PRUE Blanch celebrates a very special birthday on Saturday – her 100th.

While the celebration will be a small and private one, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, Mrs Blanch will be enjoying a day out of her independent unit at Mary Shapley Retirement Village to visit her daughter Adrienne Becroft at her Ohope home.

Mrs Becroft said it was not the celebration she had planned for her mother, but she still hoped to be able to have a get together with other members of the family later in the year.

Born Blanche Prudence Wallace, Mrs Blanch was born in Helensville and lived in Auckland all of her life. She moved to Mary Shapley in Whakatane in January of this year when her daughter and son-in-law decided to retire to Ohope, where they have been coming for holidays for many years.

It was a big move for a 99-year-old and Mrs Becroft told the Beacon she had planned to put off the move so as not to uproot her mother, but Mrs Blanch had insisted that she not put her life on hold for her sake.

Mrs Becroft describes her mother as “one of those people who don’t like a fuss made of them, but are the first to make a fuss of someone else”.

“She would be one of the most positive, determined people I have ever known.”

She said Mrs Blanch was still in very good health, despite having a little difficulty hearing in her right ear.

She was married to Stan Blanch, and is not unaware of the humour in the fact that her married name is officially Blanche Blanch.

She said she always disliked the name Blanche and from a young age insisted on being called Prue. When she met her husband-to-be and realised what her last name would be, she guessed that she couldn’t escape her fate.

She and Stan had two children, Mrs Becroft and a son, Warwick, who now lives in Australia.

Stan died in his 50s and she has been a widow for 45 years She also has three grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Mrs Blanch said she has always been very active, though she admits to slowing down a bit now.

She said she was asked by a doctor about a year ago what her recipe was for a long and healthy life and she had to tell him she really didn’t have one. “I’ve just been very lucky,” she said.

“I have always been sports mad, so I have stayed very active. I think that is very important. If I sit too long without moving, I get very stiff. Golf, tennis, badminton, indoor bowls, outdoor bowls, you name it, I’ve played it, Mrs Blanch said. “And I love walking, though I can’t walk as far these days and have to use a walker.

I still go for a walk every day. I can’t complain, though, I’ve had a wonderful life.”

WHILE the world has been in lockdown, Whakatane couple Dallas and Charmaine Hands, their son Seth and friend Jim Williamson have been spicing up their lives with an ocean adventure.

The couple purchased a yacht in early March, a 41-foot (12.5 metre) Lipari catamaran, named Nutmeg.

The yacht was berthed in Sainte Anne, Martinique, in the French Caribbean, and the Hands planned to sail it to Tahiti, then fly back to New Zealand.

Though experienced boaties, the Hands had little ocean sailing experience. They hadn’t done a sea passage before so, given his years of sailing, experience and qualifications, they asked Mr Williamson to make the voyage with them.

Jim’s partner Heather Boon said this had all been put in place long before the Covid-19 virus occurred. She describes Jim, who owns his own cabinetmaking business Classic Cabinets & Marine, as “a bit of a sailing adventurer”.

“Jim has been sailing for over 50 years. He built his own yacht, Miss Conduct, and has done heaps of solo sailing, races and ocean crossings. He once lost his mast in a storm heading to the Kermadec Islands by himself and was able to jury rig it and sail back to Whakatane.

Jim navigates, as he has always done, with his sextant, charts and nautical almanac and the Hands have all the electronics on board so they are in a good position as far as navigating goes.”

The Hands flew to Martinique to take possession of the yacht, but had to wait for their son and Mr Williamson to get there as Mr Williamson was, at the time, in the Chatham Islands.

“He solo sailed to the Chatham Islands for a month in February, getting caught in a squall on the way and arriving in the Chathams in middle of a storm,” Ms Boon said.

“The locals thought he was nuts until they met him and certified that he was. Our daughter Amy sailed back with him.”

Mr Williamson and Seth, who was head boy at Trident High School last year, followed them two weeks later, only just making it out on one of the last commercial flights from New Zealand. They travelled via Houston and Miami, with airports and borders closing down behind them as they went.

While the group were expecting a challenging adventure, they hadn’t counted on the world going into lockdown and the extra difficulties this caused. Provisioning a yacht for a sea voyage at a time when stores were low on supplies due to panic buying was just the first of these. The closure of the Panama Canal to all but freighters and not being able to stop anywhere along their journey were to be others.

“They had sailed from Martinique for 11 days and then were stuck on their yacht at anchor off the Shelter Bay Marina, Colon, for another 14 days under quarantine, so had to all learn resilience and they made friends with other yachts awaiting passage,” Ms Boon said.

There were crocodiles in the water making it a little difficult to hop off the boat for a swim.

The Hands had already planned passage through the Panama Canal and had organised a porter well in advance, but of course things changed when they arrived because of the Covid-19 virus.

“We have had the help of the Panamanian Embassy for NZ (based in Mexico) who were able to help them out as far as communications with the Panama Canal authorities and provisioning. The New Zealand Embassy have been really helpful too,” she said.

“There was talk they weren’t going to be allowed through for two months so they were making plan C when they got told the same day they would be the first yachts through the canal after it re-opened to boats under 65 feet.”

Nutmeg was rafted together with two other similarly sized boats on April 10 to travel through the canal.

They were able to re-provision at Panama City, under armed police and the army, for their sail across the Pacific to New Zealand. The original plan was to sail to Tahiti and leave the yacht there and fly home but due to Covid-19 restrictions they plan to sail all the way home. They are about one week past the Galapagos Islands heading for New Zealand. The sail from Martinique to New Zealand is around 8500 nautical miles.

Many Whakatane residents have been following the journey of Nutmeg via the Hands family’s entertaining blog via the website https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Nutmeg, which also logs the yacht’s current position on a map.

The Hands are well known Whakatane businesspeople, owners of Glass-man & Locksmiths and members of the Whakatane Volunteer Fire Brigade while Mr Williamson is known for his involvement with the Whakatane Yacht Club and as a volunteer with Whakatane Coastguard.

Their blog, talks about experiencing swimming with crocs, having a swim when they were becalmed only to get back on board and see a shark surface behind them, watching the magic of dolphins swimming beside the yacht at night through phosphorescence in the water, Seth seeing a whale surface near the yacht, incredible sunrises and sunset, and the smallness of being a lone yacht at sea.

THOSE manning the Murupara checkpoints have found themselves at the centre of a nationwide “vigilante” stoush.

