Ashburton District Council will remove My Vaccine Pass entry requirements from seven facilities, including the EA Networks Centre and Ashburton Public Library, from 11.59pm on Monday 4 April.

The move is in line with Government changes to the Covid-19 protection framework removing the requirement for some businesses to operate with vaccine passes.

At an Extraordinary meeting on Tuesday 29 March, Councillors also delegated future decisions regarding the operation of Council facilities in covid orange and green settings to Chief Executive Hamish Riach.

The removal of vaccine passes also applies to Council’s administration building and chambers, the Ashburton Art Gallery and Heritage Centre, Mt Hutt Memorial Hall and the Ashburton Holiday Park at Tinwald when they open for business on Tuesday 5 April.

The introduction of My Vaccine Pass requirements last year meant everyone who worked in or visited Council facilities had to be vaccinated.

Mayor Neil Brown said there had been some initial angst about the use of vaccine passes to visit council facilities, but the decision was accepted by the community on the whole.

“Ashburton District is highly vaccinated, with 98 per cent of residents aged 12 and over double vaxxed and 74 per cent of those 18 and over boosted.”

He said that in the current Omicron outbreak, 9.5 per cent of the district had tested positive, with around two per cent of the population an active case.

“Council’s own workforce reflected that percentage, with 10 per cent of staff affected.

"Going forward, wearing masks in indoor public settings is still required and we should stay home if sick.”

The Mayor said delegating authority to the Chief Executive about operations under orange and green covid settings gave Council the ability to react quickly to future changes to the protection framework and new strains of the virus.

“As a Council we have worked very hard to follow Government advice during the pandemic and reviewing our policies is part of the road to a new normal,” the Mayor added.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said Council staff would soon be consulted about whether or not they saw the health benefit of continuing to be a workforce which is fully vaccinated against Covid-19.