Wanaka Sun | Edition 1023 | 22-28 April 2021

First Covid vaccines

INSIDE THIS WEEK Views: Page 17 Jobs: Page 19 Sport: Page 20

Roll out in Wānaka.

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Bright future For snowsports athletes.

Proud to support Upper Clutha since 2000

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EDITION 1023

DELIVERED AND FREE

PHOTO: Studio 5

Local Brent Pihama on his e-bike celebrating turning 60 years at the Contact Epic Cross Country mountain-bike race last Saturday. The race went up past Dingle Burn Station and back, the route amended because the Hunter River and tributaries were in flood.The race usually circumnavigates Lake Hāwea. Pihama finished in 4:37. See story on page 5.

A ‘joyous day’ for Queenstown Lakes District Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

F121 touched down at 2:31 pm on Monday, 387 days after the last scheduled international flight arrived at Queenstown Airport.

As the aircraft approached the gate, it passed through a water arch compliments of the

Q

Queenstown Airport rescue fire team to mark the occasion.

Passengers arriving from Sydney received a welcome to the Southern Lakes region in the terminal. They were greeted by local kaumatua, Darren Rewi who gave a traditional mihi whakatau (welcome) to the manuhiri (visitors), as well as live music, prizes from more than 95 Queenstown and Wānaka businesses, and

entertainment in the airport forecourt.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor and his wife also welcomed the visitors, with a handshake and an ANZAC biscuit.

“It was a wonderful, beautiful day,” Boult said.

“And the families reuniting, there were some joyous scenes, people coming into the airport and saying ‘I’m on New Zealand soil again”. It was so emotional. One of the media reporters was

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howling, right through it.”

Once the snow is on the mountains, we are going to see an enormous number of Australians arriving, he said.

“We think we are in for a bumper ski season and we need it.”

May is always quiet, he said, but we think we will get a bit of a boost this May. Continued on page 3

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40-year mystery of missing mountaineer solved Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Stuart Nash: The most consistent complaints I hear about the tourism sector relate to abuse of the freedom camping rules.

PHOTO: Spaceships.rental

Nationwide consultation on freedom camping Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Nationwide consultation on how we should deal with the minority of freedom campers who are causing “quite a stink” around the country is underway.

Freedom camping is where you camp on public land that isn’t a recognised camping ground.

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has released a discussion document with ideas to better manage freedom camping to reduce the negative impacts on local councils, communities, and New Zealand’s 100 % Pure brand.

“The most consistent complaints I hear about the tourism sector relate to abuse of the freedom camping rules,” said Nash. “A sub-group of visitors are spoiling the experience for more responsible campers and for locals who are left to clean up the mess.

“Backpackers and budget travellers are welcome. Responsible campers in motorhomes, caravans or budget vehicles in campgrounds are welcome.

But it must be ‘right vehicle, right place.’

This document asks for public feedback on the future of vehicles that are not selfcontained,” Nash said.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult has plenty to say on the issue.

Do you welcome the consultation?

“There is a social license thing here for Kiwis and we have got to do something about it,” he said.

“I think our district was probably the catalyst for changing things. In 2016 and 2017 the district was getting overtaken

by freedom campers and we put in some pretty strict bylaws to control it.

These have worked marvellously for us and we are very supportive of the minister's actions.”

What were the issues which brought you to ban freedom camping in parts?

Freedom camping in a vehicle that has a flush loo on board- we have some places around the district where they are more than welcome.

From our point of view, it was people flying into New Zealand, buying a second hand Subaru station wagon or a Mazda Bongo van in Auckland, putting a portaloo in the back and saying it had onboard facilities. Then they would never get used and we would have the problem of human waste, which was disgusting.

We had reports of kids walking into the trees and finding all this stuff. It was a very sore issue.

There is a hui (meeting) tonight ( Tuesday) in Queenstown – do you think there will be a big turnout?

I don’t think we will have many attending because I think we are on top of the issue.

Generally, if you went out into the street in Queenstown and asked a local what they thought, they would be supportive of this recent legislation.

Your changes came in in 2018. Did you see any negative economic impact on the region?

Not at all. Generally speaking, we got the message through and it seems to be working quite well.

There are a couple of issues and the first is we are not against vehicles

camping where there are facilities for them to use.

The other issue is that New Zealanders should be able to camp in the woods if they want to.

So you have to get the balance right between ensuring that you can do that without taking away one of those basic rights of Kiwis.

What have you done in the district that has worked well?

We have restricted certain areas from freedom camping where our residents do their recreation and if you take an area like the Lake Hayes Reserve, for example, you couldn’t move there in 2017 due to freedom campers. That’s where mum dad and the kids go on Sunday afternoon for a barbeque and a swim in the lake. It has worked well- it has given those areas back to our residents.

Fines and confiscation-are you supportive of these?

Yes. It is also about education- people understanding what they can do and what they can’t.

Nash said the proposed changes are in line with priorities for tourism once borders can safely re-open. We want to reset tourism on a sustainable model, mitigate the negative impacts associated with tourism, and elevate Brand New Zealand. The time to do so is now before we fully reopen to international tourism.

Submissions can be made online, by email or by mail. MBIE tourism officials will also hold public information sessions around New Zealand, as well as webinars for people who are not able to attend a meeting.

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A few weeks ago, the Wānaka Sun published a story on the discovery of a body on Mt Aspiring on 19 March 2021 which was believed to be that of Australian mountaineer Terry Jordan. Jordan disappeared over 40 years ago.

This was not the case- these remains have yet to be identified.

However, the mystery of Jordan’s disappearance has been solved.

In 2016, human remains, items of clothing, and property were found on the lower reaches of the Bonar Glacier, one of Mt Aspiring’s two major glacial systems.

The cause of death wasn’t clear but there was significant trauma consistent with a fall.

Police work and the efforts of Gaye Robinson, of the Coroner’s Office, determined that the remains were Jordan’s although it took five years to unravel this mystery.

Jordan was last seen in December 1978. The 30-year-old librarian from Canberra left Wānaka with friend Marc Weinstein, to climb Mt Aspiring, planning to return in 10 days. They left French Ridge Hut on December 10, in poor weather When they failed to return on December 15, a search was initiated and Weinstein’s body was found two days later.

However, despite an extensive search, Jordan’s body was never found.

It was thought he had fallen into a crevasse or been covered in avalanche debris.

When the remains of a body were discovered on the Bonar Glacier five years ago, attempts to identify them came up empty.

They would have stayed that way if not for the efforts of Robinson and Canterbury Police emergency management coordinator Sergeant Phil Simmonds.

Simmonds has an extensive background in mountain search and rescue and disaster victim identification having worked in the field for 25 years.

There were no DNA, dental records,

PHOTO: LakeWanaka.co.nz

The remains of Terry Jordan were found at the base of the Bonar Glacier five years ago.

or fingerprints because of the time that had passed and the conditions on the mountain, but Simmonds reviewed all the paperwork, files, and recovered property.

He ruled out another missing tramper because of their estimated height and discrepancies between the missing tramper's watch and the watch found with the unidentified remains.

He then ascertained who was in the area at the time.

An Australian mountaineer identified Jordan as a climber who had never been recovered and contact was made with Jordan’s family. They determined that the watch was likely to have been his.

A pair of glasses was found among the items, but Simmonds discovered they did not match Jordan’s. When he checked the property report relating to Weinstein, who also wore glasses, he discovered no glasses were found with his body. A photo confirmed the likelihood the glasses found with Jordan were Weinstein’s.

Simmonds then conducted a “glacial flow” (which involves analyzing glacial ice creep, largescale folding, and faulting) which confirmed the remains were Jordan’s.

Coroner Marcus Elliot reviewed the results of the investigation and his coronial findings came to the same conclusion.

Jordan’s remains were cremated.

Some of the ashes will be returned to Australia, with the rest scattered on the Bonar Glacier.

In the meantime, the identity of the remains found on March 19 this year, very close to Jordan’s, remains a mystery.

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THURSDAY 22.04.21 - WEDNESDAY 28.04.21

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A ‘joyous day’ for Queenstown First Covid vaccines Lakes District

roll out in Wānaka

PHOTOS: QAC

Mayor Jim Boult welcomes a visitor on the first flight from Australia.

Wānaka Medical Centre is holding the first clinic in Wānaka for frontline staff this Saturday 17 April.

Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Mayor Jim Boult welcomes a visitor on the first flight from Australia.

Continued from page 1 “We are looking forward to June through to September. The hotels are already saying they are getting really good bookings.

“It will be no surprise to anyone that many businesses and locals in the district have been struggling during the absence of international visitors.

“Businesses have gone broke and people have lost their jobs and homes.

“So, it’s tremendous to see this turning point enabling easier business connections, families to reunite and an absolute lifeline for many tourism and hospitality providers.”

Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) Chief Executive, Colin Keel said: “We were thrilled to mark the re-opening of the transTasman border and the first quarantine-free flight from Australia to Queenstown Airport with a celebration today.

