NOVICE: Te Whata Tau o Putatuaki’s novice kapa haka practise their performance. The group will take the stage first in Friday’s Rangitaiki Kapa Haka Festival. Photo
Haylee King D4099-04

HUNDREDS of children will perform on stage at this year’s Rangitaiki Kapa Haka Festival on Friday.

The biennial festival will be held for the first time at Kawerau, in the Ron Hardie Recreation Centre, hosted by Te Whata Tau o Putauaki.

The festival involves children from primary schools in the Whakatane and Kawerau districts and its mission is to “instil the knowledge of our ancestors in the hearts of our children, to motivate and impassion, so that they may reach their full potential”.

The festival begins at 8am with the novice section, which involves eight groups.

From 12.15pm seven groups will perform in the whakangahau (entertainment) section.

Novice prizegiving will take place at 2pm before competitive groups take the stage at 2.30pm.

Te Whata Tau o Putauaki teacher and festival organiser Warati Paraha said this year 27 groups would perform from 15 schools.

Te Kura o Te Teko and Te Kura o Te Paroa, the joint winners of the 2014 competitive section at the festival, would compete again this year.

The two shared the top award in the whakangahau section last year.

Te Kura o Te Paroa also took out first place in the novice section with Te Kura o Taneatua claiming second and Motueka (Allandale School) taking third.

Ms Paraha said she expected a large crowd to attend the festival – “1400 people have tickets and are definitely going to be there throughout the day”.

The recreation centre will be converted into a stadium-style venue with a temporary stage.

Stalls to purchase food will include barbecues, baking, soup, hangi, fried bread, venison and pork burgers.

Te Whata Tau o Putauaki principal Ripeka Lessels said $20,000 to $24,000 was needed to pay the event.

Ms Paraha said this year was the first in the festival’s history that money had been secured before planning began.

“Everything is up in the cloud,” Mrs Lessels said.

The organising has been done digitally and all the information was accessible to the festival committee, organisers and participating schools through an online platform.

Mrs Lessels said she was very pleased the festival was being held in Kawerau.

“I have taught here for the past 20 years and I don’t know why I haven’t pursued this before.”

haylee.king@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

MANDARIN: Majean Rogers, Lui Ziqi, Nikia Davis and Evelyn Crawford practise Mandarin together before their Chinese competition on Friday. Photo Haylee King D4100-14

TARAWERA High School will be represented by three students at the Rotorua Inter-Schools Chinese Speech Competition on Friday.

Majean Rogers, Evelyn Crawford and Nikia Davis have been learning Mandarin this year from visiting teacher Liu Ziqi.

The students have learnt basic Mandarin and about the Chinese culture, and were selected to compete because of their talent.

“They had to figure out what they would talk about and my job was to help them,” Miss Ziqi said.

Year 7 student Nikia’s speech is based on the Chinese culture and the Mandarin language. Her speech will include her interest in music and at the end, she will sing a song in Mandarin.

Year 8 student Evelyn said her speech was about where she came from and her grandmother, who was Chinese.

Year 9 student Majean said his speech was about family. As a year 9 student, Majean needed to present his speech for 45 to 60 seconds.

Majean said he had competed in speech competitions in the past and felt confident about taking the stage on Friday.

Both girls were also feeling confident about the competition where they would have to speak for 30 to 45 seconds.

This week the trio have spent a lot of time practising and perfecting their speech.

“They are awesome and outstanding students,” Miss Ziqi said.

She said their Mandarin pronunciation showed they had talent and their attitude to work and learning was great.

The students learn Mandarin three times a week – twice with Miss Ziqi and once via video conference with Western Heights High School.

Seventeen schools will take part in the competition, which has been running for 16 years. This year the competition will be held at Western Heights.

haylee.king@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

WAIOTAHE farmer Doug Leeder is one step closer to securing another year leading Bay of Plenty Regional Council after the man he unseated last time confirmed he doesn’t want the role back.

Mr Leeder confirmed yesterday he would seek the chairman’s role in a second term, should he be re-elected, and his goal seems a step closer following confirmation from Tauranga representative John Cronin he does not want to be chairman again.

Following the 2013 local government elections, Mr Leeder, a first time councillor, was preferred by his fellow councillors to lead the council over Mr Cronin, who had served several terms was chairman.

Now, both men are back wanting to be part of the regional council again, but Mr Cronin is adamant he is not out to settle old scores.

He said the only reason he was seeking re-election was to see the completion of three projects he started when he as chairman.

“Which is the Opotiki Harbour, the Rotorua development and the tertiary partnership with the amalgamation of the two polytechnics.”

Mr Leeder, on the other hand, is keen to carry on with the job. He said he believed the council had worked together to provide some positive results.

“I have enjoyed the job [and] as a council we are making a difference [but] there is still more work to be done.

