Otaki Mail December 2019

ŌTAKI MAIL ©

Established in 1892

PO Box 109 Otaki

otakimail@xtra.co.nz

www.otakimail.co.nz

06 364 5500

December 2019

GBB Comes to Ōtaki

Raising funds for Te Horo Hall earthquake strengthening

16 & 17 N OVEMBER

Te Horo

BY ANN CHAPMAN

Five years ago, two friends were commiserating about the state of the world over a glass of pink bubbles when they had an idea about making New Zealand a kinder place. Both women, Nic Murray and Marie Fitzpatrick, found that when they were at their lowest, one with a prem baby and the other with a nephew having treatment for leukaemia, that treats bought by friends made with love gave them ‘a moment of sweetness in an otherwise shitty day’. And so the idea of establishing Good Bitches Baking was born.

Today GBB is a national charity with 25 chapters including one in Kapiti which was started in February this year. There are now over 2300 volunteers across the country including just over 50 in the Kapiti Chapter which has been active in Paekakariki through to Waikanae.

The Kapiti Chapter is now looking to spread their special sort of kindness into Ōtaki. Kay Fechney became involved in the Kapiti branch last February and it is through her that our Ōtaki Good Bitch has become involved. Ōtaki resident, Maire Rongomaituranga and Marie Benevides with Head Bitch Kay Fechney Benevides first heard about the GBB Charity when her son was born at 24 weeks to make New Zealand the kindest place on in Wellington. earth. The volunteers do this by making delicious treats for people going through During her six months there spending her some sort of crisis or difficult time. days at the neo-natal unit and her nights at Ronald McDonald House she was a Recently they started working on ways to recipient of the sweet treats provided by overcome barriers to volunteering so that the Wellington chapter. The charity didn’t everyone gets the wellbeing benefits this mean anything to her at the time as she was brings and the chance to be kind. focused on her son, Rongomaituranga.

Over the years their charity has provided a Now two years on, with her son doing well whopping 700,000 moments of kindness. she was ready to offer her support to those They now take their kaupapa out to in need. ‘I’m ready to repay that kindness,’ Rimutaka and Arohata Prisons where she says. prisoners bake for those in need. One RĀHUI ROAD Kay first heard about the charity when Nic prisoner commented that ‘I’ve learned and Marie were being interviewed on RNZ something about myself. I’ve learned how ER ST and remembering her time with a to be kind. I didn’t know I could be kind.’

DITTM premature baby she decided that this is This year Nic and Marie became Members what she wanted to do. ‘The andprogresses LEGEND of the NZ Asname work on Order of Merit for their work. mission of Good Bitches just sparked New walking accesses are largely funded by donations so anyone Peka toThey Ōtaki something in me. One thingthe leadPeka to another who wants to help can visit Gbb.org.nz County Road vehicle access and I found myself signingExpressway, up to be the some exciting If you want to be part of the GBB’s Head Bitch and starting the chapter in kindness kaupapa changes are taking place.

To in Ōtaki, contact Kay at Kapiti.’ kapiti@gbb.org.nz Kindness is the kaupapa ofhelp the Good TO LEVIN the community navigate Bitches Baking Charity and their mission is

Country Garden Tour 2019 More details on Facebook

Te Horo 13 F ABULOUS G ARDENS TO SEE Garden trail Tickets $20 Available from Early October at: p5 T ICKET V ALID FOR 1 DAY ONLY ...

❃ Te Horo Garden Centre ❃ Harrisons Gardenworld, Peka Peka ❃ Watson’s Garden Centre, Otaki ❃ Palmers Garden Centre, Plimmerton ❃ First National, Otaki

AND at Te Horo Community Hall over the tour weekend Key sponsor

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Maoriland Hub p9

NEW PEKAPEKA TO ŌTAKI EXPRE WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

p11

D

RĀHU I RD

EY R

UAO RD TE MAN

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its way around the new road network, we have developed some simple graphics.

RD NTY COU

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Marie’s scrumptious sweet treats Pare-o-Matangi Reserve (CLOSED)

A RIVERSTONE GIFT CARD – the ultimate CHRISTMAS present

BP Station

Signalised crossing

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The Rāhui Road Bridge will be open to traffic and OPEN pedestrians EVERY DAY in early December.except Christmas Day from 6.30am County Road: As per the NO SURCHARGE graphic to the right, County Road access ‘Locals remains onelooking after locals’ way. If you’re trying to STATE HIGHWAY 1 NEXT TO KATHMANDU access County Road from EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Open 7 days till latethe afternoon, including public holidays northbound lane of State Use your • NO SURCHARGE • Fairtrade organic coffee Farmlands Highway 1 (SH1), you will still need to follow the detour. card & receive

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06 364-6742 • riverstonecafe.co.nz Pedestrians: With the footpaths open on either side of the bridge, you’ll no longer need to detour via County Road t

from Rāhui Road to SH1. Please use the pedestrian light crossings provided to cross SH1.

The Pare-o-Matangi Reserve and the shared pathway between the Rāhui Road Bridge and the Ōtaki Railway Station

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Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

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What if my new item stops working?

BY FLEUR HOBSON I’ve paid good money for something – maybe a computer or a fridge, a car or a washing machine – only to discover that it’s not working properly.

You may find that out as soon as the item is delivered, or the problem may rear its head a few months down the track.

The question is, what can I do about it?

The good news is that you are protected in New Zealand, under a law known as the Consumer Guarantees Act. Under this Act, sellers automatically make buyers of goods for domestic use a series of guarantees.

Among these guarantees, the seller promises that the goods will be of acceptable quality and that they will be fit for the particular purpose you asked about or the seller talks about.

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This means the goods must do what they were made to do, that they must be free from defects, even minor ones, that they must be safe and durable and they must have an acceptable appearance and finish.

So if something goes wrong, you can ask the seller to put it right. They can do so in one of three ways, sometimes referred to as the “three Rs”. The seller can repair the item. The seller can replace the item. Or the seller can refund the purchase price.

In addition, buyers may also be able to claim for a loss that resulted from the problem arising. If a freezer stops working, for example, and $200 worth of food becomes inedible, the owner may lodge a claim for that as well as the repair or replacement or refund.

It’s not just goods that are covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act. Services are also.

Services must be fit for the particular purpose they were supplied and must be carried out with reasonable care and skill.

They must also be completed in a reasonable time and must be at a reasonable price if no price or pricing formula has been agreed.

Much of the time, sellers will put things right – either by repairing the item, replacing it, or refunding the buyer what they paid.

There are times, however, when the seller tells the buyer that they are not responsible for the problem and give a reason they believe means they don’t have to put it right.

The seller is not always right about this.

I have a friend who bought a computer. It did not come with the operating system on a separate collection of CDs, but there was a backup of the operating system on

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“I don’t bother with cooking now – they look after us here!” she says with a smile.

Josie says she is grateful she can keep up some of her favourite hobbies after moving to the Levin Home for War Veterans.

As well as visiting other rest homes, Josie says her favourite thing to do is go shopping, especially for second-hand items.

“I love to go to the op shops, you can get good bargains there,” she says. “I’ve got a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes.”

Levin Home for War Veterans offers rest home, hospital and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care.

To learn more about the home, which is located on the corner of Matai and Prouse Streets, visit www.enlivencentral.org.nz or call 06 366 0052.

Wills, estates, and powers of attorney

282 Mill Road (opposite Farmlands)

Waikanae – 5 Aputa Place, Countdown carpark Otaki – 65 Main St, previously McLarens Law 04 293 3735 | 06 364 7190

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the hard drive.

When his computer crashed a few months after buying it, my friend was unable to access the backup on the hard drive.

At first the seller said that was not their problem, as they had sold the computer with a backup.

It took some negotiation, but the seller eventually provided CDs of the operating system. Interestingly, it was only when the buyer said they would see a lawyer about it that the seller finally agreed to fix it up.

It may happen from time to time that the seller will only do something after a lawyer has contacted them.

In cases like these, we can help. Contact Fleur or Susie at Susie Mills Law 2019, 364 7190, 282 Mill Road – opposite Farmlands.

Ōtaki Mail is produced by Lloyd, Ann & Penny at 176 Waerenga Road.

Printed by Beacon Print.

Delivered to every house (urban and rural) at the end of every month.

If your paper doesn't arrive, please tell us and we'll sort it.

For news, please tell us on 06 364 5500 or by email at otakimail@xtra.co.nz

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

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Ōtaki Mail – Month 20XX

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Ōtaki Mail Scholarship The recipient of this year’s Ōtaki Mail Scholarship is Hetal Patel who will be studying at the University of Otago, doing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Film and Media Studies, along with Global Studies as well as trying out first-year law.

Throughout her senior years at Ōtaki College, she has been involved with United Nations Youth NZ and participated in local and national events. At the NZ Model United Nations, she was a press delegate, and represented Fox News which was a challenge because she believes the exact opposite of Fox News’s political bias. But it sparked a new part of Media Studies that she is interested in exploring more.

Attending these civics education

conferences sparked a passion for equality which she will further explore in her studies next year. She is uncertain about where her degree will take her yet, but she is positive that she wants to continue helping others, contribute to positive changemaking and fight for an equitable and safe future for all. The Ōtaki Mail Scholarship will help her pay the Halls of Residence fee at Te Rangi Hiroa College for 2020.

Courtney Spiller was the Ōtaki Mail’s inaugural recipient and here is her report.

In the month before moving to Wellington, I had invaded the spare bedroom and littered it with suitcases and boxes, filled to the brim with everything I would need to start my life in a University Hall of Residence.

Each time a new family member or friend visited, I’d excitedly show off this collection of belongings, purely as an excuse to look through them once more. I was excited, I was terrified, but most importantly, I was ready.

My first trimester consisted of getting used to walking up the hill each morning (and eventually just getting the bus), late nights finishing readings, and resisting the urge to buy sushi for lunch every day. I began my first major, Psychology, and my

Editorial Putting Back into the Community The Ōtaki Mail was first printed in 1892 telling the stories about the town and its community.

Throughout the last five years under the ownership of Lloyd, Ann and Penny, Ōtaki people have been supportive of the newspaper, been free with their stories, their adventures and their advertisements. Two years ago, we decided to support our community in another way, by providing a scholarship to Ōtaki College students. We wanted to encourage and support the written word, the provision of news and stories and support a pupil who also wanted to explore the wonder of the media in all its forms.

The Ōtaki Mail is proud to support the ongoing education of Ōtaki College students. The winner of the scholarship is selected by the college from among those senior students, who upon graduation will be taking up tertiary education in Journalism or Media Studies. If no student is intending to pursue Journalism or Media Studies, then the college may choose to grant it to a student intending to major in English. In return we asked that the recipient reports to us in the form of an article following the end of the first year of study, outlining their progress during the year as evidence of course undertaken. The Ōtaki Mail intends to publish these articles.

Last year the inaugural Ōtaki Mail Scholarship was awarded to Courtney Spiller, the college’s Runner-Up to Dux, who is going on to study Psychology and Criminology with a minor in Theatre at Victoria University. Her first article is printed here on page three.

This year’s recipient was Hetal Patel who will be studying at the University of Otago, for a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Film and Media Studies, Global Studies as well as trying out first-year law.

The Ōtaki Mail is proud to support Ōtaki College students in a small but tangible way so they may pursue their dreams.

We will enjoy publishing their work, and hope you will enjoy reading them.

minor, Theatre, alongside a compulsory Statistics class and an introductory Law class - an odd choice for an elective course, which I found wasn’t particularly in my area of interest. Thankfully, a few of the friends I’ve made were studying the same courses so I had others to study with, making the transition from high school to university much easier.

By the second trimester, I’d grown used to university life and to my courses; I began my second major, Criminology, continued with Psychology and Theatre, and picked up another elective course, American History. My classes this trimester have been much more enjoyable than the first, which made my workload feel so much lighter and more manageable - my assignments no longer felt like a hassle. However, when in doubt, my friends were always there to support me.

Right now I’m in the process of packing up my room. This time, I’m not looking for excuses to go through my belongings - I’m almost avoiding my room. The bare walls remind me of how little time I have left in the hall, and I don’t feel the same readiness I felt when moving into Wellington. Despite that, I’m definitely looking forward to being home again, getting to spend time with my family and friends, and having the chance to relax in the

town’s slow pace.

At the risk of sounding cliché, university so far really has been the best time of my life. I was lucky enough to meet an incredible group of people, who quickly became some of my closest friends. That was truly the highlight of my first year in Wellington: the late nights catching up on work or watching movies, the midnight food runs, eating dinner at the same time every evening together like a family.

It’s simple memories like these that will stay with me forever, and make moving back to Ōtaki over the summer break even harder, but also will remind me how grateful I am to have had the chance to meet these wonderful people, who’ve made my first year of university so memorable.

Thumbs up

• Ōtaki Promotion Group winning at the Wellington Airport Awards • Maoriland Hub winning at the Wellington Airport Awards • Shopping locally for Christmas • Waitohu School fireworks. Spectacular, fun and safe • Kapiti Orchestra’s concerts in Ōtaki • Rahui road back again. Thank goodness!

Thumbs down • Country road’s gate vandals – unhinging gates is stupid and dangerous

4

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Te Horo and Waitohu Ag days

BY MARGARET ANDREWS

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY

Te Horo School historic celebration

Te Horo School recently celebrated a significant birthday – the founding of the rural school more than 100 years ago.

In 1892 James Gear donated the suitably flat section (a little smaller than the present size), and a contract to build a one-roomed school to cater for the expanding population was negotiated.

The cost was thought to be around several hundred dollars, no small sum in those days (cost records were presumably lost in a fire 30 years later). However, school committee books show the first meeting was on May 13th 1893. In September they received their first income, a cheque from the Education Board for five pounds, the capitation grant for the June quarter, for an average attendance of 28 students.

Te Horo School was in business, and for 21years the school was the hub of life in the district. But by 1914 three churches had been built, including St Anne’s Anglican Church (1909), and the community hall was under way. The school then reverted to what it was designed and built for – a facility for educating the district’s children.

Early this month today’s students celebrated that past by riding their ponies to school just as their predecessors did.

“Children doubled their friends on the one pony, wearing old-fashioned clothes, and no saddle, to mark the 125 year celebration,” said school spokesperson, Anje Glindemann. “They left the ponies at school in Moore’s Meadow ready to make the trip home again at 3.00 pm.”

The day was spent playing traditional games such as egg and spoon race, three

legged race, sack race, and gumboot throw. Teachers entered into the spirit by either wearing historic clothing or their school colours.

A special assembly (with heritage photos) included past pupils and members of the Te Horo community such as guest speaker, Allen Cottle whose family established a dairy farm in the district (1909). A further round of traditional songs and games was followed by a celebratory high tea

Te Horo Christmas Market

The Te Horo Christmas Market (replacing the monthly Sunday market) is back at Te Horo Hall on Saturday 7 December (10.00 am to 1.00 pm) with more than 50 stalls, many selling items locally produced and grown, and a festive Christmas spirit (loads of stalls offering gift ideas such as jewellery, handcrafts (woodwork and quilting), home baking (including Christmas food), plants, preserves, sweets and olive oil

The weather cleared and the animals with their handlers for Te Horo School’s annual agriculture night, where the students showed their skills in caring and attention of their lambs, kids and calves.

In each section they had to show just how much their lamb or kid “knew and worked” with them, most of the lambs – following on and off a lead and coming when called.

Most of the lambs cooperated.

In the calf section Savannah Lynn’s calf winning the Care and Attention trophy and second in the senior Ringcraft, the Croad Cup for Champion Calf, while Olivia O’Malley’s calf was first in senior Ringcraft and second in the Care and Attention section and was Reserve Champion.

With 26 lambs across the senior and junior sections there was more competition. Each entrant went through the same routines as the calves, with Emily Oliver’s’ lamb achieving first in the Senior Pet Lamb, third in Care and Attention and Mansell Cup for Champion Lamb. Kareena Lengahan’s lamb was second in the Pet Lamb and won the Cowie Trophy for Reserve Champion, while junior handler Lexie Guthrie’s lamb was first in Care and Attention and winning the Country Calendar Cup and second in the Pet Lamb.

