It will be my pleasure this weekend to represent our district at the Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade's 150th celebrations.

Our volunteer firefighters are a special breed, and a skilled force that we rely on more than 400 times a year - to respond not just to fires, but also to vehicle crashes and medical events and other types of emergencies.

These firefighters are supported by their families and by their employers, who graciously give them time off family duties and work to respond when the alarm goes off.

They also deserve the respect and support of our community for keeping us safe, and so I thank them for their outstanding service and hope they can enjoy the weekend's celebrations without the siren going off.

Council business this week involves work on the home front, and in Wellington.

Wednesday's full council meeting will be preceded by a visit to EA Networks Centre, where councillors will informally discuss the longterm vision for the sports centre, and be updated on work to install a mini golf course at the centre.

After this week's Council meeting, there will be just two more full meetings before the end of the year, plus the inaugural meeting of Council's new Three Waters Committee.

This committee will oversee the district's three waters services and infrastructure in a way that promotes the current and future interest of the community, and its key job will be considering and reviewing matters of compliance, the work programme, service delivery and forward planning.

I will be joined by CE Hamish Riach and deputy mayor Liz McMillan on my trip to Wellington later in the week, where we will be attending the combined Provincial and Rural sector group meeting of Local Government.

This is a chance for us to network and share information with other councils whose communities hold similar demographics and priorities. Local government is faced with enormous challenges and opportunities right now, so gathering information to inform our own decisions is vital.