THEY say Rome wasn’t built in a day but try telling the Hiakita whanau and the builders at MLT in Tauranga that – they will show you a new tiny home in Waimana that took them one day to assemble.
Project Whare Paku, which will come to an end today, is a project that has a mother’s commitment and love for her children was its heart.
With only two weeks to build a tiny home for his mother, Jared Hiakita inspired and moved men from across the motu to honour the love of a mother.
With only a few nails and some bits of iron and timber, he began a campaign to barter and trade for enough materials and amenities to provide his mother with a liveable space.
“When I went back to Waimana to visit my mother I knew I had to do something about the state she had been living in,” he said.
The tiny woolshed that is her residence had tarpaulin walls, a tin roof with holes everywhere and a dirt floor, not to mention no clean running water or power – that is before MLT Builders joined forces with the Hiakita whanau, including fourth generation mokopuna, to help build on the foundations and flooring.
The project has also involved rangatahi including Mr Hiakita’s 14-year-old nephew, Teua Butler, who skipped a day at school to help with the build of his nanny’s new place.
“You learn about time management and how to organise yourself. It’s also been cool to help my nan out and to spend some time with my uncle Jared,” he said.
The whanau papakainga that will be home to the new home and a tiny cabin on wheels sits on a small plateau in the heart of Waimana with spectacular views of the Te Uruwera forest and Tuhoe countryside.
Mr Hiakita said the community of Whakatane had been awesome, kind and generous with their time and resources.
“Placemakers in Whakatane provided all the cladding and timber and Bunnings also helped us out with huge discounts. We’re very grateful. They’ve provided us with the wall cladding for free and the guys at MLT builders provided pieces of timber, where they could, not to mention, their time, without charge,” he said.
Whakatane ITM also contributed with free iron from a cancelled order.
MLT Builders Owner Mark Taylor said he first heard about the project from his mate who showed him the Facebook page, created by Mr Hiakita to help put the call out to the community and make people aware of the project.
“When I saw it, I really wanted to help. All mums are important and if my mother was still around, I’d do the same thing.
The morning of the build, Mr Taylor said the team of builders, including his foreman, three young apprentices and another builder met at the crack of dawn to go over the activities of the day.
“We all drove from Tauranga together and came to help out an old mate. Jared and I went to Whakatane High School and we were good mates. It was great to see him after 11 years. We’re both married with families and have our own businesses, so, it was good to see an old mate again.
Jared’s mother, who didn’t want to be named, said she was grateful for the help and after living in her place for so long, she’s happy to finally have a place she can call home.
A WHAKATANE man is in shock and pain after almost being run over by a motorist who took exception to him parking in a disabled parking space – even though he has disability card.
Eric Scholte has reported the incident to police. He says he has had enough after putting up with years of discrimination. He has also had his car letter-bombed for the past six months.
“They leave a little note under my windscreen, ‘Do you own this space?’ and ‘Who do you think you are?’,” he said.
“Just silly little cynical notes to say, ‘you should not be here, you are not entitled to this space’.”
Four hours a day, for the past four years, Mr Scholte has parked in the disability parking space outside the Whakatane District Council, where he works part-time as a building inspector.
Mr Scholte said he could stay at home on ACC, but he wanted to work.
“I can only do four hours’ work a day because I am in chronic pain 24/7.”
On Wednesday, Mr Scholte was about to leave work when he found another letter on his windscreen.
“I said loudly ‘if there is anybody here who wants to talk to me, please now is the time to talk’.”
Nobody appeared but when Mr Scholte was in his car he noticed a vehicle behind him, and its driver was taking photos of Mr Scholte.
“I said to him, ‘what is your problem, why are you taking photos?’, and he said to me ‘you are not disabled mate’.
Mr Scholte showed the driver his disability card.
“He said, ‘thanks mate’, took another photo, climbed in his car and ignored me.”
Mr Scholte was about to drive off but changed his mind.
“I wanted to explain to him why I am entitled to that space because I am over it. And if he is the letter bomber at least we can put this thing to rest.”
Mr Scholte said he stood in the middle of the driveway in the parking lot and held up his hand asking the driver to stop.
“He started to slow, but then he put his foot down and I started to fall forwards. I didn’t want to fall backwards because he would run me over, and I am backpedaling, trying to work out how I am going to get away from this vehicle. I finally manage to skip aside and then his car hits my knee.”
Mr Scholte said the man drove off so he went to the police station to report the incident.
“The police weren’t impressed.”
He said he could not believe how the man acted, even though he showed him his disability card.
“In his eyes I wasn’t because I am walking around.”
Mr Scholte said he twisted his knee and injured his shoulder in the incident.
Mr Scholte suffers from chronic back pain, which stems from a botched surgery he had for his back. He had to have two subsequent remedial surgeries but is now in constant pain and on a daily mix of pain medication.
He said he realised he did not look disabled, but he was in pain.
“I go home, have lunch, then go to bed for a couple of hours until my next round of medication. But people don’t see that. And that is with a lot of people who are disabled, people just can’t see it.
“But that is life, I have 15 years of these stories. You are discriminated against unless you are in a wheelchair or in a cast or have crutches people don’t see and that is the hardest part about chronic pain.
“Once you end up in this predicament you understand it a bit.”
Mr Scholte said parking by abled bodied people in disabled parking spaces was rampant and he had given up asking people to move their vehicles.
“When it is the supermarkets council can’t touch them because it is private land. But why have the spaces if nobody can enforce it?”
“People park in them all the time and you will always see the youngest, fittest guys doing it to. At one stage I confronted people, but they got aggro about it, they are confrontational.”
A council spokesman confirmed that council parking officers could not enforce disability parking regulations on private property such as in supermarket parking lots.
The fine for parking in a disabled parking space is $150.
FIFTEEN years of hard graft has paid off for the Opotiki District Council as it receives $79.4 million in funding for its long-awaited harbour development.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Auckland today that the Provincial Growth Fund will be funding the construction of the harbour development which will unlock the full aquaculture potential on Opotiki’s doorstep.
Opotiki mayor Lyn Riesterer said she was thrilled with the announcement and said the community would be keen to celebrate this historic milestone.
“This decision from central government is the culmination of 15 years of hard graft by the Council, Whakatohea, private businesses and the wider community to bring this vision to reality,” said Ms Riesterer.
“Our figures and planning have held up under intense scrutiny and we are thrilled that this is on the cusp of becoming a reality.
“We are what we like to call ‘spade-ready’. Short of having money in our account to start spending on people and materials, we are ready to go. We have the contracts and consents and the project plans. This funding is our green light.
“The harbour and its associated industry are a game changer for Opotiki. This is the start of a new era for our district – new jobs, new industry and a new way forward. And we are more than ready to grab this opportunity with both hands – get our rangatahi into real, long term and meaningful work. I can’t wait to see the innovative future we build for ourselves with this kick start,” said Ms Riesterer.
The PGF funding of close to $80 million is in addition to $20 million pledged by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2013 as part of its Regional Infrastructure Fund. This funding established the local and regional commitment to the project.
In the years since, the Eastern Bay councils have continued to work closely and align the area’s long-term vision and regional funding projects.
Former Mayor, John Forbes, has advocated for this outcome for more than 20 years and said it was a proud moment for the whole community.
“This project is an excellent example of central, regional and local government working together in partnership with iwi, industry and private businesses to bring the best outcome not just for us here in Opotiki, but also for the region and for the nation,” said Mr Forbes
“It is conventional infrastructure – like a road or a railway line or high-speed internet – it underpins our economy. Where infrastructure goes, it enables new industry, new opportunities and growth.
“This project will boost New Zealand’s growing aquaculture industry and make us world-leaders in sustainable, high-value protein production. All in an area of provincial New Zealand that has a recent history of high deprivation and under employment.
“Ōpōtiki is using this exciting piece of infrastructure to transform the social and economic future for the district,” he said.
Lyn Riesterer said that the community was ready to celebrate.
“I’m sure we’ll be taking a moment to celebrate this historic announcement and then we’ll get down to the brass tacks of making ourselves a harbour entrance.”
AFTER falling short of candidates at two elections, Murupara Community Board has appointed people to fill its two vacancies.
For the second consecutive election, the community board has struggled to find candidates to fill the two Galatea-Waiohau seats and has had to hold a by-election.
This year, the by-election also failed to attract any candidates so Bella (Ngapera) Rangiaho from Waiohau and Shaun Bicknell from Galatea were put forward as potential board members.