Drinks and Nibbles

On Friday, 6 December, 5.30 pm: the Te Horo community’s monthly social catchup, a time to unwind with neighbours and newcomers to the district. Bring a bottle and a plate of finger food to share.

Above: Sophie Pound and Inky, centre, with the Cowie Trophy for Champion Kid, At left, Abigail Upshon, Charlotte Findlay to right Michaela O’Malley and Robbie Upshon Left: Kareena Lanagahan with the Cowie Trophy for Reserve Champion Lamb and Emily Oliver with the Mansell Cup for Champion Lamb Right: Senior Lamb winners: Emily Oliver.

Samuel Howell and Isla Rountree.

Land of Milk and Honey!

“How do you have your tea Grant?” With milk and honey please!

Lift up your eyes to the hills, resplendent in bush and pasture, cast your eyes over the pristine waters of the Ōtaki river, the sparkling and gentle waves off our beaches, bask in the warming sun.

As I cycle early most mornings, gorgeous trees, fat and glossy stock, pheasants, hares, floppy footed pukeko, pigeon and tui light up my day, and as I go about my business, out the back of a farm or a lifestyle property, delightful trees, gardens, and livestock of all kinds nurtured by gentle, loving, personable hands!

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We are nearer to paradise here in my Rohe, Te Horo, Ōtaki, Manakau, than most other places on earth.

Yes there is more we can do, we need to restore our coastal wetlands and oceans urgently for the sake of our fisheries. But please young people, don’t be beaten down by the ‘Climate Change’ offensive, take quiet and positive personal action, and enjoy this wonderful part of the world we inhabit!

In a moment of quiet reflection and gratitude.

Grant Robertson

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Sophie Pound’s Inky was the overall winner with first in the Pet Kid and third in Care and Attention and the Cowie Trophy for Champion kid. Abigail Upshon was first in the Care and Attention section.

“We were extremely lucky with the weather forecast against us,” teacher and Agricultural night convenor, Mike Neville. “The kids and lambs have wandered around the classrooms and grounds during the preshow days. The staff have given amazing support and also the support we get from the community.”

Waitohu School held the Agricultural judging earlier on the Wednesday morning with just four lambs. In the senior section Jordan Blakeley’s lamb was awarded first place in Best Pet Lamb, Care and Rearing and the Champion Lamb trophy, Jorgia Bigwood’s lamb was second in each class and Joanna McCosh’s third. In the junior section Gemma Gilpin’s lamb received the Champion Pet Lamb, Care and Rearing and was the Reserve Champion.

The home flower and vegetable gardens and the container gardens were judged at a later date, with all pet and garden place getters going on to the Horowhenua championships.

Asking Offers around $595,000.

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Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Big effort, big result for Te Horo Garden Tour

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY

Grey spring skies and wet feet didn’t deter enthusiastic garden lovers as they ambled around the fifth Te Horo Country Garden Tour.

The tour was the most ambitious yet for organising team (Debbie Laing, Neil MacInnes, Barbara Chatters and Sharon Hurst), but also the most successful. With more than 30 volunteers working at the gardens and the hall, and held over two days (for the first time), the event raised more than $20k towards the earthquake strengthening of Te Horo Hall.

“The organising team wish to thank everyone involved, particularly the garden owners, for their support and beautiful presentation of gardens,” said team spokesperson, Sharon Hurst.

“Feedback this year has been hugely positive with many of the 889 visitors going out of their way to express pleasure

in the event and standard of the gardens.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the results.”

Fundraising efforts were also supported

by First National Ōtaki (key sponsor), Inpro Insurance, Eftpos NZ, Fletcher Construction, and many local newspapers (including the Ōtaki Mail). Donations from local businesses enabled the team to run a ‘mammoth prize draw’.

The first prize of a Ruth Pretty hamper was won by Ōtaki resident, Jan Check. Other winners were Harriet Tobes, Moreen Courtney, Sarah Martin, Kaye Calder, Lisa Bell, Elizabeth Sandford, Sally Mundell, Neil Greenwood and Charlie Stevens (at the time of writing three other winners had yet to make contact).

The Early Bird Ticket prize was won by Bernie Phipps of Wellington (a second ticket number winner, number 259, can contact organiser Sharon Hurst 06 364 4624 to claim their prize).

Perennials and roses sit within a typical Te Horo background (north west views) at Helen Cook and John Draper’s garden

Elizabeth and Peter Sandford’s School Road garden overflows with pockets of unusual treasures, lots of roses and still-flowering rhododendrons.

Visitors check out Helen Cook and John Draper’s wonderful veggie garden

Specialist trees, almost-open dwarf agapanthus in the Harper Road property of Art Daniel and Gene Saunders

It wouldn’t be a Te Horo Country Garden Tour without a cluster of clivias. Here they flower in one of the ‘rooms’ in Art Daniel’s and Gene Saunders’ garden

Remembering Armistice Day

BY MARGARET ANDREWS

Former president, Colin Robertson now chair of the RSA Poppy Trust, gave the The rain didn’t put a dampener on the Armistice day address, and the prayer for Armistice Day 2019, instead the ceremony the fallen noting the peace treaty was was moved indoors. signed on June 26 1919. He spoke of the With a small crowd in attendance, club Vice fatalities noting there were 30,000 nonPresident, Cam Ronald, opened the service identified graves from many of the battles reminding people that it was 101 years ago and a large number of soldiers who have no on November 11 1919 at 11am when World known grave.

War I came to an end. New Zealand Pupils from Ōtaki, Waitohu and Te Horo suffered high losses, 81 men from the wider schools read the names of the Ōtaki Ōtaki district lost their lives during the deceased and Ōtaki College Heads of years the war raged.

School, Lauren Blakeley and Haze Edwards

read the poem In Flanders Field. Three Kapiti Air Training Corp cadets were on duty for the flag ceremony, with the indoor flags in a fixed position they could only tilt the flags forward.

Wreaths were laid at the base of the flag stand by RSA and district representatives and the young people from the Ōtaki schools.

Mr Ronald said by holding the service on the Sunday they hoped would have a good sized crowd of people, but unfortunately the morning was marred with pouring rain.

Beautifully balanced garden beds and borders feature at the frost-free property of Helen Cook and John Draper

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Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

By Ann Chapman

Live well, get well, stay well

Cancer Society Horowhenua MidCentral Health: Ann Chapman Bows Out…..

Levin, Foxton & Ōtaki Diary December 2019 / January 2020

Monday Foxton Support Group (St Johns 11.30am 2 Dec Hall, Avenue Road) Monday Pure Breast Care. Ph 0800 259 061 9am to 2pm 2 Dec for appt. Winchester House.

Thursday Massage: (post treatment)– ph 06 9.30am to 5 Dec 3688624 for apt. Winchester House. 2.30pm Thursday Pure Breast Care. Ph 0800 259 061 9am to 2pm 12 Dec for appt. Winchester House.

Monday Natural Wear. Ph 0800 622 397 for 16 Dec appt. Winchester House.

Friday 20 Last day we’re open before Dec Christmas Break.

Monday Foxton Support Group (St Johns 11.30am 6 Jan Hall, Avenue Road) Monday Winchester House re-opens.

9 am 13 Jan Seasonal wishes to all clients and whanau.

For further information on any of the above please contact: Jennie Wylie, Support Coordinator, Horowhenua Services 112 Winchester Street, Levin 5510 Ph 06 367 8065, Fax 06 367 8057, Mob 027 542 0066 email jennie.wylie@cancercd.org.nz

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Bowel Screening @ MidCentral This month MidCentral Health joined up to the national roll out of the Bowel Screening programme.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health Dr David Clark were in Palmerston North to launch the programme.

If you are between 60 to 74 and are eligible to take part, you will be sent an invitation letter, a consent form, a free bowel screening test kit, with instructions on how to use it. The test can be done at home and is simple to do and it can save lives.

Over 19 years, through three chairs and 3 Chief executives, it was the commitment, hard work and responsiveness of staff which will be my abiding memory. I thank them for that. It has enabled me to sit with reasonable competence around the board table. That and the attempts we have made successfully to provide timely, responsive care to all our communities, often against the odds. There have been highs and lows, but mainly highs. The focus on primary care is one such high. The lows are of course not enough money to do more and the pressure of providing more and more services within budget.

I leave MCH in good heart grateful to my community for allowing me the privilege of sitting around this table.

Tena Koutou. Nga Mihi

…..and Jenny Warren Steps In

Tena koutou, my name is Jenny Warren and I have recently been elected onto the MidCentral District Health Board. I live in Levin and have whanau connections to Ōtaki. I have a strong

interest in the provision of accessible healthcare to rural, outlying and isolated communities. My first official DHB meeting is not until December, however I have been using my time since elected to continue the work I have done during my campaign period getting to know the needs of our communities. In November I have attended both a Board meeting of Te Puna Oranga o `Ōtaki and also the first Ōtaki Community Board meeting under their newly elected Board. This was a good opportunity to hear of the challenges facing the community by way of accessing health care and also some of the aspirations held for healthcare provision. I very much look forward to hearing more of your vision over time. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the nearly two decades which Ann Chapman has dedicated to community representation in health, an amazing contribution she has given and I wish her and her whanau all the very best for the next chapter of her life.

Nga mihi nui.

Funding announced for new mental health facility Two weeks ago MidCentral Board and staff welcomed the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Minister of Health David Clark to Palmerston North, where they announced funding for an upgraded, ‘fit for purpose’ mental health unit.

MidCentral DHB Chief Executive Kathryn Cook welcomed the funding boost, saying it would make a big difference to service users, their whānau and staff.

“We have a clear need for a more peoplecentred, modern, therapeutic environment, which supports people to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes,” Ms Cook said.

“This investment will allow the DHB to work with staff, patients and whānau to design a fit-for-purpose facility that will enable a broader focus on wellbeing and allow us to change many lives for the better.”

“It will also allow the DHB to make significant changes to the way we work and to ensure that our inpatient unit is more culturally appropriate.”

MidCentral DHB is nearing completion of a business case to determine the best option for the upgrade. This case is expected to be finalised by early next year following approval from the MidCentral Board and the Ministry of Health.

Ms Cook said: “The new unit is likely to have a small increase in beds, and there will be additional acute community-based alternative facilities. The full upgrade should be completed in the next two and half years.”

Mental Health and Addictions Clinical Executive Dr Vanessa Caldwell said there were a series of engagements held throughout the year with mental health service users, staff, whānau, iwi and health providers to gain a greater understanding of what a new facility should look like.

“This engagement will continue as we progress this project as it is vital we provide the communities we serve with a facility that puts them at the centre of everything we do,” Dr Caldwell said.

“This funding is very much needed and we look forward to a new people-centred, culturally appropriate service that will enhance the wellbeing of our inpatients.”

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7

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Intern on the go

BY ANN CHAPMAN Cameron Toogood and his parents are relative newcomers to Ōtaki, but they are fast calling this their home and it is where Cameron feels he wants to practice. Larry and Suzanne moved here four years ago but Cameron has been here and there learning his craft at university and on placements to complete his training as a doctor.

Cameron started his tertiary education with a degree in neuroscience before taking off to China with the help of scholarships. He spent a year there learning Mandarin. Back in New Zealand he is now in his final year of a medical degree and looking at a career in rural health. He has just finished a rural immersion year in Dannevirke and Pahiatua where he saw patients in clinic as a student doctor.

Next March he leaves to take up the Pat Farry Rural Health Travelling Scholarship and will spend three months in clinics and theatres with rural outreach near Colombo and Darwin. For the rest of the year, he will work as a trainee intern at Palmerston

Moving a gym - a new way to fitness?

North before graduating as a doctor in November 2020.

He has big ideas. He thinks in terms of health rather than illness, has an interest in health equity, and the big problem of the impacts of climate change on health and the management of the changing dynamics between health outcomes and a changed world. He spoke of the difficulties in removing barriers to health, of poverty, remoteness, stigma and how he’d like to be in a position to make a difference to these problems.

‘Modern medicine has amazing ways of helping and it’s not just about the right drug for the right diagnosis. It’s also about people feeling comfortable enough that they have confidence in working together on a solution to whatever problem they have. I want to focus on personal patient care out there in the field.’

His primary goals are to learn about different strategies to overcome barriers in rural healthcare, develop his skills in limited resource environments, and explore the possibility of engaging collaborative international rural community projects in his career.

‘Without the Pat Farry Trust and the lasting impact Dr Farry has had on rural New Zealand, I wouldn’t have these opportunities.’

Cameron will be starting in Colombo, Sri Lanka at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura where he will be assisting in both general surgery and parasitology. He will then move to Australia to a placement at Royal Darwin Hospital where he will be based in the anaesthetics/perioperative unit.

While in Tararua, Cameron discovered an interest in rural medicine and overcoming barriers to access, transport, and health promotion. This prompted him to choose both Darwin and Colombo as two diverse locations that will allow him to study how local healthcare teams respond to such challenges, and what lessons can be brought back and applied to our contexts.

After 25 years on Waerenga Road, Body and Soul Fitness gym has moved to the corner of Riverbank Road and Miro. Same opening hours for members or casuals.

It wasn’t just the exercise equipment that Joseph took with him, but also his clients, including original gym members Laurene Anderson and Martin Van der Wal (pictured below in the old gym with Joseph) who joined the gym 25 years ago when Joseph first opened Body and Soul.

A dozen of the Whiti Te Ra Legends players helped Joseph move. Moving exercise equipment isn’t your average workout - but presumably if you’re called the Legends they were well up for it.

Joseph is very grateful for all the support given by local sportspeople who helped with the shift. And he also gave a shout out to Matta Products for the new flooring andthe Concrete Doctors for their help with providing a truck for the move.

For the next 3 months the corner of Riverbank and Miro, next to Gorge Café and then one more move to the permanent Aotaki street location where a building is being shifted to the currently vacant site.

Joseph Te Wiata setup in the new location

‘By visiting areas that service rural communities whilst still being large enough to house theatres, I hope to learn how these triaging and outreach systems work overseas. I am currently organising weekend travel to rural clinics in both countries to be able to follow the patient flow from rural outposts to larger connected centres as I have done this year at Dannevirke and Palmerston North,’ says Cameron.

The Pat Farry Rural Health Education Trust Travelling Scholarship is worth $5,000 and will assist Cameron with costs associated with undertaking trainee intern electives in innovative and challenging overseas situations next year.

The Trust’s vision is that these medical students gain experience on their electives to ultimately contribute to the quality of rural health services in all regions of New Zealand. Since 2011, 27 medical students

have benefited from the Pat Farry Rural Health Education Trust’s scholarship programme. The latest scholarships will bring the total amount awarded by the Trust in scholarships and grants to $105,000.”

Cameron has also been part of the Rural Medical Immersion Programme (RMIP).

The RMIP was developed by Dr Farry in six rural locations around New Zealand and sees around 20 fifth year students a year to learn under the guidance and mentoring of experienced general practitioners, rural hospital generalists, and tertiary hospital specialists.

‘RMIP has been a unique opportunity to better understand the world of rural health and improve my fundamental skills. It clearly plays an important role in ensuring healthcare access for our rural kiwis by supporting the training of tomorrow’s rural doctors.’ Cameron says.

Business rises from ashes by moving to Ōtaki

BY FRANK NEILL Now a thriving business on the main highway, State One Designs has literally risen from the ashes thanks to its move to Ōtaki.

The shop was once based in Te Horo, next to the well known and well loved Red House Café.

State One Designs’ owners, Nick and Jo Churan, had been trading in Te Horo for almost nine months when tragedy struck.

On 8 July 2015 Red House Café burnt to the ground.

The flames came within two metres of State One Designs and the only thing that saved the shop from the flames was a slight southerly breeze that kept the fire from spreading.

Nick and Jo saw first hand how close the flames came to destroying their business.

They dashed up from their Paraparaumu home when they heard news of the fire.

Traffic was at a standstill, however, so they ran the last kilometre.

“We watched to see the café burn to the ground and to see our future.”

The future of the business they had worked so hard to establish in Te Horo was about to move towards failure.

