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the annual Sikh parade, known as Nagar Kirtan. Organised

Sikh Association, the parade on

Te Puke NEWS

Te Puke group keeps children warm and spirits high

Clacking needles, chatter and big hearts are present in spades at Friday’s Te Puke Knit and Natter group

Members meet up each Friday in Te Puke library to catch up with one another, to knit and to crochet. The eldest members are in their 90s. They make beanies, blankets, clothes, toys and slippers

Much of what they make finds its way to premature babies and children in Starship Hospital’s cancer ward

It goes to Ronald McDonald House, various hospitals and Plunket in Whakatāne and Te Puke.

The group was started by the late Margaret Edge in 2019. While Margaret died earlier this year, the group continued with Moureen Allen stepping up to co-ordinate things

“I thought we’d better carry on as best we can, ” Allen said

Social side

While what the ladies produce is an important contribution to those needing it, they also enjoy the social side of the weekly gatherings

Allen knows first-hand how important it is Feeling depressed, she spotted a listing for the group in the then Te Puke Times “I thought maybe that’s what I needed to do – and the moment I walked in the door, they greeted me and I just felt like I belonged,” she said.

“It’s been great – that was two years ago ”

The group meets 10am-noon each Friday and new members are always

welcome. “It’s optional whether they knit for themselves or for charity For some, the social side is more important and for some, the knitting is more important, but people can just turn up like I did ”

No rules

Allen said there were no rules, people don’t need to be highly skilled and those who might want to improve will find someone willing to help them.

One of the issues the knitters have was getting their gifts to the organisations that distribute them, so any donations of money to help with that is welcome, as are

donations of wool. In July, three big boxes of knitted beanies, blankets, jumpers and toys were sent to Starship Foundation, the latest in the regular donations from Te Puke

“Winter is a busy time at Starship with many children from around New Zealand admitted with respiratory illnesses,” said Starship Foundation chief executive Jo Simon “We are grateful to the talented Te Puke knitters for their regular donations of warm blankets, beautiful woollen clothing and toys, which are distributed around Starship to babies and children who need it most. ”

Stuart Whitaker

Moureen Allen with some of the knit and natter group at Te Puke Library Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Sikh parade brings culture, music and food

It’s almost time for one of Te Puke’s most colourful events – the annual Te Puke Sikh parade

The parade, or Nagar Kirtan, brings colour, generosity, tradition and a community spirit to the town Bay of Plenty Sikh Association secretary Lehmber Singh said it is an opportunity to see the Sikh religion and culture first hand

The parade on Saturday, September 27, will start and finish at the Sikh temple, or Gurudwara, on No 3 Rd and is a way of showing the Sikh community’s connection to the local community Nagar Kirtan is the Sikh custom of processional singing of hymns through a community Nagar means neighbourhood and kirtan describes the singing of devotional hymns

Singh said the parade is an acknowledgement of faith rather than a celebration

Central to the event is the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, that is transported around the parade route

The Sikh religion teaches followers to share earnings and possessions with others, especially those less fortunate and that is one of the key reasons behind the parade, which includes the giving away of food and drink as it passes by

While there are several Sikh temples across the Western Bay of Plenty, only one other hosts a regular parade

Singh said the Gurudwara is the hub of the Sikh religion, culture and community – and that everyone is welcome there

Celebrations and prayers

Following the parade, everyone is invited to return to the temple, have a look inside and share a vegetarian meal

The temple hosts everything from birth celebrations and weddings to prayers following cremations

“Also, things in our personal life, our success and everything is celebrated ”

There are regular prayers each Saturday, and

roughly once a month, a three-day celebration running from Friday to Sunday

“[The temple] is a hub for our cultural activities but we also invite other people from other religions. A lot of Hindus go there because they are also from India, and a lot of Nepalese go there because they like it and we have similar culture and they like our food There are also a lot of people from Bangladesh ”

Many of the non-Sikhs who visit the temple do so because they have become friendly with Sikhs through working in the kiwifruit industry, and that includes New Zealanders

“About 90% of our people work in the kiwifruit industry and they mix with others and they become friendly because they see them every day”

Singh has noticed more and more New Zealanders at the temple, especially at weddings.

