Over the past five weeks I’ve been the patron of a Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) course run in conjunction with the New Zealand Defence Force and MSD at the Burnham military camp.

It’s been illuminating and rewarding to watch 51 young people change their habits and most likely their lives by learning new skills that will help them become valued members of the workforce.

While there were no Ashburton youth on this course, a couple of the trainees are interested in coming to our district to work – which is another positive spinoff of being a patron.

They began the course as nervous young people, hidden behind their masks, but graduated with pride after an official march out. Along the way they learned to work as a team and encourage each other.

I joined the course for three field exercises, including “the longest day” which started with a wake-up call at 4.30am and a 10km walk, and the confidence course, ending in a tug of war between the two platoons.

Two nights camping with them at Mt White also provided a good opportunity for me to get to know the trainees better – and share some home-made chocolate brownies, which went down a treat.

This course has provided some great connections for all involved and employers who see LSV on a candidate’s CV should know it is no walk in the park.

A less rewarding experience for me recently as a Western ward representative on Council, has been the ongoing battle to see the open road speed reduced on State Highway 77 from the edge of our growing town to out past the new hot pools and racecourse.

At the moment this request to lower the speed limit on that busy stretch of road must be ranked on a national list of road safety priorities and while it is important in our neck of the woods, it does not rate highly with Waka Kotahi, the Government transport agency.

However, there is legislation coming that will give local authorities like Council a chance to get this sort of work on a regional priority action list. It’s just a slow process.

This is not the only stretch of road in the district where it would be good to see a speed reduction – Rakaia has been looking to have State Highway 1 traffic reduced from 70km/h for some years now.

To make sure Methven’s request for a speed reduction does not fall off Waka Kotahi’s radar, the people of Methven are keeping their on-line petition live.

More than 500 people have already signed it and these are people who live in and around Methven and know how busy this stretch of highway has become – there are more people using the walkway that runs off the highway, visiting the new hot pools and driving from their homes in new subdivisions in the area.

So until we can make it to the top of the list, please drive with caution in our patch.