“I think the council has worked cohesively as a group. One thing we could do better is lift the profile of the regional council.

“If you ask the rural people what the regional council does, most of them will be able to tell you but if you ask urban people, many of them wouldn’t know.”

He said water would be the hot topic next term and he believed his background in farming would provide a good base to help guide the regional council.

“As a regional council our role is to look after air quality, water quality and land operations and I do believe it helps that when you can bring experiences and skills from a certain perspective, just like an urban representative will bring a perspective that you might not necessarily have.”

Mr Leeder will need to be elected on October 8 before he can be considered for chairman.

He is among three candidates standing in the Eastern Bay general constituency, with two positions available.

The other two candidates are former Whakatane mayor Colin Holmes and Bill Clark.

An election was not required in the Western Bay general constituency because only Norm Bruning and Jane Nees were nominated for the two vacancies.

Constituency nominations:

Eastern Bay – two vacancies

• Bill Clark
• Colin Holmes
• Doug Leeder

Rotorua – two vacancies

• Neil Oppatt
• Katie Pricilla Paul
• Lyall Thurston
• Kevin Winters

Tauranga – five vacancies

• John Cronin
• Stuart Crosby
• Keith Johnston
• Rusty Kane
• David Love
• Michael O’Neill
• Paula Thompson
• Andrew Von Dadelszen

Kohi Maori – one vacancy

• Miro Araroa
• Tiipene Marr
• Wetini Paul

Okurei Maori – one vacancy

• Gina Mohi
• Arapeta Tahana

Mauao Maori – one vacancy

• Carlton Bidois
• Awanui Black

karla.akuhata@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

ALLEGATIONS of interference and blackmail have been levelled at Opotiki Mayor John Forbes after he paid a personal visit to a rival candidate.

Mr Forbes has admitted in hindsight he might have overstepped the mark and has apologised to Les Keane but denies trying to pressure him to stand down from the mayoral race.

Mr Keane, 69, runs a small nursery business at the south end of Nelson Street. He said Mr Forbes arrived at his house last Thursday and pressured him to withdraw.

He said Mr Forbes asked him to stand down three times, and told him if he was to proceed with his nomination the council would have to write out a cheque for $50,000.

“In my opinion it was an attempt at blackmailing me because he said that I would be responsible for the council spending money on the election unnecessarily.”

Mr Keane said the visit upset him, but reinforced his decision to stand.

Mr Forbes denies pressuring Mr Keane to stand down but has admitted outlining to him, that by pulling out of the mayoral race Mr Keane would spare ratepayers the $50,000 cost of an election.

He said he went to Mr Keane’s home because he wanted to make sure the new candidate was aware of what he was up for, and that he was serious about contesting the mayoralty so ratepayers’ money was not being wasted.

After first being elected onto council in 1986, Forbes will, on election day, be aiming for his sixth term as Opotiki mayor, while Keane is seeking his first term.

Earlier this year, Mr Forbes expressed a wish for there to be no election, which Mr Keane said he believed contravened a section of the

Electoral Act connected to basic principles that must to be adhered to.

“As no one seemed to care I decided to stand for mayor and democracy,” he said.

Mr Forbes said on Monday he might be getting near his “use-by-date”, and in hindsight his approach might not have been the smartest move he’d ever made.

“I apologise to him. That was never my intention – to have him stand down from the election,” he said.

Mr Forbes said over the past 12 months, he had seen Mr Keane a number of times, but he had never said a word to him about his intention to stand as Opotiki mayor.

“I’m not too sure how serious I should take it. I believe someone else may have had a hand in this,” he said.

Mr Keane denies he is being led or influenced by others to stand, although he had three mentors offering him advice.

He said his main concern was that the current council was not carrying out the basics before spending money on a project that still had not been delivered – the harbour redevelopment.

He thinks the council needs to focus more on enabling industries and businesses to set up in town, and extra housing, so there is a base for these type of developments.

Mr Keane is pleased voters now have a choice on election day with Tangi Tipene also contesting the mayoralty.

On learning of Mr Keane’s desire to press on with standing for mayor during the three minute visit, Mr Forbes said he wished the new candidate the best of luck and shook his hand.

No offence committed

OPOTIKI mayor John Forbes committed no specific offence in visiting rival candidate Les Keane and allegedly trying to convince him not to stand – although he could be judged for his actions in the court of public opinion.

Dr Dean Knight, a senior law lecturer at Victoria University, said there were restrictions and prohibitions around influencing people in the course of voting, but nothing specific dealing with undue pressure or influence on whether people were nominated or not.

“There will be different takes on it from either side. In principle, there is nothing to stop one potential candidate discussing with another potential candidate about whether it’s wise or not to stand.