He said it is in contrast to when he first arrived in New Zealand

“When we came here, people didn’t understand our culture and didn’t understand our religion They were thinking we were not very friendly people

Community engagement

“We live here with our families Our kids are born here, and we want to show the local community that we are part of the community, and we should work towards the whole community being as one We might be from different countries, but we are one community and it’s our mission to show we belong to that community”

He said the parade is one way of doing

that. The parade will attract Sikhs from across the Bay of Plenty and further afield, including Hawke’s Bay and the Waikato

From the Gurudwara, starting at 11am, the parade will head south, then on to Atuaroa Ave, right on to Jellicoe St as far as the roundabout at the intersection with Boucher Ave, where it will turn and make the return trip

There will be road closures in place and food stalls on part of the route

To support the parade, Made in Te Puke Trust has secured Mitre 10 Te Puke as a sponsor of free ice creams.

The staff of Pizza Hut Te Puke and Coffee To Go will provide pizzas, garlic bread and doughnuts for the community and there will be traditional food and drinks from Indo Spice.

Stuart Whitaker

Economicsurvey: Bay ofPlenty tops withbumper kiwifruitseason

Bay of Plenty claimed top spot of ASB’s Regional Economic Scoreboard for the first time on the back of a bumper kiwifruit season, while Auckland also showed signs of recovery

The latest scorecard covering the second quarter of the year was marked by a “chilly” economy, said ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley

“We’re seeing small pockets of warmth in what’s otherwise an economically chilly quarter, ” he said.

“Retail spending is holding up, and consumer confidence is showing signs of life. That’s encouraging as we head into the second half of the year ”

But overall economic conditions in Q2 remained muted, with both inflation and the unemployment rate ticking up, the report said.

Tourist arrivals and export volumes also declined, while annual net migration continued to ease.

Bay of Plenty soared nine spots from its Q1 ranking, with the region’s strong performance driven by a standout kiwifruit season, resilient employment growth, and rising consumer confidence.

“It’s fair to say kiwifruit has brought home the trophy,” Tuffley said.

“A strong season has boosted incomes in the Bay, supporting improvements across employment, retail and housing.

“The Bay’s labour market has shown impressive resilience, even as nationwide conditions remain subdued. With employment growth holding steady and optimism rising, the Bay is set for continued momentum. ”

The South Island continued its economic dominance over the past year with Southland, Otago and Canterbury taking the remaining top four spots.

Looking ahead to 2026, Tuffley said improvements were on the horizon, albeit slower than initially projected, as the Reserve Bank signals more cuts to the Official Cash Rate (OCR). Tuffley said the 15% US tariffs imposed on New Zealand goods are expected to weigh slightly on the country ’ s economic recovery

“But the full impact remains to be watched.”

Large crowds are expected in Te Puke for the Sikh Parade on September 27. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Leaving Pink Floyd

Guitarist Marty Mitchell says the past 10 years have been among the happiest days of his life

Mitchell, from Pukehina, has been a member of the hugely successful Pink Floyd Experience for a decade, joining the band in 2015 after years of being a fan.

But he recently decided it was time to jump off the stage and retake his place in the audience.

He became a regular in the crowds at the tribute band’s Auckland gigs in the late 1990s.

“I got to know them a little bit and used to hang with them backstage,” he said

“In those days they were good [length] tours –we’d do eight Aussie shows and 16 New Zealand shows so it was a couple of months’ solid touring It just carried on from there.”

He thinks he’s very fortunate

“Pretty much everything on anyone ’ s bucket list is live at the beach and be an international rock star and I’ve done both,” he said.

“Other people can look at it and say: ‘You’ve been lucky’, but I don’t think luck has a lot to do with it. One of the reasons I can make a living out of music is because when I’m not gigging, I’m here playing six hours a day because you have to ”

Theatrical dreams

At the time he had his own tribute band, In The Pink

“I used to play around the bars It was the same sort of thing, but on a much, much smaller scale ”

Taking his band to the capital, he invited the Pink Floyd Experience members and crew along.

“A bunch of them came and use afterwards

y p r his own gigs

clashed with the Auckland shows, so he travelled to Rotorua to see them – and again joined them afterwards

Pink Floyd Experience shows are renowned for being full theatrical productions and one of Mitchell’s dreams was to be part of bringing The Wall to the stage.

The band toured its The Wall show twice while Mitchell was a member and they are among his favourite tours

It was one of the reasons he decided to join when he was asked

“Musically, it’s an outstanding album and the show was, I think, by far the best shows we ever did ”

He had seen Pink Floyd back in January 1988 on The Wall tour at Western Springs

“That to me has been the biggest show the world has ever seen – I can ’ t imagine anything better”

On one of the tours, Pink Floyd Experience also played his favourite album – ‘Animals’

Th The call

Th Then, out of the blue, he got a call from founding band member Darren Whittaker asking if he wanted to tour with the band

By then Mitchell had moved to the Bay of Plenty

He talked it over with his wife, Linda, and his boss

“I thought ‘I wouldn’t mind doing an Aussie tour and a New Zealand tour’.

