RUNANGA GIFTS OAKLANDS SCHOOL A MAORI NAME
Te Taumutu Rūnanga has gifted Oaklands School the Māori name Te Kura o Ōwaka and a significant native plant – the korokio. The rūnanga, based at Ngati Moki Marae on the Banks Peninsula, also provided information about the history of the school’s local area that will be shared with students and their families as part of the curriculum.
The school’s Board of Trustees have voted to combine the existing and Māori names and adopt Oaklands Te Kura o Ōwaka as the official name.
The school is situated near where the Heathcote and Halswell rivers used to meet and where waka were transported between the two bodies of water. The word Ōwaka refers to this movement of waka. The korokio is a plant that used to grow in abundance in the area.

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FEBRUARY'S MARKET
February's market was a fabulous family affair, with organised races, and many new giant games on the lawns.  It was awesome to see the giant chess set made by our local Menzshed being used by so many families.  With just over 1000 people through and the sun shining it made for a great market.    Here are some of the photos from the event.





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COMMONS AND COMMUNITY
I’m hearing more and more these days about the concept of commons.  Commons are important for communities to understand and to be involved with.

What are they?  Commons are resources shared by communities. They include things like knowledge, water, air, climate and land that is shared.  Our shared health is also a common - a  fact that is brought home to us at this time when it is very clear how much we affect each other's health and wellbeing.  
Once upon a time, a common was the place where people grazed their animals.  They were managed or regulated collectively by the community that used the common.  The community ensured that the common did not get overgrazed and that all villagers got equal access to the resources that the common provided.
Garret Hardin wrote an interesting paper called The Tragedy of the Commons.  He imagined a situation where there was no collective oversight of the use of the commons and talked about how a common would collapse as individuals try to maximise their gains from the free common. As some have pointed out this is actually a problem with open access rather than with the commons.
In reality, of course, communities worked together to look after their common, so that it kept looking after them (Hardin talked about this as mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon). However this is something that we appear to be less good at doing as a community now.
 The critical elements of the commons are shared resources and a community that works together to continue to provide for the needs of everyone. 



So what?  Well, our wellbeing depends upon a wide range of commons, and as a society obsessed with private property, we seem to have forgotten how we share commons and how we should care for them.  We need to be aware of them, of how they work best and what they provide.  We all need to participate in (re)building, managing and maintaining them so that they function well in the long term and we can get our collective needs met, fairly.  
The point of all this is that a good thing to think about now might be how we might reclaim or rebuild our commons and help them work better.    At the current time of course we are all staying at home to look after our collective health (a common). 
When this is over we are going to need new ways to help people get their needs met. Our economy is going to be working a little worse than usual when we get out, so more people are likely to be struggling than were before the pandemic struck. Community and commons could be a useful part of that recovery and that those things are going to take some care and attention to help that happen.
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A LITTLE GIGGLE

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PUT WET WIPES IN THE RED BIN:  Even the flushable ones! 

All wet wipes are made of plastic and they do not break down.  Instead they block the drains and create a nightmare for those who look after those drains.  (And it seems that in this day and age of Corona Virus, it seems out use of these things is getting much much worse)
In an ideal world, it is best to avoid wet wipes altogether - carry a few small cloths around with you and a bottle of water and wipe hands/ faces or whatever using those and then put them into a plastic bag and take the cloths home with you and wash them.

If you MUST use wet wipes and can't give them up then PLEASE put all of them into your red bin.  Whatever you do, avoid flushing them or dropping them. 



 








 

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THINGS TO DO AT HOME

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LIBRARY SERVICES YOU CAN ACCESS FROM HOME
Although the Halswell Library Te Hapua is now closed for the next month at least here is some useful information that might help with your isolation.