“That’s what citizens can do and they will be judged in the court of public opinion for that at the elections … That doesn’t raise any legal offences or anything like that, short of blackmailing someone not to stand because that’s obviously a specific and different offence.”

“Engaging in robust persuasion on its face doesn’t trigger any legal offences,” he said.

ross.mccullough@opotikinews.co.nz

WHAKATANE households have more than doubled consumption of broadband data in the past 18 months driven by surging demand for streaming services such as Netflix, according to new statistics from Chorus.

The average Whakatane district home used 84GB of broadband data in June 2016 compared to 40GB in January 2015, a 108 percent increase in usage. While connection speeds have also increased by 49 percent, reaching an average of 21Mbps in 2016 compared to 14Mbps last year.

“The figures show that faster broadband is now, more than ever, an essential part of many New Zealanders’ daily lives,” says Rosalie Nelson, Chorus Head of Market Insight.

“More than half of New Zealanders now watch internet TV where the number of online film and TV platforms has exploded.

“But this isn’t just about watching more and more content online, it’s also about the rapid digitisation of our everyday lives.

“Broadband as the fourth utility sits at the heart of the home and plays a pivotal role in how we function in our day-to-day lives.”

Typically, homes now have several connected devices at any one time and with this surge in data use, people expect and demand faster and more reliable broadband speeds.

“With faster broadband, you don’t have long delays while streaming or downloading high definition TV and video or face frustrating buffering - even when there are multiple connected devices in your home.”

Nationally, the average New Zealand home used 102GB of broadband data in June 2016 – more than double the amount used at the start of 2015 (49GB).

New Zealand has already seen dramatic improvements in broadband thanks to the Ultra-Fast Broadband and the Rural Broadband programmes. Improvements have also been delivered through availability of faster broadband on the Chorus copper network.

CHECKOUT QUEEN: Ocean Tamahere is among the top three of New Zealand Countdown checkout operators. Below, Ocean with store manager Tony
Chegwidden.Photos Mark Rieder D4077-4/1

OCEAN Tamahere is one of the Countdown supermarket’s top three checkout operators, based on a nationwide competition that tested her skills on the job.

Store manager Tony Chegwidden said the selection process to make it into the top three was extensive.

“The competition was tough. I was so blown away we had a representative in the top three,” he said.

Once Miss Tamahere entered the competition, she was tested by a Countdown employee disguised as a customer.

“There was a mystery shopper who came in and rated how I did as a checkout operator,” she said.

Miss Tamahere competed against more than 400 checkout operators from Countdown stores around the country and faced a series of rigorous tests and interviews.

In the final showdown, checkout operators had to scan 60 items ranging from fresh produce, alcohol, meat and deli items, and other chilled foods.

The testing included hidden challenges to catch competitors off-guard, including cracked eggs, unusual produce and damaged packaging, which finalists needed to identify.

Checkout operators were judged on a range of criteria, including product knowledge, packing skills, customer service and conversation during a checkout test.

Miss Tamahere has worked at the store for just 10 months.

“This is actually my first job,” she said.

Mr Chegwidden said he was impressed at how far Miss Tamahere had come in her short time at the store.

Her achievement was also a source of pride for other stores in the chain. Mr Chegwidden said co-workers from stores across the Bay had congratulated Miss Tamahere since hearing about her feat.

“She’s had best wishes and flowers and all kinds of stuff that different stores have been sending her,” he said.

He said he was not surprised by the reaction from her co-workers.

“We call it our Countdown family. We obviously spend a lot of time at work and we treat each other like that,” he said.

The three finalists will attend an awards dinner in Auckland on August 29 where the Countdown checkout operator of the year will be announced.

EASY OPTION: Uzabus Bay of Plenty operations manager Justin Holland-Goodwin says from August 22 most buses serving the Eastern Bay will be able to be lowered at the front so a flap can be deployed for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs to make accessing the bus easier. Photo Louis Klaassen D4094-05

NEW wheelchair-friendly buses and service coverage to new areas will be available on most Eastern Bay bus routes from Monday, August 22.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council, in partnership with its new operator, Uzabus, are providing accessible buses to cater for users with limited mobility or who want to bring a pushchair on the bus easily.

This is an improvement on the old service. There are now better services to Awatapu and James Street.

Regional council transport policy manager Garry Maloney said the council was continually looking at ways to improve public transport to reflect changes in demand and need.

“These changes focus on meeting the needs of our local community. We are providing a more convenient and regular bus service for those in the Whakatane and Ohope area.

“Our aim is to ensure that our customers receive the best possible public transport service and we are working collaboratively alongside our transport partners, NZ Transport Agency and Whakatane District Council, to improve the customer experience.”

To allow for the additional service changes in Whakatane out to Awatapu and James Street, other minor changes to the timetable had been made, Mr Maloney said.

Saturday services would now operate to the weekday timetable and there were three more extra return trips, “so there are now seven return trips, and it’s great for Saturday sports”.