Their appointments have been accepted by the rest of the board and will be confirmed at the next meeting in mid-March.
Whakatane district councillor and Murupara ward representative Alison Silcock said she was not certain why it was so hard to fill the seats but it might have been because people in the ward were very busy and might not be aware of the role the community board played.
“I rung around a lot of people to see if they would be interested in sitting on the board and what I was hearing was many people were too busy with other commitments to donate the time needed,” she said.
“Maybe our community board profile isn’t high enough that people think, ‘I could also be part of that,”
Mrs Silcock said possibly the board needed to look at lifting its profile and ensure the community knew what they did as some people might not be aware of how much difference they could make while serving on the board.
“Confidence seems to be an issue as well, we need to show that anyone can stand for it and make a difference while working for the betterment of the community,” she said.
“I’m really not sure; we can surmise all we like but I believe there are a whole range of reasons why.”
Both candidates chosen by the board members are actively involved in other community groups in the Murupara-Galatea ward.
Board chairwoman Jackie Te Amo said she believed it was hard to attract candidates due to the $200 nomination fee needed to run in the election.
Ms Te Amo said many people in the ward simply didn’t have $200 on hand and it wasn’t guaranteed the putea (money) would be refunded following the election.
Murupara isn’t alone with a lack of candidates standing for its community board. All six Taneatua Community Board members were elected unopposed after no-one else put their name forward and the Rangitaiki Community Board only attracted one more candidate than needed.
The Whakatane-Ohope Community Board attracted three more candidates than required.
Murupara board members had three options to fill the vacancies: appoint two qualified electors, advertise expressions of interest to fill the vacancies or hold a further by-election.
Members favoured the first option because it guaranteed the two candidates would come from within the Galatea-Waiohau subdivision.
The other options would be time consuming and costly, especially as a by-election had already been held and had failed to attract any candidates.
IT will be three or four months before the first physical steps are made toward the development of Opotiki’s long-awaited harbour development, according to Mayor Lyn Riesterer.
An elated Ms Riesterer yesterday said the first steps would be to strengthen Snells Road to enable trucks carrying rocks for the seawalls to be transported to the construction site.
“We would expect construction of the walls will start in the second half of 2021, but we want to make sure the rocks are already on place, along with interlocking concrete components,” she said.
“We are working alongside NZTA for the Snells Road part of the project. The contractors are waiting, and we are now waiting for the funding to arrive and the contract documents to be signed, initially for Snells Road and also for the remainder of the project.”
As far as the construction of the seawalls is concerned, there have been changes to the design over the years and Ms Riesterer said the final investigations into the design and modelling needed to now be completed.
Friday’s announcement of investment of $79.4 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, along with a commitment of $20 million from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, was “huge”.
“It’s been a project which started two mayors ago, and it’s been a passion of John Forbes to see two projects working side by side helping each other – the harbour development and the creation of a mussel processing facility by Whakatohea – and to now see it all come together is fantastic news.”
Things are moving quickly for the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board and Whakatohea Mussels, with a planned “turning of the first sod” on the construction of a new mussel processing factory to be held on March 13.
Trust board chief executive Dickie Farrah said the board was originally the “initiator, the dreamer and weaver” for the whole project for the past 22 years.
“It’s fantastic. It has been 22 years of dreaming and hundreds of hours of meetings and planning. Now we are seeing it become a reality,” she said.
Ms Farrah said as time had passed, various parts of the proposed project had been handed on to the appropriate organisations, with all working very closely together to achieve the common goal – a workable harbour and a successful mussel industry, including the farm and processing factory.
The funding announcement was made by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones on Friday.
During his announcement, Mr Jones said of the expected 1850 jobs that would be created by the development, 730 would be in Opotiki.
Former mayor Mr Forbes has advocated for this outcome for more than 20 years and said it was a proud moment for the whole community.
“This project is an excellent example of central, regional and local government working together in partnership with iwi, industry and private businesses to bring the best outcome not just for us here in Opotiki, but also for the region and for the nation.
“It is conventional infrastructure – like a road or a railway line or high-speed internet – it underpins our economy. Where infrastructure goes, it enables new industry, new opportunities and growth.
“This project will boost New Zealand’s growing aquaculture industry and make us world-leaders in sustainable, high-value protein production. All in an area of provincial New Zealand that has a recent history of high deprivation and under employment.
“Opotiki is using this exciting piece of infrastructure to transform the social and economic future for the district,” Mr Forbes said.
Whakatohea Pre Settlement Claims Trust board chairman Graeme Riesterer said the announcement was a game changer for Whakatohea and Opotiki in terms of economic development.
“The community will benefit by the creation of hundreds of new jobs and higher wages. It provides jobs for Whakatohea whanau who have had to leave the region, to come home to paid employment.
“And for our rangatahi who will now have opportunities to stay and live locally without missing out on career or development prospects,” he said.
“As Mr Jones mentioned, we know that sustainable seafood is on the rise globally. This trend supports our Mana Moana strategy for investment and growth in aquaculture initiatives to progress once the Whakatohea Settlement has been ratified by whanau, and the harbour development enables this to happen.
“We aren’t just thinking about now, this settlement is for all Whakatohea, now and in the future and the harbour development is an enabler to various economic opportunities for our iwi”.
SUBDIVISION at Awatarariki was “stupid” and should never have occurred, a witness has told the commissioners responsible for deciding the fate of Awatarariki residents.
The first submissions were heard yesterday in a week-long hearing that could mark the end for residents living in the catchment.
The hearings, scheduled to continue until Friday, focus on two potential plan changes formulated in response to the 2005 debris flow that destroyed several homes and key infrastructure on the Awatarariki fanhead at Matata.
The first, a change to the district plan from residential zoning to coastal protection, would stop any further residential development on the site.
The second, a change to the Regional Natural Resources Plan, would prevent all residential activity and residents would have to leave. This option, known as Plan Change 17, has never been used before to extinguish existing use rights and will set a precedent in New Zealand if successful.
Whakatane District Council had hoped that all residents would sign up to its managed retreat from the area, making plan change two unnecessary as all residents would have already left.
Several Awatarariki residents including ardent opponents to the plan change Rick, Rachel and Pam Whalley were at the hearing as well as Whakatane councillors Lesley Immink and Gerard van Beek.
The submissions are being heard by four independent commissioners, barrister Trevor Robinson, consulting engineer Fraser Campbell, consultant Rob van Voorthuysen and consultant Rauru Kirikiri.
They first heard from the council’s lawyers, Andrew Green and Rowan Ashton of Brookfields Lawyers for points of clarification on their submission, which the commissioners had already read.
Brookfields’ submission seeks to prove that the proposed plan changes are necessary to ensure the high loss of life risk the council says exists at Awatarariki is avoided to meet the council’s obligations under the Resource Management Act.
The commissioners asked the lawyers to clarify whether the proposed plan change was the first of its kind in New Zealand, which properties within the fanhead were medium risk and why they were being included in the hearing, and how home owners were being compensated.
Mr Green and Mr Ashton confirmed it was the first time the plan change was being used in this way in New Zealand.
They said the properties could be considered medium risk under some models but the council considered them high risk. Property owners were not being offered compensation for the proposed plan changes.
Several property owners have been bought out of their homes through the council’s managed retreat process which the lawyers noted paid out more than if the homes had been acquired through the Public Works Act.
The commissioners then heard from five of the council’s 18 witnesses.
The first, Boffa Miskell planner Craig Batchelar, spoke to the planning issues around the plan changes and provided a summary of what the outcomes of each plan change might be.
BACKS AGAINST THE WALL: Some residents are not willing to go without a fight, as this sign on Rick, Rachel and Pam Whalley’s fence attests. D9662-03
Mr Batchelar said he supported both plan changes as the only way for the council to reduce the risk to life at the fanhead and meet its obligations under the Resource Management Act.
Council strategic project manager Jeff Farrell gave the commissioners an update on the progress of the managed retreat, relaying that 17 properties, including seven with homes, had been sold to the council or had gone unconditional. This leaves 28 properties, including six with homes, which have not settled through the managed retreat process.
Mr Farrell said one of these properties was Maori owned land with more than 100 owners and the council was working through establishing a governance structure with them.
Commissioner Robinson asked if Mr Farrell knew the position of insurance companies and whether they were still happy to insure the properties knowing the debris flow risk.