“We decided to keep open after the fire,” Jo says.“But in the first month we had only one customer. Sadly, the site was hazardous, which is why no-one stopped.”

“We did consider pulling the plug on State One Designs,” Nick adds.

Then Nick and Jo saw an empty shop in Arthur Street. They decided to make the

move to Ōtaki.

“The reason we were so keen to knuckle down and give it our best shot was that Sate One Designs became Jo’s world,” Nick says. “She gave up her career in Wellington because of it.

“So we knuckled down and got stuck in and gave it our best shot.”

“When we moved into Arthur Street, we weren’t in main street Ōtaki,” Jo says.

“We were tucked away.

“But suddenly we were next to a café again and we had foot traffic.

“We still had to do the hard yards, but if we hadn’t come to Ōtaki, we would have closed our doors.”

Red House Café meant a lot more to Nick and Jo than being a good neighbour. The two first met at Red House Café 10 years ago.

Nick and Jo first opened State One Designs just over seven years ago.

They were invited to open a shop in Paekakariki, where the BP service station once stood.

“They said we have this space next to Coffee at Ian’s, do you guys want to open your shop there,” Nick says.

“So we took them up on the offer.

“We traded there for just under a year.

The public’s interest was growing and we needed to be in an area where access was easier.”

So they moved the business to Te Horo.

That was a big undertaking. They were moving into what had been a stall. It was run-down and overgrown.

Jo and Nick Churan in their shop State One Designs

In fact, it was derelict, so Nick and Jo spend about a month upgrading it. All that work went down the drain, though, because of the fire that destroyed not only the Red House Café, but also their Te Horo business.

Interestingly, Nick and Jo received a phone call about a month after the fire from the landlord of where the shop now stands on the main highway.

The landlord asked if they would like to look at the shop, and they did. However, the declined the offer because of the rent.

Soon after, they saw an empty shop in Arthur Street, moved in, and traded there for the next 2½ years.

Since the move to the main highway, they have increased the fashion range,

featuring Jo’s designs, which they introduced while in Arthur Street.

These include designs for men. “There’s a lot of fashion out there for the women, but not a lot out there for the boys,” Jo says.

As well as moving the shop to Ōtaki, Nick and Jo have also moved house from Paraparaumu to the town.

“We absolutely love our business being here,” Jo says, “and we love living here.

“We think Ōtaki will boom with the expressway coming,” Nick adds. “We all know the road is coming and we would like to work with other businesses on plans to make this the place to be.”

8

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

I Surrender my shotgun

BY PHIL WALLINGTON Recently I wrote about my thoughts about the current firearms buy-back and amnesty scheme which will run through until December. For me it is a bit of a “no brainer”. I had in my gun safe, a shotgun which has now been declared a prohibited firearm, after the Christchurch massacre.

If I hand it over for destruction, I can save myself a lot of grief.

I shall be reimbursed for the value of the weapon. Getting rid of the gun also means I am complying with the law of the land as passed by Parliament. The penalties for non-compliance are daunting. Stiff fines, imprisonment, confiscation of firearms licence and all my whatever guns I may own; not to mention having a criminal record which can and does restricts much travel or holidays in countries outside NZ The Day Arrives I chose to hand in my prohibited shot gun at a two-day amnesty event a few weeks ago. It ran on a Friday and Saturday and was very well attended. Naturally, the police were out in force and carried side-arms, but once through the cordon, I found myself taking part in a happy, low-key social event.

Tea, Coffee, biscuits and guns.

I entered the venue with my gun contained in a carry-bag, which is part of normal procedure, nowadays. It is also mandated in the NZ Firearms Regulations. Needless to say, a person openly carrying a firearm in a public place is enough to alarm many people. It is likely to be reported to police, as “a gunman at large”, which, in turn, will most likely lead to a callout of the Armed Offender’s Squad. That then becomes a problematic scenario, which can see armed officers detaining the gun owner and confiscating the offending firearm.

Charges could then follow.

But all was calm at the Amnesty Handover Event. Inside the building I presented my gun to be safety checked by officials. It is sad but too true: many firearms accidents and fatal shootings are caused by the careless handling of guns, especially the failure to check if the firearm is loaded, or even has a live round in the breech. “I didn’t know the gun was loaded”, is often the excuse offered, but never accepted, when some bystander is wounded or killed in a completely avoidable “accident”.

At this stage of proceedings, I was met by a few familiar faces in uniform. Our own Sergeant in Charge of the Ōtaki Police, Sergeant Phil Grimstone, and the Manawatu Area O.I.C., Superintendent, Sarah Stewart, were there to meet and greet the shooters and to answer the various questions we all had about the procedures. The whole atmosphere was quite relaxed and very friendly. Many of the numerous police officers attending, spent some of their time serving us with tea, coffee and even chocolate biscuits.

We all got a number and in turn, we were processed. I had a minor dispute about the

make and exact model of my shotgun, which was resolved after an inspection by a couple of the independent valuers and firearms experts on hand. They were there to settle any arguments about compensation. But if that didn’t work there and then, there was an appeal process which might be followed.

After completing a minimal number of official forms, I was advised what sum the Government (and the NZ Taxpayer) was offering me. It was a fair trade in my opinion. Within one week, the funds were deposited in my bank account.

Suffice it to say I am happy with the whole process of surrendering my firearm. I have already put the money towards attending the recent wedding of my eldest niece in Australia. It was definitely, a win-win deal, in my opinion.

I did notice that the people attending the buy-back event were generally fitting the demographics of The Conversation’s survey. Most, like me were older European men. There were a few women shooters and quite a few, fairly ancient chaps, who were handing in multiple guns and rifles and some boxes of ammunition.

These I presumed, were older shooters taking advantage of the amnesty to surrender all their guns, have their firearms Licences cancelled and to give up forever, shooting and hunting as a pastime and hobby.

Is NZ Safer?

The Government’s gun buy-back scheme runs until December 20th. By early October more than 30,650 firearms had already been surrendered. So, if you are a firearms owner of a prohibited weapon and you have not handed it in by that date you just might not have a visit from Santa but rather from a police officer, ready to seize your all your guns.

You will also probably experience the full weight of the law. That is the daunting prospect which has encouraged we,lawabiding shooters to do their duty and hand over prohibited items. Of course, as many in the community point out, criminals and members of gangs will have ignored the Amnesty and buy-back. They will still have access to illegal guns, and it is probable they will regard the new penalties as part of the risks they run, as professional criminals. Without doubt, there will be a “black market” in stolen and illegal guns although the prices will have gone up. So, does all this trouble and expense to the taxpayer make a safer NZ? The test will come in the future, but it is unlikely any terrorist or deranged person intent on homicide, will be deterred from their lethal purposes. As we see overseas, tightening up gun control has some beneficial effects but cannot prevent outrage. A car, a truck, a bomb made from ingredients described and catalogued on the internet, can all be used to commit mayhem. In Britain, where knife crime is endemic, laws are now being drafted prohibiting sales of knives to persons under 18 years. Good luck with that, when anyone can go to their local supermarket or hardware store and buy a set of six ultra- sharp steak-knives for the price of a couple of hamburgers.

I think the solution to many problems is better mental health awareness and screening. If people are acting strangely or making anti-social, racist or violent threats, they should be reported so the police should intervene.

Public safety is a responsibility we all share.

last few years in terms of having those relationships with central government and other agencies and we need to rekindle them.”

Mr Wanden is also keen to establish a better working relationship between elected councillors and the chief executive and his management team.

“Some of the most effective work we did in the last term was actually when councillors and management engaged with the public and themselves.

“The best outcomes came from those sorts of discussions. I don’t want there to be a “them and us” situation. I want that (relationship) to be as collaborative and open and transparent as possible.”

Noting that seven of the eight sitting councillors who campaigned for reelection were successful, the new mayor said he thought voters had acted responsibly and given serious consideration to the issues and their choice of candidates, a view backed by

Horowhenua’s very high voter turnout.

The legacy of three years of discord at the Horowhenua District Council (HDC) was reflected in a significantly higher voter turnout for the October election.

The result in Horowhenua also delivered the voters’ verdict on the performance of Michael Feyen who spent a great deal of time as mayor fighting his council, supported only by one ally, Ross Campbell, who did not stand for re-election.

Mr Feyen received 3,541 votes, down by a fifth on his 2016 winning total of 4,585 votes when he won just 138 votes more than four-term mayor Brendan Duffy.

By way of contrast, the winning margin of Horowhenua’s new mayor, Levin bookseller Bernie Wanden, who received 5,792 votes, was just over 2,000 votes ahead of second-placed Victoria KayeSimmons (3,737) with Mr Feyen (3,541) coming in third.

New Horowhenua Mayor optimistic

Horowhenua’s new mayor, Bernie Wanden, is optimistic that construction of the 02NL expressway from Ōtaki to north of Levin could start in two to three years.

“I’ve already had talks with NZTA in terms of their programme,” he told the Ōtaki Mail, “and they expect to release a plan before Christmas.

“The process will then unfold in terms of

the business case and designation for the O2NL expressway plus the safety improvements to the south, including SH57 as well.”

Despite the lack of progress for most of this year, Mr Wanden believes the project is actually not that far behind its original schedule.

“A contract has already been let and things are moving quite quickly. In two to three years everything will be ready for construction to start,” he said.

Just over a month since being elected, Horowhenua District’s new mayor, beating two other candidates including incumbent Michael Feyen, Mr Wanden is already working on his two main priorities.

“The first involves re-establishing relationships and fractured agreements, both within the local community and outside in the region and with central government and agencies in Wellington.

“I think we’ve missed out a little bit in the

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Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Artists Among us Showcased at the Māoriland Hub’s Toi Matarau

BY MADELEINE DE YOUNG Artists walk and work amongst us. Within our Indigenous world they are the creators and exponents of tuhi, tāmoko, whakairo, whatu, whakaari, te reo, waiata and pūrākau. This work now has a new home in Toi Matarau, a high-end contemporary Māori art gallery at the Māoriland Hub in Ōtaki’s Main Street.

Toi Matarau emerged out of the 2019 Māoriland Film Festival which brought together artists of all disciplines and from across the Indigenous world to Ōtaki to share their art and stories. This included artists from across the A.R.T. Confederation (Ngāti Raukawa Te Au ki Te Tonga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa) and from Te Wānanga o Raukawa working in both traditional and contemporary Māori art, street artist Theo Arraj and fibre artist Nikau Hindin alongside weavers and tāmoko artists.

On the opening night of the festival a compelling installation of modern day Māori women was unveiled at the New Zealand Premiere of Vai. This work, titled Kanohi Kitea by high-profile artist Suzanne Tamaki include five wāhine loved dearly by many: Nanny KK, Sonia Snowden, Tungia Kaihau, Rongomai Ropata-Te Hei and creator Suzanne Tamaki. These portraits continue to be a major attraction in the gallery, commanding many visitors who seek out viewings of these most regal and noble women.

A picture tells a thousand words but with Suzanne’s wit and expert eye for details provoke a response, her portraits invoke a thousand stories embellished with AR touches of animation and sound that can be viewed through the Suzanne Tamaki app transporting viewers to experience other dimensions.

Para Kore is central to the Māoriland mission and so came the birth of Trevor, Māoriland’s Kapōwai. Led by Jane Hakaraia for the Māoriland Red Carpet party, Trevor was made from recycled plastics and other unwanted debris demonstrating that with a bit of imagination trash can gain new life.

With the birth of the new year, Toi Matarau became a permanent gallery, launching with Matariki exhibition Tātai Whetū. The gallery is predominantly supplied by local artists and affiliated whānau and hapū of this rohe, but visitors may also find a smaller range of work from across Aotearoa.

Toi Matarau is a gallery that thrives thanks to the artists who contribute to it and in turn provides support to grow the careers of Indigenous artists in Aotearoa.

Kaitiaki Toi, Maakarita Paku leads business development initiatives, advice and mentoring as needed so that artists may gain an income and develop a brand for their work.

Toi Matarau is open to artists at all stages of their career as a means to advance the collective. Our youngest artist is 11 years old and we have a number of Year 9-13 art students who are learning how to make income for themselves with the support of their whānau, teaching staff and kura.

The calibre of artists are early in the development of Toi Matarau are impressive with graduates and teaching professionals of Elam, Toihoukura, AUT, Tōmairangi, Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, The Learning Connexion, EIT, Waikato University, Auckland University, Massey University, Te Puia, Whitireia and self-taught artists to name a few. There are also a number of collaborating artists from collectives such as Iwitoi Kahungunu, Hine Paekura, Te Kāhui Tōrea, Toi Māori, The Kuini Klub, Toi Tangata and a growing number of Toi Iho licensed artists.

The Summer will be an exciting time for Toi Matarau with two key initiatives underway.

Tai ki Uta will see the transformation of the Māoriland Hub fence line on Raukawa Street with stories encapsulating Ōtaki’s mountain to sea environment. Tamariki and taiohi of Ōtaki have begun to contribute their stories and imaginings of significant sites and waterways from the Tararua Ranges to the Kāpiti Coast. Final composition for the 60m fence line will see the next stage of this public installation take paint and brush to metal and is where the fun will truly begin under the guidance of local artist Theo Arraj and supporting artists. Stay tuned for further notifications.

In February 2020 we launch another NATIVE Minds series titled Ngā Kōrero o Kāpiti, where local speakers will discuss first encounters amongst Māori and Pākehā on the Kāpiti Coast.

Audiences will hear and learn about; Whalers of Kāpiti, Shipwrecks of Kāpiti and Voyagers of Kāpiti in association with uri of Ngāti Raukawa Te Au ki Te Tonga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa and the Ōtaki Historical Society.

In the meantime, Toi Matarau is open Tuesday - Thursday 11 am - 4 pm for visitors wanting to peruse the art on offer.

Items range from $10 to $3,000 and in the next couple of months avid fans will be able to shop online with the launch of the Toi Matarau Online Store. This will become the worldwide portal for international trade connecting our artists with more opportunities to advance their art forms and most importantly equip them with more selling potential, commissions and collaborations.

Our aim is to assist with business development opportunities that increase trade and export of toi Māori for local artists that provide economic well-being for them and their whānau.

Toi Matarau

Theo Arraj painting the Māoriland Hub Container

Trevor the Kapōwai holding place above Louis Baker at the Māoriland Hub, April 2019

Kāpiti Orchestra Wows Again

BY ANN CHAPMAN I love it when the Kapiti Concert Orchestra comes to Ōtaki.

It shows that we are part of Kāpiti and that we do have an interest in music. In fact, there are Ōtaki musicians who play in this orchestra.

Their latest offering held in the Memorial hall was an eclectic selection of littleknown pieces from the far north of Europe, Finland, Norway & Russia, and a selection of songs from Occitan in France thrown in for good measure.

Along with the usual superb playing of the orchestra this time we had the joy of

listening to a New Zealand-born Filipino soprano singing in the rare language of Occitan. This was a very modern singer.

Alexandre Gandionco eschewed the usual sheet music for an ipad.

Conductors seem to be getting younger and younger these days and I enjoyed the elegance of the hand movements of Luka Venter who has worked at the hands of masters in Florence, Berlin and London.

Sibelius, Greig, Canteloube and Borodin were the featured composers. Best of all was the Borodin Polovstian Dances, played here much better than I ever played it as a child.

1. Uruwhetū nā Tamarehe Rua, Year 9, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rito, Ōtaki, 2.

Taryn Beri, 3. Neke Moa

10

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019 organise the Annual Christmas Day Dinner, she was granted $500 to assist with costs.

Birthright Ōtaki received $500 towards their Christmas barbecue party for Birthright clients.

Kāpiti Arts Trail 2019

Public Speaking:

BY MARGARET ANDREWS There is always excitement at the first meeting of the newly elected Ōtaki Community Board meeting when members are sworn in, and the chair and deputy elected.

On Guy Fawkes night there were no fireworks at the meeting on November 5 when Group Manager Janice McDougall welcomed Mayor K Gurunathan and new Board member Stephen Carkeek to the meeting.

The Legislation for New Elected Members was read explaining the laws relevant to their role. Board members were each called to formally declare and sign their understanding and agreement.