Bus fares remained unchanged, he said.

The service to Tauranga would now travel via Paengaroa and Pukehina three days a week each.

It would travel via Paengaroa on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and via Pukehina on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

For more information about the changes, or for a new timetable, go to www.baybus.co.nz or call free 0800 4 BAY BUS (0800 422928).

New services:

• Wheelchair accessible buses
• Better services to James Street and Awatapu in Whakatane
• Saturday services will operate to Monday to Friday timetable
• No change to bus fares
• Whakatane to Tauranga route will travel via Paengaroa or Pukehina.

DARK HORSE: Ohope businesswoman Karen Pocock is the surprise sixth contender for the Whakatane mayoralty. Photo Louis Klaassen D4097-09

COULD Karen Pocock be the “dark horse” in Whakatane’s mayoral race?

The Ohope businesswoman sees herself this way and, until last Friday, had kept the fact she was considering standing for the mayoralty very quiet.

The Ruby Dunes gift shop owner, and former Ohope Community Board member, is the surprise sixth contender for the leadership role and is also standing as a prospective councillor for the Whakatane-Ohope ward.

She joins incumbent mayor Tony Bonne, Mike van der Boom, Julie Jukes, Julian Reweti and Doug McLean, who all made their plans publicly known well before nominations closed.

“I just think by the number of nominations, it shows the people of our district want change,” Ms Pocock said. “And I think I offer fresh change and fresh vision, and I think I can make a good contribution for the Whakatane district … I’m the dark horse, but I think a female mayor could be a good thing.”

She admits to a moment of apprehension on Friday as she sent out a mass text to friends and posted news of her intentions on Facebook, then excitement took over.

“I’m excited – I’m really looking forward to it.

“I’ve always maintained an interest in local politics and what’s going on and I’m looking forward to something new to get involved in. This is what I want to do so I’m taking it very seriously.”

Of Ngati Awa descent, Ms Pocock was born and raised in Ohope and Whakatane but lived away from the area for many years. She returned 12 years ago to live at the beach and, except for a year spent travelling overseas on what her children called “mum’s midlife crisis” she has been in business.

She is no stranger to local government politics having served as a district councillor in Taupo and on the Ohope Community Board. She has also served on various committees and trusts, including being the first woman appointed to the King Country Rugby Sub-union. She is currently vice president of the Ohope Chartered Club and Ohope Tennis Club.

She said one of her key skills was pulling people together and working in partnership.

“I believe all councillors should have their own thoughts, and debates, but a good mayor should be able to pull those together so we have a good decision-making process.”

An experienced committee chairwoman, Ms Pocock considers herself a strong woman, not afraid to ask questions if she does not fully understand what needs to be done.

She is also pro-sustainable development and sees a bright future for the district.

“I’m completely for supporting new skills and development for the district as long as it doesn’t compromise the environment and also realises the importance of cultural aspects,” she said.

“I feel the district is fully poised to be a major tourism player in New Zealand … I really hope we would think first about sustainable tourism and only encourage development that is sustainable and suits our area.

neryda.mcnabb@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

BLOCKED: The slip in the Waimana Gorge. Photo Louis Klaassen D4061-16

A WITNESS to a two-vehicle accident in the Waimana Gorge last week says warning signs approaching a slip were inadequate.

Maui Te Pou was travelling behind the two vehicles involved in the nose-to-tail collision at 4.30pm on Thursday, August 11.

“Two north bound vehicles approached the single lane and the first car stopped to allow a logging truck through, whilst the second stopped but skidded into the lead vehicle.”

Mr Te Pou said there were insufficient signs and safety warnings, and theywere not adequately visible to warn traffic approaching the slip.

He said loose metal, noticeable on both approaches to the single lane area, contributed to the accident.

Mr Te Pou said there were signs indicating the slip but they were placed too close to the site.

“By the time you get to see [them] it’s a bit too late.”

He said he had seen enough safety signs in his life to know the warnings at the Waimana Gorge were not adequate. He also said he did not see any give way signs approaching the slip.

“There should be a pre-warning before you get to the warning.”

The slip occurred on August 8 at 3am. On Wednesday the road re-opened with one lane and stop-go traffic management in place.

A New Zealand Transport Agency spokeswoman said outside of work hours, approximately 4pm until 7am, a priority give way sign would be in place and motorists would need to give way if they did not have the right of way.
NZTA Bay of Plenty highway manager Niclas Johansson said the agency was aware of the incident and was glad to hear no one was seriously injured.

“The contractors who stopped at the incident were not working on the Waimana site and were on their way home.

“They saw the two vehicles involved and stopped to try and ensure all other motorists were safe.”

Mr Johansson said there was standard traffic control in place.