Lobby group Hobson’s Pledge has started a nationwide petition calling for the end of iwi-led “vigilante” checkpoints and has chosen a photo of the Murupara team to illustrate every social media post related to the topic.

The photo shows checkpoint organiser Leila Rewi flanked by Mongrel Mob member Deets Edwards and Tribesman member Conlyn Parekura, both in full gang regalia.

Checkpoint spokesperson Te Akauroa Miki said it was unfair how the group had targeted his whanau and their mahi on the checkpoints and was using their photograph without permission.

“It is unfair how they are going about trying to shut the checkpoints having little to no facts about our volunteers who wear a gang patch,” Mr Miki said.

“Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes and we do not sugarcoat things when our community is at risk.”

Mr Miki said the checkpoints had three volunteers from different gangs volunteering since “day one” and in a nationwide pandemic the priority was to educate, monitor and to ask all non-residents to turn around to prevent Covid-19 from entering the community.

“The call was put out to volunteer, these three gang members chose to put aside their differences and help out,” Mr Miki said.

“How they dress is up to them, but all volunteers approaching vehicles are kind, have a smile and donned in a hi-viz reflective vest.”

It appears it is not only Hobson’s Pledge that has an issue with the checkpoints and by extension the gangs manning them.

Both the Beacon and Radio 1XX have received calls from the public saying they felt intimidated when they saw volunteers in gang patches.

Many said they were too afraid to complain as they still had to live in the area.
Checkpoint organisor Leila Rewi wrote on Facebook she had received a lot of messages about having the Mongrel Mob and Tribesman on the checkpoints and said whether people liked it or not, they were a part of Murupara.

“They have been polite and smile whilst on checkpoints,” Ms Rewi said.

“I’ve been getting ‘it’s not a good look for Murupara’. Well we ain’t going to sugarcoat it and act like they don’t exist in Murupara.

“Why not utilise them? How about you all look at them differently instead of stigmatising/stereotyping them because of the colour they wear.”

Hobson’s Pledge leader Don Brash said the group’s main concern about the iwi-lead checkpoints was that they were set up against the “Prime Minister’s quite explicit insistence that citizens did not take the law into their own hands”.

If some citizens felt able to ignore the Prime Minister on this point, what was there to stop other citizen’s doing the same?

“Our strong suspicion is that the police are turning a blind eye to this flagrant breach of the Prime Minister’s direction because the offenders are Maori, no one else would have been able to get away with that,” Mr Brash said.

“New Zealand’s future will be a bleak one if we go more and more into a society where there are a different set of rules for those with a Maori ancestor.”

The petition page on Change.org states that checkpoints such as these are potentially a public health risk.

“No one knows whether those on the roadblocks and those they stop carry Covid-19, and whether the roadblocks are transmitting Covid-19,” it says.

“The official blind eye to lawbreaking and potentially creating a health risk by vigilante iwi-gangster road-blockers looks like one law for Maori and another law for everyone else.

“Such separate treatment erodes the unity of our nation at a time when we are being urged to unite against Covid-19.”

The petition had more than 3500 signatures at the time of going to print.
Mr Miki said the Murupara volunteers did the best they could to abide by the two-metre distancing rule but often when the checkpoints were busy this was difficult to practise.

The checkpoints were disestablished as the country moved into level three but remain ready to go again should there be a move back to level four.

Mr Miki said they were a success and volunteers saw a decrease in people flouting the lockdown rules once word got around they would be stopped.

He said 9540 vehicles were stopped by the two checkpoints during the lockdown. Of these, 2575 were non-essential travellers, 3526 were accessing essential services in Whakatane or Rotorua, 2946 were carrying essential workers and 493 were non-residents who were asked to turn around and go home.

“After day three, the evening travellers reduced dramatically,” Mr Miki said.

“Our night shift team from midnight to 6am reported that there were only one or two vehicles coming through. Previous nights there had been at least 20 vehicles after midnight.”

Mr Miki said once whanau learned and understood why they were educating at the checkpoints, it brought unity and comfort.

He said many of those stopped supported the kaupapa and returned later to donate food to the volunteers and register their interest for a shift.

“Our project lead Leila Rewi was immensely impressed with our work to prevent the virus,” he said.

“We have had no reported cases in our community. I think it all went to plan, we achieved what was put out. We gained lots of aroha from motorists, we made many new friendships and, overall, the whole feeling of coming together for the cause is beyond words.”

• Support for harbour and commercial leaseholders

WHAKATANE harbour and commercial leaseholders will feel some relief from the impact of Covid-19 with the council approving a suite of measures to support them through this tumultuous time.

Yesterday, Whakatane District Council agreed to use $600,000 from its harbour fund to provide three months’ relief to harbour and commercial leaseholders.

It also agreed to waive lease costs for council facilities for three months and provide a three-month credit for aquatic centre and gym members, as well as refund all affected bookings.

Withdrawal of building and resource consents lodged pre-Covid-19 will be allowed with no charge or penalty.

The relief covers 131 harbour ground leases, 25 berth holders at the Whakatane and Port Ohope wharves and 45 commercial leases, 20 of which relate to the Whakatane Airport.

Most berth holders are commercial operators who had been significantly impacted by the Whakaari disaster before then being hit with Covid-19 restrictions.

The three-month credit for use of council facilities will benefit schools, clubs and individuals.

However, some councillors feel the measures do not go far enough to support ratepayers who may be feeling the brunt of the economic fallout.

Councillor Lesley Immink questioned why the council wasn’t also considering a decrease in its 10 percent penalty for late payments.

A 10 percent instalment penalty is applied to any rates not paid by the installment due dates and a further 10 percent is applied to any amount unpaid by October 1.

General manager finance and corporate services Helen Barnes said the council, in line with others around the country, was not decreasing its late fees.

She said for this financial year’s rates at least, the council would have to charge the late fee but it could revise this through either the long-term plan or annual plan process.

She said penalty income was a revenue source for the council and to decrease that might result in general rates being increased to fund the shortfall.

Ms Barnes said usually late fees were waived anyway once a ratepayer had paid all their outstanding rates.

Councillor Victor Luca said he would support a reduction in the late fees to reflect the extraordinary times that the community was currently living in.

He also said the council could do more to communicate to ratepayers that it was open to having one on one conversations with those in financial hardship.

