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Friday 24 July 2020
Richie’s top spot earns its name
Richie poses with his touch rugby team mates from Takaka Primary and Golden Bay High School. Photo: Alistair Hughes. ALISTAIR HUGHES
Golden Bay may be held up as one of the most beautiful regions in New Zealand, but having successfully lured All Black legend Richie McCaw to visit on Monday, the challenge was now on to prove it. Richie was visiting as part of a collaboration between T V3’s The Project NZ current events show, and Westpac, to promote domestic destinations and local businesses. The competition was named “Richie’s Top Spot”, and required entrants to submit a 30-second video highlighting their own region’s attractions. Alex Richard, guide at Golden Bay Kayaks, put together the wild card entry which won the vote, entitling her to a $3000 prize and a visit from Richie himself. Her video stars nine-year-old Kye Bateup, son of Golden Bay Kayaks owners Lisa Savage and Tony Bateup. Alex explains: “I thought it would be really cool if Kye performed a mihi in the background. So I held up a piece of paper with all the words written on it, we had a practice run and then he got it. I said my entry was about supporting the Bay, and they told me we’d won.”
Richie and his crew enjoyed magnificent early morning views as they were flown in by Mit Brereton of Adventure Flights Golden Bay. “A pretty awesome day at work,” said Mit. “I had the privilege of flying Richie McCaw to Golden Bay and I’m stoked to have done my little bit.” The day fittingly began at Golden Bay Kayaks, where Richie met Kye and Alex, then enjoyed some morning tea prepared by Jill Foxwell at De-Lish Delicatessen. Blue penguins nesting underneath Lisa and Tony’s deck serenaded the visitors before excited students from Takaka Primary and Golden Bay High School arrived to take on the former All Black in a game of beach touch Rugby. This brief but energetic match no doubt helped make this the best “first day back at school” which the young sports people had ever experienced. Richie admitted to have been given “a good work out” as he posed for photographs with excited children and parents alike, afterwards. Richie, Kye and Alex then commandeered a couple of kayaks and headed off across the still waters of Tata bay, heading around the corner towards Wainui.
Todd Johnstone from Westpac New Zealand gave a little more detail about “Richie’s Top Spot”. “We just wanted to encourage kiwis to get out and help small businesses and see the country. Richie has been an ambassador with us for years, so we partnered with The Project NZ to ask people to promote their towns and attractions. We had about 120 entries from around the country, and Alex won the vote — so here we are.” Lisa admitted that the day had involved a lot of organisation, and shared a quiet laugh when recalling how the Auckland crew had asked which terminal they should go to at Takaka airport. After making landfall, Richie, Kye, Alex and companions enjoyed some well-needed sustenance at nearby Totos Café and Pizzeria, courtesy of owners Crian Cahusac and Carole Fournier. Next up was another change of transport, which saw Kye and Richie mountain biking down the Rameka historic trail. Fishing at the Anatoki Salmon Farm followed, by which time the range of attractions on offer had made a real impression. Continued on page 6
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THE GB WEEKLY, FRIDAY 24 JULY 2020
JO RICHARDS
Public consultation on the option for a Golden Bay Local Board got underway in earnest last week, with well-attended meetings in Takaka and Collingwood. Over the two events, a combined total of around 140 members of the public listened to staff and commissioners from the Local Government Commission (LGC) – the body responsible for the managing the process – answer questions from the floor. The Commission’s team of five included CEO Penny Langley and lead adviser Gavin Beattie, plus the three commissioners who will decide on whether a local board is established, and if so, what it will look like and what it will be able to do. Each of the high-powered trio – chair Brendan Duffy, Janie Annear and Sue Piper – comes with an impressive track-record of around 25 years in senior roles in local government, and they have a combined 16 years’ experience with the Commission. Both meetings followed the same format. Brendan introduced his fellow commissioners, stressing that they were “open-minded and completely independent”, before Gavin provided a brief overview of the consultation document to “highlight key issues and to set the scene”. The remainder of each twohour meeting was taken up with a lengthy questions-and-answers session. First on Gavin’s list of key issues was the essential difference between a community board and a local board. “A community board relies on goodwill between parties [the board and council],” said Gavin, pointing out that council can revoke delegations at any time, in contrast to a local board, where, “Once allocations are set, they can only be changed if both parties agree.” These allocations, he explained, will determine how the local board’s governance role will be split between the three levels of influence, “…Decisionmaking, advocacy and collaboration.” He moved on to discuss the issue of costs versus benefits. “One advantage [of a local board] is achieving better local decision-making, but at what cost?” The Commission has suggested an increase of $75pa in the annual targeted rate to cover the additional $240,000 annual cost, including overheads, of employing one full-time equivalent support person. This individual, Gavin explained, would be a council employee and report directly to the CEO. Continued on page 2
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