“There were two sets of advance warning signs, a temporary speed restriction and give-way priority signs. Further safety improvements have also been made since the incident.”

Gritting chip, like that used for icy roads, had been placed on parts of the road to ensure dirt did not make the surface slippery.

Mr Johansson said road safety was of the utmost importance to the agency and its contractors and strict traffic control measures were put in place at all work sites to meet safety requirements.

haylee.king@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

A PUNCH to the head over a cigarette landed Lorrina Kohe in court on an assault charge.

In the Whakatane District Court last week, lawyer Steve Franklin said the Whakatane 37-year-old had been victim to just as many assaults herself, and admitted that she had assaulted the victim.

The victim did not wish to make a statement.

Police prosecutor Bill Scott said police had been called to 59 domestic incidents involving the defendant.

Mr Franklin said the victim wouldn’t give Kohe a cigarette; she punched him, got a cigarette and left.

The single punch to the head was “undoubtedly provoked but unacceptable behaviour”, Mr Franklin said.

“It’s well past the point of intervention. The only thing that would stop this is if they permanently separate,” Mr Franklin said.
Kohe was remanded on bail until September 28 for a restorative justice conference to take place and sentencing.

Other court appearances

Teen drink driver

POLICE stopped Jack James Fergusson because he was driving without headlights – then discovered he had been drinking.

The Whakatane 17-year-old was found to have a breath alcohol level of 158 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The limit for drivers under 20 is zero.

In the Whakatane District Court last Wednesday, Judge Glen Marshall said Ferguson obviously made an error of judgment.

He disqualified him from driving for three months and ordered him to pay a $150 fine and $130 court costs at a rate of $20 a week.

One month added

ONE month was added to Tommy Turoa Rangitakatu’s existing 14-month prison sentence after he was convicted of possessing methamphetamine.

The 35-year-old had been sentenced to prison in June.

At an appearance on Wednesday, a charge of possession of methamphetamine for supply was amended to possession and Rangitakatu changed his not guilty plea to guilty.

Rangitakatu also faces a charge of receiving property over $1000 – a car valued at $4000 – to which he had pleaded not guilty.

He was remanded, in prison, until September 28 for a case review hearing.

WHAKATANE residents should never experience an outbreak of the waterborne disease affecting thousands of Havelock North people, Whakatane District Council says.

The assurance has been issued following a gastro outbreak at Havelock North likely to have been caused by campylobacter bacteria contaminating drinking water, according to Hastings District Council.

Kawerau District Council has also moved to reassure residents, confirming yesterday it treats its water with disease-killing ultraviolet light, something not done at Havelock North.

Whakatane council is alert to what is happening in Havelock North and is boosting monitoring of its own water supplies, even though they are chlorinated.

Whakatane council infrastructure general manager Tomasz Krawcyzk said council staff were in contact with counterparts in Havelock North, where a situation had developed that clearly indicated what could happen if a local authority did not chlorinate drinking water supplies.

On Wednesday, Hawke’s Bay Today reported half of all households in the town were affected by illness and about 3200 people were sick.

Mr Krawczyk said the Galatea Road and Murupara water supplies were not currently disinfected or monitored.

The Murupara supply was not chlorinated at the community’s request, and the Galatea system supplied about 12 properties.

Neither supply had any instrumentation or alarms, but water at Murupara was tested manually every week.

The council had an operator taking samples across the district’s 10 public water supply schemes and 1200 samples were taken and analysed per year.

“For 2015-16, Whakatane District Council achieved 100 percent compliance,” Mr Krawczyk said.

The presence of a chlorine residue indicated there was no viable biological presence in the water supply, and therefore, the water was safe to drink.

“[The Havelock North experience] is very close to our hearts because it shows what can happen easily from backflow into the system, or contamination.

“Over there the problem is mainly that they were not chlorinating and by the time they realised something was going on, there was a delay.”

He said the council was considering introducing additional monitoring of residual chlorine in the water as if chlorine levels dropped that could mean there was biological contamination in that area “because the chlorine gets eaten up”.

He was obtaining quotes to increase monitoring of the system. An alarm would sound if chlorine levels dropped.

Kawerau’s water supply is not chlorinated but is treated with ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection.

Kawerau District Council operations and services manager Tom McDowall said UV eliminated E coli, giardia and cryptosporidium.

“This UV light disinfection was not present in the Havelock North water supply.”

He said chlorine provided residual protection for water supplies that stopped them being “recontaminated”.

Kawerau’s water supply was chlorinated from February to June this year due to an E coli detection in January.

The council was concerned bacteria was entering the water supply from the roofs of its reservoir.

Tarpaulins were subsequently fitted to make sure no water could enter.

“Now they’re up, the risk of contamination has been technically eliminated,” he said.