Chris Papps was re-elected chair and Marilyn Stevens Deputy Chair.

The Ōtaki Community Board provides a useful forum for residents to come and interact directly with the Board about matters concerning the town.

Public Speaking: Community Grants: Ōtaki College students received $500 to assist students’ costs to attend the National Evolicity Competition in Hamilton. Pupils are taught to design and make e-vehicles, the team won the regional competition in Palmerston North and is now heading to Hamilton. Teacher Chris Georgetti spoke to the application.

Rebecca Whitt, Rentables Ōtaki was granted $500 to assist with costs of organising the Ōtaki Christmas Window Display Competition. The competition is open to all businesses in the township and railway retail areas. Prizes will be awarded for the best daytime window and the best night time window.

Robyn Fellows has volunteered to

Bruce Henderson a member of the Ōtaki Cycle Group spoke re the Kapiti Coast cycle network noting the delay in the promised shared pathway for walking, cycling and horse riders during the construction Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway.

Greypower’s Kevin Burrows advised that the organisation holds four community workshops in Kapiti, assists and provides various community services and counselling.

Residents’ Concerns:

Ōtaki College Principal, Andy Fraser acknowledged the previous Board and their support of young people in this town and ways the college was able to be used by the community.

He spoke of concerns at the high level of mental health issues and suicide numbers which affected students and that our towns increasingly come from the south “it would be very helpful if all our services came from the same point.

Schoolboy, Oscar Kendrick spoke of road safety issues around Ōtaki, particularly speed along Waerenga Road near his home where one fatal accident occurred this year, noting the numbers of children walking and cycling to and from Ōtaki School and the kindergarten and Ōtaki College.

Oscar is a 10 year old schoolboy who prepared his own submission and read it to the Board. He received a round of applause for his efforts.

Draft Calendar for 2020: The Ōtaki Community Board’s meetings for 2020 are scheduled for January 28, March 10, April 28, June 16, August 4, September 22, November 10. All meetings are held in the Gertrude Atmore Supper Room at Memorial Hall.

The art of the jewellery maker, Waikanae’s Kim Entwhistle working on sizing of a silver ring before completing it, surrounded by the “tools of the trade”. She first got interested in making jewellery as something she could do with her daughter. She works mostly in silver and glass creating a rich variety of items - rings, pendants, bracelets. She was working at the Artel Gallery and Store. Her daytime job is as a general practitioner.

The Kapiti Arts Trail was very successful for Ōtaki potter, Kevin Haste, his ceramic native birds including piwakawaka (fantail), tui, kotare (kingfisher) kea and keruru (wood pigeon) kiwi and saddleback were popular with the visitors to the Artscape Gallery.

Below: Kevin’s Moon Pots

Hannah Shand working on one of her black pen bird pictures at the Artel Gallery.

She outlines the birds in light pencil before bringing them to “life” with the strokes of a pen. Using photos of birds and kawakawa leaves from her garden,

she photoshops the leaves and sets the composition, the completed works Above: Keruru.

Solitude: the remains of the huge tree stump from Ōtaki Beach, by artist Lis Falconer from the Artscape Gallery.

Photo and words on this page: Margaret Andrews

11

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

attracts art and culture lovers

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY

Last month saw the return of the annual Kapiti Arts Trail, an eclectic, four day showcase of the region’s wide community of artists and their work. With more than 100 artists (from traditional to cutting edge, soul-soothing to challenging, comfortable to provocative) taking part, many sharing their work in studios and galleries (including a new Hub set in the historic Lindale Village), the Trail produced a positive, buzzy vibe.

“Many venues were humming,” says Rosie

Salas, Kapiti Coast District Council Arts Advisor. “The beautiful weather on the first weekend brought many people out, and despite a heavy spring rainstorm on the last Sunday, visitors continued hitting the Trail, with many taking away some wonderful Kapiti art.”

There was a notable focus on the cultural heritage of Kapiti this year, with participants working in traditional and contemporary Nga Toi Maori, and although too soon for a full report, early feedback from artists and visitors sugget

Berry Jam

Waitohu teacher Kylie Plunket says her Room 6 children were looking at measurement for maths (weight and capacity) and after reading Jam by Margaret Mahy they decided to have a go at making their own jam — along with the lemonade scones of course!

1kg of frozen raspberries or boysenberries 750g sugar Juiceof2lemons

Margaret Hunt at work in her Ōtaki studio. A potter for many years (using gas and electric kilns, and experimenting with glazing and surface techniques), Margaret produces a variety of miniature to large floor pots, using porcelain, stone and earthenware clays. Her studio displayed her new styles alongside older ceramic work, ranging from delicate colours and objects to more robust, vibrant shades of turquoise, blue and red.

Rosemary Mortimer is a printmaker with a difference. She uses salvaged objects (such as the vintage, leather shoes in photo), often discovered on her walks along Te Horo and Otaki beaches.

Her printmaking is the original kind (genuine, dirty, hands-on stuff) and Rosemary ran many demonstrations during the Trail, particularly on the last day, “it was pouring with rain, an ideal time to keep printing and doing demonstrations, though surely it was only the truly committed who ventured out.”

Rosemary has a passion for bird nests, and many prints feature these (it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the print and the real thing). They are lovely creations, and sit well in the peaceful, rural-based studio. .

Jennifer Turnbull at Jailhouse Studio and Garden.

It’s always a pleasure to wander through the Jailhouse’s beautiful garden (lovingly tended by her mother, Jennifer tells me) and follow the path to her studio. Born creative, Jennifer’s cookery background is often reflected in her work (vessel based), and she says she is aware of the importance of the way a piece functions, “Food being central to our lives, I want a vessel to be complimentary and part of our day-to-day life.”

Jennifer is an award winning potter and produces one-off decorative and sculptural works as well as her domestic ware.

These local artists all participated in the recent Arts’ Trail Kim Kobialko Studio Reset Rachel Pfeffer Totaranui Glass Studio Rosemary Mortimer Printmaking .com Artel Gallery + Store Featuring works by Hannah Shand and Kim Entwistle; and Vincent Duncan, Ronda Thompson, Ernest Papps, George Thompson, Lee Russell, Warren Ixer.

Artscape Gallery Local Art & Craft Cooperative

Jennifer Turnbull Jailhouse Studio Margaret Hunt Paula Archibald Clay Art Judy and Mike Page Summerstone Ceramics Te Whare Toi o Hori/Hori Gallery Hori Gallery. Hori, Lorna May, Robyn Kahukiwa, Pania Barrett, Raegan Bregman.

Lorna Tawhiti Rod Graham Clayworks Sonia Savage Savageart

Te Whare Toi o Hori/Hori Gallery is a giant step from the politically correct, which is exactly what the gallery sets out to be. One can’t help be moved by the art on display, much of it disturbing (and sad), thought provoking, and often challenging.

The Hori label was created in 2012 and has been the centre of artistic and social debate (it was developed to draw attention to significant Maori and New Zealand issues).

The gallery showcases artwork by celebrated Maori and Pakeha artists including Hori, Lorna May, Robyn Kahukiwa, Pania Barrett and Reagan Bregman.

Eat your jam within a couple of months, or keep it in the fridge.

12

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Gardening with Flower garden

Produce Tomato baskets, pots and punnets, delicious with our Eggplants, Capsicums and Avocados! Veges, herbs and salad greens too.

Flowering Hydrangeas are blooming beautiful We have multiple varieties including ‘Hadfield Rose’, Bodensee, Le Cygne, Birgit Blue and Sabrina.

Shop The Christmas season is fast approaching! Browse Watson’s Christmas shop and extensive nursery. From gardening to giftware, there’s a little something for everyone!

Gift Vouchers, giftware, garden and pest products & pots are . available year round. Monday - Saturday 9am - 5pm closed Sundays.

17 Bell Street Ōtaki (06) 364 8758 www.watsonsgarden.co.nz

SOME STUNNERS FOR YOUR GARDEN!!

HYDRANGEA Magic Pillow Great groundcover flowering from December to March.

50-60cm high, 1.2m wide.

XMAS TREES Beautiful Picea Abies.

Keep in a pot and grow on for future years.

Other varieties available..

NEOMARICA “Walking Iris” Stunning indigo blue flowers throughout summer. Clump forming, handsome fanlike foliage.

Hardy. Rarely available.

TE HORO GARDEN CENTRE Main Highway & Te Horo Beach Rd TE HORO PH 364 2142 we have some treasures for you....

Garden tasks for December

Lift spring flowering bulbs once leaves have died down completely, and store in a cool, dry place.

Mulch your shrubs with compost or peat to conserve moisture and protect roots from hot sun, particularly rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.

Roses can still be planted, but keep plantings well watered. Remove spent flowers regularly to encourage new blooms.

Prune banksias and proteas after flowering to maintain shape.

Tie dahlias and delphiniums and other tall growing plants to stakes as they grow.

Cuttings can be taken from the new growth of many shrubs and perennials. Cut 8-12cm lengths from healthy plants early in the day. Plant up and keep cuttings out of direct light.

Pinch out the tops of plants that tend to grow tall and spindly. This encourages a more compact form.

Sow seeds of ageratum, aster, cosmos, cyclamen, gerbera, petunia, phlox, rudbeckia, sunflowers, verbena, viscaria and zinnia.

Plant out seedlings of alyssum, aster, dahlia, dianthus, gypsophila, impatiens, marigolds, petunia, phlox, salvia and verbena.

Fruit and vegetable garden

Use compost, grass clippings or sawdust to mulch around your vegetable plants. This helps raise nutrient levels in the soil and prevents moisture loss by evaporation.

Make sure vegetable seedlings are kept moist at all times. Young seedlings that dry out, even briefly, seldom mature into productive plants. Water with a hand held hose rather than a sprinkler – this will help to conserve

our summer water supply.

Keep feeding tomato plants on a regular basis, but avoid fertilisers high in nitrogen. Remove laterals (side growths) on tall tomato varieties as they grow and ensure they are firmly staked.

Sow seeds directly into soil: beans, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, swedes, turnips, radish, lettuce, spinach, silver-beet and sweet-corn. Make successive sowings every two weeks.

Plant out seedlings of lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, tomato, sweet-corn, beetroot, pumpkin, courgette, capsicum, eggplant, melon, cucumber and gherkin.

Continue to mound up soil around growing potato plants.

Feed fruit trees for bumper crops later, and water well to prevent fruit drop. A layer of compost applied at the tree base (but not touching the trunk) will help conserve moisture.

Make sure passion-fruit is well watered and mulched.

Grapevines should be stopped in their growth by pinching out excess growth beyond a point where fruit has set – the final crop will be much improved by this treatment.

Lawns

Raise lawn mower up a level for summer season – lawns will quickly dry out if cut too short.

Water in dry periods and apply lawn fertiliser to keep lawns fresh and green – water in well after application.

Second thoughts

Fill outdoor containers, pots and window-boxes with flowering annuals such as petunias, marigolds, phlox or impatiens for Christmas and summer display.

Focus on growing radishes Small and peppery or big and gentle, there is more to radishes than those little red or white salad additions we give our children to grow (because they’re so quick and easy).

Radishes are an old vegetable – so old they were included in rations for workers building the great pyramids in Ancient Egypt, and are a good, low kilojoule source of vitamin C and potassium.

The traditional red and white salad radishes grow well in spring and autumn, or during mild winters, but not so well in hot and dry summers – they need sun and adequate moisture to ensure steady growth.

They’re not fussy about soil, but prefer a well worked, friable one with reasonable fertility and good drainage.

Pests and diseases are usually of little consequence, but they can develop rot and wilt problems in heavy soil. This can happen if weather is particularly warm or humid, or there is excess rain (or perhaps you over-water).

The secret of success is to grow them quickly and eat them while they are still very young – much like the French, who eat their ultra-young radishes with a little unsalted butter and crusty bread.

European radishes are among the fastest vegetable seeds to germinate. Sprinkle along a row of well-prepared soil, and within three to seven days the first leaves will appear. Four weeks later, and you can be pulling radishes for salads (or eating straight away in the garden).

Popular varieties to try include the mild and crisp ‘Easter

Egg’, and the small, round ‘Red Cherry’ F1. One of my favourites, ‘Gentle Giant’, grows a little larger without getting too peppery.

Black radishes include ‘Round Black Spanish’, a black-skinned, white fleshed, European winter radish, larger and milder than the better known red and white ones. It can be grated into salads, but can also be used as a cooked vegetable and in soups and stews.

Asian radishes, often called diakon or mouli, are variations of the same cultivated species as European radishes, but are different in size, taste and how they are used. They take twice as long as European radishes to mature – up to two months, but hold their crispness and mildness much longer. They can be either a long tapering root, or a shorter round one, much like the smaller European radishes.

‘Supreme Mino’F1 is a summer variety, crisp and juicy in texture, with a mild flavour, and specially suited to growing in warmer weather.

Asian radishes can be pickled, or added to soups, stir fries and casseroles. They are also sweet and crisp enough to use raw, grated into salads with a sweet and sour dressing.

13

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

the Ōtaki Mail

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY viv.bailey@xtra.co.nz

Summer gardening

Christmas charm in a pot A native of Mexico and Central America, poinsettias are one of our most popular potted plants. Their bright red blooms appear over Christmas and the summer holiday period, making this brilliantlycoloured, subtropical plant forever synonymous with the festive season.

They’ll bring a splash of colour to your home décor long after the excitement of Santa has passed (newer cultivars are longer lasting in contrast to many available a few years ago).

Poinsettias belong to the Euphorbiacaea family, and also bloom in cream, lemon, pink and peach. However, what appear to be the plant’s petals are actually a bunch of upper leaves (bracts). The flowers are small, green or yellow and grow inconspicuously in the centre of each leaf bunch.

Although an indoor plant they can be planted outdoors in a warm, frost-free spot but will need a loving touch – light, warmth and water, but not too much of the latter. As indoor plants they need exposure to morning sun and shade during the hotter part of the day.

Once the first blooming period of your potted poinsettia is over, it should be Christmas charm in a pot

transplanted into a bigger pot (plants tend to be sold in small pots), and after repotting will need plenty of rest to get used to its new soil. Place in a warm, bright spot, but not directly in the sun (give just enough water so as not to dry out and fertilise six to nine weeks after repotting). Your plant probably won’t need repotting again for two to three years.

If you decide to transplant outside you’ll need to do a bit of preparation (choose a location in full sun for most of the day but no light at night – avoid areas illuminated by street lights). Keep your plant inside during the winter months, water sparingly and don’t fertilise during this time. When the weather warms up, cut off any faded leaves, leaving behind the spiky stems.

Place your potted poinsettia outdoors for two to three weeks to allow plant to acclimatise to both light and temperature.

Dig a hole in your garden bed that allows the poinsettia to sit at the same level as it did in the pot, place plant in the hole and firm soil around base. Apply a two inch thick layer of mulch around the base to help it retain water. Water thoroughly and fertilise regularly – monthly is ideal.

You can have a lovely, flourishing garden during the summer months without being water-greedy, and saving precious water can also save you time and effort in the garden.

Mulching keeps moisture in the soil longer, making it a top priority for water-wise gardeners. The most effective mulches have big pieces that let water through and into the soil. These chunky bark or stone-based mulches also absorb little water themselves, so they don’t take it from the soil. Finer mulches tend to soak up more water, and can actually increase water loss from the soil.

Succulents

Mulch: bark or stone?

There is an enormous range of plants able to cope with less water – proteas, succulents, grevilleas, leucandendrons, lavender, euphorbias and many natives. Deep-rooting A systems, small, waxy, greyish or hairy leaves, or the ability to store moisture are among the adaptations that make these plants efficient users of water.

Euphorbia

native of Mexico and Central America,

Water wisely – droplets of water from a sprinkler may look pretty, especially lit by the setting sun, but it’s actually falling in all the wrong places – pathways, leaves and plants that don’t need it.

Water should be targeted only at the roots of specific plants (such as new plantings, vegetables and roses) and the best way to do this is by hand-held hose or watering can.

Lavender

Leucadendron

Another idea is to partially bury a cut-off plastic bottle or flowerpot at the base of your newly planted trees or shrubs. Fill this when watering and the water will be directed straight to the root area.