Mr Farrell said the advice he had received from insurance companies indicated they would insure until the end of March 2021 which was the last settlement date for the managed retreat process.
Dr Mauri McSaveney who holds the positions of emeritus scientist at GNS Sciences and visiting professor at the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard prevention and Geoenvironmental protection at Chengdu University of Technology, China.
Dr McSaveney spoke to the characteristics of debris flows and how they were triggered.
Commissioner Kirikiri questioned Dr McSaveney on his evidence that debris flows had occurred at Awatarariki previously.
“If they had happened before, why wasn’t anything done about it?” he asked.
Dr McSaveney said the subdivision of the Awatarariki fanhead was “stupid” and “should never have happened”.
“Maori lived in the region for years, but never settled there, they settled elsewhere,”he said.
“People knew, but no one in authority knew about it.”
He said in his opinion the whole fanhead was at high risk of a debris flow, not just the lot designated by council.
The next witness, University of Canterbury professor Tim Davies, showed the commissioners two videos of debris flows and spoke about how debris flows were formed and why engineering options were not suitable in this case.
Commissioner Robinson asked Dr Davies how the risk at Awatarariki compared to earthquake risk in Christchurch and tsunami risk in Wellington.
“What is acceptable risk and what is not?” he asked.
Dr Davies said experts could not predict when another debris flow of the same size would occur at Awatarariki and that if an engineering option would be pursued it would likely cause more harm.
The gradient of the land at Awatarariki made a chute to sea unfeasible while a series of dams would likely fail and cause wider damage than a debris flow alone.
He said the council was sensible to follow this course of action and it was the only way to ensure people remained safe.
Chartered engineer Tom Basset also spoke to engineering options and the risk presented by the debris flow.
The hearing adjourned at lunch for the commissioners to visit Awatararki and will resume today at 9am with a further 12 witnesses for the council.
The road so far
THE Awatarariki community in Matata was struck by a debris flow in 2005 that destroyed several homes, however, there was no loss of life.
For the next seven years the Whakatane District Council searched for an engineering solution to reduce the risk for residents living in the affected area should another debris flow occur.
During this time, residents rebuilt and moved back into the area.
However, the council abandoned its engineering plans in 2012 and instead focused on buying residents out of their homes and rezoning the land from residential to coastal protection through its managed retreat process.
The managed retreat process is estimated to cost $15 million.
The district council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Government are each contributing $5 million to this.
Some residents entered the process before the plan change hearing, which could result in them being forced from their homes.
The Awatarariki Residents’ Association does not believe this process is voluntary and believes residents have been forced into the programme under duress.
Part of this is that there may be no compensation if residents are forced from their homes following the plan change hearing and most are not willing to gamble their future on this and are instead opting to sell to council and move while money is guaranteed.
Multiple sirens could be heard travelling out of Whakatane earlier this morning, as a man evaded arrest in Te Teko.
Senior sergeant Al Fenwick said police were attempting to arrest the offender for breaching his bail conditions, which then turned into a pursuit, “among other things”.
The man is still at large, and authorities will continue to search for the offender and the vehicle.
Cordons were initially set in place earlier this morning but have since been stood down.
“Things will return to normal in the Te Teko area,” Mr Fenwick said.
EXPERTS say a debris flow at Awatarariki is more likely to cause deaths than an earthquake in Wellington and it is “extraordinarily lucky” that no one died in the 2005 event.
The plan change hearings that will determine the fate of residents living on the Awatarariki fanhead at Matata continued at Eastbay REAP in Whakatane yesterday with submissions from a further 12 witnesses appearing on behalf of the Whakatane District Council.
Several Awatarariki residents were present along with district councillors Lesley Immink, Gerard van Beek, John Pullar and Gavin Dennis.
Tonkin and Taylor technical director Kevin Hind told the independent commissioners that no single debris flow was ever the same and it would be impossible to predict when the next would strike.
He said through climate change the region would most likely see an increase in rainfall, which was what triggered the original event, however, this might not necessarily trigger another debris flow.
There would need to be some time before rainfall events for debris to build-up in the catchment.
The commissioners, barrister Trevor Robinson, consulting engineer Fraser Campbell, consultant Rob van Voorthuysen and consultant Rauru Kirikiri, flew over the catchment on Monday with Commissioner Campbell commenting that the scars from 2005 were still obvious.
“Is there enough debris available now for a similar event?” he asked.
Mr Hind said a lot of the original debris was not just from the stream; a lot came from landslides triggered by the rainfall.
“There is no reason why rainfall wouldn’t continue to trigger landslides, the hillside is highly erodible,” he said.
“I have been investigating landslides something in the order of 15 years. I have seen fatalities occur in sites that suffered far less damage than Matata. I have seen people killed by rocks the size of rugby balls, never mind huge boulders going through houses. It is my view that the people of Matata were extraordinarily lucky that day.”
Mr Hind said looking at the 2005 debris flow, he would have estimated that three people would have died near the railway and at least one in Clem Elliott Drive. He said just because a home wasn’t touched by the debris flow didn’t mean residents would experience the same luck in potential future flows.
Follow-up evidence from Tonkin and Taylor water resources engineer Tom Bassett clarified that he estimated there was a one percent chance every year that Awatarariki would experience the same amount of triggering rainfall and a 63 percent chance it would occur in the next 100 years.
In response to questioning, he said if this was, hypothetically, to occur again tomorrow, he would be forced to conclude that it could occur more frequently and these estimated percentages would rise.
After their site visit, the commissioners were curious as to whether the large boulders that remained between Clem Elliott Drive and State Highway 2 would protect homes from a future debris flow.
University of Canterbury professor Tim Davies said the boulders were not a reliable barrier and could be remobilised and used as “ammo” by a future debris flow.
Professor Davies said it would not be acceptable to permit homes within the tree and boulder deposit envelope and he was confident the high-risk zone was in the right place.
When asked by Commissioner Campbell if he preferred an “overly cautious” approach, Professor Davies said “yes”.
“But we won’t know if it is overly cautious for another 5000 years when we have had more events to base our models on,” he said. “The risk to life is very, very serious.”
DECISION MAKERS: Independent commissioners Trevor Robinson, Fraser Campbell, Rob van Voorthuysen and Rauru Kirikiri will hear one more day of submissions before deliberating on Thursday. Photo Charlotte Jones D9666-01
GNS Science principal scientist Chris Massey spoke on risk analysis methods and the risk Awatarariki residents faced compared to the risks people faced in other locations as well as the unsuitability of an early warning system on the fanhead.
Dr Massey said an early warning system would be unlikely to give people the time to evacuate before a debris flow hit.
He said he knew of a pa site near Little Waihi in which 150 people were killed by a debris flow in 1780. Another debris flow in 1846 killed 64 people. The next in 1910 only killed one because people had moved from the site after recognising the risk.
Commissioner Robinson asked what fatality risk had been deemed unacceptable by the Government noting “skydivers are at high risk but that doesn’t stop them jumping out of planes with or without working parachutes.”
Dr Massey said the risk to life from riding a jetboat was the same as walking to Fox Glacier and, while families were happy to do the walk with their children, they would never ride a jet boat with their children.
He provided a graph showing the relative risk to Awatarariki residents compared with other risks across New Zealand.
It showed residents in Wellington were less likely to die from an earthquake and residents in Whakatane were less likely to die from a tsunami.
“It’s about exposure to the risk,” he said.
Other witnesses spoke about how the council arrived at its managed retreat option and the robustness of its valuation process during this process, including the unusual step of needing two peer reviewers which was above and beyond anything valuers had had to comply with before.
The commissioners also heard from resource management consultant Gerard Willis who said it would be “impractical and unenforceable” to zone each home on the fanhead according to its individual risk.
Individual risk could be profiled by the size and construction of each home as well as who was living in it, whether they were able-bodied and if they worked from home or full-time off the fanhead.
“This type of micro-regulating would have a huge intrusion on people’s lives as they would have to notify whether their living conditions had changed,” he said.
Mr Willis also said it would not account for any visitors such as grandchildren coming to stay at the homes. “That planning intervention would be very intrusive.”
Yesterday’s hearing concluded with Boffa Miskell planner Craig Batchelar answering some questions he had been unable to answer ad hoc on Monday.
These related to the location of the high-risk area and what would happen to homes that were half in the high-risk area and half in the medium-risk area.