Councillor Nandor Tanczos said while he was sympathetic to the idea of reducing penalties there was also the issue that to reduce penalties for some would increase the amount of rates others would have to pay.

“It is an incentive to sort it out,” Mr Tanczos said. “If people are having difficulties paying then they can come to us and we can sort it out with them.”

He said he was more concerned that rates rebates, which were calculated on annual income, would not be available for those who had seen their income drop significantly in recent months.

Ms Barnes agreed that the rebate system would not pick that up and it was something the council could potentially raise with the Department of Internal Affairs.

Mrs Immink said although there were still several avenues available to ratepayers, if council didn’t move on this, it would create a perception in the community that the council “isn’t trying to help.”

Mayor Judy Turner said she was “pleasantly surprised” at how good existing options were for ratepayers.

“I didn’t realise how generous and flexible our plan was as the norm,” she said.

Councillor Wilson James said the council already offered a lot of forgiveness and “takes on board” ratepayers individual circumstances.

Councillor Andrew Iles said the discussion around the penalties was “missing the real point” and that was that council was investigating how to bring rates down as low as possible while maintaining current levels of service.

Mr Tanczos agreed and said keeping rates as low as possible would provide “genuine rates relief”.

Councillor Alison Silcock thought penalty rates should stay as they were and theorised that often when people bought homes, they didn’t take into account ongoing bills such as rates.

“I understand penalties for the negligent ratepayer who simply hasn’t paid their bills,” Mr Luca said.

“But for the poor sod who doesn’t have the capacity to pay it’s like a kick in the guts. I don’t agree with the concept.”

While Mr Luca and Mrs Immink were voted down by other councillors in their effort to adjust rate penalties they were in agreement with most of the other proposals put forward by staff.

Recommendations and how councillors voted:

ANALYSIS of the impacts of Covid-19 on the Whakatane District Council revenue report be received – all in favour

That the council supports the use of the current suite of rates policies and debt management arrangements – against Lesley Immink and Victor Luca.

That the council supports the use of the penalty remission policy – against Lesley Immink

That the council supports the deferral of payments for development contributions by negotiation with staff – all in favour

That the council provide a budget of $600,000 funded from the Harbour Fund to support the payment of grant up to the equivalent of three months lease expense to impacted leaseholders – Gerard van Beek abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest.

That the council waive three months lease costs for annual lease holders and refund affected bookings – all in favour

That the council provide a three-month credit for all annual gym and aquatic centre memberships and refund affected bookings – all in favour

That the council allows the withdrawal of building and resource consents, lodged pre-Covid, with no charge or penalty – all in favour.

Wanted man Pangi O’Brien remains on the run after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Friday.

O’Brien, 24, was last seen in Kawerau on Saturday and police urge the public to not approach him as he is potentially dangerous.  

O’Brien has links to both the Bay of Plenty and the Timaru area. 

Senior Sergeant Al Fenwick said police did not want the public approach O’Brien, but to call 105 and pass on any information about his whereabouts that way.

Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

FOR the first time since Covid-19 spread to New Zealand the country has had no new cases.

Countrywide, the total number of cases remains at 1487, with 47 of those in the Bay of Plenty, including one in the Eastern Bay.

Health authorities say there have been no additional deaths from the virus, while a total of 2473 tests were completed on Sunday, with a combined total to date of 152,696.
Of the cases, 1276 – or 86 percent – have recovered. Four people are in hospital, none in ICU and there are still 16 significant clusters.

“These are encouraging figures,” said director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
“But today is one moment in time. The real test will come later this week as we factor in the incubation period of this virus.”

That’s when authorities will be able to consider any new cases which might emerge in the community as a result of the step from Level 4 to Level 3.

“We can’t afford to squander all the hard work and effort of the past weeks. We saw at the weekend that it can be easy to start slackening off. We need to maintain discipline, continue pushing on and sustain the advantage we have fought so hard for.”

Dr Bloomfield also addressed the topic of flu vaccination.
He said 2020 had been a record year for flu vaccines, with more than 1.35 million vaccines distributed, more than has been distributed in an entire flu season in New Zealand before.

“Healthy people don’t need to worry – there is very low risk of flu at the moment, and the current travel restrictions are likely to reduce the transmission of influenza and other respiratory illnesses.

“Any GP clinic or pharmacy that has run out of stock and still have at risk people to vaccinate should get in touch with their local immunisation co-ordinator so that they have priority access to the next shipment of vaccines when it arrives.”

FOR the second day running New Zealand has had no new cases of Covid-19.

Additionally, one case that had previously been reported as a probable case of Covid-19 has been reclassified as not a case.

This brings the total of confirmed and probable cases to 1486.

New Zealand’s total number of confirmed cases remains at 1137, the number reported to the World Health Organisation and in many instances the number reported publicly by other countries.

Of the cases, 1302 – or 88 percent – are reported as recovered.

There were 3232 tests completed on Monday, with a combined total to date of 155,928.

There are four people in hospital, none in ICU, and no additional deaths to report.

The country still has 16 significant clusters, with three now closed.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said having zero new cases of Covid-19 to report for the second day in a row was very encouraging.

“But we must stick to the plan. The worst thing we could do is celebrate success prematurely and jeopardise the gains we have made.

“Stay the course and stay in your bubble – don’t squander what we have achieved.”

New Zealand requires everyone entering the country to go into a 14-day managed isolation period or quarantine if they are symptomatic, unless they have an approved exemption.

Around 6000 returned travellers have gone into managed isolation since March 28. There are 179 people in quarantine facilities, and 2792 people in managed isolation.

There is a process for requesting an exemption on compassionate grounds.

The Ministry of Health has received 24 requests related to a dying relative that have been declined.

There has been a judicial review of a request, which last Friday resulted in the court intervening and a personal visit organised.

As a result of that judicial review, the ministry is now reviewing previous similar requests to ensure they followed the correct process and considering the Judge’s findings.

WESTPAC’S annual rescue chopper appeal has been much lower key this year thanks to Covid-19.

Traditionally, five Eastern Bay supermarkets have backed the appeal, helping to raise funds for the region’s rescue helicopters by getting shoppers to add $1 or $2 to their shopping at the checkout.

With Covid-19 changing the way people shop, and the money some people have to spend, the supermarkets have decided to support the appeal with one-off donations.
Together they have donated $3000.

