Post
Tuesday • FEBRUARY 11 • 2014
FRI
SAT
PHONE: 09 235 78 35 FAX: 09 235 78 34
INSIDE THIS WEEK: PG 16-17
Motoring de
Your Fortnightly Motoring Gui
VOL 26 • NO.05
Angler catches $45,000 boat
SUN
Weekdays 9am - 5:30pm Saturday 9am - 1pm 37 Queen Street, Waiuku Phone 235 5180
St John on a high
Waiuku St John are celebrating a great year, as individuals and teams collect divisional awards and trophies.
PAGE
8
Wet for the movies Rain dampened the party, but plenty still turned out for the first Movie in the Park.
PAGE
9
Records tumble Six records were demolished on Friday as the Waiuku College annual swim sports were held amid a riot of colour and noise at the Waiuku Pools.
PAGE
19
20 Hall Street, Pukekohe tel: 09 238 3796 free phone : 0800-SEEING Formerly John Kelsey Optometrists
F THE
DEAL O
K• •WEE
An elated Grant Greenwood of Te Toro after he was drawn as the grand prize winner of an Atomix 560 boat, trailer and equipment worth over $45000 in the Atomix Boats Counties One Base fishing competition which ended on Saturday night. There were 387 anglers in over 100 boats; which the Counties Sport Fishing Club says is the highest ever turnout for the event. See page 18 for some images of the event.
Councils juggle response to legal high legislation The Franklin Local Board and the Waikato District Council are working to come up with local responses to governmental legislation on the sale of synthetic cannabis and other legal highs. The Local Board says it, along with the other southern local boards, is seeking to encourage the Ministry of Health to introduce strict regulations around the sale of the products. The board has developed a position paper to express their view on how to minimise harm and where the products can be sold. Local board chair Andy Baker says he wants to see appropriate tools to regulate and control where these substances can be sold. “The board’s view is that retailers should only be located in town centres or larger urban areas. For Franklin, this would mean they can only be sold in the Pukekohe town centre and not smaller settlements. “We also support the work of a community stakeholder group in Franklin, who are concerned about the sale and supply of these potentially harmful substances”. Andy Baker says currently “the legislation allows for businesses to get licenses to sell the stuff and the lawmakers decided that was
better than prohibition which would certainly drive it underground just like other drugs. So we have to work with that.” He adds that the legislation allows for councils to create a policy to invoke their own rules, but believes it will be a lengthy process. “The policy for Auckland has to be regional for all of the council area and it would not be tenable for 21 variations. “So we have to be realistic as to how we can achieve the best result which is, preferably for the community, nobody selling - but more likely one licensed seller. “The legislation, once finalised through the regulations will mean the stores are bound by strict rules to remove the ability of the selling through sneaky means. “They will basically have to sell only these products and have age restriction which should in our area make it a dubious business case in regard to viability.” Andy Baker believes the current Franklin Board position would be that to achieve regional coverage the sales need to be restricted to large centres and then apply rules regarding proximity to sensitive sites and competing businesses, as well as adopting a sinking lid policy so if Franklin’s one shop
Only 3 9 9 GARY PYES LG 32” LED TV
$
ceases to trade, it cannot be replaced by another licensed shop. The local board hopes that the regulations will achieve what the community wants and will minimise the potential harm caused by the sale of legal highs. Meanwhile, in the Waikato area, people have only until next Monday to have their say on where psychoactive substances should be sold in the Waikato district. Waikato district Mayor Allan Sanson said Council is completely against the sale of these substances. The decision about whether a business can or cannot sell them is made by the independent Psychoactive Substances Regulatory Authority. As of Monday 10 February, 24 submissions had been received for the Waikato District Council submissions, 13 of which came from Te Kauwhata, seven from Raglan, two from Ngaruawahia and one from both Huntly and Tuakau. The Council’s proposed policy aims to restrict the location of retail stores selling legal highs to commercial zones in Ngaruawahia, Huntly, Raglan, Te Kauwhata and Tuakau and kept out of residential areas.
Only 648
PANASONIC 39” LED TV
43 QUEEN ST, WAIUKU • PH 235 9711 • SAT: 9am - 4pm
Find us on facebook
$