He said the existing home would be permitted but homeowners would not be able to extend its footprint through renovations although they could renovate the inside.
The hearing resumes at 8.30am today with one more council witness before Awatarariki residents take the stand. Whakatane District Council counsel will then have right of reply in the afternoon.
PROFESSIONALS Whakatane, an institution in Eastern Bay real estate for 60 years, has undergone a massive change.
While the people and service remain the same, the real estate company’s bright red building on Landing Road now includes accents of blue – visual evidence of a revitalisation that comes with a change of ownership.
The Professionals brand has been shelved in the name of progress with Property Brokers, a respected provincial and rural-based real estate agency, taking over the business last Friday.
The decision to sell – and let go of the Professionals name – is not one company directors Kathryn McKay and Maurice Butler made lightly but with the interests of the community in mind.
They say it will give local people even greater access to specialist rural, lifestyle and residential real estate services and property management.
“The infrastructure behind Property Brokers is something that I don’t believe anyone in town has had before in our industry so it’s very exciting,” Ms McKay said.
“Real estate is a challenging and constantly evolving business and Property Brokers is well resourced, with a great track record in the provinces.
She said being a family-owned business, Property Brokers had a very compatible culture to theirs and they were looking forward to a progressive future for the business.”
“We really believe this is an excellent fit and the synergy is there with a similar culture and incredible support,” she said.
“If you get too caught up in tradition then you’d just go stagnant … It was a tough call, but we think the benefits are there, the town’s going to have a more energetic real estate company as another option.”
Mr Butler said the service and support they would be able to offer clients in both sales and property management would increase.
“And because they are provincial, they understand provincial towns and that’s where they want to be.”
They and operations manager Lee-Anne Butler have reassured the public of their continuing community focus.
“The Property Brokers mantra is ‘when we shake your hand we mean it’. People and community are really important.
“We’re all still here, and it’s really about relationships … it’s still the same and you’re still dealing with local people,” she said.
Property Brokers is a proudly provincial company, 100 percent New Zealand owned, and has over 700 staff across 66 locations, from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
Chief operating officer Bill Highet said the acquisition gave the company a great opportunity to be represented in the Eastern Bay by an expert team of well respected locals.
“We are a growing business, and our real estate track record is backed up with strong training, systems and marketing support,” Mr Highet said.
Change is well underway with the Whakatane office a hive of activity, new signs up and staff participating in training sessions this week.
Ms McKay said this was just the beginning as they set about building a stronger and more resourced agency for clients.
THE family of an elderly woman who suffered injuries to her head and body after a fall in Edgecumbe wants the council to step up and do more to improve the region’s roads and infrastructure.
Fed up with the condition of the roads, footpaths and walkways, Samuel Burgess is demanding to know where ratepayers’ money is being spent.
“It’s not coming into our area, I can tell you that right now,” Mr Burgess said.
After a fall on Saturday in which his mother, Elaine, tripped over some loose cobblestones leaving her with a huge black eye, a bruised knee, a gash in her head and swollen and sore fingers, he and his whanau want answers.
“My mother fell hard and hit the ground after she tripped. Two Indian guys had to help her and bring her home because she couldn’t move. She had blood pouring out of her head.
She wasn’t in a good way,” he said.
A trip to the hospital proved lengthy and the Burgess family, including children and grandchildren, spent hours at the Whakatane Hospital emergency department on Saturday.
“We didn’t get out of there until dark. We all took turns to stay with her and make sure she was okay,” he said.
Furious at the sight of his mother’s injuries, Mr Burgess said he called the council after hours’ number only to find that after he reported the hazard, staff members sprayed the area with yellow paint.
“They didn’t isolate the area or anything. It’s just had a little bit of paint sprayed on it. It’s a hazard and we want more done, so this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Following the incident her granddaughters, Angelina and Amanda Burgess, who both attend Whakatane High School, said they’d had to care for their nan, including, doing the chores, and giving her medication.
“It’s hard to leave our nan at home by herself because we worry about her,” Amanda said.
“Everyone forgets about Edgecumbe,” she said.
A council spokesperson said staff visited the site and identified the cobblestone that would be re-sited by contractors as soon as possible.
“We are sorry to hear that injuries have been sustained.
“The council has a schedule to maintain hundreds of kilometres of roads and footpaths and does its best to ensure they are in good condition.
“We ask residents to assist this process by reporting any issues with the network through the council’s request for service system.”
NO one, including Whakatane District Council staff, know what options there might be for Awatarariki residents who have not opted into the council’s managed retreat.
In the third day of plan change hearings, being held at Eastbay REAP in Whakatane, the independent commissioners heard from council staff that the Government’s $5 million partial funding of the managed retreat was only guaranteed until the end of June and from there, it was unclear whether residents would receive any compensation for their homes.
Council strategic project manager Jeff Farrell told the four commissioners the funding wasn’t universally supported by Government officials in the first instance and it was an “out of budget decision” to partially fund the retreat.
“I don’t know what will happen if the programme is not completed by this time,” he said.
Mr Farrell said the council had spent around $8 million of its $15 million budget, make up of one-third contributions from the Government, district council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
He said any unspent funds by the end of June had to be returned to Government and the regional council.
The commissioners asked if the two councils could then come to an agreement between themselves. Mr Farrell said they could, but it would need to be through the annual plan process.
After two days of hearing from council experts, commissioners finally heard from affected residents of their hopes for their future.
There were many, including district councillors Lesley Immink, John Pullar, Gerard van Beek, Gavin Dennis and Victor Luca who wanted to hear from the residents and there were more people in the public gallery than in previous days.
However, before the residents took to the stand, the commissioners heard from the last council expert, chief planner of Beca Group Amelia Linzey.
Ms Linzey received push back from the commissioners who felt her report on the social impact of the debris flow and managed retreat was lacking in detail and questioned why she did not speak directly to residents when drafting her report.
Commissioner Rauru Kirikiri raised concerns that Ms Linzey’s report relied on assumptions and said he was concerned about the effects the plan changes, managed retreat and debris flow could have on the Maori community.
“The nagging thing is that I need a real sense of the effect this is having on people’s lives rather than paper,” he said.
“We’re dealing with people’s lives; how do you measure that?”
Ms Linzey said her brief was to simply review the material that had been prepared previously. In doing so she looked at consultation documents, social media and media reporting.
“I think the affected community can give you a much more human understanding than I can,” she said.
“Humans by nature discount potential future events over what we’re experiencing now. The consequences of a future debris flow event are not being felt now and the community has a status quo bias.”
Ms Linzey said any social impacts from the residents leaving the fanhead would always be less serious than another debris flow regardless of whether they received compensation or not.
“In my opinion the loss of life outweighs the value people place in a property,” she said.
BONES REMAIN: Number 8 Clem Elliot Drive is the latest home to be removed from the fanhead, its top half is now on piles near Blueberry Corner on Thornton Road. D9662-02
When asked again why she did not consult with the community directly Ms Linzey reiterated her role was simply to review work that had already been done.
Counsel for Awatarariki residents Rick, Rachel and Pam Whalley, representing the Awatarariki Residents Society opened by saying they would let their clients speak first.
“As the council has failed to engage and listen to residents throughout this process, something reinforced by Ms Lindsay not speaking with residents when writing her report as is the status quo, we thought we would reverse this process and let the residents speak first,” said residents’ barrister Rob Enright.
Pam Whalley addressed the commissioners first and gave an account of what she and her late husband experienced the day the debris flow occurred.
Mrs Whalley described how they stood at the windows on the upper floor of their homes and watched as the debris flow “blew through” the embankment and railway lines before the debris, including boulders and trees, inundated the fanhead.
She said they opened all the doors on the upper storey of their home in case they needed to escape but the debris fell short of their home. Instead, their home was hit by a small wave of muddy water.
The only damage it received was mud under the garage door.
“It was frightening, but I was here for the 1987 earthquake, I was flying to New York the day 9/11 happened and I don’t want to leave,” Mrs Whalley said.
“I’m not scared, when it rains that doesn’t worry me. I don’t feel unsafe, I’m quite happy in my family home which I have lived in for over 30 years. Where do I go when I’m not in danger from tsunami, earthquakes, volcanoes? Where in New Zealand could you go?”
She told the commissioners she had self-evacuated from her home twice since the original event, during cyclones Cook and Debbie.
She said she knew they were coming in advance and left the fanhead before they hit.