Andrew Soutar at Whakatane Pak’n Save kicked the fundraising off with a $1000 donation and the other supermarkets soon followed suit. Ricky Bowen at Kawerau New World chipped in $500, Jimmy Heal at Opotiki New World $500 and Jeremy Bennett at Whakatane New World $750. Aaron and Claire Blair from the Ohope Four Square added another $250, a significant donation given the size and turnover of their beach store.

Westpac Whakatane manager Darrin Hannah is grateful for the support and said it was incredibly generous given everything that was going on.

Although this year’s campaign was different, he said it didn’t change the fact that the rescue choppers were still vital.

Westpac has also stepped up and donated an extra $1 million this year recognising the choppers as an essential service and one that faces numerous challenges at the moment – including a huge fundraising shortfall – at a time when frontline health workers are more important than ever.

A Whakatane woman has been blown away by the response to a fundraiser she started on Sunday – international Bereaved Mothers’ Day.

Ashley Elizabeth Degenhardt said she wanted to raise money to put towards replacement parts for the Whakatane Hospital Maternity Ward’s Cuddle Cot.

A Cuddle Cot is a cooling device that is used to give bereaved families more precious time with their babies.

Sadly, when Ashley and Danyel Degenhardt’s son Oliver died soon after being born on December 7, they were unable to use the cot because it was broken.

Ms Degenhardt said she was hoping to raise $500 with the Facebook fundraiser, which continues until May 21, and was gobsmacked when it topped five times that amount this week. They have put the goal up to $6000.

Her fundraiser was inspired by the family’s experiences with Oliver.

“I had a really great pregnancy, labour and delivery was fine, we didn’t have any issues. But shortly after he was born, Oliver started to deteriorate and we are not really sure what happened to him,” Mrs Degenhardt said.

“He was taken to SCBU [ Special Care Baby Unit] and they worked on him for quite a while.

“So, our experience in the hospital wasn’t obviously the outcome that we were expecting, but the nurses and the midwives on the ward were absolutely amazing. We felt so cared for and loved.

“It was just really lovely and we knew that we would eventually want to do something for them, and then when we got home we started looking at all the Facebook support groups for stillbirths and that kind of stuff and reading about Cuddle Cots, and I wasn’t sure at the time whether Whakatane Hospital had one.”

The couple’s midwife was still doing regular call-ups and Mrs Degenhardt asked her about it.

“That was where we found out that when Oliver was born the one at Whakatane Hospital wasn’t working.”

Mrs Degenhardt said when she was feeling a bit better in February, she contacted the maternity ward manager Imogen Davis, to find out what the ward needed if they did some fundraising.

“She said that there is just a piece of the Cuddle Cot that needs to be replaced every six months and that was what they were missing when we were there and … it was about $400 for one of those replacements and so that is something that needs to be done every six months.

“And then Covid-19 happened and everything went a bit crazy and I kind of forgot about it for a little while. But it was still in the back of my mind and Sunday was international Bereaved Mothers’ Day, which was a bit of a weird day for me, so I decided to do it and see what happened – and we have been absolutely blown away by what has happened.

“My original goal was $500, and it is over $5000 now. It just goes to show that Whakatane is a really giving community and they like to support their local causes and local hospital, which is really great to see.

“A lot of the people who have been supporting it are people I don’t even know.”

Mrs Degenhardt has also been contacted by other mums who have told her how they had the opportunity to use a Cuddle Cot at some time and they understood how important it was or that they didn’t have the experience they would have wanted to.

The fundraiser has been more successful than anticipated so the Degenhardts have decided to also help the ward out in other ways, such as purchasing inkless hand and footprint kits for memory making.

“We talked about possibly getting a cradle or bassinet for the Cuddle Cot to go in, that people will be able to take home.

“One in four families experience pregnancy or infant loss. Our time with our babies is so limited. Every hug, cuddle and kiss counts.”

Mrs Degenhardt has found comfort in writing since losing Oliver, and has a powerful blog, “279 days of Oliver” at https://279daysofoliver.home.blog/

TWO men injured in a sleepout fire in Kawerau on Sunday told first responders they heard an explosion before flames erupted.

Two men, aged 62 and 54-years old, were in a sleepout at a Bowen Street property when the structure caught fire.

Fire and Emergency were called to the property at approximately 10.40am on Sunday morning, however, upon arrival the fire had been extinguished and St John Ambulance staff were at the scene treating the men for burns.

St John Eastern Bay territory manager Richard Waterson said the men suffered burns to their hands, arms and legs, with the rest of their bodies partially protected by the clothing they were wearing at the time.

The men were taken to Whakatane Hospital by ambulance.

A Whakatane Hospital spokesperson said the 62-year-old man was transferred to Waikato Hospital for treatment, and a Waikato spokesperson confirmed he was stable in a ward. The status of the other man could not be confirmed and the cause of the fire is unknown.

Mr Waterson said the men told St John staff they were unsure how the blaze started but they had heard an explosion prior to the blaze erupting.

Fatigue likely cause of crash

IT is thought a 19-year-old kiwifruit packhouse worker was travelling to work when he crashed into a tree on Kawerau Road on Saturday evening.

Eastern Bay police said the man, an unlicensed driver, hit the tree on State Highway 34 at approximately 6.20pm.

Police were alerted to the crash shortly after and St John ambulance transported the man to Whakatane Hospital.

Senior Sergeant Al Fenwick said police believed the man was travelling back to work after only getting five hours sleep between shifts, with fatigue being a probable cause for the crash.

A Whakatane Hospital spokesperson said the 19-year-old was treated for moderate injuries and kept overnight. He was discharged on Sunday.

Rotoma resurfacing works

RESURFACING works are on a section of State Highway 30 between Matahi Road and Kawerau Road (State Highway 34 intersection) in Rotoma will begin today.

The works will take place between 6am and 6pm, from Wednesday to Friday.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency advises that due to road width constraints, the road will need to be closed for short durations, while heavy machinery is moved within the worksite and the road sealing takes place.

Motorists should expect delays of up to 30 minutes in both directions.

Bay of Plenty system manager Rob Campbell said the work was a continuation of resealing works that weas underway before the alert level four lockdown.

Open fire season declared

REGIONAL fire brigades, including Pumicelands, Central Lakes and Bay of Plenty Coast have declared an open fire season effective today.

All Department of Conservation land remains in a year-round restricted fire season.
Principal rural fire officer Steve Webb said while under Covid-19 alert level three, people

were asked to continue to hold off lighting non-essential fires until it was deemed safe to do so.