His favourite song to play isn’t so easy to pin down

“That’s a hard one because unlike some bands which literally only have one or two good songs, they have dozens and dozens Things like ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ is a favourite because it covers all the bases ‘Echoes’ was probably one of my favourites to play – all 24 minutes of it

“It’s hard to think of Pink Floyd as songs because

Marty Mitchell on stage with the Pink Floyd Experience. Photo / Supplied

Experience after 10 years on stage

albums are like a whole song ”

But playing and being on stage weren ’ t the only enjoyable things about being in the band.

“I love meeting people We started doing meet and greets and inviting special guests to sound checks and things. That side of it was always very rewarding – having a bunch of people that take an interest in what you ’ re doing and getting to meet them and so many of them are lifelong friends ”

When the band cut down its touring of Australia due to escalating costs post-pandemic, people travelled to New Zealand to see the shows

Memories

Mitchell said he’s proud of his time in the band and has put together a photo book of the decade-long stint

“When I sit back and reflect on it, it was a fast 10 years ”

A student of the band, Mitchell first heard Pink Floyd when a mate played him Dark Side of the Moon - through headphones

“It was insane – I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, it completely turned me upside down as far as what I liked musically”

He had been a long-time Led Zeppelin fan because of their power

“So to hear ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ with headphones on – I never really listened to Zeppelin much for a while after that ”

After buying his own copy, he started exploring the band’s earlier albums

After hearing the album ‘Meddle’, he was “absolutely sold on them”

“I like lots of music and I like lots of bands, but Pink Floyd was like the special band – listening to other bands was like being disloyal.”

He was in his late teens before he first started playing guitar after saving up and buying a cheap one.

“That was when I went back to Led Zeppelin. Pink Floyd had so much more darkness and light, Zeppelin was all power – being a young fella I was more interested in the power side of it.

“But once got my head around the guitar a wee bit, I realised Pink Floyd had all I needed guitar-wise.”

Other line-ups

Mitchell also plays guitar in two duos, Plan B and Stratman and Robin, and plays solo shows – all mostly in the Bay of Plenty

They will be his focus from now on after he decided his time with the Pink Floyd Experience was over – for now at least

“I wasn ’ t going to quit the band, but when they planned next year ’ s touring and sent me the rehearsal schedule, I realised there were way too many conflicts with my other bands.”

He realised something would have to give. “Pink Floyd Experience quite often only had six gigs in two years so it wasn ’ t really huge – it didn’t take up too much of my time, but they decided to rehearse twice as much, which was more trips to Wellington.”

Rehearsals were also at weekends, meaning there would be 12 weekends when Mitchell couldn’t play local gigs He decided he couldn’t commit 100% to

the band for the next tour

“The production costs millions of dollars so you can ’ t go half-hearted at it. So that’s unfortunately what it had to be.”

He is back to just being a fan again

“Which is great – the one thing about being on stage is, you can ’ t hear the whole show All you can here is you and whatever you get on your monitors.”

He said it would also to watch the show with

No downside

“I love the guys in the really no downside to from driving down to even that wasn ’ t that bad

“At one stage we wer touring show in Australasia probably the greatest thing done in a lot of ways. ”

He’s happy to be conc on playing small venues. thing I didn’t get out o Floyd Experience was t no intimacy between th and the audience – you playing in these big are with thousands of peop and you can really only see the first couple of rows and they’re quite far away from you and you can ’ t really hear them

“I’d spent my whole life having people right in my face in local bars and I actually prefer that

in some ways – it’s more organic and there’s a more direct response to what you ’ re doing It’s different I couldn’t say it’s better, but it’s different and I enjoyed that side of it more ”

He says he has really enjoyed playing with some world-class musicians to 20,000 or 30,000 people

“All that stuff’s really good but you don’t n

It’s time for Real Change

Focus

Our council must get back to basics The ﬁrst job is to appoint a new Chief Executive who wants to work closely with the council and the community We also need a strategic review of the council’s role and purpose. We must involve all of our communities in that process, not do it behind closed doors

Efﬁciency

We can not afford further big rates increases so the full strategic review must have savings at its core. Our council’s overheads are higher than other similar councils and we can no longer afford “Business as Usual” This will require an open discussion with the community about council services and where you want us to focus

Openness

The biggest complaint about council, after high rates, is a perception that council talks down to the public We need leaders who communicate the news of council without spin -- the tough stuff as well as happy news We need a more humble council with a genuine openness to the ideas of others

Transparency

We have made progress with published workshop notes and more open debate at council meetings Next steps are genuine engagement with the public, including ‘no change’ as an option during consultation exercises and an enlarged role for community boards Residents should not be surprised by the council’s decision-making process

JOYCE

Mayor

by Rodney Joyce

Marty Mitchhell in his studio.