“More than 80 businesses operate at Queenstown and Wānaka airports; the majority are locally owned and the last year has certainly been tough. Many of us in Queenstown, Wānaka and the wider region have been hanging on for the reopening of the border with Australia. It’s a vital step towards recovery.”

As a trans-Tasman only international airport, Queenstown Airport will only be accepting ‘green zone’ flights and has

approved protocols and procedures in place to safely manage the recommencement of direct flights to and from Australia.

“The health, safety and wellbeing of our team, airport community and the travelling public remains our highest priority. We have and will continue to have robust health, safety and cleaning protocols in place in the airport,” said Keel.

Before COVID-19, 30 per cent of all passenger arrivals and departures at Queenstown Airport were on trans-Tasman flights. In 2019, 716,908 passengers arrived and departed on the direct Australia flights.

Keel said: “This week we are expecting about 36 direct flights (arrivals and departures) between Australia and Queenstown. As we get closer to the ski season that number will increase significantly.

“Direct scheduled services will be operated

by Air New Zealand and Qantas between Queenstown and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to start. Within the coming weeks, we expect Jetstar and Virgin Australia to confirm the recommencement dates for their services, including the Queenstown to Gold Coast route.”

During the 2019 winter season, up to 160 flights arrived and departed between Queenstown and Australia each week.

The roll out of Covid vaccinations for Wānaka began last weekend, with a clinic for frontline health workers held at the Wānaka Medical Centre. Residents and staff of Elmslie House and Aspiring Enliven Care Centre also received vaccinations. These were the first aged care residential homes to receive the vaccine in Central Otago, following vaccinations in Invercargill which started last Thursday.

The medical centre is also holding a clinic for frontline staff this Saturday 17 April.

Wānaka Medical Centre nurse and quality lead Maureen McNeill and Aspiring Medical Centre clinical nurse manager Lynda Davis said these first clinics sent a positive message that the rollout was well underway in the district as patients had been asking about the vaccine and when it would be here.

Elmslie House Manager Alexa Gutowska said: “The staff and residents of Elmslie are pleased to belong to the first aged care residential facility in Central Otago to receive the COVID 19 vaccination.

“Our residents are of the generation that believes in doing what is best for everyone, and 28 residents received their first vaccination last weekend, along with over 20 staff members.

Residents have expressed how challenging the Covid lockdowns were for them, being separated

PHOTO: TVNZ.co.nz

from loved ones – so they welcomed the vaccinations, which they understood would help in preventing future lockdowns.

“As health sector workers, we know that the vaccination rollout has been a logistical challenge, but we have worked closely with medical centre teams and the DHB to ensure the vaccination rollout works as smoothly as possible.”

Residents and staff at Ripponburn Rest Home, Cromwell would be vaccinated on Saturday 24 April, followed by Teviot Valley Rest Home, Roxburgh on Friday 30 April and Maniototo Hospital Rest Home, Ranfurly on Saturday 1 May. Hamish Brown, Southern DHB Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Incident Controller, said the team was pleased with the progress of the vaccination programme so far.

“The Southern vaccination programme surpassed 10,000 vaccinations earlier this week and to be at a stage where we are rolling out vaccines to more vulnerable groups is a real milestone in this history-making process,” he said.

“Over the coming weeks we will have more rural clinics opening across Central Otago for frontline staff to book into, will be visiting more aged residential care facilities, will be working with our partners in Mental Health and the disability sectors, and reaching older Māori and Pacific people who were cared for by whanau to protect our communities against Covid.”

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Wānaka SAR awarded substantial grant Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Wānaka Search & Rescue (SAR) has been awarded $30,000 in the latest round of the Central Lakes Trust (CLT) financial grants.

Wānaka SAR is a volunteer organisation that depends entirely on grants and donations.

“The Central Lakes Trust has been our major funder for nearly 20 years, and this year, like others, their grants will go to a combination of gear and training,” said lifetime SAR member Phillip Melchior.

“The gear requirements this year range from establishing 'grab and go' packs for avalanche response - packs which are equipped for a responder

to spend up to 24 hours above the snowline and which are always kept packed a ready; a 'go pro' for the river rescue team which can operate underwater, which would have been useful in locating and recovering the body of Stephanie Simpson from deep in a canyon pool a year ago; replacement down jackets and head torches for both the alpine and subalpine teams; to new computers for the incident management team,” said Melchior.

“Importantly, the CLT grant also allows us to use its funding to offset the cost of training, PHOTO: WānakaSar.Org mostly for helicopters and advanced first aid.

We use helicopters in more than 90 per cent of Funding is used for training in getting in and out of hovering helicopters… our responses, and volunteers each year have to terrain, as well as strop training and specialist is funded by either the Police or the Rescue train in things like getting in and out of a hovering strop (human long-line) rescue techniques. Coordination Centre, we have to meet the costs helicopter, to doing a one-skid landing on steep While the use of helicopters operationally of training ourselves,” he said.

Water quality in the Upper Clutha the “best in Otago’ Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Water quality in the Upper Clutha is “excellent,” the best in Otago, according to a ‘state of the environment’ report on river and lake water quality in the region.

The study reports on the state of water quality on a site-by-site basis, relative to nationwide targets specified in the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020.

It also assesses water quality trends at each site where there is sufficient data, and across Otago as a whole.

General Manager Strategy, Policy and Science Gwyneth Elsum said the information in the report was valuable for the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and the wider community as it updates knowledge of water quality across Otago.

“This report largely reflects the patterns we have seen in the past, which tell us that water quality is best in the headwaters and at higher elevations, but it suffers at sites in smaller, lowelevation streams that drain pastoral or urban catchments,” she said.

“That spatial pattern of water quality in Otago will inform the development of our new Land and Water Regional Plan, which divides the region by catchment into freshwater management areas.

“This information will also support ORC and the community to implement other water quality improvement initiatives,” Elsum said.

The report does not analyse the drivers for water degradation trends, due to the lack of detailed information that ORC currently holds on land use and land management changes at a local or catchment scale. ORC recently formed a new

science team to develop its knowledge in this area.

The ‘State and Trends of River and Lake Water Quality in the Otago Region 2000-2020’ report states, on the Upper Clutha and upper reaches of the Wakatipu: In the Upper Lakes Rohe (rohe describes the territory or boundaries of iwi (tribes)) water quality is generally very good, as it should be. Of the NOF (National Objectives Framework) attribute state, the Rees and Dart are below the national bottom line for turbidity, but this is a natural state due to glacial melt-water.

Despite very good compliance with the E.coli attribute, four sites are below the national bottom line; Bullock Creek is an urban stream running through the Wānaka township with a large population of wildfowl, these and stormwater are likely to be the reason behind the poor grade.

The Makarora and Rees are large rivers, with catchment areas largely in national parks. It is likely that the poor water quality is very localised, and possibly reflects the quality of tributaries running over the flats. The same can be said for Quartz Creek that runs over the flats before entering Lake Wānaka.

In summary; for the majority of sites across the Upper Clutha reporting region, water quality is excellent and the best in Otago.

Nutrient concentrations stimulating algae growth are low, other than in Bullock Creek where periphyton (chlorophyll) is below the national bottom line.

Trend analysis for rivers showed an ‘exceptionally unlikely’ improvement for NNN (nitrogen) in the Matukituki .

Trend analysis for lakes showed the outlets of Lakes Hāwea, Wānaka and Wakatipu had ‘exceptionally unlikely’ or ‘extremely unlikely’ improving trends for turbidity, but ‘virtually certain’ improving trends for NNN.

Mt Iron Junction development gets go-ahead Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

The proposed new development Mt Iron Junction has been given the green light to go ahead with the granting of consent by the Environment Court.

Mt Iron Junction is a mixed-use development on 6ha of land at the base of Mt Iron bordered by State Highways 6 and 84.

Mt Iron Junction Ltd, backed by Steve Schikker and Peter Green, applied to Queenstown Lakes District Council for resource consent for the development in November 2018. Consent was initially declined by a panel of three commissioners. Their summation was that although the development plan was solutionsbased, it was outside the scope of the underlying zone of rural general.

A compromise was reached in late 2020. The amended plan was submitted to the Environment Court and signed off on Monday.

The amended plan consisted of a service station, a dedicated workers’ accommodation village and 13 two- and three- bedroomed terrace houses.

Mt Iron Junction Ltd was disappointed that the motel, childcare centre, mini-golf course and retail area,which were part of the original application, were not included, Schikker said.

“We weren’t granted consent for the other components because the overall zoning is ruralgeneral and they (the Environment Court) struggled with the density of the development,” he said.

“So we had to take out components in the plan and move things around so there was more space and do a lot more landscaping.

“If the land was rezoned mixed-use then we wouldn’t have had this issue.

“Also the Council didn’t want to see another retail area in town when there are retail areas planned for Three Parks and Northlake and the town CBD.”

PHOTO: Supplied

Mt Iron Junction is a mixed-use development on 6ha of land at the base of Mt Iron bordered by State Highways 6 and 84.