“Even though we are now in an open season, we ask people to seriously consider whether the fire is absolutely necessary and think about alternatives to burning,” Mr Webb said.

“Lighting fires is likely to generate a 111 call from the public whether they are out of control or not.

“This means our firefighters then need to leave their bubbles to deal with a preventable call.

MOVIE fans may have a little longer to wait for their film fix.

Whakamax looks unlikely to reopen before July, even if the country moves into alert level two or one before then.

Nick Milne, Whakamax general manager, said the movie house was at the mercy of global film distributors as to when they could show some of the films expected to be released this year.

“Although New Zealand is doing really well in eliminating Covid-19, and getting to reopen, for us that doesn’t really factor into it until the bigger markets reopen, the US and major European countries,” Mr Milne said. “So while we are obviously watching what is going on here, from a business perspective we are more interested in what is going on overseas, which is a shame.

“So we are kind of in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment; we don’t have a reopen date confirmed yet.”

Mr Milne said it was difficult to have a reopening date because with Covid-19 everything was changing almost daily.

“We are kind of playing it by ear because realistically we can play some old movies, but the problem with that is in order to be viable and not bleed money while we open, we need the big new movies coming through.

“At this stage we don’t know [when that is] because they keep changing the release dates, but the latest info is that they are looking at mid-July to start releasing a couple of them.”

The first movies that are expected to be released in July are Tenet, a psychological thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan, “which should be pretty good and he is kind of keen to be the first cab off the rank once everything gets back to normal”.

This could be followed the following week by the Disney live action remake of Mulan.

“At this stage July looks like there is a bit of good content coming along, thank God, and we can all get back to the movies. But it really depends on what happens. For instance, I know some of the States have reopened but if that proves to be a mistake and they roll that back and the US goes into lockdown, I won’t be surprised if that changes again.”

Mr Milne said most film studios preferred to release the films globally, to prevent piracy, which could occur if released to a smaller market first, so that was why they could not release to a place such as New Zealand even if it was out of lockdown.

“There is nothing to stop us opening before then, or maybe on limited hours or something like that, but realistically, when new movies come in that is when we can look at reopening.”

Mr Milne said they were using the time now to do a few improvements at Whakamax. He said the shutdown had not impacted staffing.

“We are lucky not had to lay off staff. We have got an awesome team and we want to hold on to them as long as we can.”

WHAKATANE businesses have been feeling the economic strain of Covid-19 and say the council’s lease relief will help them stay afloat.

Last week Whakatane District Council voted to provide up to three months’ rent relief to impacted commercial and harbour leaseholders. This will have no rating impact as the budget of $600,000 will be drawn from the harbour fund.

Mayor Judy Turner said the lease relief was simply the council being a “good citizen” and helping retailers through this difficult time.

She said Whakatane retailers had done an “amazing job” responding to the crisis and had shown initiative and been proactive in moving to online platforms.

The council was continuing to provide essential services to the community and these came at a cost which cannot just be turned off.

“Getting the balance right between determining the funding required now to support economic recovery, whilst ensuring we are good ancestors for our future generations is front-of-mind for the council,” Mrs Turner said.

Gerard van Beek, landlord of several businesses on The Strand, said he had nine tenants who had been impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown. Some had been able to limited trade or trade from home while others had been forced to shut down completely.

“Had this been another form of calamity, say fire, earthquake or flooding, most businesses could fall back on business interruption insurance,” he said.

“However, since SARS in 2007, pandemic has become an exclusion and most businesses have no insurance protection from Covid-19.

“Equally, the standard Auckland Law Lease agreements allow for full rent abatement should a tenant be excluded from a property, leaving landlords reliant on business interruption insurance which again is unavailable.

“Currently the Government’s business recovery package offers little help to small business other than the wage supplement. The loan guarantees, loan top-ups and tax provisions only defer cashflow and liquidity issues.”

Mr van Beek said he had held discussions with his tenants and some had agreed to “share in the pain” of the lockdown to various levels.

Some who were trading in a limited way had been paying 50 percent of their usual rent while others who had been hit harder were paying less.

“It is in our interests as the landlord that all our tenants remain viable and are here after Covid-19,” he said.

“Most harbour ground leases do not have a rent abatement clause and these remain payable. Due to the current billing cycle our tenants have paid harbour leases through to June as an outgoing.

“The council has an interest in each of its tenant occupier’s businesses and it is pleasing to see that a rebate provision is being proposed to assist occupiers, landlords and their tenants.

“Should a rebate be forthcoming, we will be passing that benefit to our tenants.”

EPIC Whakatane Town Centre chairman Warren Short said the decision to provide three months’ rent relief for leaseholders, that had to be passed onto tenant businesses, was a great outcome for EPIC and its members.

“The retail sector has been hit hard so we’re grateful that the council has heard our concerns and agreed on an approach that will alleviate some of the immediate burden on Whakatane businesses,” he said.

Whakamax cinema owner Nick Milne said his team were “super grateful” for any initiatives that could ease the burden of Covid-19.

“I’ve heard of stories locally where businesses haven’t had any luck negotiating any form of rent relief with their landlords, so this will come as a welcome relief,” he said.

“We can’t open in line with most other businesses that can restart at level three or level two as we rely on overseas film content, so any cashflow assistance will go a long way until we can open the doors again.

“Respect to the council for making what might have been a tough decision but definitely the correct one.”

However, some feel the relief has not come soon enough and are unsure what it will mean for them and their business.

Stacey Murray, owner of Jean & Pete, said she and her landlord were still waiting for information from the council on the lease relief.

“I feel like I’m in a holding pattern,” she said. “It’s a good idea, but it should have come through sooner, rather than waiting until we are all struggling.”

Ms Murray said she would like to see more transparency from the council as she wasn’t sure where the money she paid for the harbour lease went.

“I believe they were waiting to see if the Government was going to do anything first before they did,” she said.

“They should’ve been the first to stand up and say ‘we’ll help’.”

A WHAKATANE woman hit from behind by a cyclist on the Warren Cole walkway is urging cyclists to take care and sound their bells as they approach walkers.

June Oswald is a daily user of the walkway, usually in the morning, walking from her home near Eivers Road to the i-SITE and back.

On this particular day, she decided a second walk was in order and at about 4pm set off along the walkway.