Mr McDowall expected the tarpaulins to be a successful seal to keep bacteria out of the water, but monitoring would continue to confirm no further contamination.

haylee.king@whakatanebeacon.co.nz

HOUSE SITES: Whakatane district councillors show regional councillors the block at Piripai. File photo D0587-01

WHAKATANE District Council has invited selected real estate agencies to submit proposals for marketing its landholding at 77 Bunyan Road for “residential and lifestyle retirement village development purposes”.

Submissions from interested agencies were required to be submitted this week and the successful agency is expected to be selected in September.

Reporting to the council’s policy committee yesterday, strategy and community general manager Julie Gardyne said early feedback indicated a number of agencies would be submitting proposals for consideration.

“The council’s request for proposals sets out the background of the 77 Bunyan Road block and its desire to have it marketed as a ‘wholesale offering’ to developers prepared to develop the property for residential and retirement village purposes, in the near future,” she said.

“The Environment Court findings earlier this year confirmed the landholding’s residential zoning, as well as the need to protect the cultural sensitivity of the urupa to the east of the block.

“It is a requirement that the council works with Te Runanga o Ngati Awa and the Opihi Whanaungakore trustees to develop a joint buffer zone management plan to ensure the urupa is protected from the effects of urban activities.”

She said a survey would also be undertaken to identify any areas of high ecological value and recommend suitable vegetation types for planting in the urupa and coastal protection buffer zones, which made up approximately a quarter of the 40-hectare block.

AS a small and occasional user of palm kernel on my farm I am becoming a little annoyed at the misinformation printed in the media about it, which I see you repeated again totally unbalanced in your Tuesday paper.

Fonterra, Landcorp, Greenpeace and the farm adviser all have several things in common with palm kernel: they are all waste products, they are all funded by other people and nobody would really be concerned if they all disappeared.

No tree in any rainforest anywhere in the world has ever being cut down because some farmer in New Zealand wanted palm kernel.

The stuff we feed our cows with is a waste product after palm oil has been extracted. If farmers don’t buy it, it is burnt for fuel in Europe.

Or, if like now, when the price of oil is low, it is just dumped to rot. They are actually cutting the rainforests down to grow palms for palm oil so that Fonterra, Landcorp, Greenpeace and farm advisers can eat well, smell nice and look good when they are addressing the media talking about effluent and other similar important subjects.

They are the cause, the poor New Zealand farmer is just making use of a resource that would otherwise be wasted, and when feed is in short supply the New Zealand bovine just loves it and really appreciates that her carer doesn’t listen to any of these misinformed and misguided experts, and puts this waste product to such a great use.

Richard Holmes
Whakatane

TO the staff and students of Trident High School, can I say wow!

This year’s musical is a non-stop display of incredible talent and a commitment to hard work and excellence. They played to a packed house and the audience often failed to contain themselves, clapping and cheering before songs had finished.

The band was typical of the high standard we have come to expect from Trident.

The actors, whether a lead or in the chorus, sang and danced like professionals.

You can be very proud.

Judy Turner

BAYTRUST has granted $4.3 million to community groups across the region in the past financial year – a 50 percent increase on last year.

Speaking at the trust’s 28th annual meeting in Tauranga yesterday, board chairman Kenneth Brown said the trust’s investments delivered a 3 percent return over the past year.

“However, as a result of building up our grant reserves in earlier years we managed to increase our granting from $2.9 million to $4.3 million.

“We have also held our expenses at a very similar level to previous years, in spite of rising cost pressures, and have managed to increase our granting by 50 percent, while still maintaining similar levels of reserves to the prior year.”

BayTrust continued to grant social loans, at low interest rates, largely to social housing providers, and had also put more resources into strengthening community groups and improving the way they operated, he said.

Mr Brown said volatility in global equity markets was expected to continue in the wake of Brexit and concerns over China’s slowing growth.

However, BayTrust believed its current diversified portfolio of $193 million would put it in a good position to protect and equitably grow the organisation’s investment capital.

“Our significant reserves should allow us to weather the current volatile economic environment and we are looking to increase our granting from $4.3 million last year to $5 million this year.”

BayTrust will financially support 11 community groups this year, each of which will receive an average of over $200,000 for a significant project.

BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said recipients of the inaugural Strategic Funding Round had been announced and $2.4 million was available to fund projects that would make a measurable and meaningful difference.

Opotiki to receive $482,000

TWO Opotiki organisations have received significant grants from BayTrust’s inaugural strategic funding round.

Opotiki District Council will receive $300,000 toward the cost of building a new multifunctional library, research and technology centre, and Rangimarie Trust will receive $182,000 to help build four new social housing units in the town.

Rangimarie Trust secretary Victoria Radley said demand for Rangimarie’s 12 existing units in Opotiki was huge and construction could now begin on a new cluster of small, affordable homes for the town’s elderly residents in King Street.