• Choose from over 50,000 titles that you can read or listen to on your tablet, smartphone of laptop for free. Explore popular eBooks, eMagazines and eAudiobooks.
• Take a free course to sharpen your skills with Lynda.com. Over 6,300 courses and 267,000 tutorials on software, technology, creative and business skills are available. Check out other free eLearning resources.
• Choose from 10,000 epic films and documentaries through video streaming service Kanopy.
• Study one of 60 popular languages from basic right through to advanced levels with Mango Languages.
• Tamariki can check out fun games, animated stories and other eResources for kids. This page also has loads of fun learning tools.  
• Family history buff? Get started on your family tree with online eResources.

You’ll need a library card and PIN number to access most of the eResources. No card? No problem, sign up online now.
If you need help, use the online chat service, LiveOnline, or call 03 941 7923. Consider signing up to flu tracking this winter.  Each week they send you an email, you click on the link and spend a few seconds ticking boxes. You can find out more and sign up by going to www.flutracking.net. 

FluTracking helps our health providers get good information about what is happening in our local communities and it is particularly important this year for helping track any incidence of Covid 19.  You can also see the information produced by the surveys about what is happening locally.

  CUT DOWN SHOPPING TRIPS
In these times, our supermarkets are working hard to keep us safe and to keep their staff safe.  Here are a few requests:
If you are not in the high risk age group (70+) then please don't try to order groceries online.
If you are in that age group and ordering groceries online for pick up or for delivery, please minimise the number of orders that you put in and maximise the size of the order.  This is NOT a time to do lots of little shops.  At times like these, spend some time thinking about what you need and putting in one order every week or even every two weeks.  Once you get into the swing of that it becomes very easy and it is a great way to cut down what you spend on groceries.
The same goes for heading for the supermarket in person.  You will save yourself a lot of waiting time if you go in for a weekly shop rather than going in every day or two for one or two things.

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MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
There are a multitude of mental health resources online - a collection of links are available here  or just google mental health and find a whole lot more!

Some quick tips for dealing with anxiety or anger

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INFORMATION FROM THE HEALTH MINISTRY

Health Ministry has set up a dedicated Healthline - 0800 358 5453 - for people seeking COVID-19 health advice and information.  
It is free and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

People calling that line will be able to talk with a member of the National Telehealth Service. They have access to interpreters.
 
You should call that dedicated number:

• To register if you have self-isolated yourself
• For any coronavirus health advice and information and any questions you have about coronavirus, self-isolation etc. 

Healthline’s main number – 0800 611 116 - is still the one to call for non-coronavirus health concerns.
 
Whichever number you call, you will get professional health advice and information.You can also find information about Covid-19 on the Ministry of Health website which also includes information in other languages.

A Coronavirus update for the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community

Visit the Newsline rolling blog for the most up to date information on how efforts to stop the spread of Coronavirus are affecting Christchurch City Council services, facilities and community events.

covid19.govt.nz provides helpful information all in one place.

For health concerns and advice go to health.govt.nz/covid-19

To check out details of current cases this is NZ's official page

These links and more are available from the Corona Virus links page on our Community Blog
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FREE FOOD SUPPLY
Available on Fridays for pick up between 11am - 12pm from Canterbury Fiji Social Services Trust, 40 Hillary Crescent, Upper Riccarton. Please contact Una to arrange a bag by 12noon on Thursdays. Phone 021 440 812 or email fiji.social.services@gmail.com

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Community Service Awards 2020
Community Service Award nominations open tomorrow until 5pm, 17 April 2020. Christchurch City Council's Community Service Awards are a way of giving well-deserved recognition to people who make communities better places to live. They are a way of thanking and honouring volunteers who without pay and little recognition demonstrate dedication and passion, inspiring others to make service a central part of their lives. The Waipuna/Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board also presents Youth Service Awards for young people aged 25 or under. For more information visit www.ccc.govt.nz/csa You can also read the latest Newsline story here.

