Busy week in Horowhenua
A big week for Horowhenua last week with four exciting projects underway.
It all started last Monday as we announced the start of a new Trades Academy for local students to be run by UCOL.
Practical courses like mechanical engineering, joinery and hairdressing will be run from Horowhenua College and open to local students who might otherwise drop out of school.
This is a great initiative which recognises that academic learning in a classroom isn’t for everyone. Instead of just dropping out, students can learn these skills, gain NCEA credits and come out with a much better chance of finding a job.
On Wednesday I headed to the Lake Papaitonga scenic reserve with Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson, where we announced that 17 additional hectares of wetlands have been purchased by the Department of Conservation.
The Lake is already a very popular spot with around 12,000 visitors a year, and I well remember training there back in my Waiopehu First XV days.
We now have the chance to further restore this area and encourage even more visitors.
Also on Wednesday I opened the new Horowhenua Community Link centre, as mentioned in last weeks’ column. This is the new home for around 20 social service providers, including such as WINZ, Housing NZ, ACC and the Salvation Army.
Finally, on Friday came the announcement that Transmission Gully has been fast-tracked. The Environmental Protection Authority is creating a Board of Inquiry to consider the application, which should take around nine months.
This is a huge step forward from the old days when these kinds of applications could be bogged down for years in the courts. This way everyone gets a fair hearing, but with a much quicker outcome.
I’m proud to be part of a Government that’s finally delivering Transmission Gully with construction now likely to start in 2015. The previous Labour Government waffled and never delivered on the funding, instead expecting our region to pay for most of the cost – which was never going to happen.
I’m proud of all of these successful local projects, and it shows how important it is to have your local MP in Government.