As she was walking, two cyclists came along, a man and a woman aged in their 50s or 60s, and one of them banged into her.

“They banged into me, knocked me down and I rolled about a quarter of the way down the stopbank.

“I was just so stunned. All I got out of it was a haematoma on my elbow. I wasn’t really hurt, but I think it needs to be made clear that people [on bikes] need to ring their bell or shout out that they’re coming through.

“The lady had the audacity to say to me ‘well I thought you saw us’.”

“And I said: ‘How would I see you when I’m walking forward and you’re behind me’.”

“Neither of them bothered to come down and help me up from the stopbank.”

Mrs Oswald rang her son, a police officer, who came to her aid.

“If I had of fallen on the concrete I would’ve been history by now, I’m near 80, and it just really pissed me off.

“They were actually more concerned with their bikes than with me.

“I did say I was okay but anyone in their right mind would’ve gone and got an old lady up and said ‘look where do you live, can we help you home or something?.”

DRINKING water in the Whakatane district continues to fail New Zealand drinking water standards.

The organisational performance committee heard last week that some of the district’s drinking water schemes did not comply with bacterial or protozoal compliance criteria.

Schemes in Murupara, Penetito/Galatea Road, Rangitaiki Plains and Ruatoki are noncompliant with either one or both criteria.

Councillor Andrew Iles asked for some clarification around the Murupara scheme as he said it had some “ongoing problems.”

General manager planning and infrastructure David Bewley said last Tuesday there was a slight elevation of contamination in the Murupara supply but it did not yet breach drinking water standards.

He said in the past staff had to “dose” the water supply but that wasn’t required in this case yet and staff were continuing to monitor the situation.

Mr Iles asked Mr Bewley if the contamination was “becoming a worry”.

Mr Bewley said it was “not good” and staff were still trying to find the source of the contamination, which could be an ant or cockroach.

In a statement following the meeting, he said the Murupara water supply was tested regularly to ensure it was safe for drinking.

“While the underground source of water for Murupara is very good, it is held in reservoirs and pumped through the reticulated pipe network to houses and businesses,” Mr Bewley said.

“Routine testing of the water supply on March 31 revealed slight contamination of the supply at the water intake (pump station). The level of contamination was very small and did not pose an immediate risk to public health. The test results indicated contamination was from a cold-blooded animal, such as an insect(s).”

He said no E.coli contamination was detected, meaning that the contamination did not come from faecal matter.

The testing was then repeated on April 2 and similar levels of contamination were found.

“In order to prevent any escalation of the effects of the contamination, staff dosed the system (pump station, holding tanks, pipework and reservoirs) on April 9, with a hypochloride solution,” he said.

“It was then flushed out of the pipes by opening the hydrants in town.”

Mr Bewley said a subsequent test on April 13 returned good microbiological results, meaning the flushing was successful. “This was a one-off flush of the system to remove the low level of contamination found through our regular testing,” he said.

“In this case, the decision to flush the system was made knowing that households are also in lockdown due to Covid-19 and the need to maintain people’s health is paramount at this time.”

On April 18, the sample showed slightly elevated levels again, but had reduced by April 21.

“This is being regularly monitored,” Mr Bewley said.

“The levels of contamination are very low and public health is not compromised by these small spikes in counts but we are being cautious in reporting them to the Ministry of Health and council.”

A HANDFUL of dine-in restaurants have shown a large degree of adaptability during the Covid-19 level three lockdown.

While queues for drive-through takeaways snaked around the block, most Eastern Bay restaurants have chosen to wait until New Zealand goes into level two of the lockdown before resuming business. However, Roquette Restaurant and Bar, Spice Junction and White Island Cafe have all done their best to provide a click and collect service to their customers.

Roquette owner Ajay Sharma said his restaurant was opening between 5pm and 7.30pm and orders could be made by phone or email.

He said his European fine dining restaurant was only doing about 15 percent of its normal trade through this takeaway service.

“Some people are supporting us but compared with the lines outside the fast food restaurants – we don’t have those kind of lines.

“We just wanted to open because most people think that hospitality is going to suffer a lot, and a lot of businesses will not be able to reopen. We had some inquiries from people who were worried, not wanting us to close down.”

He said opening was largely about having something to do and for the benefit of the staff as well, who had had a month of doing nothing.

“They wanted to come out and do some work. Staying at home is pretty much doing nothing.”

Mr Sharma said the restaurant would continue to provide takeaways when they were able to open again for people who wanted it, but the restaurant’s focus would remain to be “a place where people can come in and have a beautiful meal and dining experience”.

He said he would like to see more people supporting local businesses instead of a big franchisee of a multi-national chain. “We need their support now.”

General manager of White Island Cafe (Formerly Pee Jays) Patrick O’Sullivan said it had been “quite a scramble” to get the cafe operating under such short notice when the level three restrictions were announced.

However, he said it was working really well though in a much smaller way than normal.

“The priority for us was to provide our staff with something to occupy their time productively. They were keen to return to work as soon as possible.

“Putting in an ordering system was key, as well as being able to receive goods from our suppliers. It’s definitely not a full menu, but we have redesigned it. It does vary from day to day.

“We added a new dish, seafood chowder, which has gone so crazy it sold out in two days.

We have had to pull it off the menu until our supplier comes through with some more seafood.

“That’s one of the issues, that you can’t get things as quickly as in normal circumstances.

Suppliers are doing a really good job, especially Fresh Market in town.”

He said he was eagerly awaiting Thursday’s announcement from the Government about what level two might look like and when it was likely to occur.

“I think we will be in for another busy reorganisation, regarding whether we will be bringing people on site and spacing etcetera.

Port Ohope’s Fisherman’s Wharf Cafe opened its kitchen last Friday and Saturday and plans to do the same this weekend.

Owner Tom Maguire said the support from the community had been heartwarming. “We don’t have any fancy app or anything so it’s more call and collect than click and collect.

“People have been so nice. I just want to give them all a hug, they’ve been so patient and forgiving and so supportive. God, I love where we live, I’m just so grateful.”

He said the restaurant’s biggest battle is a lack of fresh fish, because boats weren’t going out.

“I managed to get 30 kilograms of fresh terakihi and it sold out. We were going to open on Sunday night too, but we just never made it through. The wheels fell off a few times and everyone was just so understanding and forgiving.