Phooto / Stuart Whitaker

Every two months, Te Puke Art Society showcases the work of one of its members at its Constables Gallery

The work of Sue Benham is now on display

How long have you been painting and why did you start?

I have been painting for three years, having started soon after retiring from work.

I attended a foundation art course for 14 weeks which I found was

excellent, giving me an opportunity to try sketching, pastels, acrylics and watercolour painting.

I have more recently attended an abstract oil-painting workshop Also, via YouTube and social media, I am following lessons by Australian water-colourists Scott Swinson and Tom Shepherd.

What is your favourite medium?

My favourite medium is watercolour I enjoy painting landscapes and birds

What inspires you?

I am inspired by the classic painters,

especially William M Turner and Evelyn Page Also, I enjoy NZ historic paintings done by Sean Garwood I love the challenges of depicting light, sunrises and sunsets, and being able to capture different moods in nature

What is your greatest achievement in art?

My greatest achievement in art to date is the fact that family members appreciate my art and have wanted to keep some.

Constables Gallery, in Commerce Lane, is open each Thursday from 9.30am to 2pm

Fire callsease off, brigade warns rushcouldfollow

As of Monday September 15, we have responded to 236 calls for the calendar year to date.

Calls during the past fortnight were down to single figures for the first time since early June, with seven.

Two were false alarms, four medical calls and one was a motor vehicle crash.

Fortunately, there were no calls over the weekend despite the high winds

When calls taper off like this, it almost always means we are due for a rush, as we always seem to maintain our average, one way or the other

This year, Get Firewise, Fire and Emergency’s flagship school programme, is turning 25

Launched in 2000, the school programme is designed to give 5- and 6-year-olds knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that will keep them safe around fire.

Get Firewise has been developed using best practice techniques for teaching safety information to young children. The education resources in the programme are designed to be delivered by teachers and align with the New Zealand Curriculum.

They can be supported by firefighters with school visits and fire-safety presentations to summarise and reinforce the key learnings.

Created by educators and teachers, the programme has undergone multiple evaluations and updates to ensure they remain relevant and effective in adapting to changing times

After a quarter century of Fire and Emergency helping to grow fire-wise Kiwi kids, hundreds of thousands of children have been through the programme. And importantly, they take their learning back home to their whānau to share their knowledge. Fire and Emergency provide more than 2000 teacher kits and delivers around 1090 firefighter visits per year to reinforce what’s been learned in the classroom.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ Te.Puke.Fire.Brigade

Lindsay, Chief Fi Offi

Dale

Sue Benham is the currently showcased artist at Constables Gallery Photo / Supplied

Waihaha Maori Lands Trust

ProposalToCloseNo.3Road TePukeToVehicularTrafc

PursuanttotheLocalGovernmentAct

1974,TenthSchedule,noticeishereby giventhattheWesternBayofPlenty DistrictCouncil forthepurposeofDiwali Eventproposestoclosethefollowingroad toordinaryvehiculartrafcfortheperiod indicatedhereunder Roadtobeclosedtoordinaryvehicular trafc:

No 3Road,TePuke

Periodofclosure:

Monday, 20 October 2025 8:45pm to 9:15pm (Postponement date Tuesday, 21 October 2025)

Itwillbeanoffenceundertheabove regulationsforanypersonotherwisethan underauthorityofanauthorisedpermitto usetheroadforordinaryvehiculartrafc duringtheperiodofclosure

PONGAKAWA 753 Pongakawa Bush Road

Horticultural Development Opportunity

38 hectares Prime Bare Land (more or less subject to final survey)

A rare opportunity to secure a premium bare land block, ready to be transformed into a flagship orchard or horticultural enterprise

Situated in one of the country's more desirable growing regions, renowned for its exceptional growing conditions and accelerating horticultural expansion, this expansive and elevated property offers outstanding potential for large scale horticultural development

With existing water consents for horticulture, excellent scale, and no dwellings sheds or wetlands to navigate around this is a true blank canvas - perfect for visionary developers and growers alike

Key Features:

38 87 hectares (STS)

• Located in a proven horticultural region

The draft scheme for subdivision has been approved through the Western Bay of Plenty Council

Currently awaiting the new title, which will involve a delayed settlement