“We are looking to provide a safe, secure, healthy, accessible environment. It means our elderly can stay living within our community instead of having to move elsewhere.”

DESTROYED: Looking over the total destruction with fire investigator Jon Rewi (left) is owner of the house Kiwi Skipper, with her cousin Sarah, who is offering her support. Photo Ross McCullough OB 1722

FIREFIGHTERS could not save a two-bedroom house and separate sleep-out near Te Kaha on Friday, August 12, from a fire police are describing as suspicious.

Everything was destroyed, with the exception of one healthy lemon tree.

At the Te Kaha property last week, fire investigator Jon Rewi said having electrical faults in two separate dwellings simultaneously would be unusual.

The property, off State Highway 35 just east of Te Kaha, was being looked after by the owner’s brother while she was away for a few days.

Opotiki Volunteer Fire Brigade senior station officer Rowan Newell said when he arrived at the scene around 5.20am both the house and garage, plus sleep-out off to the right of the property, were well alight.

The Opotiki brigade was assisted at the scene by the Waihau Bay Rural Fire Force, which carried water from the Haparapara River, two kilometres back down the road toward Omaio.

The owner’s brother said his sister, Kiwi Skipper, was on her way back to Te Kaha and was shattered by what had happened.

Later, she said the property had been a “work in progress”. For example, she had intended adding an extension to the garage.

“I’m getting over it as there is not much I can do,” she said.

Ms Skipper said she was in Taranaki when the fire occurred, collecting her eldest brother to take him to Waikato Hospital.

Police seek fire witnesses 

POLICE are appealing for information following three suspicious fires in recent months in the Te Kaha and Waihau Bay areas.

Detective Sergeant Darren Thomas said the fires burnt the residential properties to the ground.

“Thankfully, no-one was injured but a significant amount of valuable property was destroyed.

“Police are investigating the fires and at this stage two men have been arrested.”

A 71-year-old man and his 30-year-old son have been charged with arson in relation to a fire at Hakota, near Te Kaha, on April 23.

Mr Thomas said police were following other lines of enquiry in relation to two other fires on the Coast road, State Highway 35.

One was on Saturday, July 16, in Waihau Bay; the other on Friday, August 12, in Te Kaha.

“We are very grateful to the local community, who have provided valuable information so far, which has allowed us to progress these investigations.”

Police appealed to anyone who might have seen or heard anything in relation to the suspicious fires to contact Whakatane police on 07 3085255, or provide information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

ross.mccullough@opotikinews.co.nz

HOUSE FIRE: A firefighter puts out a fire at a Matata home that started after a burnt log was replaced on to a woodheap on its deck. Photo supplied

A SMOKE alarm saved a family in Matata last Friday after embers from a log set fire to the house.

The Matata Volunteer Fire Brigade was called to the house fire at 3.28am on August 12.

“What appears to have happened was that a log that was too long for the fire place was pulled back from the fire and put outside in the wood pile on the deck,” senior firefighter Mark Hofert said.

“A small ember smouldered for hours and set the pile, deck and house alight.

“Thankfully, as the house filled with smoke, the smoke alarms activated, waking up the family inside.

“They quickly evacuated the house.”

Mr Hofert said when the crew arrived at the house they found plenty of smoke. The home owner had managed to control the fire before things got out of hand.

“We opened up the seat of the fire and worked for another hour to make sure all the embers were out and no further fire risk was present.”

The callout was a reminder that smoke alarms saved lives, Mr Hofert said.

I DID enjoy the last night’s performance of Hairspray.

The dance moves were complex and well executed, and the band-orchestra sounded like an authentic rendition of a 60s big band, and had a professional feeling about it.

It is so good to hear live music on stage as many theatre groups are now using recorded backings – it is so easy to just push a button. A cop out but often unavoidable unfortunately.

Something not always apparent to the audience.

Suggestions: there were unfortunately times when the vocals were so loud that the words became indistinct in some of the pop-type songs and some of the excellent instrumental solos were barely audible.

I know only too well that sound-mixing a wide-ranging show is not easy. However, the performers out front and at the rear still did a great job on stage and captured the humour and social significance of the show.

Well done Trident High School.

Tom Bayliss

GOLDEN RULE: ANZ banks across New Zealand will cover ATMs in the home towns of New Zealand Olympic gold medallists with a gold frame.
Photos Louis Klaassen D4111-4

IN celebration of Olympic kayaker Lisa Carrington’s gold medal win, Whakatane’s ANZ branch enveloped their ATM in a gold-coloured frame on Wednesday.

Carrington’s win in the 200-metre canoe sprint race earned New Zealand its third Olympic gold medal in Rio.

As a major sponsor off the 2016 New Zealand Olympic Team, ANZ will wrap ATMs in the home towns of all New Zealand gold medal-winning Olympic athletes.