Although you can occasionally throw water from the rinse cycle of your washing machine onto ornamental plants without a care, grey water should not be used on edibles, and with long-term use detergents can cause salt build-up in the soil.

You can improve the water-holding capacity of your soil by digging in plenty of compost. Light sandy soils, heavy clay and everything in between will benefit with improved structure and water retention.

Lawn grasses require heaps of water if they are to remain lush and green. During a dry, hot summer those big expanses of lawn become a high-maintenance luxury item.

One option is to bite the bullet and let the lawn go brown through the hottest part of summer – it will green up again in spring. Another alternative is to replace part of the lawn with hard landscaping materials, such as pebbles, gravel or paving, or a dry garden mulched with stones.

New plantings need more water until their roots establish – let the rain do the majority of the watering for you by planting in spring and autumn.

Small pots and containers dry out quickly so choose larger containers and fill them with drought-tolerant species. Waterretentive products such as gels added to potting mix help your container plants survive dry periods, and ‘re-wetting granules’ like Saturaid are designed to improve water penetration. They can be added to sandy, dry soil (especially good with new plantings) as well as pots.

4

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

NEW PEKAPEKA TO ŌTAKI EXPRESS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Ōtaki Māori Racing Club

ER ST

DITTM

LEGEND ITO WA

New walking accesses TE MAN

County Road vehicle access

RD NTY COU RĀHU

UAO RD

D EY R ALL HU V

The Milk Station

I RD

As work progresses on the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway, some exciting changes are taking place. To help the community navigate its way around the new road network, we have developed some simple graphics.

RĀHUI ROAD

TO LEVIN

FUTU

RE E XP

RESSWAY

Pare-o-Matangi Reserve (CLOSED)

The Rāhui Road Bridge will be open to traffic and pedestrians in early December.

BP Station

Signalised crossing

HARIAT A ST

NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY

MILL R D

County Road: As per the graphic to the right, County Road access remains oneway. If you’re trying to access County Road from the northbound lane of State Highway 1 (SH1), you will still need to follow the detour.

TO TRAIN STATION

TO WELLINGTON

DUNST AN ST

THIS DIAGRAM IS NOT TO SCALE AND INDICATIVE ONLY

Pedestrians: With the footpaths open on either side of the bridge, you’ll no longer need to detour via County Road to get from Rāhui Road to SH1. Please use the pedestrian light crossings provided to cross SH1.

The Pare-o-Matangi Reserve and the shared pathway between the Rāhui Road Bridge and the Ōtaki Railway Station remain closed for construction.

Local Arterial Road: Traffic will switch on to the Local Arterial Road (LAR) at Mary Crest in early December. Part of this new road is temporary and part of it will remain as a section of the new local road.

Switching traffic flows on to the LAR allow the project to construct the expressway. A second traffic switch in this area

is planned for early next year.

LOCAL ARTERIAL ROAD

SITE S ES ACC

TEM

PORA

RY A L

TEMPORARY

IGNM

ENT

TO LEVIN

TEMPORARY

STA TE TO WELLINGTON

Marycrest (Makahuri) SITE ACCESS

HIG

HW AY 1 SITE ACCESS/EXIT

NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY

THIS DIAGRAM IS NOT TO SCALE AND INDICATIVE ONLY

15

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

WAY TAKING SHAPE INTERCHANGES The project is often asked how people will access the expressway once it’s opened. These graphics give a clear view of how to access and leave the expressway.

And while we’ve got your attention, the PP2Ō team would like to thank you for your patience.

We know major construction projects such as this one cause a lot of disruption. ŌTAKI GORGE RD

SOUTHERN INTERCHANGE

SOUTHBOUND ON-RAMP

OLD HAUTERE RD

TO WELLINGTON

TO LEVIN NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY OLD SH1 NORTHBOUND OFF-RAMP

1

SH OLD

D

ON R INGT

ADD

NORTHERN INTERCHANGE

Ōtaki Māori Racing Club

Ōtaki River

TE MAN

RĀHU I

UAO RD

D

EY R ALL HU V

ITO WA

D

TY R

N COU

The Milk Station

RD

OLD SH1

TO WELLINGTON

Pare-o-Matangi Reserve

SOUTHBOUND OFF-RAMP

NORTHBOUND ON-RAMP

BP Station

OLD SH1

Signalised crossing

HARIAT A ST

NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY

THIS DIAGRAM IS NOT TO SCALE AND INDICATIVE ONLY

MILL R D

TO LEVIN

DUNST AN ST

HAVE A WONDERFUL, HAPPY AND SAFE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR

16

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

The godwits have landed

BY BELINDA MCLEAN

is famous for his pest control work, catching rats, mustelids, hedgehogs and other pests over many years.”

Lyndsay also praised the untiring work of Barbara Littlejohns, treasurer and nursery manager for many years and of Sue and Iain Watson, Iain as long-term auditor and Sue as an energetic worker in a variety of roles.

“Our work would not be possible without the finacial and technical support of the Wellington Regional Council, for which we are immensely grateful. Thanks also to KCDC for their advice and provision of staff members for regular help in the dunes and at the nursery,” she said.

It would be a stretch to say that the godwits were celebrating the greater health and abundance in the Waitohu estuary thanks to the group’s work, but human hopes are high that the message will spread and more godwits will visit over this and future seasons.

Three godwits sighted at the Waitohu Estuary, north end of Ōtaki Beach, were a good omen for members of the Waitohu Dune and Stream Care Group, who recently celebrated 20 years of restoration work in the area.

Small clusters of godwits are uncommon and sporadic visitors to Ōtaki Beach, according to Sue McIntosh, long-term bird-watcher and chairperson of the group for 11 years. “We’ve seen an increase in godwits at Kuku Beach, north of Ōtaki, but still not many making their way down here,” she said.

Sue’s tireless restoration work over her time as chair-person got high praise from current chair-person Lyndsay Knowles, speaking at the group’s 20th anniversary party, held at the group’s nursery in Moana St. “A big thank-you to all present and past members and in particular Sue McIntosh, who was our fabulous leader for 11 years,” she said.

“Our combined work has resulted in such positive changes in the biodiversity and stability of this special, fragile eco-system.

“I would like to acknowledge the the first people of this area, whose kaitiakatanga inspires us all and which is continued today by the support of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rito, whose children and teachers come each week to help and learn.”

Lyndsay acknowledged the group’s founding members, especially Margarette Treacher and Geoff Monk for their 20 years of dedicated and continuing work. Founding members Geoff Monk, Margarette “They have conributed in so many ways, Trecher and Viv Webdale celebrate 20 years’ lots of hard physical work, but also work at Waitohu Estuary hosting events and meetings in their very accommodating living-room. And Geoff

Move your business to brand new premises

After their long migration, bar-tailed godwits summer over at the Manawatū Estuary, with occasional visits to Ōtaki Beach. photo credit: Terry Oliver-Ward

What's ON

• Community Korero – What can we do to facilitate better PG services. Taringa Roa Dec 16 12.30 and at 6pm • Te Horo School traditional Christmas celebration on Fri, 13 Dec, 5 pm to 7 pm • Hogsnort Bulldogs Goodtime Show. RSA Dec 9 • Combined Churches Carols in the Park Sun 15 Dec 3-4 Haruatai Park • Stationhouse Social Club Railway Hotel with Andrew and Kirsten London Thurs 12 Dec 6.30pm

• Regular Events

• Ōtaki Women’s Community Club market. SH1 every Sunday 9– 3 • Waitohu Dune Care Group Mondays, north Ōtaki Beach 9-11 • Te Horo Market Te Horo Hall, first Sunday of the month. 10am – 12.30 • The Hope Cafe 19 Aotaki St Thurs 3-5 Creative workshops for the non- arty • Te Horo-Ōtaki Ukulele group, te Horo Hall. First and third Friday 10:30-12 From beginners to experienced, all welcome. 364 3335. deeandtim@gmail.com • Ōtaki Library Books and Bickies 2nd Fri of the month 10.30-11.30 • Budget Advice Service. Citizen’s Advice Bureau Ōtaki. Trained Financial Mentors.

06 364 8664 or 0800 367222, or call into 65A Main Street see p24 • Carols at Dusk. Ōtaki Domain. Sun 8 Dec. 4.30 pm-8 pm

We would love for you to join us to remember those no longer with us

Great Lease opportunity Office warehouse /workshop facilities Top location & growth area just off expressway Ōtaki Commercial Park

• New build area 420m 1 -2 units,100%NBS seismic rating • 2 ele doors 3.8m x 3.0m, 2 x Offices /kitchenette, toilet /wet shower bathroom • Cat 6 cable, LED lighting, Solar external lights,6.0m Stud at lower hip warehouse • Save $$$ Solar power system & EV plugs, Dble glazed, parking, Security fence, Solar power gate, Sustainable building & security alarm system • Ready for you- walk in turn key est April 2020 • This will not last - be in quick

Call Stuart now 021 877 142

Special events such as birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas are often difficult times for those who are journeying through grief. Our Bereavement Support Service and Funeral Home staff have put together a special gathering acknowledging the ‘gap’ this Christmas.

We warmly invite you to our Remembrance Service at the Kapiti Coast Funeral Home Chapel, family and support people welcome.

No RSVP required. Service can be live streamed from our website.

A Remembrance Card will be provided to write a personal message on and then place on the Christmas tree.

You are also welcome to stay for refreshments.

Date Thursday 12th December Time 7 pm - 9 pm Venue Our Chapel at 11 Hinemoa Street Paraparaumu

17

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Otaki River Seats returned safely

BY TREVOR WYLLIE

Waikanae and expresses thanks to the Police and to Hammer Hardware Ōtaki for the donation of restoration materials.

The seats will be installed using a more secure fastening method.

Two sturdy, stained wooden seats that were unbolted and stolen from the Friends of he Ōtaki River estuary viewing platform eight months ago have been recovered by Levin Police.

They had been painted white and Eric Matthews of FOTOR has restored them to the original colour.

Eric said the seats are significant as they were donated by members of Rotary District 9940 and made by MenzShed

Eric Matthews, FOTOR stalwart restores the estuary seats to their original beauty

Ō

Community Representatives for Grants Allocation Subcommittee

The Kapiti Coast District Council invites applications from interested and qualified persons for the roles of community representatives for the Grants Allocation Subcommittee.

Community representatives are required for the: • Creative Communities NZ Scheme – three community representatives • Community Grants Scheme – two community representatives The principal aims of the Creative Communities Scheme are to: • Provide creative opportunities for local communities to engage with and participate in local arts activities; • Support the diverse artistic cultural traditions of local communities; and • Enable young people under 18 to engage with and actively participate in the arts.

Applications for this Scheme are considered twice-yearly; the first meeting is in April 2020.

The Community Grants Scheme aims to strengthen local communities by providing financial support. Funding is provided to not-for-profit organisations to assist in the achievement of a social environment that makes the Kapiti Coast District a good place to live. Community grants may be allocated to proposals that seek to achieve one or more of the following outcomes: • • • •

Ō

COMMUNITY KŌRERO Ō

Building resilient sustainable communities Encouraging greater community participation Improving the quality of life of the participants Working in partnership with a range of community groups, including iwi.

The Subcommittee meets annually in October to consider grant applications.

Membership is for three years until October 2022.

The preferred applicants, once appointed by Council, will be inducted into their roles and remunerated for attendance at meetings.

Applicants should provide a statement of claims, outlining their knowledge, skills and expertise relating to the local community, including local events, commmunity activities and arts activities, together with two letters of endorsement.

For further information please contact Vyvien Starbuck-Maffey on (04) 296 4700.

Post applications to: Grayson Rowse Democracy Services Advisor People and Partnerships Group Kāpiti Coast District Council Private Bag 60601 PARAPARAUMU 5254 Or email applications to:Grayson.rowse@kapiticoast.govt.nz The deadline for applications is 12 noon Friday 10 January 2020.

PB 60601 Paraparaumu | Ph 04 296 4700 | Fx 04 296 4830 | www.kapiticoast.govt.nz

Taringa Roa Monday, December 16th 12.30pm and again at 6pm manager@otakimedical.co.nz

18

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Ōtaki Update November 2019

Ōtaki Community Board Chair confirmed

The Ōtaki Community Board held their first meeting for the triennium last week and re-appointed Chris Papps as Community Board Chair. Marilyn Stevens will be taking on the role of Deputy Chair.

The Ōtaki Community Board covers an area that includes North of Marycrest, Te Horo, Ōtaki North to Forest Lakes. The Board administers three grants - the Community Grant, Sporting Activity Grant, and the Building and Resource Consents Grant. For more on our community boards, visit kapiticoast.govt.nz/community-boards.

Look out for toxic algae Get prepared for an this summer emergency

Preparing for future growth

With the warmer weather upon us, it’s normal to expect some degree of toxic algae in the Waikanae River and Ōtaki River during the summer. It’s important that you know how to spot it as it can be incredibly poisonous for our furry four-legged friends. Check out the Greater Wellington Regional Council website for more info.

A new region-wide 30 year growth assessment shows that our District is well placed to accommodate expected growth over the next ten years but we’ve got some more work to do to accommodate 30 year growth projections. Kāpiti can expect an estimated population increase of around 13,000 by 2047. This equates to an estimated 6000 new dwellings.

 gw.govt.nz/toxic-algae

It’s never too early to think about how you, your whānau and your neighbours can get better prepared for an emergency. Having a plan can help everything go a little more smoothly if an emergency strikes.

Get to know your neighbours, talk about how you can help each other out in an emergency and exchange contact details so you can stay in touch.

To check if you’re in a tsunami evacuation zone and for tips on getting prepared, visit our website.  kapiticoast.govt.nz/cdem

We’ve been in growth mode for some time and work is already underway to ensure we meet Kāpiti’s future needs. You can read the full Housing and Business Capacity Assessment on our website.  kapiticoast.govt.nz/hba

kapiticoast.govt.nz

19

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Rāhui rugby women celebrate outstanding season

BY FRANK NEILL Rāhui women’s rugby team celebrated an outstanding season at its inaugural prizegiving on 15 November.

Grace Kaihau won the two top trophies when she was named both the most valuable player and the player’s player of the year.

As its name suggests, the player’s player of the year is won by the player who receives the most votes from the players who took to the field during the 2019 season.

These two trophies came just a month after Grace received national recognition when she was named in the New Zealand Development Team.

Three other players were also presented their awards at the prizegiving.

Te Rina Marsh-Wilson was named the most improved player.

Christina Tuitupou won the award for best back, and Hinekura Connor-Phillips was awarded the prize for the best forward.

One trophy which was not awarded at the prizegiving, as it had already been awarded the Rāhui women’s rugby team was, nevertheless, promiment at the evening.

This was the Horowhenua Kāpiti Rugby Football Union Women’s Championship Cup. Rāhui won this when they defeated Paraparaumu by a massive margin to win the competition final on 23 October.

Not only did Rāhui win the final, they did so convincingly, winning 78-12, scoring 14 tries to two.

That win meant the team, coached by Makaore Wilson, was undefeated in their first season of championship rugby.

In fact they scored more than 50 points in every match they played.

Hamish Barham Chemist, Main Street, Ōtaki has a huge variety of Christmas gift ideas to cater for any age and gender on your present list.

Kayla Ralph (left) is holding the Turkish lamps and Christmas themed cushions which are proving popular for mums and grandmas, while Rachael Davies has found great value designer jandals and socks for everyone’s taste putting the ultimate twist on the fun of giving socks for Christmas. They’ve brought in a great selection of choices to tackle those hard to buy for types. Ask them for some suggestions.

Above: The four award winners (from left): Te Rina Marsh-Wilson, Grace Kaihau, Christina Tuitupou and Hinekura Connor-Phillips.

Left: Rāhui’s co-captains, Kylie Gardner (left) and Shay-Marie Peneha, with the Horowhenua Kāpiti Rugby Women’s Championship Cup. Right: Grace Kaihau, the winner of the top two trophies, the most valuable player and the player’s player of the year.