“I think everyone was just ready for some fish and chips. If you haven’t had fish and chips for a long time it’s just so good to have something hot and salty and, dare I say, deep fried.

Javaman front house manager Ora Monika said he thought the cafe was the first in town to start up selling coffee when the country first went into level three, along with Jord, at The Hub. As well as coffee they have sweets and they have also been selling heat and eat meals.

“We’ve gone a bit beyond the call of duty in setting up a separate pay window at the front of the store. So people can pay at one window and pick up their meals from another window. He said they did this to cater for many of their older customers who were not familiar with a click and collect service.

He said many of Javaman’s customers said they brought their food there because they wanted to support local businesses.

Moxi Cafe in Ohope is also running an app-based click and collect coffee service and cabinet food service.

THE activities of a group of teens creating mountain bike dirt jumps on a Waiewe Reserve trail during the Covid-19 lockdown has upset nearby residents who say they are destroying work done by the local care group.

However, a group planning a mountain bike park for the area say the youths are only guilty of being a little pre-emptive.

The Waiewe Stream Reserve Restoration Group, with co-operation with Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Whakatane District Council, Forest & Bird, and Halo Whakatane, have spent much of the past decade ridding the area of weeds and planting with native forest.

Over the past four weeks a group of teenagers have been congregating in the area cutting new tracks through the new plantings and using shovels to excavate the banks at the sides of the tracks, using the dirt to build jumps.

Gareth Sunckell, whose home backs onto the area where the youths have been digging, said he had put much of his own time and effort into the restoration project and even purchased some of the trees that the group had planted, and was upset to see that work being destroyed.

He said punga trees had been chopped down, branches had been broken and the track was no longer safe for walkers.

“Just yesterday a mum with a small toddler was walking down there and nearly got run down by a kid on a bike.

“I hate to see this beautiful environment getting damaged. This belongs to everyone. No one’s got a right to start digging, chopping and hacking away at it. It can take decades for some of these trees to grow and these boys have been undoing all that in just a few days.”

He said over the past weeks he had tried talking to the boys, explaining to them the work that had gone into the area and the time it would take for the damage they had done to regenerate.

“I told them it was great that they should enjoy riding their bikes through the area but not to ruin it for everyone else. They would just say, ‘yeah, yeah, okay we won’t do it anymore’. But the next day I would go back and find they had been digging out more dirt and making the jumps bigger.”

He said he had gone to the council about this sort of issue in the past but they had not done anything about it.

In recent weeks he had waited until the youths left and smoothed out the jumps they had made but the teens had just come back the next day and created them again.

Tensions came to a head on Anzac day when a larger than usual group of about 12 to 14 teens had gathered by his back fence yelling at him and throwing mud into his backyard.

Last week one of the teens told him they were allowed to create the jumps because the reserve was being made into a mountain bike park.

“That was the first I had heard of it,” Mr Sunckell said.

A parent of one of the teens, Kathy Forsyth, said they were not doing anyone any harm.

“I know it may be against the rules to be digging on this reserve, but these are exceptional times we are in, so I am glad to hear that these kids are finally being cut a bit of slack,” she said.

“They have been doing nobody any harm. They are digging on an existing track, out of the way of the walking tracks, in the bush, out of sight. This has also given some usually very active and sporting kids something to do, outdoors, during five long, very boring weeks.

If they have resorted to throwing mud over the fence at one neighbour, it was out of frustration at having their tracks destroyed day-in and day-out for weeks, and having their tools taken away. They have apologised and cleaned up the mess.

“I realise some bubbles have also been broken. What started as two kids in the same bubble digging grew because, when they had their spades taken, they asked someone else to bring a spade. Then when that kid’s spade was taken and the jumps flattened, they put it out on social media and the next thing kids were turning up from Ohope and everywhere bringing spades to help rebuild flattened jumps.

I understand the reserve has been planted for people to walk and enjoy nature. But kids are busy, they want to ride, and build and do stuff, while enjoying nature. This conflict is a microcosm of a bigger issue in Whakatane – the lack of bush biking trails. Whakatane has plenty of walking tracks, but no trails to ride. Onepu and Redwoods in Rotorua are the closest. This needs to be addressed to avoid further conflict such as we are seeing in Mokorua.

Whakatane Mountain Bike Club’s Richard Hamer said the club had been working through the process of creating a mountain bike park in Whakatane for a few years as has been reported in the Beacon in the past, and did have a proposal before the district council, which owned the reserve, for such a park,.

However, he said the current track had not been built by the club, but by bored teens, wanting to exercise and keep active on local public land.

“Local teens started rebuilding some features on an existing track, which had been used for biking for years before the local care group put a stop to this. The teens have had their tools confiscated and abuse thrown at them occasionally, which they have responded to,” he said.

He said timing had been a big issue in the situation that has developed between the mountain bikers and some nearby residents.

“Waiewe Reserve has been identified as an appropriate site for short tracks suitable for all ages and abilities and taking into account the nature and suitability of this stormwater reserve. We were just about there, had the proposal ready for consultation, when Covid happened.”

He said many residents were in favour of the mountain bike park. “Local families with small children have been riding in the area over the last few weeks, saying it’ll be an awesome asset.

“During our local site meeting, to draw up the proposals, most people who have been passing us or at their gate’s edge have said that trails would be a suitable addition, as long as built professionally and managed in this area. Feedback from the local and wider community since launching the Givealittle page has been absolutely fantastic with 40 donations totalling $2460 within a few days.

The area of track where the teens had been digging was not one of the trails marked on the map the Whakatane Mountain Bike Club had submitted to council as part of the proposed mountain bike park.

One local resident who is against the proposed mountain bike park is Spike Dickey, who said he felt the track would disturb the peace and tranquillity of the area. He said there had been more than $80,000 spent on trees for the restoration.

“I don’t think it’s the right place for it,” Mr Dickey said.

An informal meeting took place last week between Mr Sunckell, the teens and Mr Hammer during which some of the boys apologised to Mr Sunckell and he agreed to stop flattening the boy’s jumps if they did no further damage to the bush.

Mr Hamer said he had since also met with organisers of the Waiewe Stream Reserve Restoration Group and felt more positive that the two groups would be able to work together on improvements to the area.

Waiewe Stream Reserve Restoration Group spokesperson Annette Such was approached for comment but said she was unable to speak to the Beacon at this time.

TRIDENT students are using their time in lockdown to help others by raising funds for local foodbanks.