Her son, Ricky, told how residents felt bullied, intimidated and under siege from the council.
He said residents hadn’t been fairly engaged in the process and key experts as well as Government officials hadn’t bothered to speak to residents when making and informing decisions that directly affected them.
He said residents requested reports relevant to the council’s decision over a year ago, but the council had refused to release it and the decision was now with the ombudsman.
He questioned how residents could make an informed decision without all the information and said it couldn’t be a fair process if information was being withheld.
“We have no agency, no comeback, no mana,” Mr Whalley said.
“My wife and I moved here from Taranaki, if this does go through and we do get kicked out, we may move back to Taranaki where there is a volcano estimated to erupt in the next 50 years.
“Can you please tell us where we can go in New Zealand where it is not high risk?”
Mr Whalley said new evidence showed an early warning system could work on the fanhead and that climate change would actually reduce rain in the region.
“Why is that being ignored?”
Mr Whalley was asked by commissioner Rob van Voorthuysen why he felt the hearings were not sufficient and why he was pushing to take the issue to the Environment Court.
“We can’t cross-examine the experts here and, while you’re asking good questions, they’re not our questions,” he said.
“We respect you and your decision, but this has far reaching consequences for the whole of New Zealand and we feel that should be tested in court first.”
Mr Whalley said were it taken to the Environment Court, residents could also apply for Government funding for their legal fight, while during the hearings the entire legal cost was on them.
The residents’ legal counsel then began their submissions.
Barristers Rob Enright and Ruby Haazen’s submissions stated that instead of flagging the entire fanhead as high risk, council should instead investigate each property on a case by case basis. If it did so, it might be found that not all residents had to leave.
Mr Enright said the regional council had “overstepped its role”; the district council was taking a precautionary approach rather than a more internationally-accepted risk-based approach; the commissioners were not obliged to accept expert evidence; and that residents were under-resourced compared to the council.
“Life is not without risk,” said Mr Enright.
“There are others facing similar levels of risk in Ohope, Whakatane and Thames.”
Ms Haazen said the evidence of experts in the matter had been inconsistent and the matter had been “inadequately researched.”
She said new evidence showed that an early warning system might work at Matata and climate change mapping showed the region would experience less rain and therefore a debris flow would be less likely to occur.
Ms Haazen asked why this new evidence couldn’t be more thoroughly looked into.
When facing the more technical questions posed by experts the two lawyers at times struggled to answer and said due to the financial constraints of residents’ funding their own fight they were unable to call their own suite of experts like the council and instead had to find holes in their arguments.
Commissioner Trevor Robinson said if each home was given its own risk profile, residents might not necessarily be better off.
“They may not be, but equally they could be,” said Mr Enright.
“That is an unanswered question.”
Commissioner Kirikiri questioned how much local iwi had been involved in the discussions and the decision making around the fanhead.
“I don’t comprehend the lack of interest from the Maori community,” he said.
“If you are shoved out and forced to leave, it is the names that will remain behind. There is a cultural issue as to what those names will mean once you are gone.”
Mr Kirikiri asked who in the audience knew what the name Awatarariki meant, one resident raised his hand. He also said Keokaoroa Street was named for a famous battle.
Mr Whalley said many residents’ whakapapa to the site was through Ngati Rangitihi and Ngati Awa and he felt this was land confiscation all over again.
“My tipuna would be turning in their graves knowing I’m having to fight for our whenua again,” he said.
The Whalleys’ evidence was followed by Rob Welsh of the Matata Action Group.
Mr Welsh said the debris flow had been caused by forestry slash building up in the catchment area and the council was negligent not to keep the stream clear.
He then launched into personal attacks on council staff and their experts. He accused experts of “colluding together” and said the hearings were “corporate BS”.
He said he would sue the council and that was a “promise not a threat”.
Hearing chairman Rob van Voorthuysen told Mr Welsh twice that the hearing was not the place to air these complaints and asked him to provide a conclusion or summary of his evidence.
Mr Welsh said he “could not be bothered going on anymore” before then saying it would be very easy to prove council’s negligence in the matter and that it was attempting to fraudulently obtain residents’ properties.
He also said the council had breached residents’ privacy, kicked residents when they were down and breached their human rights.
“They (residents) haven’t been able to make informed decisions and these hearings are a sham,” he said.
Mr Welsh said if the commissioners proceeded with the plan change, he “would just go for it”.
Property owner Glenn Baker also blamed forestry slash for the debris flow, saying the slash created a dam which then burst.
He provided several photos of the logs which he said proved they were exotic and not native.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that slash caused this,” Mr Baker said.
“My plea to you is to take this back to the top seat in the country and work it out there.
“This is a farce and you must throw it out.”
Commissioner Fraser Campbell said a lot of evidence pointed to the logs being native and that there weren’t many wilding pines in the catchment.
Mr Baker said he couldn’t accept that as he had seen it with his own eyes.
He said all the money ratepayers had spent on the managed retreat and hearings should be refunded and spent on a sewage scheme for Matata.
“I don’t like injustice,” Mr Baker said.
Council’s lawyers had right of reply that afternoon but said they would prefer to reply to the “contentious” issues raised in writing.
They said they would have their reply to commissioners by Monday.
Commissioners will be undertaking their initial deliberations today, which are not open to the public, before giving their decision in “due course”.
A middle-aged shift worker is in a stable condition in Whakatane Hospital following a head-on collision just one kilometre out of Taneatua this morning.
Eastern Bay road policing manager Senior sergeant Chris Howard said the crash occurred between a mini-van and a fully loaded truck and trailer at approximately 10.30am.
The truck was travelling north when the local man, travelling towards Taneatua, crossed over the centre line and into the path of the truck, colliding head on.
The van then spun several times following the collision, travelling back into the left-hand lane.
The man, believed to be in his mid-to-late forties, was then trapped in the vehicle while fire and emergency worked to extract him from the wreck.
He suffered a fractured femur and was transferred by St John ambulance to Whakatane Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
The truck driver was uninjured and both vehicles were towed from the scene.
“It looks like fatigue was the cause, he’s a shift worker and was just on his way home,” Mr Howard said.
Police investigations into the crash are ongoing.
Traffic was backed up to the Whakatane turnoff, with some motorists turning around while others opted to wait for the scene to be cleared.
WHITEBAITERS have pushed back on claims fishing is responsible for the delicacy’s decline and say the Government should target habitat loss instead.
East Coast MP Anne Tolley organised a public meeting in Whakatane yesterday to hear from whitebaiters what they thought of the Government’s proposed changes to management of the fishery.
Four of the six whitebait species are classified as “at risk” or “threatened” and the Department of Conservation is proposing to address this by managing and limiting whitebaiters.
Proposed changes include amending the timing of the whitebait season, introducing nationwide upstream limits on whitebaiting, creating whitebait refuges in some waterways which could see whitebaiting banned for two to 10 years or indefinitely, banning some whitebaiting gear and phasing out the export of whitebait.
The Whakatane, Tarawera, Rangi-taiki, Waioeka and Waiotahe rivers may be used as whitebait refuges as well as the Nukuhou River and Wainui Stream which flow into the Ohiwa Harbour.
Consultation on the changes has been criticised by local whitebaiters as the nearest public meeting organised by the Department of Conservation was 208-kilometres away in Otorohanga.
“This is of extreme importance to everyone in our rohe, and many of our rivers will be affected by these changes,” said Mrs Tolley.
“I wrote to the conservation minister (Eugenie Sage) with your complaints about a meeting not being held here and decided we should just hold a meeting ourselves.”
Mrs Tolley said she also invited local DoC staff to the meeting but was told they couldn’t attend as they didn’t know enough about the proposed changes to inform a public meeting about them.
“That is of huge concern to me that these changes are being proposed and our local people don’t know enough about them,” she said.
Just over 120 whitebaiters attended the meeting where they also heard from National party spokeswoman for conservation Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean and Bay of Plenty Regional Council, elected member Bill Clark.
Claims from Mr Clark and other whitebaiters that predation and degradation of habitat were to blame for the declining whitebait population were met with cheers and applause from the audience.
Mr Clark said the plight of whitebait was on his conscience as a regional councillor.
“The regional council has destroyed more whitebait habitat in the last 30 years than anyone else,” Mr Clark said.
“The regional council takes a lot of blame, but you guys (whitebaiters) also need to accept some of that blame.”