The process has been a “roller-coaster ride,” he said.

The initial highs of purchasing the land, getting high-level support for the mixed-use development and receiving overwhelming local support through the submission process, were counterbalanced by the lows of being declined consent, the huge financial costs of five years of consultation and the challenges of navigating the RMA. According to the consent we can’t carry on until we get access so the next move is to get this through the new roundabout, he said.

“So Transit has had meetings and has said our development will bring forward the roundabout by three or four years and they have put it in the 2021-22 budget.

“There has already been geo-testing done out there and surveying.

“What we are hoping is that Transit will move forward quite quickly with their roundabout plan, and from there we would like to put the service station in first.

“Then the worker accommodation will follow.”

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THURSDAY 22.04.21 - WEDNESDAY 28.04.21

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Contact Epic Race: great day out for 660 riders!

Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

“A stunning day on a stunning track with a field full of good guys racing the hardest course to date:” was how Race Director Aaron Nicholson described the Contact Epic crosscountry mountain bike race.

Excessive rain meant the Hunter River and tributaries were unsafe to cross causing organisers to reroute the same distances up past the Dingle Burn Station and back.

But it was the generosity and selflessness of the riders that set the tone for the day. Tools were loaned, times were elongated due to helping out and constant support was found along the way.

There was more climbing in the alternative route and the muddier conditions meant for a very tough ride and well-earned finisher medal.

Of the 660 that started only four people were injured and required evacuation, while five did not finish due to mechanical issues, which is a testament to the quality of the riders.

Centurion riders completed their 100 miles by starting at 5 am with the 35km Traverse Track before heading out onto the Epic, 125km course.

Due to delays getting to Europe for the start of the Cross Country Race season, this was the first year 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Anton Cooper was able to race the Contact Epic and race he did, with a first place in the 125km Epic with a time of 4

hours and 43 minutes. Ten minutes behind him was Invercargill’s Josh Burnett followed

by Oamaru’s Sullivan Martin.

The women’s Epic was won by Kate McIlroy from Wellington in 5:24. The second went to Rebecca Kingsford (5:55) and the third, Sarah Gilbert (6:04).

The Centurion merit winners were all within ten minutes over the finish line despite having ridden 160km. Louis Clark from Auckland came in with a time of 7:23, followed by Wellington’s Reon Nolan, second and local John Metzger, third. Only two women took on the 100-mile challenge; Ronel Cook (8:34) and Tracey Crosby (8;37).

The Classic riders followed the Epic winners in, but due to the course change, they had to ride 105km instead of 95Km. James McDonald from Alexandra was first with a time of 4:52, Andrew Fraser from Dunedin was second (5:07) followed closely by Henry Summerville from Auckland (5:09).

The women’s open was taken by Canterbury’s Priscilla Thompson (5:49).

Second went to Christchurch’s Nicola Sprung (5:56) and third, Oamaru’s Beatrice Day (6:04).

The 35km Open Traverse division was won

by Auckland’s Isaac Alexander (2:35) and Alexandra’s Paula Race (1:56).

With a little help from BOSCH the Classic and Traverse rides were opened up to e-bikers for the first time. Wānaka local Brent Pihama, celebrating his 60th birthday, showed the value of an e-bike by being first over the line at 4:37.

Kath Kelley celebrating her 13th year racing the Contact Epic.

PHOTOS: Studio 5

2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal winner Anton Cooper was able to race the Contact Epic due to delays getting to Europe for the start of the Cross Country Race season. And race he did, with first place in the 125km Epic with a time of 4 hours and 43 minutes.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reply to ‘Wānaka is what it is’

I would like to acknowledge how privileged we are to find ourselves living in a town where one only has to raise one’s head and breath in the mountain air, or watch the autumn leaves drop into the clear lake and rivers to find moments of peace and pleasure in our days. I think many of us are choosing to live here because we recognise this privilege.

It does not matter where we come from. The editor has divisively singled out Aucklanders and rich Southland dairy farmers in her previous editorial. I do not think that we need this kind of polarisation in the community. It is more important to focus on how we who have chosen to live here are contributing to shaping our community.

I know of many retired farmers and Aucklanders who are making wonderful contributions to Wānaka. If we are going to keep a community spirit then we will need to embrace those that arrive here, not alienate them.

Change is a constant … let us not relent that “Wānaka is what it is”, but instead acknowledge that at some point in time we have all arrived here from somewhere, and all have something to contribute to the “Wānaka as it becomes”,regardless of where we have come from.

Lucy Bellerby

Nostalgia for times gone by

There's a lot of nostalgia about Wānaka's past as reflected in your editorial last week. I used to hear similar things from my dad when I was growing up in the UK, to the extent that I printed off this quote and stuck it to the wall of his shed: Those who compare the age in which their lot has fallen with a golden age which exists only in imagination, may talk of degeneracy and decay; but no man who is correctly informed as to the past, will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the present. - Thomas Babington Macauley I know enough of Macauley's career and Victorian outlook to know that this quote is likely to be one of the few things about him that resonates with me. However, last week's editorial prompted me to Google it more than 30 years after I first used it to tease my dad.

I note your outgoing editor also refers to life 30 years ago: 'It was a pretty idyllic time for us. I miss those times.'

I absolutely respect that those represent true feelings, but how much is a generation's worth of nostalgia gilding those memories? Was it really that great to have only one restaurant in town or did you occasionally grumble about it at the time? And I'm sure

the local council back then was similarly infuriating locals with some of its decisions and making headlines in the local paper like today.

People had their own problems 30 years ago – we just naturally choose to remember the best bits. Can we learn to cherish our golden memories but not be prisoners of them?

The editorial also tells how you 'would come down for the weekend from Christchurch, with our friends'. So not that different from the many domestic tourists boosting our local economy this past year by visiting Wānaka for probably very similar reasons. Why begrudge them the opportunity to forge their own idyllic memories 30 years on?

I moved to Wānaka from the UK with my wife and five-month old daughter in 2009. She's now 12 and my Dunedin-born son is nearly nine. I've always been conscious of embracing progressive change and not being a nostalgic stick-in-the-mud like my dear old dad. We moved to Wānaka for many reasons, some of which are still hard to put into words. Suffice to say I've never felt more at home anywhere in the world as I do here.

The constant turnover of residents and visitors brings fresh ideas and a new, often more youthful, outlook. I love the fact that most people you meet have an interesting story behind why they're here.

I once bought a lawnmower off a man who moved here in 1947 for the mustering work.

Now the borders are reopening I might meet another young family from overseas looking to start a new life in a corner of the world whose stock has risen even higher during the pandemic. I certainly won't begrudge them that same opportunity that we took.

We're all in town for a reason whether we arrived in 1947, 2009 or yesterday; what right do we have to say 'sorry guys, we're happy with our lot in Wānaka now so please don't come to live here'? Rather than putting up the barricades, why not move out of our nostalgic comfort zone to engage with others who have views outside our own personal echo chambers and think beyond our own lifetimes?

Last week’s editorial was titled ‘Wānaka is what it is’ but I prefer to say Wānaka will be what it will be. Let’s look forward not back and see the district’s growing pains as reasons to work together and change for the better, not reasons to stop changing at all.

Sam White

Population growth projections questioned I read Andrew Millar’s letter about Wānaka’s population growth with interest.

As he notes, the Queenstown-Lakes Ten Year Plan anticipates growth between 2021 and 2031 of 5.4 per cent per annum, although this does include visitors as well as residents.

But the assumptions involved in terms of any population growth projections do need to be questioned, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

Continued on page 8

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PAGE 7

Sun Views LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued from page 7 I would refer readers to the authority on such growth projections, the StatsNZ. Two elements need to be reconsidered.

One is natural growth or the difference between births and deaths. The issue is the rapidly declining fertility that we are now experiencing, which is likely to be further impacted (negatively, that is even lower fertility) by COVID. We will need to recalibrate, nationally and in terms of areas such as Queenstown-Lakes.

But the second is the contribution of migration, both temporary and permanent, which has been such a feature of local population growth.

We have come out of a period of huge population growth as a result of net migration gains between 2013 and 2020.

It has typically provided about three-quarters of population growth in the last decade.

But the assumption that migration will play a significant role in the future needs to be questioned.

None of this is a criticism of the Queenstown-Lakes District Council and its staff.

We are all trying to understand what happens next as a result of COVID. My invitation would be to reconsider population projections, especially those based on what has happened in the immediate past.

Paul Spoonley Massey University

More on the 1080 debate Ross Sinclair's article "Putting 1080 to bed" recounts how he saw an area of Northland receive possum control for the first time 30 years ago.

With the reduction of possum numbers, the trees soon recovered.

This possum control was done with 1080 baits. The same effect could have been achieved with trapping but Sinclair only saw 1080 which he imagined must therefore be a miracle.

He chased the money overseas and returned 30 years later to find that 1080 was being used primarily to make money for our government, that 1080 was not the miracle he first supposed and that many of the deleterious effects of 1080 drops had now been uncovered.

