updates and any affected services as a result of COVID-19

Wednesday 25 March 2020

2pm
We know that there are a lot of people feeling uncertain right now and we’re doing our best to keep you informed with all the essential information we can, in line with messaging from the Government. We will do our best to address your queries via these posts, however, we may not be able to reply to every comment during this busy time, and many of the questions we’re getting have been answered in previous posts. If we don’t respond to your query, please check www.covid19.govt.nz or www.cdc.govt.nz/covid19 or on Facebook at Covid-19 -Wairarapa Updates as you will most likely find the answer there.

At one minute to midnight tonight New Zealand will move into lockdown to eliminate COVID-19.

All non-essential services must close and everyone should stay at home. These are big measures, but they will save lives.

Every person who doesn’t play their part in helping stop the spread of COVID-19 risks these strict measures being in place longer than the initial four weeks.

Everyone needs to stay home and stop all interactions with others outside of your household, unless you are part of an essential service.  Whatever you do must be solitary. You can only spend time with those who you are in self-isolation with, and keep your distance from all others at all times.

Business owners – close your doors unless you are classified as an essential service outlined on the covid19.govt.nz page here.

The key points of clarification from the Government regarding essential services are:

• The Warehouse to close stores to the public
• Bunnings, Placemakers, Mitre 10 and other retailers essential to the supply chain for building and construction can stay open to trade customers for essential purposes only
• Dairies to stay open, with “one-in one-out” rule
• Services delivering pre-prepared food must stop
• Delivery of food that is not pre-cooked can continue, with strict measures in place
• Liquor stores closed, unless within a Licensing Trust Area and with “one-in one-out” rule.

All the information you need about the national response to COVID-19 is available at www.covid19.govt.nz

You can also follow the regional Wairarapa Facebook page to keep up to date with local COVID-19 developments, including welfare support as that becomes available.

The essential council services which are still operating (e.g provision of drinking water, rubbish and recycling collection) are all listed on our page www.cdc.govt.nz/covid19.

Updates to this include the closure of our public toilets, effective immediately, and the limited use of the transfer station (open only to rural residents and commercial users). This is to ensure the safety of our community. Rubbish and recycling collection will continue as usual.

Please share the link to our www.cdc.govt.nz/covid19 page with your friends and family who are not on Facebook.

If over the following days and weeks you feel you are not coping, it’s important to seek help and professional support. Your family doctor is a good starting point.

For support with grief, anxiety, distress or mental wellbeing, you can also call or text the ‘Need to talk?’ service on 1737. This service is free, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and gives you the chance to talk it through with a trained counsellor.

We’ll also be sharing tips and tricks for keeping yourself mentally healthy while in self-isolation via the Covid-19 Wairarapa Updates Facebook page, so make sure you check it out!

Stay well, play your part and, most importantly, be kind. We’re all in this together.

Tuesday 24 March 2020

4pm
Below is a list of current Carterton District Council services. These may be revised in future.
Essential services to continue:
• Provision of drinking water
• Wastewater treatment and disposal
• Recycling normal collection for now (may be subject to change in coming weeks)
• Dalefield Transfer Station (for rural and commercial use only)
* Normal rubbish collection in urban areas
• Emptying public rubbish bins and doggy bins
• The provision of one 24-hour public toilet in Carrington Park
• Essential road safety work
• Control of dangerous and menacing dogs
• Burials
• The sale of rubbish bags will continue through supermarkets.

Non-essential Council services that will continue to be available include:
• Provision of LIMs, PIMs and the processing of building and planning consents
• Payments (through online banking and direct debits)
• Environmental Health queries will be recorded and assessed on a case-by-case basis
• Payments to Council, including rates payments, can be made directly through internet banking, quoting the valuation or account number as a reference, and direct debits will be processed as usual. For questions about rates and other payments, or to discuss alternative payment options, please contact rates@cdc.govt.nz for assistance.

Non-essential Council services that are no longer open or available include:
• Building inspections
• The Events Centre
• The library
• Public playgrounds
• Swimming pools
• Haumanu House and the food bank
• Parks and Reserves maintenance (apart from the emptying of rubbish bins)