Waimea Weekly Horizontal
Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 7 February 2024
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24 Champion Road, Richmond wrfs.co.nz
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Perky Peche give piano a home
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Cycling 5000km with artificial joints Page 4
Are Richmond’s new cycleways ‘ludicrous’? MAX FRETHEY
Local Democracy Reporter
Cycleways and carparks are back in the spotlight in Tasman as the council seeks feedback on two recently-installed cycleways. Carparks were removed from Richmond’s upper Queen St and Champion Rd – between Salisbury Rd and Hill St – in December and replaced with cycleways as Tasman District Council continues with its government-funded Streets for People programme. Currently, only 23 per cent of residents walk or bike for trips under 2km. It’s expected there will be another 16,600 cars on Tasman roads if that proportion remains the same in 2050. Streets for People aims to help the council reach its goal in getting 60 per cent of people walking or cycling for under 2km trips, reducing future congestion. However, the plans have rankled some upper Queen St residents who have lost on-street parking outside of their homes. Colleen Gibb called the situation “ludicrous” while Leslie Quinn thought the council’s goals were “idealistic”. “It affects so many people in so many ways,” Colleen says. A principal concern for her is the isolation of older adults, many of whom she says can’t park on a side street and walk the distance to a friend’s house. “My visitors don’t come and visit me anymore because they’ve got nowhere to park.” Leslie also says she worries about the devaluation
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LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED
Waimea Intermediate students Japhy Marshall,10, (left), Olivia Carmichael, 12, Namya Sapehia, 12 and Jackson Moyle,10, are used to putting phones away in the box each day. Photo: Anne Hardie.
Back to school without their phones ANNE HARDIE Waimea Intermediate has less students this year, despite earlier predictions the roll would continue to increase. Principal Justine McDonald says the school year is kicking off with about 15 less students than the previous year, settling at 615. Fifteen students may not sound a
lot, but she says it is technically half a class which affects teacher numbers and funding. The school receives about $1,000 per student for operational funding and there are other areas of funding that will also be affected. The school does have contingency plans in place for different scenarios though, she says. Justine says some of the oth-
er schools in the region are also experiencing fluctuating rolls which does not match earlier predictions that student numbers at intermediate level would increase. She wonders if lower student numbers are due to changing demographics, with a higher-than-expected number of families in the area who have young children not yet at interme-
diate level. Student numbers have dropped from a range of contributing schools and she says it is not just the result of Wakefield School going through the process of recapitation where it has expanded to Year 7 students and will extend that to year 8 students in 2025. The intermediate school
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