1080 had spread far and wide affecting a lot more people who had seen for themselves a poison business that was out of control causing widespread cruelty to our wildlife and huge anxiety to those living in rural communities living alongside poisoned areas.

DOC has been joined by OSPRI and Regional Councils as 1080 poison distributors.

The government's bait-making factory has increased its output to supply these distribution

thewanakasun.co.nz

agencies and become a State-Owned Enterprise.

Landcare 1080 scientists led by Charles Eason formed their own private company, Connovation, in pursuit of riches to be gleaned from poison bait manufacture.

In 2015 a threat was made to put 1080 into baby formula if the government continued to use 1080. This threat came from Connovation, a result of frustration that their poison products had not replaced 1080 baits from the government factory.

Ross Sinclair is similarly interested in money. Forest and Bird has long been partners with DOC, sharing in the huge amounts of enviro - funding being given out by the central government. By describing himself as "independent" turns him into a laughing stock and his opinions into nonsense.

John Veysey

Response Your correspondent claims trapping could have achieved in Waipoua what 1080 did.

It is true that trapping can be very effective at killing possums and pest species. The problem is it is very costly over large areas and impractical over rugged areas; we need to cover large and sometimes rugged areas to reduce predator numbers at the scale needed to protect native species.

There was an interesting analysis comparing the cost of trapping and 1080 in Kahurangi National Park - a remote and rugged area on the West Coast.

The trapping costs - cutting trails on a 100m x 100 m grid over a large area, building huts for the trappers, baiting and clearing the traps, etc - were many millions versus several hundred thousand for 1080.

In terms of me 'chasing the money overseas' I actually chased adventure and found a career in conservation in the not-for-profit sector. Sadly, I didn't get rich from doing that, but it was fun.

I'm a volunteer as are all the other Forest and Bird people based in this region, so arguments about us enriching ourselves are therefore nonsense, as are the other conspiracy theories outlined by the respondent.

Such personal attacks are just ridiculous and sadly stock-in-trade for the anti-science anti-1080 lobby.

Cruelty associated with any killing is a serious issue. 1080 has been repeatedly tested and deemed sufficiently humane to be approved for use in NZ. But I accept this is an emotive issue for many people. For me, it seems grotesque and cruel to allow a stoat to tear apart and kill the defenceless chick of a threatened species when we have tools like 1080 that can protect them.

I'm not happy about us having to use toxins to protect our native species, but I've yet to see a viable alternative. Given the choice between the 'cruelty' of 1080 and that of a stoat, I'm with the majority of NZ’ers that reluctantly support the use of 1080.

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Sun SnowSport

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Future bright for snowsports athletes

PHOTO: ESPN Images / Joshua Duplechian

PHOTO: Stadler

It’s clear that NZ high performance snowsports is on the rise.

Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

It’s been an incredible year so far for the likes of local ski and snowboard stars Alice Robinson, Nico Porteous and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott.

Wānaka Freeskier Porteous and snowboarder Sadowski-Synnott have been on the podium at every major event they entered this year and were named X-games 2021 World Champions in March, while Queenstown skier Robinson achieved the best World Champs results of her career and took silver at the Giant Slalom World Cup. Porteous and Sadowski-Synnott made world history when they were just 16. Within hours of each other, they broke a 26 year ‘Winter Olympic medal drought’ when they won bronze medals in the freeski halfpipe and big air events at PyeongChang in 2018.

Annelise Coberger, NZ’s first Winter Olympian, took the silver in alpine skiing slalom in1992.

It’s clear that NZ high performance snowsports is on the rise - and the Wānaka Sun talked to Snowsports NZ CEO Nic Cavanagh and Head Coach Park and Pipe Programme Tom Willmott about how and why NZ’s performance on the world stage has been steadily gaining momentum.

Willmott said the country had seen great success outside of the Olympics since the early 2000s, including a strong history of podium success at the Winter Paralympics - with Adam

Hall winning gold in Vancouver 2010, gold and bronze in PyeongChang 2018 and Corey Peters winning silver in Sochi 2014 and bronze in 2018. In that time, NZ also enjoyed numerous World Championship and World Cup podiums, including six-time X-games medallist Jossi Wells being crowned AFP World Champion in 2010.

“In 2014, the disciplines of freeski slopestyle and halfpipe were added to the Olympic roster along with snowboard slopestyle and, more recently, snowboard big air. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, NZ achieved four top 10 results in freeski halfpipe and narrowly missed a spot on the podium, with Jossi Wells placing fourth,” said Willmott.

“Since then we have had multiple athletes winning FIS World Cups including Janina Kuzma (freeski halfpipe), Christy Prior (snowboard slopestyle), Tiarn Collins (snowboard slopestyle) and, at the 2018 Winter Olympics, our young guns Nico and Zoi both achieved bronze medals before pushing their performances even further.”

Cavanagh attributed the increase in our world class athletic success in part to direct high performance investment, which started in 2007.

“This has enabled the organisation to build the systems and structures to support success. Prior to that, world class athletes relied heavily on personal investment to compete internationally,” he said.

This included dry land training and performance health facilities at the Snowsports NZ Wānaka base, as well as the world class training facilities

Snowsports NZ Head Coach Park and Pipe Programme Tom Willmott: “Over and above all of these environmental factors, the most important factors in both Nico and Zoi’s success is their incredible hard work, perseverance and dedication to their craft; it helps that they love what they do!”

offered by local ski resort partners.

“Since 2007 we have also developed local domestic capacity and capability to support athletes’ success – reducing the need to travel internationally to progress and perform.”

But funding was not the only factor.

“In high performance sport, there is a saying that ‘excellence doesn’t happen in isolation’” said Cavanagh. “The consistent podium results from Nico, Zoi and Alice are evidence that they are legitimately at the top end of their discipline.

Their results also reflect that they are supported by world class coaching, world class performance support, and able to access world class facilities for training and competition.”

Willmott agreed a “combination of factors” led to success in the pipe and park programme. For Porteous and Sadowski-Synnott this included supportive families, training facilities at Cardrona Alpine Resort - and funding from High Performance Sport NZ and a raft of personal sponsors, helping them to become full-time athletes.

“Over and above all of these environmental factors, the most important factors in both Nico and Zoi’s success is their incredible hard work, perseverance and dedication to their craft; it helps that they love what they do!”

Willmott also gave a nod to the rising international profile of park and pipe competition since its inclusion in the Winter Olympics in 2014, which offered “a gateway for athletes in

action sports to become more widely known and for interest in these sports to increase as they transition into the mainstream.”

Cavanagh and Willmott looked forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in February and March 2022, and beyond.

“When our athletes deliver their personal bests we are confident that they are gold medal capable - noting that nothing in sport is guaranteed,” said Cavanagh.

“We have a strong cohort of development athletes targeting podium performances in Milan 2026 in both Olympic and Paralympic disciplines.

“The SSNZ High Performance 2030 strategy is currently in development (due for completion by June 2022) which will be the blueprint for how our athletes and programme continue to inspire NZ by winning on the world stage. A key element to ensuring multiple medals in multiple Olympic and Paralympic cycles will be finding the right balance between the demands of performing at the highest level and athlete wellbeing.”

“The future is bright for snowsports athletes in NZ,” said Willmott. “There is another generation of enthusiastic athletes who have Nico, Zoi, Alice, Adam and Corey as their role models. These youngsters are pushing their own limits on and off the snow every day and the stage is set for our athletes to continue to represent NZ with pride into the future, continue to add to the building legacy and win on the world stage.”

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PAGE 9

Sun News

Festival Of Colour

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Mapping the Ancestral Landscape: Takerei Norton, Helen Brown and Sir Tipene O’Regan speak on the ancestral landscape of Ngā Tahu.

In Other Words: Selina Tusitala Marsh speaks on the patriarchy of our writing tradition

PHOTOS: Ray Tiddy

The Air Between Us: Choreographer Chloe Loftus and disabled dancer Rodney Bell perform an aerial duet midair between the trees.

The opening event 2: Us reaches the Wānaka lakefront

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THURSDAY 22.04.21 - WEDNESDAY 28.04.21

THE WĀNAKA SUN

Sun News

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Festival of Colour 2021 wraps up Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

With more than 9,000 tickets sold to over 40 shows across eight days, Wānaka’s Festival of Colour has been hailed a success.

For outgoing festival director Philip Tremewan, it was a relief to present the festival in full with no disruptions due to Covid-19.

“We know we are so very lucky to have been able to share the experience of live performance on stage in venues with audiences with no physical distancing,” he said. “We are one of the only places in the world where this can happen and it was very special.”

The ninth Festival of Colour marked the end of an era with Tremewan, who is retiring after being at the helm since the festival started in 2005.

“This year was also special because due to Covid-19 we could only present New Zealand

acts and that made this a celebration of homegrown talent.”

This year, the festival attracted new audiences partly due to their being some hesitation around buying in advance.