Mr Clark said the biggest threat to whitebait was mice as they ate the fish’s eggs once they had been laid on reeds and grass on the riverbanks.
He said whitebaiters could do their bit by managing pests on their land.
Mr Clark said the regional council faced pressure to keep rates as low as possible and often did only the bare essentials; whitebaiters needed to speak up for what they wanted.
“You can be the voice for this resource and ensure that habitat restoration happens,” he said.
Whitebaiters raised a variety of concerns at the meeting from the proposed refuge sites, limitations on whitebaiting gear, loss of habitat, waterways pollution, commercialisation of catch and predation from shags and trout.
A “self-imposed kaitiaki” of the Whakatane River said he had been whitebaiting there for 50 years and took his children, mokopuna and now his great-grandchildren there to whitebait too.
He blamed the Whakatane District Council for removing the willow trees that used to sit along the bank.
He appeared to support the banning of some gear and described some modern nets as “scary”.
Steve Chapman expressed concern at how the district council’s proposed marina would affect whitebait population and said it would be difficult for elderly to continue whitebaiting if only scoop nets were allowed.
Many others said the construction of the Matahina Dam had impacted the whitebait population and Trustpower should put in the putea (money) to restore the whitebait habitat.
“Whitebait were abundant until they built that dam,” said one woman.
Others raised concern about how DoC would police the new rules. One man said he called DoC three days in a row to report illegal whitebaiters before the beginning of last season and nobody did anything.
Some refuted the claim that whitebait had been declining and said catches had been improving year on year for the past five years.
Ms Dean said the National Party would be “very loathe” to cut out safe and traditional whitebaiting and said DoC needed to be looking at the problem as a whole instead of one facet.
“If we’re going to crack this nut, we have to look at who is responsible for the habitat and work closely together while using local knowledge,” she said.
“We need to look at the entire eco-system not just the bit that’s providing our kai.
“Whitebaiting is a part of our lives, culture and history and we want to ensure it’s a part of our future for our children, grandchildren and beyond.”
Mrs Tolley said the problem needed to be approached through the use of good scientific evidence which she feels is lacking in the consultation document.
“This is taking a one size fits all approach and what may work in one river won’t work in another,” she said.
Mrs Tolley encouraged all who attended the meeting to make a submission in response to the planned changes and said if they were unsure how to do so her staff would be happy to help.
Submissions need to be made before March 16 and can be filled out online on DoC’s website, made by email to whitebait@doc.govt.nz or by post to Whitebait Management Consultation, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 10420, Wellington 6143.
What are the proposed changes?
Three options are proposed to align the fishing season around New Zealand
15 August – 14 October (DOC’s preferred option)
1 September – 30 October
1 September – 15 November
Two ways to introduce national upstream limits on whitebaiting are proposed.
Introduce peg markers upstream of which no fishing can occur
Where pegs are not in place, whitebaiting only occurs within the tidal portions of waterways
Refuges are proposed for some rivers where whitebaiting would be banned. Three time periods are proposed
Permitted for two years then not permitted for two years in a repeating cycle
Not permitted for five to 10 years then reviewed
Not permitted for 10 years and then indefinitely after that
Changes are proposed to ban some whitebaiting gear and practices
Phase out sock nets and traps in nets
Phase out screens or implement nationwide size and location restrictions
Ban fishing for whitebait from structures other than stands and within 20 metres of weirs, groynes and illegal diversions.
RAIN on the roof was music to the ears for farmers gathered at Awakeri Events Centre to celebrate the Dairy Industry Awards last Wednesday.
After months of near-drought conditions, it was especially fitting that one of the heavier rainfalls of the season took place as Bay of Plenty farmers looked back at a year of successes despite unco-operative weather.
Share Farmers of the Year Adam and Maria Barkla said their win reflected the benefits of working with owners who shared the same vision.
“We have a close relationship with our farm owners and because of this have aligned goals, which makes setting farm policies and KPIs very easy.
“We both know where we are and where we want to go,” Mrs Barkla said.
The Barklas contract milk on Robin and Claire Barkla’s 490ha, 1720-cow Galatea property.
The couple won six merit awards and $8550 in prizes.
Though Mr Barkla grew up around dairy farming, it wasn’t until 2013 that the couple made it their career and moved into contract milking in 2015. He said they have a positive outlook for the future.
“The dairy industry is unique in that everyone is willing to help anyone – we now have amazing staff and a tremendous culture and are ready for the next phase,” he said.
Mr Barkla said he loved the constant challenges and need for problem-solving on-farm, while Mrs Barkla said she enjoyed the lifestyle dairy farming provided and that they could both be involved with the family.
Their future goals include contract milking over all farms owned by their current farm owners with the goal of buying into the farms by 2025.
Runner-up for Share Farmer of the Year was Dylan Riddell, who won $3725 in prizes. He is a contract milker on Monty Kora Raroa Lands Trust, a 404ha Waimana farm, milking 930 cows.
“I’ve always enjoyed being on the farm, especially when helping my grandfather. Now, I especially enjoy being my own boss and the lifestyle it gives my family,” he said.
Nick Overdevest and Kelly Hughes placed third in the Bay of Plenty Share Farmer category and won $1625 in prizes and one merit award.
The couple are 50/50 sharemilkers for the PA & RK Edelsten Estate, milking 230 cows on their 74ha Galatea property.
The two count their ability to work as a team as one of their biggest successes. They diversified their income stream with the inclusion of a small free-range egg operation to the business.
Jacob Maxwell won the 2020 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year including $5250 in prizes and two merit awards.
As 2IC on Bill Scott’s 470-cow and 210ha property at Pukehina, the former Whakatane man considers the 92 percent in-calf rate with a 64 percent conception rate achieved by the main milking herd while he was overseer as one of his biggest successes this season.
“I love working outdoors and with animals and delving into the science behind improving production through feeding and genetics,” he said.
Third place in the Dairy Trainee category went to Nashi Floyd, farm assistant on Mike and Linda Mexted’s 140ha property at Whakatane, milking 550 cows.
“I have gained valuable information from the PrimaryITO courses and this has been reflected in my work.”
“I’m proud to have been awarded a PrimaryITO Scholarship for Level 3 and 4 and see this as a fantastic opportunity to advance my career,” she said.
The Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards winners field day will be held on March 24 at 436 Haumea Road, Galatea where Adam and Maria Barkla contract milk.
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TOP TRAINEE: Jacob Maxwell won the 2020 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year. Photo supplied
DAIRY SCHOLAR: Dairy Trainee Nashi Floyd is congratulated by presenter Jody Malcolm for winning a Primary ITO scholarship. D9682-09
GOOD BOOKS: Galatea farmers Kelly Hughes and Nick Overdevest were awarded the LIC Recording and Productivity Award. D9682-06
THREE’S THE CHARM: Robin Burnett congratulates Galatea dairy manager Hayden Purvis who won the Pioneer Brand Feed Management award, DeLaval Livestock Management award and Westpac Financial Management Award. D9682-04
ENCOURAGING OTHERS: Whakatane farm manager Simon Hose, who also won the Empoloyee Engagement Award, is presented with the Encouragement Award by last year’s Dairy Manager winner, Janamjot Ghuman. D9682-03
Share Farmer Merit Awards:
DairyNZ Human Resources Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award – Mike and Sabrina Mear
Federated Farmers Leadership Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
Honda Farm Safety, Health and Biosecurity Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
LIC Recording and Productivity Award – Kelly Hughes and Nick Overdevest
Meridian Farm Environment Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
Ravensdown Pasture Performance Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
Westpac Business Performance Award – Adam and Maria Barkla
Dairy Manager Merit Awards:
Bay of Plenty DIA Encouragement Award – Simon Hose
Bay of Plenty DIA Employee Engagement Award – Simon Hose
BlackmanSpargo Rural Law Ltd Leadership Award – Andre Meier
Pioneer Brand Products Feed Management Award – Hayden Purvis
DeLaval Livestock Management Award – Hayden Purvis
Fonterra Dairy Management Award – Andre Meier
PrimaryITO Power Play Award – Andre Meier
Westpac Personal Planning & Financial Management Award – Hayden Purvis
Dairy Trainee Merit Awards:
The Business Results Group Ltd Farming Knowledge Award – Jacob Maxwell
King Farm Services Ltd Community & Industry Involvement Award – Dayna Rowe
Bay of Plenty DIA Communication & Engagement Award – Dayna Rowe
THE National Kohanga Trust has come under fire recently and local kohanga reo staff want answers.