Watson’s Garden Centre, Bell Street, Ōtaki, can help you with gifts for anyone whether you want something outdoors or indoors.

Adrienne Carpenter (left) and Kirsty Webber also have a great selection of Christmas decorations. They have heaps of gift options for you to select from, birdhouses, planters, garden tools, garden ornament, items for walls, wind chimes, and a massive selection of their of plants for any garden or home.

20

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

HAPPY CHRISTMAS from

Erin & Conor and staff Titoki Street, Otaki open 7 days Closed Xmas day, Boxing Day New Years day, 2nd Jan otaki@hammerhardware.co.nz

364 8389 Free local delivery

Ōtaki Meats

18 years in business in Ōtaki still going strong!

KĀPITI COAST DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETINGS IN December 2019 Tuesday

Paekākāriki Community Board Meeting

7.00pm

St Peter’s Hall, Beach Road, Paekakariki

Thursday 5 December

Public Forum

9.00am

Council Chambers, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu

Thursday 5 December

Strategy and Operations Meeting

9.30am

Council Chambers, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu

10 December Paraparaumu Raumati 7.00pm Community Board Meeting

Coast Community Church, 57 Hinemoa Street, Paraparaumu

Tuesday

3 December

Thursday 12 December Public Forum

9.00 am Council Chambers, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu

Thursday 12 December Council Meeting

9.30am

Council Chambers, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu

Thursday 12 December Grants Allocation Committee – Waste Levy

1.30pm

Council Chambers, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu

come and see Shane and the team to order your Christmas Hams and BBQ meats, Rolled Roast, Free Range products

Attendance at Meetings (1) Cancellation - Meetings are sometimes cancelled for a variety of reasons. To confirm whether a meeting is on, please ring the Democracy Services Manager on (04) 296 4700 or toll free on 0800 486 486.

(2) Venue – Please note that all meetings will be held in the Council Chambers, Civic Administration Building, 175 Rimu Road, Paraparaumu, unless otherwise specified.

(3) Public Forum – a 25-minute session will be held before every Council and major committee meeting (9.30 am – 9.55 am) in which you can speak on any topic. Bookings are essential. Please book ahead with the Democracy Services Advisor – online booking form can be found on website.

(4) Public Speaking Time – Under Council’s Standing Orders (Appendix I) a period will be provided after the start of each meeting for Public Speaking Time to allow for oral submissions relating to agenda items, and at the end of meeting for other items not on the agenda. If you wish to address the Council or its Committees during Public Speaking Time please book ahead with the Democracy Services Advisor and you will be given an approximate timeslot. People who book ahead for Public Speaking will be given precedence over those who do not.

(5) Live-streaming: Council and Standing Committee meetings are live-streamed.

(6) Agendas are available two days before the meeting at: • Our website www.kapiticoast.govt.nz; • Council’s Libraries and Service Centres.

Wayne Maxwell Chief Executive

PB 60601 Paraparaumu | Ph 04 296 4700 | Fx 04 296 4830 | www.kapiticoast.govt.nz

SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER 2019 - 6.30PM 17 PARATA STREET - WAIKANAE FESTIVE ENTERTAINMENT Ruth pretty ice creamS FOODBANK donation APPRECIATED

21

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Media Muse I lie in the bath and I have a good laugh, I’m sorry I’ll write that again.

That should, of course, have been: “I’m sorry I’ll read that again” —the title of a classic (1960s-1970s) BBC radio comedy series featuring Tim Brooke-Taylor and John Cleese and other stars of future television shows such as The Goodies and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Okay, Millennials? A bit before your time.

The saddest thing about people in their late 20s to early 40s (Millennials) is that their memories seem to cut out around 2015 or their first avocado smoothie whichever came first. In the Millennial’s Bible, the Book of John’s starts: “In the beginning there was the Internet, and the Internet was with Facebook and Facebook was with Twitter and Twitter was with Trump.”

I call them The Phone People. We’ve gone from The Bone People to The Phone People in 35 years. In movies, we’ve gone from Once Were Warriors to Now Mostly Couriers. Politically, we’re now where George Orwell’s Nineteen EightyFour meets William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

Keri Hulme’s novel was published in 1984, the year that David Lange’s Fourth Labour Government came into office. It won the Booker Prize, as will my sequel The Phone People if I ever get around to finishing it.

Meantime, I lie in the bath and I have a good laugh as I listen to I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, Dad’s Army and The Missing Cryptoqueen on BBC Sounds.

I’m a techno-woke Boomer and I’m listening to podcasts on a remote speaker via Bluetooth from an iPad via wi-fi from a router linked to the phone line carrying data off the web via the internet.

Podcasts are like radio with one big difference: you can’t just turn them on and listen. First, you have to find them and, before that, you have to know where to look.

If radio had been invented after television — stop me if you’ve heard this before:— we’d be marvelling at its portability and simplicity.

Radio and television over the internet is more complicated. If required to use the adjective “slippery” in a sentence, you

by Manakau’s Tom Frewen would be hard pressed to find a better example than an iPad in a bath full of warm, soapy water.

Better to do the business on the screen before getting into the bath. Then you can lie back and wallow until you realise that you’ve forgotten to turn on the speaker.

If the speaker’s battery is not flat because you forgot to turn it off last time — very easy to do — you can get back in the bath and lie back until you realise that the speaker must have lost the Bluetooth connection with the iPad. The water’s getting cold but you log out, log in, retrieve password from the list pinned to the wall by the phone, get back in the bath .This time it’s the iPad battery that’s flat, the internet is down, the router needs rebooting, the water’s cold and you burst into tears.

The government has now decided to put the television on the internet. It’s Labour’s way of avoiding — for the third time — having the non-commercial television that around two-thirds of the adult population say they want.

Instead a “new entity” will be unveiled before Christmas which, I can tell you now, will be like getting socks and a hanky again when you were hoping for that pony Santa had been promising if you were good.

It’s been in the planning for over a year, ever since Jacinda Adern’s first broadcasting minister, Clare Curran’s mumbling meltdown and resignation in September 2018.

On February 28 this year, TVNZ decided — with the tacit agreement of its shareholding ministers, Grant Robertson and Kris Faafoi — that, instead of paying a dividend, it would be “investing” $17 million in making local content.

On April 17, RNZ called for proposals for a “video delivery capability project” to distribute content “to a range of systems, and an integration into the Freeview on Demand platform.” Tenders closed on May 22, a week and a day before Mr Robertson delivered his “wellbeing” Budget in the House on May 30. Buried in the back of the Budget was $3.5 million to cover the cost over three years of “the development of Radio New Zealand’s audio-visual distribution

platforms.”

“What is Intended to be Achieved with this Appropriation?” the Budget asks itself. Answer: “This appropriation is intended to achieve more New Zealand programmes and other content being available across a wider variety of platforms, when, where and how the audiences want.”

In terms of being a Policy Initiative, according to another note, the money is aimed at “Strengthening Radio New Zealand - the Cornerstone of Public Media in Aotearoa.”

This is in the Government’s Budget document not, as you might think, some publicity blurb for yet another gamechanging new way of watching television — as you can find on the webpages of Brightcove, the American cloud content services and video platform provider which signed a contract with RNZ on September 30.

Describing its platforms as “next-gen TV or TV 2.0 or simply TV (which is very likely to be watched on mobile devices...)”

Brightcove claims to supply “stunning TV-like experiences to every device”.

TV-like, note, not your actual TV. “Streaming services are just the new TV channels,” Britghtcove’s publicity blurb continues. “Think channels, people, as in the TV channels you grew up with . . . consumers will do what they’ve always done: vote with their remotes. Change channels, churn, and build their own bundles and micro-bundles that will include content as specific as This Is Us and Black-ish, subscribed to on a perepisode basis.”

Like podcasts. But not like television channels produced by broadcasters with regular news bulletins put together by newsrooms staffed by professional journalists, popular entertainments including soaps and reality game shows for blobbing in front of, and live sports, concerts and major news events that only free-to-air television can turn into experiences shared simultaneously by many millions around around the world.

The audience for Parliament TV, by way of contrast, is too small to measure. A few hundred at most, similar to the number of viewers who, for reasons best known to

themselves, watch RNZ’s Checkpoint on their laptops and phones. Audiences of a few hundred have little commercial or political significance compared to the hundreds of thousands tuned into mainstream radio programmes in the morning and the 6pm television news bulletins.

Without a national daily newspaper and with almost all our print publications in foreign ownership, the audiences for mainstream radio and television are the repository of the power that an independent Fourth Estate can wield when holding politicians to account and exposing commercial malpractice.

This is what the government will destroy by putting its radio and television on the internet, fragmenting the audience and robbing it of its power.

Carols in the Park Haruatai Park, Mill Road, OTAKI

15th December 3-4pm

If wet we will meet at Otaki Presbyterian Church, Mill Road, Otaki

Brought to you by the combined churches of Otaki.

Presbyterian - Rev Peter Jackson Catholic - Fr Alan Roberts Rangiātea - Rev Marie Collin The Hub - Pastor Richard Brons Marist Mission - Pā Piripi Cody SM and Pā Pita Healy SM Anglican - Rev Simon Falconer and Rev Jessica Falconer Baptist - Pastor Roger Blakemore

Message in a bottle

BY DANIELLE BARRETT Seafarers tales of old sprang to mind this month when Kapiti Island Nature Tours’ guest Heather Blissett made an exciting discovery of a message in a bottle.

Heather had spent the night at the lodge at Waiorua Bay & was walking along the shoreline at the North End, near the ferry drop off point, when a green glass bottle with a stopper sitting atop a small pile of seaweed caught her eye.

Kapiti Island Nature Tours encourages guests to stick to the kaupapa of “taking only photos & memories, leaving only footprints” when visiting the island, and the nature reserve has strict rules prohibiting removal of items from the island. Heather took the bottle back to the lodge to share her find and it was ceremoniously opened over dinner at a table of guests from all around the world.

Not quite an old fashioned S-O-S from a marooned mariner, the bottle turned out to have been launched into the Southern Indian Ocean between Crozet & Kerguelen 20 months ago. The author of

the note was Matt Jensen Young onboard Australian sailing yacht Drina which in 2017 was attempting an expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica & the Southern Ocean. Matt is a professional seaman with an interest in ocean currents.

Another bottle from the Drina which had been launched after the one Heather found, from a different location was discovered at Ōtaki Beach a month prior to the Kapiti Island find.

Heather described her time on the island as “an awesome trip and (the) best way to wag life for 24 hours” with the message in a bottle making her visit “even more magical”.

This is the first known finding of a message in a bottle on Kapiti Island.

Heather’s find is very rare; Whānau member Rose Webber commented that despite spending 30 years beachcombing on the island she had not yet had the good fortune to find a message in a bottle.

Kapiti Island whānau and manuhiri (visitors) alike are sure to keep a lookout for more treasures this summer from Tangaroa!

For all Kerbing, Paving, Floors, Drives, Paths and Concrete Work FREE QUOTES Phone Nathan Howell 027 554 0003

22

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Ōtaki - Education Town a learning eco-system

A shared experience in a foreign land

BY KAHUKURA KEMP In October this year Toi Whakarākai staffers Pip Devonshire and Chris Gerretzen participated in the 7th International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Chengdu, a city of 16 milliion people, in the Sichuan Province of China, home to 40 million people.

There they encountered aspects of great positivity, finding the people to be very hospitable. “Their old people are like ours – they look after the mokopuna and are always working. There seems to be a familiarity with our old people.” And the food? Although a lot of it was unfamiliar it opened their eyes to a whole different culture. “The variety was amazing, it was cooked beautifully and thoroughly enjoyed, especially mushrooms, tiny eggs and dragon fruit.” Chris tried frog (and brought back photographic evidence).

Both acquired a passable knowledge of eating with traditional chopstick utensils and had a go at making them during the workshops, which even though not entirely perfect in symmetry, were at least functional.

Chris about to enjoy his frog

Pip and her chopsticks

Pip was intrigued by the huge en masse population but particularly the sense of the immediate neighbourhood - kuia and koroua enjoying time with whānau at the end of the day and old men sitting around playing mah jong. She felt comfortable in their midst, but very aware of her manuhiri status. “They were familiar looking but you knew you were a foreigner.” For her it was an opportunity to experience a snapshot of what life is like somewhere completely different.

Their accommodation surroundings comprised mass high rise apartments, which she says made her super grateful to be able to live here in Aotearoa in open spaces.

A little language was learned with the help of an interpreter – enough to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. A few people knew a bit of English and an app was available which was useful for communication but there was also some good old-fashioned miming going on e.g.

‘I need to mimi’ in which a message can be got across universally no matter where you are in the world. They in turn taught

their interpreter ‘kia ora’ and ‘hei apōpō’.

The festival provided opportunities to share their knowledge and skills in with others through demonstrations. Pip says “the essence of our visit was to demonstrate, along with other artists, what is valuable to us within our culture.”

Interaction with others was an amazing opportunity to see first-hand the value and beauty of traditional arts from lands around the globe. Of note were Kata Simons from Hungary, an egg painter; from West Macedonia Rini, a lacemaker and his wife Emine, a traditional bridal costume maker; Betty Joury from Jordan who worked with mosaics; from Estonia were Meelis, a woodworker and carver of traditional spoons and Liis who used a single bone needle to produce woolen goods; Khin a puppet master from Myanmar and Goran a silver filigree craftsman from Serbia. Others came from Egypt, Albania, Japan, Latvia and Poland.

They were also able to observe screen printing, Chinese lantern making, paper cutting, indigo dying, loom weaving and the aforementioned chopstick creation.

Pip took some exhibition pieces (haronga (shoulder cape), backpack, a sculptural piece and a kete muka). Demonstrations used harakeke and mussel shells to show muka extraction (which will be taught at the waananga in 2020) and a pihepihe (another type of shoulder cape). Chris took a whalebone brooch, a dremel to demonstrate bone carving, a putorino and various hei tiki to illustrate different styles. While there he carved a wheku (mask) in the Taranaki style which drew a large appreciative crowd – who initially

thought it was Chris’ interpretation of the Chinese Monkey King – a mystical figure who has magic powers.

As is usual at events anywhere there are people who work thanklessly behind the scenes. “The cleaners at the festival worked very hard and they were nice people so we were glad to leave gifts for them.” Chris gave the whalebone brooch to a woman whose restaurant, a noodle house, they had eaten at. “She was so hospitable and she came to the festival. I gave it because it was like going home to have a meal and it evoked memories of our own culture where one is invited into a home.” The festival organiser was gifted a kohatu (donated by Duane Watt) carved by Barry Whatu, a Te Ati Awa stone carver and the interpreter was given a wheku and kete.

Since the pair’s return home they have maintained ongoing contact with various artists through Facebook. Pip says “it would be cool to see a mini festival of this type held in Ōtaki to demonstrate the crafts we have and to build an appreciation of what other cultures value.” Indeed it would.

Poipoia te kākano kia puawai.

Visit us at 144 Tasman Road, Ōtaki Phone us at 0800 WĀNANGA Visit our website at www.wananga.com Email us at tetomonga@twor-otaki.ac.nz

Chromebooks: have they made a difference?

BY JIM MATHESON The kura and schools of Ōtaki are now well into the second year of their involvement in a programme to strengthen learning across our community.

Through Te Reanga Ipurangi Ōtaki Education Trust and the contributions of all our whānau, most students in Ōtaki have their own chromebook for use in class.

This investment by our community is supported by an investment by the Manaiakalani Education Trust to provide two full time digital learning facilitators to work with our teachers. Makaore Bevan-Wilson works with teachers in Māori medium and Vicki Archer works in English medium. The programme is also supported by the Woolf Fisher Research Centre of Auckland University.

A chromebook on its own does not lift achievement but with the right support it can be an important tool in learning. The Manaiakalani programme is focussed on strengthening teacher skills to support our learners to be at home in a digital world.

Tracking the impact of any particular activity is difficult in education. Being part of the research by Woolf Fisher gives us some idea of the impact the programme is having and helps us understand where we need to increase our efforts.

We do not yet have good measures to recognise progress in Māori medium, but Makaore is leading work on developing those. The Woolf Fisher research tells us that our young people enter our schools on average behind the national norms for

reading, writing and maths.