“We’ve often sold out most shows a month or six weeks in advance of the festival. This year that didn’t happen which meant there were tickets available to many shows during the festival dates and this opened up opportunities for those lastminute ticket purchasers. And this was reflected in a younger crowd coming along to many shows,” said Tremewan.

This year’s event featured three world premieres, including sold-out performances of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s ‘Ultra Violet / The Autumn Ball’ and new play ‘The Hall’.

There was also an extensive schools and community programme providing opportunities for young people to engage with

PHOTO: Ray Tiddy

41 Helwick St shop windows were adorned with artwork created by Mount Aspiring College students.

artists and experience music, physical theatre, College students. poetry, visual art, photography and ballet - and Sophie Kelly now takes up the reins as artistic 41 Helwick St shop windows were adorned director for the Festival of Colour, with her first with artwork created by Mount Aspiring festival set for April 2023.

Taonga Moana

PHOTO: Taonga Moana

VOICES regularly performs at Arts Festivals around the country, collaborates with orchestras, Chamber Music New Zealand, Taonga Puoro and other artists across creative genres.

Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

‘Taonga Moana - A love letter to the oceans’ was a truly stunning part at this year’s Festival of Colour, performed by VOICES New Zealand Chamber Choir.

With Music Director Dr Karen Grylls, the choir made its début at the 1998 New Zealand International Arts Festival and, with its distinct New Zealand sound, infusing the qualities of its pacific origins into the classic choral repertoire, has established itself as the country’s premier national and professional choir.

VOICES regularly performs at Arts Festivals around the country, collaborates with orchestras, Chamber Music New Zealand, Taonga Puoro and other artists across creative genres.

The performance last Wednesday night, complete with video art, choreography and soundscapes, was a musical and visual homage to the beauty and vulnerability of our oceans with music from around the globe.

It followed the Māori navigator Ui-Te-Rangiora on his quest to save the oceans, from icy northern seas all the way down to a fragile sanctuary in Antarctica.

I got a little lost part way along this journey.

Partly because the video screen behind the performers was unfortunately obscured for anyone sitting in the stalls, but also because the composition’s origin and subject was not always easily identifiable, the narration more dramatic than geographical.

Nevertheless, I was along for the ride - and the performance was as hauntingly beautiful as it was challenging. Challenging for the choir, absolutely, who showcased an incredible talent, range and ability to sing in multiple languages but also challenging for the audience. There were no recognisable songs, few uplifting melodies, and the evening was underwritten by the bleak knowledge that we are destroying our world’s oceans, and they need our help.

It was both a cultural and educational experience - and although I’d have to say it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, perhaps it was what we needed.

The New Blue The three singers (Kirsten Te Rito, Rachel Fraser and Lisa Tomlins) sang the classics effortlessly.

Wānaka's latest investment, The Pacific Crystal Palace, was put to the test last Wednesday, hosting the intriguing musical project ‘The New Blue’ as part of the Festival of Colour.

Directed by Riki Gooch (Drummer for Trinity Roots), ‘The New Blue’ was to be swing instead of ska. It was old timey music and hard to gauge whether it would applaud or snore.

Three singers took the stage in glittering black and dipped their heads. A voiceover came over the PA explaining the history of Pixie Williams.

She was a Maori girl who grew up singing in cowsheds in the pastoral lands of Mohaka, Hawkes Bay in 1928, and the voice on New Zealand's first recorded song ‘Blue Smoke’.

The whole performance would be a tribute to her and the songs of that wartime era.

It was a history lesson as well as an engaging musical performance. The three singers (Kirsten

PHOTO: Ray Tiddy

Te Rito, Rachel Fraser and Lisa Tomlins) sang the classics effortlessly.

‘Que, Sera, Sera’ by Doris Day had the whole audience participating. Smiles spread across faces as Rachel sang ‘Haere Mai, everything is Kaipai’.

‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B’ was a highlight, showing the performers’ in-sync harmonies and ability to swap lead from verse to verse.

Each voice was well practiced and different.

The keys had the limelight too. James Illingworth tickled those ivories masterfully over Gooch’s brush-drum beat.

The setting, the performance, everything about this gig was top notch. Why watch the history channel? This festival is packed with well curated performances that nod to the past and showcase our talented musicians of now.

– By Lauren Prebble

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PAGE 11

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THE WĀNAKA SUN

Snowboxx ramps up! thewanakasun.co.nz

Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

New Zealand’s newest festival destination, Snowboxx, is launching this September with a 100 per cent Aotearoa lineup.

The event is a collaboration between Europe’s leading winter music festival, Snowboxx (held annually in Avoriaz, in the heart of the French Alps) and New Zealand’s festival Rhythm & Alps.

Snowboxx NZ promises to combine the best elements of a ski trip and a music festival into one package.

The new wave of Snowboxx artists features Aotearoa talent spanning drum & bass, hip-hop, disco, house, reggae and more.

Topping the bill is Kora and New Zealand-raised production wizard Opiuo who are set to dominate the slopes.

Backed by a world-class

production, the latest round of acts completes a powerhouse line-up that includes Shapeshifter and bass duo Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099 and rapper Melodownz.

Rounding off the line-up are electronic duo Arma Del Amor, George FM personality Brook Gibson and bass bigwigs Eastern Bloc, plus Hot & Dangerous, Noncharlet, Scotty Mayes and Thanks.

Snowboxx NZ is crammed with a whole lot more around-the-clock entertainment including sledge races and ‘skim pool.”

Alex Turnbull of Rhythm & Alps comments: “Europe’s biggest winter festival is coming to New Zealand and has been programmed with a line-up of the best talent New Zealand has to offer. We’re hyped to stage a safe, affordable and unforgettable event in one of the world’s most spectacular locations.”

Sun News

Snowboxx is launching this September with a 100 per cent Aotearoa lineup.

PHOTO: Supplied

PHOTO: Wānaka Sun

A new mural on the side of a storage container outside Wastebusters aims to raise the profile of Lake Wānaka’s crested grebes. The idea was that of retail assistant Anna Ferens and was painted by Dunedin artist Bruce Mahalski, from photos provided by Lake Wānaka grebes project founder John Darby and with support from Mitre 10. The mural opened for public viewing on Monday.

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PAGE 13

Sun Farming

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A monthly column

by Kim Reilly, Regional Policy Manager, Federated Farmers South Island.

Do you need consent for intensive grazing?

With the post-1989 forestry sector, returns must be submitted at least every five years.

PHOTO: Supplied

In Otago, the rules of the Regional Plan: Water would apply, including rules around intensive grazing introduced in Plan Change 8 in 2020.

In March, the government announced that some new regulations around intensive winter grazing would be deferred until next year while a farm plan module was developed. The new rules would now come into effect in May 2022, however national rules restricting the expansion of intensive winter grazing still applied.

In Otago, the rules of the Regional Plan: Water would apply, including rules around intensive grazing introduced in Plan Change 8 in 2020. This introduction aligned Otago with other regions in having rules relating to intensive grazing.

While the NES Freshwater rules relating to grazing had been deferred for a year, the rules in Plan Change 8 relating to grazing had legal effect. In certain situations, this meant that farmers needed consent for intensive grazing during this season or next season.

Consents would not be required if the farmer could meet the permitted activity criteria in the rule. If they couldn’t, then the farmer would still be able to continue intensive grazing without consent under continuance rights, provided they continued grazing on the same scale and with the same effects.

If a farmer who wanted to undertake intensive grazing could answer “yes” to all of the following questions, they would not need resource consent: • Is the area of intensive grazing the lesser of 100 ha, or 10 per cent of the total landholding?

• Does the area of intensive grazing avoid any critical source areas?

• Are stock break or block fed from the top to the bottom of a slope?

• Is a vegetated strip of at least 10m maintained between the area of intensive grazing and any water body?

If they couldn’t meet all of those conditions and they did not have continuance rights, they would need to apply to the Otago Regional Council for resource consent to undertake intensive grazing this year or next year.

Anyone who was unsure but thought they might need consent was encouraged to get in touch with the ORC consents team, who could help determine if consent was needed.

ORC General Manager Regulatory Richard Saunders said staff had developed a process for quick and affordable consenting starting from this week for farmers who did need consent.

“Our consents team has developed a simple consent application form which will require basic information such as the area of paddock being grazed, which of the permitted activity criteria are not being met, and what mitigations are in place.

“The consents will cost $200 based on the staff time required and will be issued for the period up to 1 November 2021. The national regulations deferred by the government, subject to any amendments, will take effect from May 2022. An intensive winter grazing farm plan module should also be in place in 2022,” Saunders said.

PHOTO: Interest.co.nz

So, what’s the deal with carbon credits?

Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is reminding Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) participants they should have had their emissions (carbon credits) returned before 31 March and must surrender any units by 31 May. Participants who are unable to complete their returns by 31 March can apply for an extension of up to 20 working days to submit their return, however this needs to have been done by the 31 March reporting deadline. The EPA cannot extend the date for surrender obligations.