Whanau, kaimahi and staff from kohanga centres in the Whakatane region protested outside the district’s office in Goulstone Road on Friday attracting much attention from passers-by.
Allegations of workplace bullying, intimidation, unfair compensation and bad management were at the centre of the protest with whanau saying they have had enough.
Last year Te Kohanga National Contingency Fund was announced and included a sum of $32 million aimed at lifting wages, including voluntary staff, however, protester Shirley Hakaraia said nobody knew what had happened to that money.
“We want to know where that money has gone because we haven’t seen any of it.
“It’s time we sat down together; staff, whanau and the organisation’s management and talked about the issues facing whanau.
Representative Maanu Paul said the organisation could keep brushing everyone aside and not expect a reaction.
“We currently have a case before the employment court. The whole association needs a shake up and they need to provide staff and employees with a safer healthier workplace,” he said.
Toroa Kohanga Reo kaiako Pearly Sullivan said there was a range of real issues impacting on whanau and people wanted to be heard.
“We’ve come to this point because no one is listening. We have whanau who have worked within these institutions yet they’re still on minimum wage.
Mrs Sullivan said it was also about how the trust was funded from the Government.
“Kohanga reo are at the beginning of the language strategy, however, we get very little funding from the government. It is well below what early childcare centres receive.
She said they were audited the same but the funding was disproportionate.
“We only have one extra component and that’s the Maori language.
“We’re audited and reviewed on that, but the government funding is considerably lower,” she said.
Council and Trade Unions vice president Sydney Kepa said the common consensus among people was the lack of support and their wage.
“The living wage is $21 an hour, but whanau are getting less than that.
“My niece has worked in the industry for longer than 10 years but she’s still getting minimum wage and it’s time we stood up and did something about it.
“Many of our whanau are too afraid to say anything and that’s why we are here,” he said.
Senior kaiako Herita Toko who was instrumental in the kohanga reo movement and has worked in the industry for more than 50 years was at the protest in support of the wider community.
She said it was important to support the staff and whanau instrumental in teaching young children the language and culture.
“It’s relevant in today’s world. We must continue,” she said.
Mrs Hakaraia said other issues included the poor condition of some of the centres in the region
“They are in dire straits and need some serious upkeep and maintenance and we want to know where the funding is to support our centres.
Staff at the National Kohanga Trust for Mataatua and Tauranga Moana said they did not want to comment in relation to the allegations.
IN times of drought, the regional council could restrict the right to take water from aquifers and rivers across the region.
At an extraordinary council meeting held yesterday morning, Bay of Plenty Regional Council elected members approved a process for issuing water shortage directions
Under the Resource Management Act the regional council can issue a water directive to water users that stops or restricts them from taking water regardless of whether they have a resource consent to do so.
The council can also stagger the timing of the water takes.
The newly approved process puts the responsibility for issuing the directions in the hands of council chief executive Fiona McTavish.
Regulatory services general manager Sarah Omundsen said the council had always monitored water levels closely, especially during dry weather, but had never been close to considering the use of a water shortage direction, so it was not something it had had to manage previously.
“The Resource Management Act doesn’t require a standard operating procedure to be in place for us to use a water shortage direction, however, it’s a tool we have chosen to develop this year in response to an ongoing dry summer and as part of work to prepare for the impacts of climate change,” Ms Omundsen said.
“By putting a standard operating procedure in place, staff and councillors have been able to prepare themselves and consider ahead of time how a water shortage direction will be used if it is needed in future.”
January and February have been very dry when compared to average conditions. Figures to the end of February show rainfall being approximately five to 30 percent of average across the region.
Ms Omundsen said the exceptionally dry weather conditions were starting to put the region’s waterways under unusual pressure.
Rivers in the Western Bay are experiencing the most extreme response, with the lowest flows on record being commonly recorded.
Eastern areas have experienced some rainfall in the ranges to replenish some of the major rivers a little, but catchments and rivers are also low.
Whakatane, Kawerau and Opotiki district councils have been encouraging their residents to conserve water as much as possible but only Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty district councils have needed to put in formal restrictions such as sprinkler bans.
“We haven’t reached the threshold for extra water restrictions yet, but we’re getting close and making preparations to act if it’s needed,” Ms Omundsen said.
“We’ve had small amounts of rain recently but need significantly more to really make a difference.
“If we do have to put a water shortage direction in place, we’ll inform consent holders and water users in the affected catchments about the direction details at that time.
“It would be a temporary measure until we get enough rain to restore and sustain minimum base flows.”
Councillors raised questions as to who would be excluded from taking water if a water directive were to be put in place. It was discussed that water bottlers would be the first to go.
The council does not have a specific hierarchy in terms of users, but it is a generally accepted principal that human drinking water supplies should be highest priority, followed by stock drinking water.
Mauao councillor Matemoana McDonald said water bottling had an impact on the region’s various water supplies and the council needed to be very specific when applying these water directives as the situation could be different from catchment to catchment.
Western Bay councillor Norm Bruning said he felt like it might be a “knee-jerk” reaction to the situation.
“I’ve been around long enough to have seen this before,” he said. “This is a cycle it goes through every few years.”
The point of delegating the decision to the regional council chief executive is to ensure that the decision can be made in a timely manner.
Before this resolution was made, a full council meeting was required for a decision to be made, every time a decision was required.
“By delegating that responsibility to the chief executive, it streamlines the process by avoiding the need for a full council meeting every time a water directive is to be issued or amended,” Ms Omundsen said.
“This will assist regional council to deliver a more agile response to changes in weather and waterway flow levels.”
People can help avoid the need for new restrictions by checking for leaks, reducing water use and making sure they are not taking water illegally.
People can call the regional council’s pollution hotline on 0800 884 883 if they are concerned about low water flows or potentially illegal water takes.
A MOVE to email residents’ rates bills rather than post them could save the Whakatane District Council thousands.
Council staff are investigating the feasibility of sending rates via email, a move that could save $85,000 every year.
Senior communications specialist Frank Begley said a completion date hadn’t been set for the investigation as there were a number of technical and confidentiality issues which needed to be worked through first.
Some of these issues are being worked through with software suppliers.
“There are many potential benefits for customers through email invoicing, the main one being the convenience factor,” he said.
“Plus, there’s the opportunity to cut down on the council’s paper use and potential cost savings. The council is also conscious that with any system like this we would need to let people be able to opt in, or not, to being emailed.”
The council sends 15,723 rates bills four times each year which totals 62,892 pieces of mail. Each prepaid envelope costs just under $1.36 to send, equating to postage of approximately $85,000 a year.
As well as being more cost effective, emailing rates bills would remove the issue of water damage to mail and lost mail.
Mr Begley said the number of rates bills lost in transit was minimal and the reasons often had nothing to do with the mail system.
“For the last quarter, 15,723 rates invoices were mailed out and we received a total of 67 returned mail items, this is a 0.4 percent return rate,” he said.
“When people do not receive their invoices in the mail, and they are returned to our office every attempt is made to locate the property owner to check the address details are correct and to amend if not. If the details are correct, we follow up to determine what went wrong.
“People who report that they didn’t receive their rates invoices in the mail are worked with on a case-by-case basis.”
Drummer Brad Kora said the band was meeting in Whakatane to realign following their recent success boost.
Not only has their song In the Air reached number one on the Official NZ Top 40 Singles Charts, but their upcoming Australian tour sold out in three days and they have been asked to do triple concerts at each stop.
This week L.A.B was also announced as a finalist for this year’s Taite Music Prize.
This weekend sees the band performing at the successful Womad festival in New Plymouth.
With the recent success and the demand for shows increasing dramatically, the band and their management “needed to reassess,” Kora said. “It’s all gone so big.”
Tauranga-based Shadbolt joined the band just before the January 2016 boutique show held in the carpark at back of the then Hui Bar and Grill in Ohope.
“That was our second show,” Kora said.
Shadbolt said the show was also his first guitar-playing appearance having had an injured hand for long time.
“I had cut my hand, damaging two tendons and I was unable to play guitar for months,” he said.
Coming from playing in a band called Batucada Sound Machine, Shadbolt had been at a low point of his life at that time, following the death of his father and suffering the injury.
“I had sung a little before, but I didn’t think of myself as a singer,” he said.
“I was playing around with singing, because that’s another thing you can do when playing guitar.”