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Call for feedback on Nga Puna Wai indoor courts proposal
A proposed plan to lease reserve land at Ngā Puna Wai for a new multi-court indoor sports centre is open for community feedback. Sited in Halswell, Ngā Puna Wai is a sports hub that provides top-class facilities for athletics, tennis, hockey, rugby league. It also caters for community sport and recreation activity. Netsal, a company jointly established by Mainland Football Federation and the Christchurch Netball Centre, wants to develop and operate a 10-court facility for community level sport at Ngā Puna Wai and is seeking a ground lease from the Council. For more information and to provide feedback, go to the Council’s Have Your Say page on the Council website and fill in an online form Feedback closes on 6 April 2020.
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The Citizens Advice Bureau have made the tough decision to no longer be open for a walk-in service, including for our JP and Free Legal Advice services, during the Covid-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, this means that our service at The Loft, Eastgate Mall is also suspended. This is about putting the safety of our volunteers, employees, clients and communities first during the Covid-19 outbreak. So you will not be able to come into the CAB.
However you can still access the CAB service during the usual opening hours by phone and email. You can phone us free, including from a mobile, on free phone 0800 367 222 or 03 349 5236, or email us at christchurchwest@cab.org.nz You can also find lots of great information, including information about the impact of Covid-19, on our website. We will be regularly reviewing this situation.  https://www.cab.org.nz/search/covid-19


HALSWELL HALL – THE CORNERSTONE OF THE HALSWELL COMMUNITY FOR MORE
THAN 100 YEARS
 
We held our AGM on Wednesday 18th March at 7.30pm.  We were delighted to have Andrei Moore as our guest speaker for this evening.  As the newly-elected member of the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board, he has been on a steep learning curve and spoke of his passion and
belief in Halswell and how fortunate he feels to be a proud advocate at the Community Board table. We had a reasonable attendance and had the opportunity for networking over supper.
The elected Committee held the Election of Officers at the conclusion of the AGM and we welcome our new Chair, Katharine Riley.  We look forward to strong leadership going into the coming year.  We still have the ability to engage more members and Committee to help oversee the routine running of this valuable Community facility for the coming year.  If you have a few hours a month available and enjoy
being part of the community, we would love to talk to you about how you can help 😊  Just email us at halswellhallchch@gmail.co for further information.
 
As we grew to expect over recent weeks, we have been instructed to close the Hall for the 4 week Level 4 lockdown.  We are supportive of our regular groups and have been in touch on an individual basis to ensure their needs are to the forefront.
We have been fortunate to receive a Grant for full replacement cost of the vinyl in our kitchen.  This was to have gone down early in April; thanks to the team at Harrison’s Flooring, we have a prompt re-schedule date in place and look forward to this improvement to our facility.
Recently Hygiene Systems have upgraded our paper towel dispensers to the sensor model; as we move into the new ‘normal’, this will be reassuring to our users as the hygiene aspect is superior by far.
 
Your Community Hall is run by a small group of volunteers who oversee the bookings and maintenance of this excellent Community facility.  It is owned by our Community and we always welcome any enquiries regarding bookings for functions or social activities.  At the Halswell Hall we offer a range of facilities with the main Hall having a capacity of 200. We also have an excellent meeting room (The Sunbeam
Lounge) which can accommodate up to 50.  This adjoins our upgraded kitchen and is ideal for smaller groups. The meeting room is currently readily available, and we welcome your enquiry.  For any enquiries about availability or our facilities please email us at halswellhallchch@gmail.com.

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RAEWYN MARLES: RESIDENTIAL SALES IN HALSWELL
The following table shows all the residential dwellings that were sold in Halswell in the month of February 2020.
It also shows a comparison for that month over the last five years.

If you have any questions or you are wanting to know what your home is worth on today’s market, please feel free to call me.
If you have any questions or considering a move, please feel free to call me.
Raewyn 027 277 9736
Harcourts Real Estate Ltd Licensed Agent REAA2008
379 Halswell Road
Halswell

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First Class Accountant
Wigram – Halswell
Your local, friendly and approachable Accounting Professional
We’ll help you  Make It all add up!
Schedule A Free Consultation
Nisar Kaskar
M         027 4380 443                          E          nisar@fcawigram.co.nz                      Annual Financial Accounts, Rental Accounts, Individual Tax Returns,  GST Returns, Payroll, Management Accounting, Cashflows And Forecasts, Business Start Ups, Xero, MYOB, Bank Link

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