The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was created through the Climate Change Response Act 2002. The Act was passed in recognition of New Zealand's obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

It is the primary method for the New Zealand Government to achieve its longterm commitment to reduce New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions trading' is a market-based approach for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

The ETS puts a price on emissions, by charging certain sectors of the economy for the greenhouse gases they emit. On an annual basis these sectors must calculate their emissions by submitting an emission return to the ETS.

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They must then acquire and surrender New Zealand Units (NZUs) or other eligible emission units to account for their direct greenhouse gas emissions or the emissions associated with their products. With the post1989 forestry sector, returns must be submitted at least every five years.

Emission units, sometimes called 'carbon credits', are traded between participants in the Scheme. An emission unit can either represent one metric tonne of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of any other greenhouse gas. The primary unit of trade is the NZU, which are created by the New Zealand Government and allocated to organisations and individuals participating in the Scheme.

The ETS does not require households to surrender emission units. However, households feel some of the effects of the Scheme as the businesses that are involved pass ETS costs on to consumers. The point of obligation in the ETS (that is the participant in the scheme) is as far upstream in the supply chain as possible. This means most businesses in New Zealand are not required to be participants in the ETS. EPA manages the administration of the Scheme. It ensures compliance with the Scheme and provides reports and market information.

It also operates the New Zealand Emissions Trading Register, where transactions take place.

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Warbirds, first international act Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

The Government confirmation of a start date for a Trans-Tasman travel bubble has coincided with confirmation of a headline international act for next year’s Warbirds Over Wānaka International Airshow.

Up to 5,000 visitors from Australia traditionally make the biennial pilgrimage to the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest Airshow joining another 50,000 fans over the three days.

Warbirds Over Wānaka General Manager, Ed Taylor, said they were aware of a lot of pent-up demand from across the ditch with some people having already bitten the bullet and booked tickets for Easter 2022.

“Now with confirmation that the bubble will open later this month we are expecting another rush of ticket sales to Australians. Interestingly we have also had people booking from the UK, the USA and even Belgium. The good thing is our

Airshow is still 12 months away so we are hoping the world will look a lot different by then,” said Taylor.

“Along with the bubble, the other great news this week is confirmation that next year’s Warbirds Over Wānaka will feature a rare Polikarpov I-16.

This Russian WWII fighter aircraft was imported into the country from Germany for the cancelled 2020 Airshow. We’ve been working with the owner ever since and through his generosity and the support of our sponsors, Hamburg Sud and Mainfreight, we’re now in a position to confirm the aircraft is staying here,” said Taylor.

The aircraft is one of nine Polikarpov fighter wrecks famously located in Siberia by Warbirds Over Wānaka founder, Sir Tim Wallis, back in the early 1990s. Sir Tim organised for them to be restored in one of the original Polikarpov factories in Russia before they were shipped to Wānaka where they were a huge hit with Warbird fans from around the world.

When Sir Tim’s Warbird collection was

The Polikarpov I-16 – rare Russian WWII fighter aircraft.

progressively sold off during the early 2000’s, the Polikarpovs went to new owners around the world. Today it’s believed only three of the I-16s are still flying, making its return to the skies over Wānaka very special.

“We know there are thousands of fans who will travel to Wānaka just to see this distinctive little aircraft with its noisy 1000hp engine come ripping down the flightline,” said Taylor.

The Polikarpov will be flown by two-times

PHOTO: Warbirds

World Aerobatic Champion Jurgis Kairys from Lithuania.

The announcement of the Russian fighter for the next Airshow follows recent news that the Royal New Zealand Air Force will be at Warbirds Over Wānaka in force as it uses the Airshow as a major showcase to celebrate their 85th Anniversary. A number of international air forces are also expected to be at Wānaka to join in the celebrations.

Applications open for Wānaka Snowsports Grassroots Programme Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

PHOTO: Supplied

“This showcase is always a little spontaneous and always magical,” said event producer Josephine Gallagher.

Performances confirmed for Yami Sounz Summit Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

Over the weekend of May 8 and 9, the Lake Wānaka Centre will become a hub of musical creativity, connection and inspiration with workshops, seminars and showcases that teach the likes of songwriting, mixing and mastering and how to DJ - all as part of this year’s Yami Sounz Summit.

Two concerts have now been confirmed to complement the weekend, with tutors and registrants performing live on stage.

The Saturday evening line up will feature tutors Troy Kingi and Delaney Davidson performing a special set together with support from Anderson Rocio and Kylie Price.

Kingi rose to fame after the release of his two multi-award-winning albums, alongside major roles in Kiwi films including Hunt For The Wilderpeople and The Kick. Kingi is nearing the mid-point of his aspirational 10 10 10 Series (to release 10 albums in 10 genres in 10 years). He won two awards at the

2019 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards – Best Roots Album and Best Māori Artist.

Anderson Rocio will perform for the first time in Wānaka. Anderson rose to prominence on the global 2020 Shazam charts after her song ‘Paradise’ was featured on the Netflix show ‘Lucifer’. Anderson is currently working on her sophomore EP and has been recently touring the country in support with SOL3 MIO. The Sunday evening showcase will feature Kiwi legend PDigsss of Shapeshifter, and act as a culmination of the weekend, where registrants get the opportunity to showcase their talents to friends, family and locals.

Singers can perform as a backing choir to PDigsss and Sam Trevethick, drummers hit the backbeat for Seamus Johnson of SeaMouse and aspiring DJs will get the crowd on their feet for a boogie.

“This showcase is always a little spontaneous and always magical,” said event producer Josephine Gallagher.

For more information, visit www.yami.nz.

Applications are open for the Wānaka Snowsports Grassroots Programme, which assists children in years 2-8 with snowsports coaching in the various disciplines.

This is the main developmental focus of the Wānaka Snowsports Club - previously known as the Wānaka Ski Club and the Wānaka Sku & Snowsports Club. The club’s membership encompasses all snowsports disciplines and the new name received the unanimous vote at the March 28th AGM. Over $80,000 has been distributed to members through the Grassroots Programme since 2013.

Gustav Legnavsky, freeskier and former alpine racer, was a member of the Wānaka Snowsports Grassroots Program. He recently received a Wānaka Snowsports Athletes Grant which helped him towards training for his first Freeski World Champs this year, where he placed 16th in the halfpipe event.

Legnavsky said he saw the Wānaka Snowsports community as his “team” and truly appreciated the encouragement and assistance given to him as he continues his sporting journey.

The 2021 committee has many new initiatives and events planned, spearheaded by James Rowden as President, Karen Melville-Ives as Secretary and Flick Wallace as Treasurer, which will be announced at the official Wānaka Snowsports Welcome to Winter celebration and logo reveal in June.

Life Member Peter Duff has also retired from

PHOTO: Supplied

Gustav Legnavsky, freeskier and former alpine racer, was a member of the Wānaka Snowsports Grassroots Program.

the committee after over 25 years of service to the club. Former Chief of Race Duff was involved with the Alpine Race component of the club, representing the club on the former Ski Racing NZ Board and latterly at Snowsports Alpine Forums. He will remain involved with the Race Committee as his health permits and Wānaka Snowsports Club thanked him wholeheartedly for his dedication to the club.

Applications to the Grassroots Programme close on April 30. Information is available from www.wanakasnowsports.co.nz.

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PAGE 15

Sun Sport

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A promising Central Otago Sports Awards finalists announced Pat Deavoll start to junior squash season editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

The Wānaka Squash Club fielded 12 competitors in the first round of the 2021 HEAD Junior Squash Series on Sunday April 11 with some very impressive results.

In the A draw Ollie Lyon was narrowly beaten in the open final over three sets of superb squash while George Sargood, also in the A draw, fought hard over 3 matches against strong competition.

In the B draw, Oisín Corbett took the Special Plate (3rd place) over Jake Resnick in a close five-setter.

Kyan Prince, who also faced a close fivesetter, just missed out on 5th place and Alex Resnick won the Consolation Plate.

In the final of the C draw Matthew Botting, competing for the first time, held off his opponent for five sets but just missed out on the first spot. Sophie Menlove won the thirdfourth playoff while Ethan Prince won the fifthsixth playoff against Nick Resnick.

Rui Fakaya, also playing in his first competition, won all three matches to take the final from Ben Bankshaw in the D draw.

A promising start to the series, thanks in no small part to their coaches Bruce, Tony and Paul and we look forward to watching them progress.

– By Neal Corbett

A celebration and acknowledgement of sporting achievement throughout the Central Otago Region will take place on Tuesday, 4 May at the Wānaka Golf Club. The Central Otago Sports Awards will celebrate the best of the best, in all aspects of sporting life.

Judges, Tony Lepper, Jo Knight, Tiny Carruthers, Simon Battrick and Belinda Colling have narrowed over 60 nominations down to three or four finalists. The quality of the field is epitomised by the senior women’s finalists.

Two world champions in Alice Robinson and Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, (snow sports), Simone Maier, (multi-sport) Coast to Coast winner, and Jess Blewitt, (downhill mountain bike) national downhill champion, are the four finalists.