He sung with Batucada Sound Machine during a Good Morning Show television appearance, feeling “naked” without his guitar and attracting the attention of Kora.
After seeing the show, Kora contacted the singer, saying he loved his voice and suggesting he “was in the wrong band”.
“He sent me a demo track and asked me to put some lyrics and vocals on it,” Shadbolt said.
Not considering himself a lyricist or a songwriter, Shadbolt bit the bullet and delved into the pain he felt around the death of his father.
“Oldman is about my father and also my grandfather, who died from Alzheimer’s,” he said.
Being a country singer, Shadbolt’s father taught him to play the guitar since he was three years old.
“He was left-handed and we sat in front of each other, me learning by mirroring what he was doing.”
Shadbolt said on hearing the song, Kora loved it and invited him to come to Whakatane to jam with him and his brother, Stu.
“We played for several hours,” Shad-bolt said.
“As I was packing my amplifier into the car, Brad came up to me, asking if I wanted to join the band.
L.A.B. SHOW: Joel Shadbolt was introduced to the Eastern Bay audiences in January of 2016. He is seen here with Stu Kora on keys and Brad Kora on drums. File photo
“That was in July 2015 and we had our first gig in September of that year. The second gig was in Ohope 2016.”
Shadbolt said the band was planning to continue along the same track, using the same producers and methods, but had a meeting with management in Whakatane on Wednesday.
“We didn’t know it was all going to take off right now,” Shadbolt said.
“The last two or three weeks have been intense.
“We’ve been getting lots of beautiful messages from people – and now it’s back to work.”
Shadbolt said L.A.B were working on their fourth album.
Keyboard player Miharo Gregory has been in the band since June last year.
“He had a bit to do on the second album after Brad saw him do a cover of an L.A.B song on Instagram,” Shadbolt said.
“He has weaved into the band over time and he was in the studio during the recording of the second album.”
The story of how bass player Ara Adams-Tamatea came to join the line-up also follows the principle of “preparation meets opportunity”.
“We got the right member when Ara came in,” Shadbolt said.
“We had tried four or five bass players before that.”
Adams-Tamatea is also a “generally creative” person.
“It was great timing when he came in, we needed the head he has on his shoulders,” Shadbolt said.
“He’s the keeper of the keys, if you like.”
Shadbolt said that drummer Brad Kora and Ara Adams-Tamatea provided different ingredients to the creative process.
“Brad is the crazy creative running in front and Ara is steering the process from behind,” he said.
The role of a bass player in a band was “super powerful”, he said.
“For us, it’s been a difficult seat to fill,” Shadbolt said.
“You can spend a lifetime before you find the right person.”
Shadbolt, who is also a teacher, tells his students that the best bands in the world are not necessarily the most technically proficient.
“The chemistry between the band members is what you are hearing,” he said.
L.A.B are now adjusting to a new level of success.
“But luckily, it’s not like we’re all 21 years old,” Shadbolt said.
“We have a broad base now and I’m glad this didn’t happen on the first album.”
In the Air was released in November just before L.A.B’s third album and has been “a slow burner”.
Shadbolt said more quality music was in the pipeline.
“We get lots of advice at this point, suggestions about what we ought to do,” he said.
“We need to ensure we stay grounded – the process that we have been doing the last three
years is working.”
The L.A.B lead singer finished the interview by thanking the Eastern Bay audiences for their
support.
“It’s been some amazing years to get this this point and we’re grateful for your support,” he said.
“Whakatane and the Eastern Bay will always be part of the L.A.B home turf.”
RESIDENTS of the Taneatua-Waimana Ward, how can council serve you better? Your community board wants to know.
The Taneatua community board is undertaking a travelling roadshow from Tuesday to hear from its community what its priorities are and how the board can assist it in reaching its goals.
“We want to know what they expect of the board,” said Whakatane deputy mayor and ward representative Andrew Iles.
“Our board is responsible for a large, diverse ward and represents communities such as Taneatua, Ruatoki, Waimana, Nukuhou North, Matahi Valley and Wainui. Those communities represent urban, rural, coastal, lifestyle properties and farming districts.”
Mr Iles said the board had an idea of the biggest issues in each community, such as road safety and the lack of a police station in Taneatua and the need for a transfer station in Ruatoki but wanted to hear directly from the community themselves.
“If they come to us with their concerns or ideas for their community then we can work with council and foster good relationships to make sure it happens,” Mr Iles said.
“A good recent example would be the working relationship between the Waimana community and the council to upgrade facilities in preparation for the upcoming Tuhoe ahurei.”
The community board is also employing other strategies to ensure it can reach more of the people it represents.
Board member Toni Boynton has created a Facebook page to give the community updates on board activities and meetings, key projects in their area, tailored council information, community notices and event details.
“It’s about being transparent, having open communication and consulting and engaging with our community,” she said.
Ms Boynton said she would also like to see people empowering themselves by coming to speak at the public forums in the meetings and said it is the ideal place to bring up pertinent and timely concerns or news.
Mr Iles said this would be even more important with the upcoming long-term plan and the community’s hopes to progress a seal extension.
In the meantime, the community board hopes to see the community turn out to see them at their travelling roadshow.
Taneatua Community Board travelling roadshow dates
Court proceedings across the Eastern Bay have been disrupted this week by fears of Covid-19.
On Wednesday, three activists were ushered out of the Whakatane District Court when they refused to remove their “protective” masks and hoods.
One of the three, Reuben Stanley, said environments such as courts, where people were required to turn up at a certain date, could prove a massive risk.
“People are forced to assemble here, there’s no choice but to be exposed. What if they have come back from somewhere and are trying to self-isolate, they have no choice.
“We need to be transparent with risk; we need to be cautious and have a hard-line approach,” he said.
PRECAUTIONARY: Court staff and police had a heated discussion with the group before eventually asking them to leave the courthouse. Photo Hazel Osborne D9719-01
“Court should be closed for at least 40 days to prevent any spread from occurring in the first place and/or the risk to blow over. If not, some compromise needs to be reached like allowing the wearing of masks.
“They need to take this seriously, it’s too dangerous to take people to court. People need to be protected.”
Kaumatua Pita Helmbright, another member of the group, said the government should be doing more to protect people.
Mr Helmbright told the Beacon his tipuna all died from pneumonia in Maraenui near Opotiki in the 1930s and were placed in a mass grave, and is worried his whanau may face something like that again
He said a whanau member of his who was Chinese had recently returned to Opotiki and their baby was sick, but instead of going to the clinic they were encouraged to call an 0800 number.
He believed this was a good precautionary measure and the courts should be following this example.
Mr Stanley said some of the most vulnerable members of the community could be at significant risk in settings such as a courthouse.
“Maori have high rates of going to court and we are some of the most vulnerable in the community due to our immune systems, age and prior health conditions.
We’re here to support our guy (the third member of the group due to appear in court) because he faces all of these issues; he’s older, he has bad lungs and it’s not safe,” Mr Stanley said.
The group drew a mixed response with some people in support and others laughing.
Covid-19 continued to polarise the Eastern Bay judicial system yesterday as three offenders were kept away from the public at the Opotiki District Court due to having potentially come in contact with the virus in Rotorua.
THREE IN ISOLATION: Three offenders were put in precautionary isolation at the Opotiki District court as it was feared one or more of them had come in contact with Covid-19 while in custody in Rotorua. Photo Hazel Osborne D9718-04
A man in the custody of Rotorua police revealed yesterday that he had recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong and was feeling unwell. As a precaution he was being tested for the virus and was put in isolation along with others who were in custody alongside him at the Rotorua station.
One of those, a 26-year-old man, was granted bail in the Opotiki court after much deliberation and expert assessment by the Ministry of Health.
Judge Philip Crayton said the family were advised to stay close to their phones and, if the man showed any symptoms, to contact his general practitioner by phone.
“It may be nothing, but we don’t want his health to suffer,” Judge Crayton said.
Defence lawyer Lisa Ebbers said the steps taken at the courthouse were all precautionary.
It is believed that none of the three held in custody had symptoms of Covid-19.
“It’s really been an interesting day… this is not something you’re taught in law school,” Judge Crayton said before adjourning for the day on Thursday afternoon.
Furious at the sight of his mother’s injuries, Mr Burgess said he called the council after hours’ number only to find that after he reported the hazard, staff members sprayed the area with yellow paint.
