Dear John,

Season’s greetings Selwyn!

I wanted to use my last newsletter for the year to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season.

It’s certainly been a big year, and I hope you and your family take some time off and relax over the holiday period.

Three Waters

Earlier this month, I invited National’s spokesperson for local government, Simon Watts, to Selwyn to share our adamant opposition to the Three Water Reforms.

Despite every other party in Parliament voting against the highly unpopular Water Services Entities Bill this month, the Labour Government tried to sneak through 275 major amendments to the legislation on the last sitting day of the Parliament year.

The new bill – which was announced just three hours after the first one was passed – is over 200 pages, which more than doubles the original Act, is an insult to the over 88,000 people who submitted on the first piece of legislation - and adds even more layers of bureaucracy, with mountains of management plans, compliance plans, and regulations.

Worse, the Government is wanting to establish compliance and enforcement departments in each of the new mega water entities to impose the pricing of water - and a hefty fines regime!

Check out my speech on the new bill below 👇

Social Services

Since becoming the MP for Selwyn, I often hear worries from front line social services providers about the lack of access to government services in the region.

This year, I have been working closely with Selwyn Safer Families, who have told me that one of the core issues impacting their ability to provide their services is the lack of a physical space in Selwyn - resulting in anyone needing assistance from agencies, such as Work & Income, needing to Hornby or Christchurch City to talk to someone in-person.

Because of this, I have surveyed the electorate to gather the necessary data to write to the Minister to request funding the establishment of a hub in Selwyn – check out the overwhelming results of the survey below 👇

Around the electorate

With warmer weather certainly now upon us, it has been great getting out and about the various events held around the region.

This month, I have attended and hosted a variety of events - including a public meeting for farmers in Darfield, after-work pub politics in Lincoln, the West Melton Community Market, and, after a couple years of cancellations, the Lincoln Christmas Parade and Market made it’s return with stunning weather and huge crowds!

I thoroughly enjoy connecting with our community and try to make myself as accessible as possible – whether that be weekdays, weekends, or evenings. Thanks for everyone who came along and said hello! Be sure to keep an eye out next year for all the events that the National Party team and I will be at.

I was also thrilled to play a small part in Meat the Need’s Big Feed fundraising event! Run the by legends Matt Chisholm and Wayne Langford, the 13-hour telethon event raised a whopping 1,200,000 meals for New Zealand families in need – a remarkable achievement!

Office closure

After another big year, the Selwyn electorate and community office in Rolleston Square will be closed over the holiday period. The office will close at midday on 22 December and reopen on Monday 16 January.

During this time, messages will be check periodically and urgent enquiries will be responded to.

Once the office reopens, we will be opened as usual from Monday to Friday, 10:00am – 4:00pm and can be contacted by emailing [email protected], phoning 03 344 2800, or by just popping in.

Kind regards,

Nicola Grigg
http://nicolagrigg.national.org.nz/