4 Wairarapa Midweek Local News Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Bus’ next stop Christmas Emma Brown Instead of reindeer this year, Santa is using a bus. Pack the Bus is collecting Wairarapa-wide. After the success of last year’s inaugural collection in Masterton when the entire bus was filled, it was decided to expand across the whole region and spread the Christmas joy to more families with an even bigger collection, Tranzit Coachlines Wairarapa manager Jenna Snelgrove said. The idea of this campaign is to pack the Tranzit Coachlines bus full of donated Christmas gifts and non-perishable food items which will be donated to the Wairarapa food banks, who in turn distribute them to individuals and families in need this Christmas. The collection runs for three weeks, stopping at a number of events in Masterton, Carterton, Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough. In addition, separate ‘park-ups’ will be held at local schools and the bus will make a guest appearance at the Masterton, Greytown and Martinborough Christmas
“All of the food was basic and practical so was used and not wasted, some was even a treat to the families - bacon and ham.” • Members of the public can find out where the Pack the Bus “parking-up” locations will be at: www.facebook. com/MediaWorksWairarapa/
BUS COLLECTION POINTS:
Thursday, December 5 8.30am-10am: Carterton Events Centre
Friday, December 6
11.30am-2pm: Martinborough Square
Saturday, December 7 Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson, left, Tranzit’s Jenna Snelgrove, More FM Wairarapa’s Allison James and [on right] Property Brokers Masterton area manager Brent Woodmass, Masterton District Council’s Andrea Jackson, More FM Wairarapa’s Wendy Morrison, with sponsors and other councillors on the bus. PHOTO/EMMA BROWN
parades with Santa at the wheel. Jenna said last year, the collection started slowly but once people got in the spirit, the donations kept coming in. Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson was at the launch to add her donation
of three books written by local authors and a counting sheep game that featured numbers and colours in te reo Maori. Last year’s delivery volunteers said the Christmas hampers they delivered were well received.
“The generosity of Masterton people was evident, and the usefulness and quality of gifts was impressive,” Jenna said. She said families were excited and grateful to receive food and gifts over a time that is a financial strain on them.
11.30am-1pm: Masterton Christmas Parade; 2pm-4pm: St Teresa’s School Christmas Market
Sunday, December 8
10am-1pm: Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton; 3.30pm-7pm: Carterton Summer Street Party
Monday, December 9
8.30am-10am: Supervalue Featherston
Tuesday, December 10 8.30am-10:30am: FreshChoice Greytown
Trust gives $600,000 to education Eli Hill A whopping $600,000 has been pledged towards an education project to be created by Wairarapa people. Masterton Trust Lands Trust (MTLT) will contribute $600,000 over the next three years to fund a significant education project. Exactly what the project will look like is still to be decided by the local education community, however hauora and wellbeing would be a focus. The funding was announced last week at an information session for principals, boards of trustees and others
involved in local education. It is part of a new funding allocation strategy that will start in April next year. MTLT education committee chair Christine Brewster said the new approach would involve putting significant funding towards a single area of education for a bigger impact in addressing a problem or need. “This approach of making an ‘impact investment’ will allow us to work with the local education sector to make a real difference towards the learning achievements and wellbeing of young people in our community.” The project would be
led by the Whakaoriori (Masterton) Kahui Ako collective of local education providers, Brewster said. “Developing this new approach has coincided with the formation of the Whakaoriori Kahui Ako, which is well placed to be our collaborative partner in this initiative.” A governance group would be formed to manage the project with the next stage focused on creating an education initiative to be funded. Brewster said the multiyear commitment to the funding would provide more certainty to the local education community and “a greater ability to
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NO PEAS, NO PEA WEEVIL
undertake a project with the scale that could provide longer term benefits”. The trust’s funding would be available for other education activities and events, which is forecasted to be about $450,000 over the next three years. Brewster said MTLT contributed more than $280,000 last year to support 31 different education initiatives. Fernridge School principal and Whakaoriori Kāhui Ako lead principal Janine Devenport said this investment would “provide opportunities for our tamariki to shine”. The Government has also announced that
nearly every state school will receive a capital injection to bring forward property improvements, worth nearly $7 million to Wairarapa schools. A total of 52 schools in the region with a combined roll of 10,075 will receive $6,981,110. The funding is based on $693 per student. The announcement is the first project of the Government’s infrastructure package. Some schools will receive up to $400,000 to spend on needed upgrades, with every school receiving at least $50,000 regardless of the size of its roll. The money will have to be spent in the next 24 months.
Street festival returns
Christmas on Queen will be held on Saturday, December 7, 10.30am to 2.30pm, the same day as the Masterton Christmas Parade.
Carols in the park
Masterton Council of Christian Churches is hosting Carols in the Square on Friday, December 6, beginning at 6.30pm. In addition to eight traditional carols and readings, there will be a children’s play revealing the Christmas story. Optional koha toward the costs of the Wairarapa Hospital Chaplaincy is welcome. Bring blankets or deck chairs. Chairs will be available for older people. A choir will lead the singing, and everyone is invited. There will be no sermon, the carols will tell the story. If the afternoon is wet, the gathering will meet inside St Matthew’s Anglican church, near the police station on Church St. Rev Hennie Nothnagel, coVicar of the Anglican Church of The Epiphany who will lead the event, has prepared print versions in modern English for the carol booklets.
Community board vacancies
Nominations for the vacant community board roles in Featherston and Greytown are open. Both community boards are seeking one more person. South Wairarapa District Council is accepting nominations and deposits until Monday, December 23. A by-election will take place if a ward receives more than one candidate.
Dog Microchipping
Dog owners can get their dogs microchipped at a discounted rate of $10 at a barbeque at Henley Lake, on Wednesday, December 4, 5.30pm to 6.30pm, near the Te Ore Ore Rd entrance. The event marks the culmination of Masterton District Council’s Take the Lead campaign to highlight areas where dogs should be kept on a lead – particularly during nesting season – and make clear where dogs can be exercised off-leash. Council staff will also be on hand to check microchips are working correctly and information on the chips is correct.
Please do not grow pea plants, sow pea seeds or use pea straw. A Controlled Area Notice is still in place for the Wairarapa region. We’ll be continuing the ban on growing peas in the 2019-20 pea growing season. The pea weevil only feeds on peas so if we remove their food, they’ll die out.
If you see peas growing call MPI on 0800 80 99 66 For more information visit biosecurity.govt.nz/peaweevil Thank you for your support. We couldn’t do this without you.