Teacher Jon Stanhope said the students’ elective time was usually held on a Thursday afternoon and this week they would use it to help Food Bank, which had seen a spike in demand for food parcels during Covid-19.

Electives give students the opportunity to learn new skills, hobbies or sport – and include a range of activities, from surfing, to moviemaking, Moto X, equestrian, to yoga, chess and more.

“I have organised a ‘whole school’ event that would take place in our normal school elective time on Thursday afternoon to raise funds for our local foodbanks,” said Mr Stanhope.

Team Trident students complete an active five kilometres either by walking, running, cycling or doing some other physically challenging activity during the Thursday elective time tomorrow, from 1.45pm to 3pm.

The school is hoping to raise $2000 and has set up a Givealittle page where student entrants can donate a gold coin and any member of the public can also contribute.

Students will be required to complete their elective in their bubble and in their area.

The aim of the Team Trident events was also to reconnect students and staff to the school’s core values of quality work, respect for others and kia manawa nui during this difficult time, said Mr Stanhope.

See Givealittle page to contribute:

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/team-trident-level-3-charity-5km-elective

One more case of Covid-19 has been reported, following the two new cases on Wednesday.

This brings the national total to 1489. In the Bay of Plenty there are zero active cases of Covid-19, with all 47 cases, including the one case in Opotiki, recovered.

The total number of cases is made up of 1139 confirmed cases, which is reported to the World Health Organisation, and 350 probable cases.
Meanwhile 1332 people – or 89 percent of cases – have recovered.

Two people are in hospital with Covid-19 – one in Auckland City and one in Middlemore. Neither are in ICU.

We are still 16 significant clusters, but no additional deaths to report.
Laboratories have completed 7323 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to 168,023.

A new questionnaire has been developed in collaboration with DHBs and the New Zealand Aged Care Association to assess when to test new or returning aged residential care residents for Covid-19. It has been released to DHBs, aged care providers and the wider health sector for immediate use.

It is expected to provide greater assurance to providers, residents and their families about the measures being taken to keep facilities safe during Covid-19. The questionnaire is available on the Ministry website.

AN Opotiki man accused of ramming a police car during a pursuit on Monday has appeared in the Whakatane District Court.

Rakaya Wirangi, 20, was granted bail when he appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of failing to remain stopped for a police officer, two counts of assaulting a police officer with a blunt weapon, namely his silver single-cab hilux ute, three counts of failing to stop when
followed by flashing lights, wilful damage and reckless driving.

Whakatane police Senior Sergeant Al Fenwick said the pursuit began after police spotted Wirangi driving at 14 kilometres over the speed limit on Pohutukawa Avenue in Ohope.

He allegedly refused to stop and was pursued by police.

At one point, it is alleged Wirangi reversed his silver hilux into the front of a patrol car, damaging it so it could not be driven.

The pursuit continued into the Opotiki region, coming to a stop on Richard Street where Wirangi abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot.

He will reappear in the Whakatane court on May 26.

Mr Fenwick said the constable who was hit was more shaken than anything.

“It was not what he expected when he came into work that day.

“This was totally unacceptable behaviour that put many people in harm’s way.”

INNOVATION has come in the wake of Covid-19 and Whakatane is leading the way with New Zealand’s first regional virtual mall.

The online mall, allowing customers to shop at every CBD business, is the brainchild of EPIC Whakatane Town Centre.

EPIC board chairman Warren Short said during alert level four, the EPIC board put a lot of thought into how it could help its members grow their online profiles so they could maximise opportunities when New Zealand moved into level three.

The group understands this is New Zealand’s first virtual mall.

“We needed a new platform that would endure as we enter a new world of how we do business,” Mr Short said.

“The virtual mall solution would provide a shopping experience and allow retailers and service providers to move their business online. Their own e-commerce websites would be linked to the virtual mall but have a unique domain name and feel.”

Mr Short said the response from retailers had been “fantastic” and 50 local businesses had registered already.

Within an hour of its launch, the site recorded more than 300 visits and the first sale was completed within two hours.

The initiative has the support of the Eastern Bay Chamber of Commerce and Whakatane District Council.

“This is a combined CBD business approach that will help us stand out,” Mr Short said.

“This virtual mall complements the bricks and mortar business in the CBD. It aims to create a seamless process for businesses to register and start selling to a community of shoppers quickly and easily.

“We hope this initiative will help Whakatane become one of NZ’s most digitally advanced online selling business communities.”

EPIC has used a portion of the CBD targeted rate to develop an EPIC website and digital communication channel. The additional cost to a business to register on the virtual mall is $99 plus GST.

Customers can choose to shop online by store or product type. They can purchase from several retailers using only one shopping cart.

Payments go directly to the store owners so they can manage the fulfilment process themselves.

Whakamax cinema owner Nick Milne said it was cool for Whakatane to be ahead of the curve and to open the first regional virtual mall in New Zealand.

“It’s super easy to use and gives businesses a simple way to get online and into e-commerce, even if it’s new for them,” he said.

“I think it shows how forward-thinking and progressive some of our talented local business community are.”

Mr Milne said the site was more suited to retailers selling physical products, but the cinema would be using it as a space to promote its vouchers as an “awesome, local experimental, giving option”.

Rosita’s owner Julie Jukes said the online mall was a “fabulous initiative” and provided further support to the concept of buy local.

She said it provided a very cost-effective way for businesses to bring their storefronts online and was an easy platform for customers to use and find items they liked, even without knowing the specific store name.

Ms Jukes said she was surprised at how much she had sold over Facebook during lockdown and the online mall could only build on that.

Jean & Pete owner Stacey Murray said it was a really good idea from EPIC and would be great for businesses that didn’t yet have an online presence.

Her store was one of the first to be listed on the site and she found the EPIC team very receptive to feedback on how women liked to shop online.

“It is mostly men who created the site,” said Ms Murray.

“I did have to point some things out on how women like to shop, but they were very receptive to that. I think the site will change a little as it grows. But it’s great.”

A business owner who didn’t want to be named said he was pleased to see EPIC doing something that would benefit the businesses funding it.

“The online shopping platform is a brilliant redeeming action from the otherwise intangible entity that EPIC was,” he said.

“Especially since the country is still in the non-contact shopping phase, for however long this plague continues. [I’m] looking forward to what else will follow this digital domain.”

To shop at the online mall visit www.whakatanemall.co.nz