We know that when young people leave Ōtaki College they are at or above national norms for achievement, and when they leave our kura they are above national norms. So overall our education community is doing ok, but we aspire to do better. Within those norms and averages both locally and nationally there is considerable disparity.

In English medium we know that all our students are making steady progress, but we also know that we are not yet accelerating the achievement of those who start well behind their peers. We know all our students experience a significant drop off in their learning over the summer holidays and it takes almost a term to catch up to where they were the previous year.

Use of chromebooks appears to be having a positive impact on writing skills but not yet sufficient impact on reading and maths.

The most important influence on learning is the skills and capabilities of our teachers. Teachers are supported to use digital devices in their teaching in several ways. Vicki and Makaore work with teachers and classes in an ongoing way supporting learning every day.

We run intensive professional development programmes where over a course of one day a week for nine weeks teachers have the opportunity to build a much deeper knowledge of digital teaching. To date 28 teachers and leaders

from all kura and schools have completed this programme. We now have a sizable pool of digitally competent teachers in our community.

Three of the graduates from our intensive professional development programme have been chosen to participate in special programmes offered by Manaiakalani.

Kerianna Stirling (from Ōtaki School) and Megan Nelson-Latu (from Ōtaki College) have been accepted into the Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher programme and Hinewā Taurima (from TKKM o Te Rito) has been accepted to become a Manaiakalani Google Class on Air teacher.

This is an important recognition for the skills and abilities of our teachers and a direct benefit from the collaboration across the kura and schools in Ōtaki. We look forward to the impact on learning in Ōtaki that will come from their special projects The research team observe some of our teachers in the classroom and provide us with information on the extent to which teachers are using practices that have the most impact on learning. In comparison to last year the research has identified a small growth in teachers using the most effective practices.

Over the coming year will be to continue to address disparities through a focus on strengthening those teacher practices that make the most difference to learning.

To reduce the impact of the ‘summer drop off’ many of our students will be able to take part in a programme of blogging.

This will be available in Te Reo and English over the summer break. Talk to your school or kura about participating.

Overall the impact on learning has been positive. The skilled use of chromebooks can create extra learning time. We have grown the skills of many of our teachers.

We believe we can do better through being clearer about the teacher practices that make the most difference to learners.

We need to extend our professional support to more of our teachers. We need to continue addressing the disparities in attainment that persist in our community.

23

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Ōtaki College News November 2019

www.otakicollege.school.nz

From the Principal Andy Fraser Senior Prizegiving

• College Skirts must be worn by female students to pōwhiri in line with the College commitment to uphold Ngati Raukawatanga.

There will be two school ties: the current tie is to be worn by Years 7-12 and there will be a new Year 13 tie which is currently being finalised.

There is no longer a black skirt option for Year 13s.

Shoes no longer need to be black leather, but must be plain black with no other colours.

Blazers are now compulsory for Years 11-13.

If you have any queries regarding the full uniform requirements, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I would like to formally congratulate all of our outstanding prizewinners, but particularly our Dux, Brian Van; Runner-up to Dux, William Tam; Sander Scholar and recipient of the Chairperson’s Award for All-round Excellence, Lauren Blakeley and 2019 Sportsperson of the Year, Damien Doyle.

Congratulations to our 2020 Heads of School Team.

Associate Heads of School are Claryce Cutler, Morgan Gould, Alex Lundie, Maddy McAlpine, Keegan Ryan, Karen Su, Jacob Walker and Kiri Winiata-Enoka. Emily Georgetti is our Deputy Head Girl, Damien Doyle is Deputy Head Boy, Kahe Nakhla is Head Girl and Jacob Gates is Head Boy. I am sure this team will continue to progress the initiatives undertaken by our current Heads of School as well as launching new projects of their own. I very much look forward to working with them in the coming year.

Arrangements for Year End

Our Junior Prizegiving will be held on Friday 6 December at 1.00pm in the College Hall. I would like to extend an invitation to all whānau and to the Ōtaki community to attend our final formal event for the year.

The last day of College is Monday 9 December.

College will close at 1.00pm on this day. Arrangements for buses will be confirmed via email. Teachers will then be engaged in four days of professional development and preparations for 2020.

2020 begins ...

Damien Doyle

Full school return will be on Monday 3rd February.

The day will begin with a pōwhiri. New students and whānau should gather on the tennis courts at 9.30am.

Please note the uniform requirement for all female students to wear skirts to pōwhiri.

Marlan Trading will be open for College Uniform fittings Monday to Friday 9.00am-4.30pm from 21 November–20 December and from 7-31 January 2020. They will also open Saturday 11 and 25 January from 10.00am-12.00midday. After 31 January normal opening times will apply (i.e. Fridays from 1.00-4.30pm or by appointment – ring Kirsten on 027 466 3317 to arrange a time).

The office will be open for chromebook and stationery sales from 11.00am on Monday 27 January and from 9.00-12midday and 1.00-3.00pm on Tuesday to Friday that week.

Ordinary office hours: 8.30am – 3.50pm will commence on Monday 3 February.

Wednesday 29th January: enrolment day for any new students who have not yet filled out their enrolment forms. Year Level Deans will be available to take enrolments.

Brian Van

William Tam

Uniform 2020

Lauren Blakeley

To help parents plan for their holidays the following dates are now available for the commencement of 2020.

In an acknowledgement that there are now positive shifts around the creating of a gender friendly uniform, Ōtaki College has reviewed its uniform policy and can now inform the community that there are three key uniform options that are now available to all students.

Full details, with a pricelist from Marlan Trading, are available on our website - www.otakicollege.school.nz/ about/enrolment-and-uniform.

A summary of these options follows: • Shorts (Years 7-13) must be worn with a blue polo shirt.

• Trousers (Years 7-13) must be worn with a white shirt or blouse and a school tie.

• College Skirts (navy and gold tartan) must be worn with a white polo shirt by Years 7-10 and with a white blouse and school tie by Years 11-13.

Our 2020 Deans are: Years 7&8: Megan Nelson-Latu mnl@otakicollege.school.nz Years 9-11: Natasha Simpson nsp@otakicollege.school.nz Years 12-13: Anne Hagan ahg@otakicollege.school.nz Senior Dean: Janice Brown jbn@otakicollege.school.nz International Dean: Avatar Loorparg alg@otakicollege.school.nz Thursday 30th January: Senior Course Counselling Day Friday 31st January: New students are able to meet their Kaiarahi/Homeroom teachers from 10.00am-1.00pm.

A letter giving detailed arrangements will be sent home to all newly enrolled students prior to the Christmas break.

Ngā mihi nui, Andy Fraser, Principal

24

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Ōtaki’s History

Contributed by the Otaki Historical Society and the Otaki Museum

HEALTH ON THE HILL

BY JUDITH MILLER Hospital services in Otaki have existed since the end of the 19th century. We have had a “cottage hospital” (a small local hospital) and a sanatorium, both on the low hills on the northern side of Mill Rd. The hospital was proposed by an Otaki GP, Dr James Malcolm Mason, in 1896 so that local people would not have to travel to Wellington or Palmerston North. Once the Wellington Hospital Board approved the hospital’s establishment, the Otaki community was very active in raising funds for it. The gala opening in 1899 was a major event in the town. The Governor, Lord Ranfurly, attended as did Premier Richard Seddon, the Bishop of Wellington, MPs and local dignitaries.

The local community was very protective of the hospital and managed to save it from closure several times. However, from 1933 it provided only maternity services and in 1945 formally became the Otaki Maternity Home. Generations of Otaki residents have been born there.

Closure was again threatened in the 1980s, despite a review demonstrating all the other services provided by the hospital. It finally closed in 1992 despite strong local opposition. The building remains open and is now operated by the Otaki Community Health Centre and it houses the Women’s Health Centre, District Health Board and independently provided services.

Ōtaki Rotary news

The sanatorium was also a result of Dr Mason’s interest in public health. Opened in 1907, it cared for patients with tuberculosis (TB). Exposure to plenty of fresh air was a major part of TB treatment at that time. The buildings were set in large grounds and patients helped develop the gardens. The sanatorium also operated its own farm producing eggs, milk, butter, vegetables and firewood. These were also sold to the hospital. Many Otaki residents worked at the sanatorium over the years.

There were also social activities provided by residents for patients and businesses provided special services. Changes in TB treatment and declining numbers of patients led to the sanatorium’s closure in 1964.

The sanatorium buildings remained unused until 1965 when Kimberley Home in Levin took them over for some of its residents. It was named Koha Ora and once more, local residents became involved. Service clubs built amenities and volunteers taught sewing, craft and music skills. Koha Ora closed in 1985 and residents housed back at Kimberley.

The buildings remained empty and were finally demolished in 1997. Only impressions of the foundations remain.

Otaki Museum’s new exhibition, Health on the Hill, covers the history of these two institutions: people, activities, services and local politics. It opens to the public on Friday 13 December 2019.

In Memoriam

BY GRANT ROBERTSON Over 30 Members, Partners, Friends and Family joined together to cater lunch for the 580 Big Bang Adventure Race competitors, workers, and marshals, in one of our major fundraisers of our year.

Held this year in beautiful conditions finishing at Kuku East Road, we continue to enjoy this hard work but social event immensely.

This week, we allocate the Douglas Walker Memorial Education Trust funds for the year. Ōtaki Rotary has received 3 applications, and the winners of this years funds, to support further education at University level for Ōtaki College Students, will be announced at our ‘Youth Night’ on Thursday 5th December.

Our Christmas function will be held on 12th December, after which we take a break for a month!

Looking ahead to the New Year, Ōtaki Rotary will be holding another Robbie Burns night, on Thursday 23rd of January at the Rotary Lounge. We had a great night last year, with several members of the public joining us, so if you would like to join us to celebrate all things Scottish, and the northern Bard, please ring Michael Fagg on 021 294 3039, or email mickel@slingshot.co.nz. Michael is also a good person to talk to if you would like to know more about joining Ōtaki Rotary!

In February, we have a group of Canadian Rotarians in town for a few days, where we will be showing off our District that we can be so proud of!

Roll on 2020, with fun, fellowship, fundraising, and good food! Ōtaki Rotary would like to thank all those who gave to and supported our projects in 2019

Piahana Carkeek (Tana) 26.6.49 - 5.11.09 Still sadly missed and loved forever by your extended Carkeek whanau. 10 years is too long not to have you with us Tana Carkeek, still very loved and much missed by the Warwick Family, gone 10 years too long

The winning team ‘Lightning speed robots’ from Porirua took out the top spot in the Big Bang Adventure Race, completing the event in just 3hrs, 39min and 29 seconds.

Otaki Sanatorium 1957, Otaki Museum Collection

CAB is your source of information, advice and empowerment in moments of adversity – Knowledge is Power!

The CAB is a champion of people’s rights, working to solve the underlying causes of the problems they face. We believe it is important that everyone in New Zealand can participate in their community and access the services they need. We think it is important that people who have less power in a situation are not exploited.

We provide free, confidential, independent information and advice to anyone. We help people know what their rights are and how to access services they need.

CAB holds an extensive knowledge base of information which we use to help people to know and understand their rights and obligations pertinent to their enquiries, know what options are available to them and how to use this information to get the best outcome. We try to give people the confidence and support they need to take action.

We use insights from our clients’ experiences to show when policies and laws and/or their implementation are having a negative impact on people. We work for positive social change.

Our ability to speak out about the issues affecting people

Te Pou Whakawhirinaki o Aotearoa in New Zealand from the evidence of our client enquiries ensures we have a solid foundation for our social policy work.

Our advice is free and confidential. We have the information to help Financial budgeting services are available. Trained you with your problems, or can point you in the right direction. financial mentors work one-on-one with clients to assist them with management of their financial affairs. A call, email or see us We are next to the budgeting service is offered for WINZ referrals.

Monday to Friday 9am – 3pm swing park by the We also help with referral to other agencies, including Memorial Hall 65a Main Street, Ōtaki Village lawyers, WINZ and Age Concern. The CAB helps with tel 06 364 8664 or 0800 367 222 advice about what to take to a referral and what to expect web www.cab.org.nz from a meeting. email otaki@cab.org.nz You can get our help by: • Legal & Employment Issues • Health, Human Rights • Benefit Entitlements • Personal Problems • Visiting us or email/call us between the hours of 9am to • Budget services • Transport issues 3pm Monday to Friday except on public holidays. Our • Housing & tenancy issues • Consumer Rights trained volunteers are there to look after you. You can • Neighborhood & other issues also visit our website: www.cab.org.nz and browse for information about your rights.

Free 20-minute Solicitor's Appointment • phoning us on 364 8664 or calling free on 0800 367 222 Foodbank donations — drop in • emailing us at otaki@cab.org.nz Rooms available for hire at reasonable rates

25

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Kia ora from the Ōtaki Public Library – Te Wharepukapuka o Ōtaki

Librarian’s Pick

by Andrea Barnes

The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village

by Joanna Nell I decided to ‘have a go’ at this book following the recommendation of a library customer. The main character is Peggy Smart – a widow who is puddling along in old age at a retirement village.

An old school friend moves into the village and eventually helps Peggy realise that she doesn’t have to fit into the stereotypical mould of old age, and that she can take a few more risks in life – even at her age.

With her newfound confidence, Peggy proves that she can still be ‘one of the cool kids’ and even considers the possibility of a love interest! Naturally Peggy has to deal with the usual ‘agerelated’ physical issues, as does her group of friends, along with trying to hang onto her independence when it comes to her overbearing children.

I did enjoy this book - it was a quick and easy read, and provided some very relatable chuckles along the way!

Girl, Woman, Other

by Bernardine Evaristo Teeming with life and crackling with energy – this Booker Prize winning novel has been described as ‘‘Masterful . . . a choral love song to black womanhood in modern Great Britain’ (Elle). From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, this is Britain as it has never been told.

Girl, Woman, Other threads together the diverse life stories and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.

They’re each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope…

Sword of Kings

Going By Train: The Complete New Zealand Railways Story

by Bernard Cornwell

by Graham Hutchins

His blood is Saxon His heart is Viking His battleground is England Uhtred of Bebbanburg is a man of his word. An oath bound him to King Alfred.

An oath bound him to AEthelflaed. And now an oath will wrench him away from the ancestral home he fought so hard to regain. For Uhtred has sworn that on King Edward’s death, he will kill two men. And now Edward is dying. As two opposing Kings gather their armies, fate drags Uhtred to London, and a struggle for control that must leave one King victorious, and one dead.

The twelfth installment of Bernard Cornwell’s New York Times bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England—”superior entertainment that is both engaging and enlightening” (Washington Post), and the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit Netflix series.

Born in an old railway town or love the romance of train journeys? Ever take the overnight train or stop for refreshments at Taumarunui? If so, this might just be the book for you.

Author Graham Hutchins is a long-time railway enthusiast and a frequent traveller on the New Zealand rail network. He provides a very readable, fully-illustrated account of the New Zealand railways story from colonial times to the present day. It includes personal anecdotes and a variety of images, including travel posters and trains of all descriptions. Hutchins also shows how railways have played a pivotal role in the development of New Zealand’s economy, towns and cities – helping to shape a distinctive culture. A very interesting read.

Ode to joy of Veterinary Medicine Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have come a long way in the last decade.

A huge amount of money, time, effort and hope is being poured into the research of bodily systems. New research data emerges almost on a daily basis.

With ever improving medical knowledge and skills, it is (almost) impossible for one practitioner to know everything or to be good at everything. This is fuelling the trend towards specialisation.

Most vet clinics work the same as when people receive day-to-day care by their medical GP, but then are referred on to a specialist, with a unique set of knowledge and expertise.

The vets have a vast knowledge of general health issues, their investigation and treatment options as well as surgical skills to deal with a certain array of procedures, like lump removals, dental treatments, speys, castrations, c-sections, foreign body removals and certain orthopaedic

surgery.

But when it comes to very complicated cases or surgery, a vet specialist, who is able to focus all their attention, energy, brains onto one small field of interest will be able to provide more in-depth diagnostics and treatments/surgery than your general vet practitioner.

