MINUTES OF CANTERBURY/WESTLAND BRANCH TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT
Time & Date: 1:00pm, 13 April 2024
Room: i-Site Room
Location: Reefton i-Site 67 – 69 Broadway
• 11am Reefton Distilling Company, 27A State Highway 69 - Distillery tour
• 12 pm – Group tour of the new Power Station – Ross Town Road
• 1pm - Meeting at the i-Site room – Lunch – Branch Meeting
• 2pm – Reefton Distilling Company - Tasting tour
Welcome:
The group travelled to the Reefton i-Site and held the formal branch meeting over lunch.
The Chair, Jenny Lilley, thanked Richard and the team at Buller District Council for hosting the meeting and sponsoring refreshments. She also acknowledged Reefton Distilling Company and Patsy Bass for hosting the tour and tastings, thanked Dave Hawes, Greg Topp and Frank Waghorn of the Reefton Powerhouse Charitable Trust for facilitating the tour of the new power station.
Attendance: Liz Ashwin, Jenny Lilley, Richard Knudsen, Terry Sparks, Jim Nguyen, Jennifer Clarke, Richard Hsieh, Rachel Schurr, Anna Mae Bachicha.
Apologies:
Ana Coleman, Steve Walders, Barb Dillon, Katharine Riley, Matthew Tracey, Ghislaine Warren.
Guests:
None in attendance.
Previous Minutes:
Minutes from the February meeting will be available online on BOINZ website soon.
Prizes from the February quiz will be sent w/c 15 April from BOINZ National Office.
Matters Arising:
Nothing raised.
Correspondence In/Out:
Call for nominations for the BOINZ Excellence Awards are now closed.
An update on the BOINZ Conference 2024 will be sent to members by email from National Office; information including the programme is also available on the website.
Call for nominations for the BOINZ Board has been extended until 4pm on Friday 19 April 2024. If anyone is interested feel free to reach out to the Executive to ask for nomination/second.
General Business:
A Branch Chairs and Secretaries meeting was held on 21 March 2024. Items covered included:
- Legal HR support member initiative – information regarding this is available on the BOINZ website. There is an offer for a free 20-minute legal consultation for BOINZ members with HR issues.
- Branch meeting subjects and locations were discussed.
- Hybrid meetings were also discussed.
The Institute AGM is scheduled for Monday 20 May concluding with Conference 2024 – if you are unable to attend, proxy voting forms are available on My BOINZ.
New Members:
Welcome to:
• Jake Burns from Waimakariri District Council
• Simi Kottekkadan from Selwyn District Council
• Rowell des Forges from Selwyn District Council
Board Representative Update:
Not provided.
Building Code Issues:
Nothing raised.
Site Visits:
The Reefton Distilling Company – Distillery tour
Reefton Distillery Co. is a modern distillery in an age-old town, producing a range of small batch distilled premium spirits with a distinct West Coast flavour. It sources its botanicals in the local pristine native bush and is well known for its award-winning Little Biddy Gin, Wild Rain Vodka and fruit liqueurs.
The Reefton Distilling Co. was founded in October 2018 by Reefton-born Patsy Bass. The distillery was originally housed in one of Reefton’s original buildings which was carefully restored to accommodate a working distillery, tasting bar and retail store. The business has grown, and the distillery has been relocated to a new premises on the outskirts of the township marking another new chapter. The site provides space for growth and development but confirmed the business commitment to the local community.
Patsy met the group at the distillery and gave an overview of the business’ history and ethos. We were then given a full tour of the working distillery by the new distillery manager Gareth Morgan. The distillery is well known for their award winning gin and vodka, and have recently laid down their first batch of Moonlight Creek whisky. Gareth gave a detailed explanation of the process and how the local conditions combine to provide optimum conditions for whisky making, and how the spirit is distilled and aged.
There was an opportunity to taste the raw spirit and the matured spirit, visit the packing and dispatch area and hear about the distilleries journey to obtain a CoA for some building work that had been carried out by the previous owner.
Reefton Power Station
Reefton is known locally as ‘the town of light’ and is the site of the first power station to supply municipal electricity in the Southern Hemisphere. Reefton Historic Power Station started operation in 1888, and the original power station turbine was run by water supplied from the Inangahua River via two tunnels and a headrace flume. It provided electricity to the town well into the 20th century, supporting the local mining activities and community until changes in technology and increases in the demand for power meant that it became obsolete. The township was connected to the national grid in 1949 and the power station was decommissioned, the powerhouse was demolished in 1961.
In 1990 the site was recognised by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 2 historic place and plans were made to restore the site. A trust was formed in 2012, and the group have worked through many problems associated with land ownership and regulatory compliance and work started to repair the race and rebuild the flume and powerhouse.
In 2020 a new turbine was installed and once this phase of the restoration is complete the power station will again generate enough power to be self-sufficient and put power back into the national grid.
The history of the site and the restoration work was explained by members of the trust undertaking the restoration, and a selection of photos showing the stages of work were available to look at. After the presentation the group were able to explore the site, visit the swing bridge over the Inangahua River and read the information boards and photographic displays.
Next Branch Training and Networking Event: scheduled for 06 June venue TBC.
Special thank you to: (ie: Council for venue and catering provided).
Buller District Council for providing the meeting room and refreshments.
Reefton Distilling Company and Patsy Bass for hosting the tour and tastings.
Dave Hawes, Greg Topp and Frank Waghorn of the Reefton Powerhouse Charitable Trust for facilitating the tour of the new power station.
Jenny Lilley closed the meeting at 15:30.
Liz Ashwin
Canterbury/Westland Branch Secretary
Liz.Ashwin@mbie.govt.nz