ANZ spokeswoman Sonia Ball said the move is was part of ANZ’s Dream Big Campaign, which helped community sports clubs and players achieve their dreams, and promoted the development of New Zealand’s young sporting talent.

GOLDEN TOUCH: Carol Te Amo accesses her account from a golden-framed ANZ automatic teller machine on The Strand, thanks to Whakatane being Lisa Carrington’s home town. D4111-8

THE upstairs area that filled with smoke on Monday.
OB1721 2

A WORKING smoke alarm has been credited with saving a rental property in Opotiki’s King Street on Monday afternoon, after an electric blanket in an upstairs bedroom, normally shared by three girls, caught fire.

The five-bedroom, two-storey house, rented to Keita Wiki and her husband, who have five girls aged two to nine, is managed by C&J Property Management for the owner, who is in Australia.

Mrs Wiki said the smoke damaged her girls’ two upstairs bedrooms and an office.

“And the beds and bedding are a bit burnt. The smoke has gone through all the girls’ items and they have no clothes or anything,” she said.

She said she arrived home from an Opotiki College computer course, followed by an Ashbrook School board of trustees meeting, to hear the upstairs smoke alarm sounding as she walked in the door.

She said hearing the alarm made her go upstairs and investigate, otherwise she wouldn’t have known anything was wrong, she said.

She discovered more than she bargained for when she reached the top of the staircase and walked straight into toxic smoke quickly filling that part of the house.

Mrs Wiki was treated by an ambulance crew at the scene and was on oxygen for 30 minutes to bring her coughing under control, she said.

Thankfully, her girls were at school and kindergarten at the time, and her husband was at work.

Opotiki volunteer firefighter Barry Hennessy said the fire had been caused by an electric blanket on a bed. It had bunched up, causing it to over-heat.

He said the upstairs area of the house was smoke-logged and it was lucky a working smoke alarm had alerted the mother of five to the situation.

He says the good fortune underpinned the importance of having working smoke alarms.

He said the incident reinforced the point that people needed to be extra vigilant with electric blankets.

Two fire appliances attended the callout at 76 King Street, with firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus removing beds and extinguishing the fire using a hose reel before ventilating the house.

Mr Hennessy said smoke alarms at the property had recently been installed by the property manager, as prescribed by new tenancy legislation that came into force on July 1.

The new law requires all landlords to supply rental properties with working smoke alarms, but there is also a responsibility for tenants and occupiers to ensure they are working properly, too.

Mrs Wiki said the ordeal proved to her just how critical working smoke alarms were.

CHARRED and smoke-damaged children’s mattresses that, for now, have been left out of sight and out of mind outside a King Street home saved by a smoke alarm. OB1721 1

She said that not long ago, C&J Property Management had ensured the smoke alarms in the house were installed and working properly.

She said at first her girls were sad about what had happened, “but I told them we should be glad that we are all alright and I said to them we can always get new beds and gear”.

Chris Donkin, of C&J Property Management, said the working smoke alarm had spared the home’s owner a $200,000-$300,000 loss.

He said a firefighter had told him another five minutes and the outcome could have been very different.

“In her situation it was hugely fortuitous the alarm upstairs had been screaming away at her when she walked in the door.”

Mr Donkin his company installed 320 new smoke alarms in its properties ahead of the new smoke detector deadline of July 1.

He said the fire at King Street was the third property where smoke detectors had “done their job”.

Community rallies for Wiki family

THE Opotiki community is rallying to help out the Wiki family after fire damaged many possessions.

“I was a bit lost yesterday (Monday), just trying to get quotes to replace some of the items damaged. No one in town seems to do blankets or sheets or anything – you have to go out of town for that,” mother of five Keita Wiki said.

Enter offers like the one from Smith’s City Opotiki store manager Sarah Sullivan.

Ms Sullivan said Mrs Wiki came into her store on Monday following her ordeal needing quotes for bedding for her children.

“I said ‘I can try and get something together, some clothing for the kids and bedding’. The kids only had their school uniforms left.”

Ms Sullivan said everything else, as she understood it, was either fire- or smoke-damaged.

She appealed, through an Opotiki buy, sell and exchange Facebook page, for anyone with spare clothing and items for children to drop them off at the store, or Ashbrook School.

Since Monday’s fire groups such as Whakatohea Iwi and Social Health, Ashbrook School and Whakaatu Whanaunga Trust had worked together to gather what they could to help.

Ms Sutherland said she had spoken to people who were planning to obtain furniture for Mrs Wiki and the kids, too.

Opotiki News has also been told some donated items, such as children’s toys, bedding and clothes, have already been dropped off at the family’s house.

“I’m just glad all my children are safe and well and we want to say a big thank you to the community for coming to our aid when we needed it,” she said.

ross.mccullough@opotikinews.co.nz