In our area, Massey University is the place for specialist treatment their combined and accumulated specialist knowledge and equipment is near impossible to match in local clinic environments.

They offer a full set of specialist appointments during daytime but also criticial care and after hours emergency services. Their vet teams consist of specialists for referral appointments and during after hours are staffed by experienced, special night staff, who are specially trained to handle tricky cases and emergencies. They have an own

ICU unit, staffed by several veterinarians and nurses on site, ready to deal with whatever scenario might present to them during all hours of day and night.

They are capable of helping with lots of different critical and trauma care needs.

To name just a few examples, they can provide care to pets hit by cars, help with diabetes related issues, toxic substance swallowing, transfusions, If they have seizures or neurological issues, require

brain or spinal surgery.

Equipment as highly specialised as CT scans is available on site.

This service is complemented by their emergency hotline which, if in doubt, you can always call and ask for advice in the middle of the night.

Ōtaki Vets

269 Mill Road 364 6941 364 7089

contact@otakivets.co.nz www.otakivets.com Come and meet our friendly team

26

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Handy folk to know Health Womens Health AA Arthritis Ambulance Shuttle Cancer Support Stroke Plunket Helplines Mental Health Crisis Depression helpline Healthline Lifeline Samaritans Victim Support Youthline Alcohol Drug Helpline Community Citizens Advice Budgeting Foodbank Menzshed Community Club Timebank Birthright Cobwebs Community Patrol Amicus Pottery Mainly Music Genealogy Bridge Museum Historical Let’s Sing Ōtaki Players RSA Rotary Lions Environment FOTOR Transition Towns Waitohu Stream Care Energise Ōtaki Older People Age Concern Kids Scouting Toy Library Marriage celebrants Colleen Logue Penny Gaylor Roofer Ryan Roofing Taxi Ōtaki Shuttles Vets Ōtaki Animal Health Windows Window & Door Repairs

364 6367 0800 229 6757 364 6883 368 6369 06 367 8065 364 5213 364 7261 0800 653 357 0800 111 757 0800 611 116 0800 543 354 0800 727 666 0800 842 846 0800 376 633 0800 787 797 364 8664 364 6579 364 0051 364 8303 364 8754 362 6313 364 5558 021 160 2710 027 230 8836 364 6464 364 8053 364 7099 364 7263 364 7771 364 6886 364 6543 364 8731 364 6491 364 6221 06 927 9010 364 8871 364 8918 364 5573 364 0641 364 6140 0800 243 266 364 8949 364 3411 027 688 6098 027 664 8869 027 243 6451 364 6001 364 7089

Auto Central Auto Services Otaki Collision Repairs SRS Auto Engineering Builders Dean Hoddle Concrete Work Bevan Concrete Rasmac Contractors Koastal Kerb Estate Agents First National Harcourts Professionals Tall Poppies Property Brokers Funeral Directors Harvey Bowler I.C. Mark Ltd Kapiti Coast Funeral Waikanae Funeral Gardeni services GeesGarden services

368 2037 364 7495 364 3322 364 3322mput

Main Street Tuesday – Friday 10 – 4pm Saturday 10 – 1pm

MAIN ROAD SOUTH, LEVIN

0800 427522 0274 443 041 027 554 0003 364 8350 364 5284 364 7720 0274 792 772 06 920 2001 368 2954 368 8108 04 298 5168 04 293 6844

K.S. McFadyen & I.J. Buckley Ltd

FULL DIESEL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE

All C.O.F. Work Transport & General Engineering Tel: 06/368 2037 or 06/368 1591 (24hrs)

Insurance Inpro 364 6123 Nurseries 100&1 364 7084 Talisman 364 5893 Te Horo Garden Centre 364 2142 Watsons Garden Centre 364 8758 Kapiti Coast District Council General Inquiries 364 9301 Toll Free 0800 486 486 Ōtaki Library 364 9317 Ōtaki Swimming Pool 64 5542 Lawyer Susie Mills Law 364 7190 Locksmith Ōtaki Locksmith 021 073 5955 Mowers Mower & Engineering 364 5411 Plumbing About Plumbing 364 5586 Henderson Plumbing 364 5252 Ryan Plumbing & Gas 027 243 6451 Rest Homes Ocean View 364 7399 Enliven 0508 365483 Computers TechMan 022 315 7018 Sports Clubs To come, (when you let us know!)

Storage Otaki Secure Storage 0800 364 632

Please share your giveaways with us.

Every dollar goes back into the Otaki Community

Window & Door Repairs

I fix all Doors, Windows & Conservatories

SAVE $$$$

04 3393 880

364 8886

Locks * Rollers Handles * Stays Glass * Leaks Draughts * Seals

Call Mike Watson Free 0800 620 720 or Otaki 364 8886 Find me at: www.windowseal.co.nz Or like at: facebook.com/windowseal

BIRTHRIGHT OP SHOP 23 Matene Street, Otaki Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm Saturday 10am – 1pm

Good/Used clothing for sale

Baby clothing $1

Adult shoes $3 - $5

Children’s clothing $2

Lots of bric-a-brac from $1

Adult clothing $4

Assortment of antiques for sale

(or as priced)

We are always looking for volunteers to help in our shop – please see the Shop Manager for an application form.

• PPG Water Borne Paint System • (Environmentally Friendly) • Spray Booth • 3D Measuring System • Chassis Straightening Machine • Inverter Spot Welder • Crash Repairs • Rust Repairs • Plastic Welding • Free Courtesy Cars • All Insurance/Broker Work

It's your vehicle, you can tell your insurer who you want to use – Keep it local, call us today

Simon Taylor: Owner/Manager 3 Arthur St, Otaki Ph 06 36 47495

www.otakicollisionrepairs.co.nz

Otaki Shuttle Service

06 364 6001 Seven Dayaaweek week service Seven Day service

up until midnight

evening jobs need to be booked

Set Tarriff charges of $10 + $5 per passenger between Otaki beach & plateau • Further afield trips negotiable • Airport & bus connections EFTPOS available in vehicle

Special thanks to Paul Pearce Electrical for checking our electrical goods

Make a booking online at www.otakishuttle.co.nz

Ōtaki Churches welcome you ANGLICAN Ōtaki Birthright Inc wish to advise that we are having our AGM on December 4th at the CAB rooms, Main Street, Ōtaki at 7pm.

All welcome

Your trusted local crash repair specialist using the latest up-to-date equipment and technology

otakicr@gmail.com

Cobwebs Op-Shop

CENTRAL AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES

contact phone 364 5469

ŌTAKI Secure Storage • Secure storage • long or short-term • smoke alarms and security cameras • any size, from garden shed to house-lots 13 & 19 Riverbank Road 0800 364 632 www.otakisecurestorage.co.nz

9.30am 47 Te Rauparaha St 1st and 3rd Sundays Eucharist Te Horo St Margarets School Rd 2nd and 4th Sundays Eucharist 9.30am Manakau St Andrews 1st Sunday, Cafe Church, 9.30am 2nd & 4th Sundays, Eucharist 9am Ōtaki Rangiatea Church Services 37 Te Rauparaha St Acts Churches The HUB Sunday Eucharist: 9am Church viewing hours, school terms: Tel: 364 6911 157 Tasman Rd, Ōtaki Mon–Fri 9.30am–1.30pm 10.15 am Family service tel office: 364 6838 email: rangiatea.church@xtra.co.nz 10.15 am Big Wednesday Shannon Turongo Church, Poutu Marae Baptist Shannon/Foxton Highway Tel: 364 8540 3rd Sunday 11.30am Cnr Te Manuao Road/SH1 10am service Levin Ngatokowaru Marae Presbyterian Hokio Beach Road Rev. Peter L. Jackson 4th Sunday 11am Tel: 364 6346 CATHOLIC 249 Mill Rd, Ōtaki Ōtaki St Mary’s “Pukekaraka” Worship: 11am 4 Convent Road Cafe Church: Weekend Mass Sunday 10am 2nd Sunday 10.45am Weekday Mass Tues 9.30 Wed 9.00 Liturgy with Communion: Monday, Friday 9.00 Thursday 9.30 Kuku St Stephens, 9am first Sunday of the month Ōtaki

27

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Hartley Electrical Contracting Ltd Otaki General Electrical Contractors

For all your Electrical Requirements

Domestic Commercial Industrial Farm Mobile: After hours:

021 06

ŌTAKI LOCKSMITH RANCHSLIDER & KEYS cut WINDOW REPAIRS

RANCHSLIDER: Wheels & Locks - TRACKS REPAIRED

WINDOW: Hinges replaced & new catches fitted KEYS: cut LOCKS: repaired or new locks fitted

Phone Sam Whitt NOW

021 073 5955

Plumbing Gasfitting • Wetbacks • Residental • Commercial • Woodburners • Solar Hot Water Systems

Specialised repair No Travel Charge 418 364

751 2070

Email : hartleyelect@gmail.com

INCORPORATING WAIKANAE MEMORIALS AND KAITAWA CREMATORIUM

Covering the Kapiti Coast – Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu and Paekakariki.

04 293 6844

(24 HOUR AVAILABILITY AND SERVICE)

17-21 Parata Street | PO Box 300 | Waikanae 5250 info@waikanaefuneralhome.co.nz | www.kapitifunerals.co.nz

Phone: 0274 443 041 or 0274 401 738

• Earthmoving / Aggregate • Drainage Site Works / Section Clearing • Drive Ways Excavation / Tarseal / Hot Mix • Top Soil / Farm Roads

Roofing • New and re-roofing • Longrun coloursteel • P.V.C & Coloursteel Spouting • Repairs and Maintenance • Flashing Fabrication • Sheetmetal Work 0272 436 451 06 362 6595 Manakau

28

Ōtaki Mail – December 2019

Ōtaki Surf Lifesaving news

BY NIKKI LUNDIE

A number of our lifeguards have once again been selected by Surf New Zealand to run regional patrols over the Christmas holiday period. This means the beaches will be covered during the week from 10am to 6pm in addition to the weekend patrols supervised by volunteer lifeguards on a Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 6pm.

Summer is almost here and boy are we excited! You’ll be seeing a lot of new faces on the beach this season as we have a large number of new lifeguards qualifying as we speak. These new recruits have been working really hard to attain a swim time of under 9 minutes for their 400m swim as well as learning first aid, resuscitation and practical rescue skills.

This weekend our existing lifeguards will be performing a refresher test. This includes a swim, resuscitation test and first aid questions. It is designed to ensure our fitness and knowledge is up to the required standard in preparation for the season ahead.

Weekday patrols start 16th December and run to the end of January 2020. Weekend patrols begin 7 December 2019 and runs through to the weekend of 29th Feb / 1st March.

Two Ōtaki teams number one in tennis

BY FRANK NEILL Two Ōtaki tennis teams are leading their divisions, and are looking likely winners.

After five of the nine rounds, the senior mixed doubles are top of the mixed B grade table in the Tennis Central Interclub competitions. Ōtaki have won four of the five rounds played when the Ōtaki Mail went to press, having beaten Ngaio, Kilbirnie 1, Waikanae Beach and Kilbirnie. The Ōtaki Sports Club team drew their other encounter, against Johnsonville 1.

The team of Emma Whitehead, Ema Moore, Monique Moore, Hannah Grimmett, Gary Quigan, Heitia Raureti and Adam Shelton now have their eyes firmly fixed on promotion to the A grade.

The Ōtaki Junior A team, called The Racqueeters, is leading the Kapi Mana Mixed A Grade competition for players aged 16 and under, having won all three of their matches by mid November.

The team of Thorsten Edington, Robson Chapman, Archie O’Sullivan, Forest Glanville-Hall and Declan Prentice have beaten Whitby, Paraparaumu Beach and Titahi Bay. With two games to play, one against the weakest team in the competition, The Racqueeters are currently favourites to emerge the victors.

The team’s number 1, Thorsten has been

outstanding for Ōtaki, providing the other players in the team an excellent role model, while number 5 Declan is performing very well, given that he started playing tennis only this year.

Meanwhile the Ōtaki junior C team, The Hit and Misses, is currently second equal in its competition, while the Ōtaki Aces team is around the middle of the table in the Mixed Hot Shots under 12 competition, and really loving competing.

The Ōtaki Sports Club is running an open junior tennis evening every Wednesday at 4:30pm on the four courts at Haruatai Park.

Free and open to anyone to attend, the evening is consistently attracting 20 to 30 people.

Tennis in Ōtaki is looking really healthy, according to Hannah Grimmett, who chairs the Ōtaki Sports Club. “It is building up,” she says.

As well as football in the winter, the club also runs squash.

The next big event on the squash calendar will be the Tall Poppy Ōtaki Summer Open, which the club hosts in February each year. The upcoming open will run from 20 to 22 February next year.

“For us as a club, the main focus is to get more local events here,” Hannah says.

The club is looking for fun events as well, where the focus is more on the social than the competitive side.

Competition leaders The Racqueetrers (from left) Robson Chapman, Declan Prentice, Thorsten Edginton, Forest Glanville-Hall and Archie O’Sullivan

Over the past week, 150 year 7 and 8 Ōtaki College students have spent the day at the beach completing a beach clean up for the William Pike Challenge, learning basic first aid, water safety and team building activities. This day has been generously paid for by the Kapiti Trust in conjunction with our Ōtaki Surf Lifesaving Club and was successfully run by a number of our own lifeguards.

We can’t wait to see you at the beach next month! Remember to bring your sunblock, plenty of water to drink, some shade and your family and friends for a fun day out.

Ngāti Raukawa Basketball

Ngati Raukawa Basketball Club have continued a successful year with their U11 and U13 boys’ teams (pictured) winning the Muaupoko/Horowhenua Basketball Tournament last weekend.

Both teams were undefeated throughout the tournament.

Along with many hoops dotted around Otaki, facilities like Ngā Purapura have had a huge impact on basketball.

So it’s no wonder that the basketball Club membership is now up around 300.

William Taurima - Paxman to everyone - has been a huge driver of that success,

The Ōtaki Police Column The Armed Offender Squad (AOS) provides police with a means of effectively and safely responding to resolving situations in which there is a risk of firearms or similarly dangerous weapons being involved, and when weapons are directed against either members of the public, or the police.

There are AOS squads throughout New Zealand and are supported by Negotiation Teams and canine units.

Members come from all branches of police and operate on a call out basis.

The Ōtaki community may have noticed the presence of AOS in recent weeks.

Their deployment has resulted in the arrest of men who use weapons, violence, intimidation, drugs and drive the theft of property from people who have worked hard to earn what they have.

I sleep better with these men in prison and work with confidence knowing we

along with the parents volunteering to coach and manage teams.

“In Term 3 we hosted for the second year “Raukawa Whānau Social Basketball League”, says Paxman. “We had 16 teams, all local, with a social grade and a competitive grade.

The Club also promotes Te Reo on court.

“One of our biggest goals is to support te reo Māori revitalisation. We aim to normalise the use of te reo in the community through the sport of basketball - ko te reo kia Māori (let the Māori language be normalised),” says Paxman. are well supported by AOS. Thanks to information received from the public, police were able to execute a search warrant at a Levin address resulting in the recovery of 2 wooden bench seats that were stolen from Ōtaki Beach estuary earlier this year. They will be restored and returned to their rightful place in time for the public to enjoy over summer months. Public information was also paramount in identifying a group of Ōtaki youth responsible for two burglaries and senseless damage of the Ōtaki Health Camp.

I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the ‘Fill a Shoebox Horowhenua’ initiative. Last year over 1500 children from Ōtaki to Tokomaru aged 0-15 years were able to experience the joy of Christmas morning thanks to the generosity of others. For more information go to the Facebook page ‘Fill a Shoebox Horowhenua Christmas for Everyone’ or call into you local Oranga Tamariki office or police station.

Cheers Sgt Phil Grimstone, Ōtaki Police

Ōtaki Mail – a community newspaper produced monthly by Ann, Lloyd & Penny, from 176 Waerenga Road, Ōtaki. Printed by Beacon Print, Whakatane.

If you have any news, or don't receive your paper by the end of the month, please let us know by phoning 364 5500.