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Friday 3 November 2023
Church celebrates its 150th
The congregation gather to celebrate St Cuthbert’s Church 150th anniversary. Photo: Mary Ann Tait. BRANDON SPARROW
St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church celebrated 150 years of Christian ministry in the Collingwood area on Sunday of Labour Weekend with a service and lunch. Over 80 people attended, some coming from as far away as Auckland and Timaru. Attendees included past ministers; those baptised, confirmed, or married in the church; as well as those who attended church, Sunday School, or youth group. The church, which was spruced up for the occasion by members of the current congregation, was built in 1873 and was designed by the architect and legendary explorer Thomas Brunner. It survived Collingwood’s disastrous series of fires by dint of its relative remoteness from the village below. St Cuthbert’s, which is part of the Golden Bay Anglican Parish, which in turn is part of the Nelson Anglican Diocese, has been the home of a continuous Christian witness since the appointment of its first vicar, Dr Henry Codrington, in 1861. The parish is currently seeking a new vicar.
The story of the church is one of joy and tragedy. Its third vicar, Richard Gaskin, drowned in the Aorere River in 1872 while returning from taking a service in Pākawau. He had been enthusiastically working towards the building of the church and his death was met with great sadness, not only by his congregation and fellow clergy, but by the community in general. The miners at the Perseverance Mine stopped working to go and help to look for his body, which was eventually found in the estuary near his home some weeks later. A m o n g t h o s e at te n d i n g S u n d ay ’s celebrations were descendants of John and Mary Riley, some of the earliest worshippers, plus several people who had been present at the 100th celebration in 1973, and the 125th in 1998. Rev Fred Greig, who was curate at St Cuthbert’s in 1963-4, recalled a busy church life, which included regular services at Pākawau, Rockville, Bainham, and Mangarākau. The Bishop of Nelson, Steve Maina, preached from Paul’s second letter to Timothy written from prison.
After the reading, he said God is faithful and God’s word is “unchained” and still changing people’s lives by giving them hope. Following the service, a commemorative wooden seat made by Brian Cooper was unveiled in the church grounds by Rev Watiri Maina, the bishop’s wife. In the church hall attendees enjoyed a sumptuous lunch provided by Rural Women, a presentation of a painting of the church by Auckland artist and minister Fred Brunell, and a slideshow of church life from the last 150 years. The celebration ended with a visit to the old Collingwood cemetery where Rev Gaskin is buried. His grave is directly above that of Dr Henry Turnell, resident magistrate and goldfield warden, who chaired the St Cuthbert’s building committee, but who tragically drowned crossing the Tākaka River in 1874. Near their graves is that of Tamati Pirimona Marino, the chief who presided over the Māori whare on Wapping Point in Collingwood, which served as the first church in the area, attended by both Māori and Europeans.
Feedback on freshwater JO RICHARDS
Freshwater remains high on New Zealand’s political agenda and is a key focus for central government and councils. At local government level, Tasman District Council’s work is guided by the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, input from iwi, and feedback from communities across the district. These communities now have a further opportunity to shape TDC’s freshwater policy by providing feedback on the council’s draft environmental outcomes. For Golden Bay it’s another chance to influence the rules and regulations that will eventually be applied to its two Freshwater Management Units (FMUs) – the Tākaka and Aorere-West Coast catchments. The current exercise is the third round of the council’s “Mountains to the Sea” engagement programme and is being conducted almost exclusively online. The public have until 30 November to have their say by completing a survey on TDC's website which invites feedback on the 21 draft environmental outcomes. For each outcome there is short statement followed three options: agree; disagree; or "other". In each case, respondents are asked whether there is a specific outcome they would like to see for a specific waterbody or FMU. In its Visions and Values document, informed by previous feedback, TDC created draft visions for each FMU and identified 17 values for freshwater across the district, all of which apply to the Golden Bay FMUs. The document also included a common vision for 2035: “…our land and freshwater management provides for our community’s social, economic and cultural wellbeing. People have access to safe, clean water for drinking, swimming, recreation and cultural uses.” While the path to achieving that vision is long and complicated, the process of providing feedback is relatively straightforward and supported, in this case, by series of three public webinars hosted by TDC during November. Once this latest round is completed, the next steps towards achieving the vision include working with iwi on planning provisions, and further public engagement. TDC webinars: Tuesday 7 November, 12 noon; Wednesday 8 November, 6.30pm; Wednesday 22 November, 6.30pm. Zoom links are on the TDC webpage. For more information and/or to access the online survey, go to: https://shape. tasman.govt.nz/ and click the link “from the mountains to the sea”.
Ray White Golden Bay
GOOD LUCK to all the kids in Saturday’s Boys & Girls Agricultural Show
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Inside:
Plant sale
THE GB WEEKLY, FRIDAY 3 NOVEMBER 2023
Summer gardening
Movie review
CAS Show Day
ISSN (PRINT) 2538-0923 ISSN (ONLINE) 2538-0931
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