The senior men’s finalists are of an extremely high calibre also. Braden Currie (multi-sport) won the New Zealand Ironman in under eight hours last month. Dougal Allan (multi-sport) won the Coast to Coast. Nico Porteous (snow sports) won New Zealand’s first-ever X Games gold medal, with a first-ever trick combination, never landed in competition before. Brad Pako (woodchopping) won a world title in 2021.

Junior sportswomen finalists are Abby Fisher (track and field), Olivia Flight (snow sports and track) and Pyper Sarginson (rodeo), all nationally ranked athletes in their respective codes.

Junior sportsman’s finalists are Nick Collier (whitewater kayak, canoe slalom) who won four secondary school kayak titles, Gustav Legnavsky (snow sports) who was the youngest athlete competing in the free ski halfpipe at World Championships and Max McDonald (snow sports) who picked up a 4th placing at the Youth

PHOTO: Stuff

Nico Porteous is a finalist in the senior men’s category.

Olympics, in the half-pipe.

Coach of the Year, consists of two highly successful snowsports coaches, Tommy Pyatt who coaches Nico Porteous, and Sean Thompson who works with Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. Simon Smith (rowing) has had an amazing year with Dunstan rowing crews.

Team of the Year recognises the Maniototo Youth Olympic Curling Team who placed 4th at Youth Olympics. Two rowing quads have made the finals, the MAC intermediate coxed quad who won gold at the Maadi Cup as well as the Dunstan High under 18 Girls coxed quad who also won gold at Maadi Cup. The Spirit Awards have been introduced to acknowledge local athletes that may not be performing on the international stage but deserve recognition for their achievements. Senior Spirit Award finalists are Dugi Anderson’s (darts)

contribution to the sport. Ferdia O’Connell (open water swimming)- Ferdia has become an inspiration to his Mint counterparts, for his exploits in open water swimming. And Kath Kelly, (multi-sport), fundraiser, advocate, and 1st women home in the Tour Te Waipounamu.

In the Junior Spirit Award, Tao Hawkey- Hight (Rowing) is nominated as a valued member of the Wānaka Rowing Club. Josh Allan (coaching, competing, referee, administrator) is giving back to sport in so many ways and has a road map for his future. Olive Watherston (rugby, touch, basketball and netball) was one of four schoolaged rugby players in New Zealand to be invited to play the NZ Ignite Women’s 7’s competition.

A supreme award will be presented from the following categories: senior woman, senior man, junior man, junior woman and the team of the year.

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Sun Views

EDITORIAL

Livestock exports phasing out? Staying ahead of the curve

Sponsored by PHOTO: Fleetmon.com

The Nada, one of the largest livestock carriers in the world, collected 50,000 sheep and 3000 cattle from the Port of Timaru in 2015, bound for Mexico.

Pat Deavoll

editor@thewanakasun.co.nz

Last week the Government announced that all livestock exports from New Zealand by sea would be banned by 2023.

As an ex-farming reporter, this was of great interest to me. But not because I am pro-farming (I am) but because I am more so an animal lover.

I love my cat, she is my best friend.

Back in 2015, I broke a nationwide news story on the livestock carrier, the Nada, one of the largest livestock carriers in the world, which snuck into Timaru Port, loaded up 50,000 live sheep and 3000 cattle, and snuck out again bound for Mexico.

But not before I had alerted the nation (it was on TV1 news) and incited general outrage and division between farmers, animal activists and the general public. I was pretty proud of myself, particularly because of the ship’s blatant subterfuge. It was trying to get in and out of the port under the cloak of darkness!

At the time SAFE for Animals executive director Hans Kriek had said: "In a shipment, this large, many animals will die on the journey.

Sheep die of inanition, a refusal to eat the dry nuts fed on the ship.

"The government takes the attitude that if animals are exported for breeding stock, it's OK. Doesn't the journey matter? And how does the government guarantee the welfare of the animals once they reach their destination?

"I do not believe for a second 50,000 sheep can be transported humanely."

And I believed him, and still do.

Federated Farmers are, of course, up in arms about the announcement. Feds animal welfare spokesperson Wayne Langford said: "The Minister has said this is all about protecting New Zealand’s reputation as the most ethical producer of food in the world.

"Those farmers who support livestock exports would point out our trade in this sector operates to some of the highest animal welfare standards anywhere - standards that were further bolstered after last year’s Heron Report.”

The Heron Report, which followed the sinking of the Gulf Livestock 1 in a cyclone last September, led to further requirements including:

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• focused maritime inspection of livestock carrier ships entering New Zealand; • restricting stocking density on vessels to 90 per cent of former limits; • increased requirements for voyage reporting, including daily veterinary reports during voyages; • increased minimum fodder requirements that ensure at least 20 per cent of feed is available for unplanned delays during the voyage.

Langford goes on to say: "Our farmers care deeply about animal welfare. The government has seen fit to bring in this ban but Federated Farmers has no information about any breaches of the high standards relating to livestock exports.

"There is a contractual relationship with the companies receiving livestock from New Zealand at the export destination to have minimum standards in place, and these are monitored for 30 days after the arrival of the animals.

"But it is true that after then, New Zealand has no control over the future welfare of those animals."

The trade is worth around $250 million in export receipts, Feds says. It has accounted for 0.2 per cent of New Zealand’s primary sector exports revenue since 2015.

SAFE added in a statement after the announcement: “This ban will mean that our animals will no longer suffer in countries with lower standards of animal welfare.

“But we’re seriously concerned about the animals that will continue to suffer for the next two years during the phase-out. Hundreds of thousands of cows could be exported during that time.

“This ban won’t improve animal welfare because live exports from New Zealand will be replaced by exports from other countries with lower animal welfare standards.”

Damien O’Connor, Agriculture Minister said in a statement accompanying the announcement: “I acknowledge the economic benefit some farmers get from the trade, but I also note that support of it is not universal within the sector. But we need to stay ahead of the curve in a world where animal welfare is under increasing scrutiny.”

So it’s a conundrum but I know which side I am on.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR To submit a letter for possible publication in the Wānaka Sun, please send it via email to editor@thewanakasun.co.nz.

Letters can also be sent by private message on our Facebook page.

Letters may be edited or abridged.

Letters of no more than 300 words are preferred.

Crimeline I Ian Henderson

Senior Constable, NZPD

Wānaka has been busy over the last week with the Festival of Colour bringing many people to town to soak up an amazing array of events.

With the borders opening up with our Australian cousins, Queenstown and Wānaka will be catering for a new wave of visitors keen to see some new scenery and loosen their wallets.

Local Police have been kept busy with several incidents over the last week, not all for public consumption, but there was a vehicle crash on the Crown Range on April 16 where a vehicle rolled onto its roof at Bridge 6. The driver was shaken up but not injured.

Also, on Friday, Police dealt with a drink driver who produced a very high alcohol reading after being stopped on Helwick St. Over the weekend there was another crash where a vehicle was following too close and ran into the rear of the vehicle ahead of it. A timely reminder for drivers to stick to the ‘two-second rule,’ which becomes the ‘three-second rule’ when roads are wet/during winter.

Police also attended a vehicle crash in the Kirimoko area of town over the weekend when

THURSDAY 22.04.21 - WEDNESDAY 28.04.21

PHOTO: Wanaka Sun

a van crashed. The Queenstown driver was processed for drink driving after driving over wheelie bins, letterboxes and vacant sections.

Fortunately, when he collided with a large boulder in a landscaped area, the van rolled onto its side, bringing his joy ride to a sudden halt.

For local cyclists, there is currently an operation being conducted by Police for helmets to be worn and lights used during the hours of darkness. This is for the benefit of both cyclists and motorists as cyclists will invariably come off second best in a crash.

A reminder to do your pre-winter vehicle checks; tyres including the spare; wiper blades; snow chains; ice scraper for windows and antifreeze top-up.

PAGE 17

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THANKS

Wānaka Pharmacy is your local pharmacy.

We’re the big pharmacy at the top of Helwick Street - open from 8am until 6pm and 10 to 6 on Sundays.

Ph 443 8000.

The Salvation Army Family Store is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturdays 9.30am to 4pm and most statutory holidays. We look forward to seeing you in our wonderful store.

Thanks to everyone who comes to Wastebusters to donate goods, shop and recycle.

Your support helps us work for zero waste and a resourceful community.

WANTED The Salvation Army Family Store requires a volunteer to assist our van driver Danny on a Thursday with pickups and deliveries. If this sounds like you, please pop into the store for some more information.

Lifting of furniture will be required.

The Salvation Army Family Store requires good quality household goods, if you can help this would be appreciated.

Your donations can be dropped at 48 Helwick street or phone for a pick up 443 5068.

NOTICE Cut rags (100% cotton) and drop cloths, only $7 for a big bag. Now in the yard container at Wastebusters. Open 9-5 seven days.

Business Networking International.

The Wānaka chapter of BNI meets weekly at 7am Tuesday morning.

Great networking opportunity to grow your business.

Contact Randal Dobbs for information 021 973 043.

The Salvation Army Family Store is able to collect your donations, this service is available one day a week please phone the store on 443 5068 to make a booking.

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Also distributed to businesses in the Wānaka business district Average circulation: 15,000 weekly.

Phone: 03 443 5252 • Fax: 03 443 5250 Editor: Pat Deavoll • 0274 487 741 editor@thewanakasun.co.nz Journalist: Joanna Perry • 021 736 740 newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz Advertising: adrep@thewanakasun.co.nz Admin: Benn Ashford • 021 956 740 admin@thewanakasun.co.nz Mail: PO Box 697, Wānaka Deadlines: Display Advertising 4pm Friday prior to publication. marketing@thewanakasun.co.nz

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Sadowski-Synnott goes backcountry Joanna Perry

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

Wānaka’s star snowboarder Zoi SadowskiSynnott finished in second place at the Natural Selection Tour finals, held in the Tordrillo Mountains of Alaska at the weekend.

Coming in fresh off her Snowboard Slopestyle World Championships win, Sadowski-Synnott secured her eighth podium result this season with her first competition in the state.

She came up against Canadian “backcountry Queen” Robin Van Gyn, who took the win by a margin of 12 points after Sadowski-Synnott landed shy of a clean run in the finals.

Third on the podium for the women’s final was Hana Beaman (USA).

Debuting in February 2021 with stops at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming; Baldface-Valhalla, British Columbia; and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska; the Natural Selection Tour showcases the world’s top riders, competing on the planet’s most exciting natural and naturally enhanced terrain.

The Natural Selection Tour’s mission is to inspire people to forge a deeper relationship with Mother Nature.

Better known for her accomplishments in international slopestyle and big air competition, Sadowski-Synnott has shown everyone that she is an incredibly versatile and talented athlete during this tour. When she took the win as a last-minute wildcard in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in February, she impressed everyone with her ability to convert her skills to the natural features of the backcountry.

EVERY LETTERBOX EVERY THURSDAY Is your Wānaka Sun delivered every Thursday?

If not, email your address to admin@thewanakasun.co.nz or phone us on 03 443 5252

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PUBLIC NOTICE

JOURNALIST REQUIRED Be part of the small team responsible for producing our popular weekly newspaper.

• You will have the relevant journalism qualifications, and a minimum of two years' experience writing for a recognised media organisation.

• You will have existing local contacts and the ability to connect with the wider community.

• You will also have an eye for community news, strong writing ability and photography skills, and the ability to meet strict deadlines.

Based in Wānaka with an immediate start, the hours for this position are flexible.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate journalist who enjoys a challenge! If this sounds you, please forward your application with your CV and cover letter to: The Wānaka Sun, PO Box 697, Wānaka, admin@thewanakasun.co.nz

N o t i c e b o a rd | P a p a P ā n u i Queenstown Lakes District Council Meeting Schedule for May 2021 Subject to change.

Last amended: 14 April 2021

Public Notice is hereby given in terms of Section 46 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 that meetings of the Council will be held as follows, during the month of May 2021.

Hearing of submissions to the draft Queenstown Lakes Spatial Plan – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown. Monday 3 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Hearing of submissions to the draft Queenstown Lakes Spatial Plan - Armstrong Room, Lake Wānaka Centre, 89 Ardmore Street, Wānaka. Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Resource Consent Hearing (Jon Waterston RM190049) – Crowne Plaza Hotel (Level 3), Beach Street, Queenstown.

Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Infrastructure Committee – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown. Thursday 6 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Hearing of submissions to the draft 2021-2031 Ten Year Plan – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown.

Monday 10 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Hearing of submissions to the Proposed Amendments to the Policy on Development Contributions – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown. Monday 10 May 2021 at 3.00pm.

Hearing of submissions to the draft 2021-2031 Ten Year Plan – Armstrong Room, Lake Wānaka Centre, 89 Ardmore Street, Wānaka. Tuesday 11 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Hearing of submissions to the Proposed Amendments to the Policy on Development Contributions – Armstrong Room, Lake Wānaka Centre, 89 Ardmore Street, Wānaka. Tuesday 11 May 2021 at 3.00pm.

Wānaka Community Board – Armstrong Room, Lake Wānaka Centre, 89 Ardmore Street, Wānaka. Thursday 13 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Hearing of submissions to the Fees and Charges Review 2021 – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown.

Friday 14 May 2021 at 9.00am.

Resource Consent Hearing (Lakes District Construction Limited RM190986) – Crowne Plaza Hotel (Level 3), Beach Street, Queenstown. Tuesday 18 May 2021 at 9.00am.

Community & Services Committee – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown. Thursday 20 May 2021 at 10.00am.

Appeals Subcommittee – Council Chambers, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown. Thursday 20 May 2021 at 1.00pm.

This meeting will be held with the public excluded, pursuant to Section 7(2)(g) and Section 7(2)(i) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

YOUR AD WILL REACH THE MOST LOCALS ONLINE IN

Meeting dates, times and venues are subject to change. All of the above meetings are open to the public. Some meetings may have items of business that will be discussed with the public excluded, as set out by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

Mike Theelen CHIEF EXECUTIVE

www.thewanakasun.co.nz

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PHOTO: Dean Blotto Gray / Natural Selection Tour / Red Bull Content Pool

Sadowski-Synnott secured her eighth podium result this season for her first event in Alaska.

Private Bag 50072 | 47 Ardmore Street Wānaka Phone 03 443 0024 | www.qldc.govt.nz

THURSDAY 22.04.21 - WEDNESDAY 28.04.21

PAGE 19

Sun Sport

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Heartbreak For WAFC Premiers in local derby Wānaka hosted the Queenstown Rovers in round five of the Southern Premiership.

Perfect conditions greeted both teams and the game started brightly for Wānaka when striker Steve Pleskun pounced on a misplaced shot from midfielder Ethan Arratia and placed a well-timed shot past Dan Boccatis into the Rovers goal from 8 yards to put Wānaka 1-0 in the 6th minute.

Rovers replied in the 10th minute when a long ball from Bocatis deceived the Wānaka defence and Beveridge from Rovers found time and space to volley over a stranded Aaron Molloy in the Wānaka goal. 1-1.

Just 2 minutes later Arratia dribbled into the Rovers penalty area and as he turned he was upended and the referee blew for a penalty. Adam Harms stepped up and beat Boccatis to make the score 2-1 with less than 15 minutes played.

Wānaka controlled much of the possession for the remainder of the half with little reward as Boccatis handled the majority of Wānaka shots with ease.

In the second half, Rovers had a notable change in formation but Wānaka again was first to show attacking intent when Adam Harm’s shot looked destined to settle in the right top corner of the Rovers goal. But Boccatis pulled over a wondersafe to keep his team in the game.

Toa Roode made way for Angus Macdonald and there was an immediate impact as he controlled a cross and hit a dipping volley that looked like a certain goal. However Boccatis to once again saved the shot as he tipped it over the bar.

The game was heating up as both teams lowered their standards and the game became very scrappy. But it was Rovers who drew level when a corner failed to clear at the first opportunity and the resulting second header across the goal

PHOTO: WAFC

WAFC Premiers Match MVP, Ethan Arratia.

fell to Zac Hourstin. He volleyed home to level the game at 2-2 in the 70th minute.

Queenstown now had their tails up and Wānaka look disjointed as they struggled to create controlled possession.

Wānaka’s Brandon Dickson and Rover’s Thomas Mills were both yellow-carded for a scuffle with both players not wanting to take a back step.

Dickson showed passion and determination that some of the other Wānaka players could have done with. Molloy made a great one on one save at the feet of Hourston from the Rovers when he outpaced the Wānaka backline in the 75th minute.

Thomas Smith and Izaak Emmanuel replaced Dickson and Harms as coach Bell looked for

fresh legs to lift his team.

The momentum seemed to be with Rovers as a series of free-kicks went their way and it was in the 85th minute that a free-kick was awarded 20 yards out on the left-hand side of Wānaka’s penalty area.

A well-placed dipping free-kick went over the wall and Molloy parried it away. But Rovers striker Beverridge anticipated first and pounced on the loose ball and dunked it over the stranded keeper to put Rovers 3-2 up with 5 minutes to play.

Wānaka responded with one last chance to draw the game but Rovers Boccatis and several other defenders put their bodies on the line to block shots from Pleskun and Arratia.

Wānaka was gutted to lose the points after

controlling large parts of what was a very ugly game of football. Rovers no doubt were ecstatic with the final result.

For Wānaka, Dickson and Arratia were the best on a day when too many players weren't up to the standards they could play at and needed to be in this top league.

Next week Wānaka travel to Ellis park in Dunedin to take on Roslyn Wakari in the Central Otago League. The WAFC Premier Reserves faced the Queenstown Falcons. Unfortunately, much better performance couldn’t stop the Falcons from winning 3-2. Leo Stout had another MVP game for the Reserves, backing up from last week. Over in Cromwell, the Wānaka 3rd team went down 12-1.

– By WAFC

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