Te Awamutu News | October 13, 2022

Facing up

Susan O’Regan thought she knew what was in the Waipā mayor’s office – after all she has been in there many times in the past few years catching up with Jim Mylchreest.

But when she opened one of the doors on Monday morning – 43 hours after she learned she had won the mayoralty and become Waipā’s first female mayor – she discovered she had her own bathroom.

And then behind another door she found she had a kitchenette.

Both were installed when John Hewitt was mayor back in 1995. The upgrades done for the Te Miro farmer are the last staff can recall in the office for more than 25 years.

So, while it is not an immediate priority for O’Regan to put her stamp on the office in the same way she intends to do on the district, you get the feeling the next time The News gets an invite, things will look different.

The News’ senior writer Mary Anne Gill captured this photo of the new mayor on Tuesday, when O’Regan was midway through gruelling meetings with her councillors – and also with her family and friends at her Roto-o-Rangi farm on Saturday when the news came through of her victory.

Read Gill’s report on page 5 – the start of our review of the weekend election results.

Get approved first then go shopping

Is it Hall or Wood?

One of them will join the Te Awamutu Community Board –the question is who. When voting closed on Saturday Norris Hall had a 28-vote lead over John Wood. He wisely opted not to celebrate on the day – and as more votes were counted, Wood took a 31 vote lead on Monday. The pair will learn who has been successful today when the final election count is revealed

our extensive election cover inside today.

John Wood

Norris Hall

Speaker: Matthew Spataro

Topic: From Innesbrooke Farm

Matthew operates a sheep milking enterprise.

His talk will be about his family’s journey to adapting a cow shed and other facilities.

He will include how the milk is processed and the marketing of products.

This is a new industry.

Date: Wednesday 19th Oct

Time: 10am

Venue: Waipa Workingmen’s Club, 139 Albert Park Drive

Grey Power

TE AWAMUTU

This is your invitation to join fellow members or potential members at our next meeting

Waipa Workingmen’s Club

Thursday 20th October

1.15pm for a 1.30pm start Guest Speakers

The Deputy Fire Chief and the Fire Prevention Team

Tribute to a historian

Te Awamutu’s Delysse Storey understood, through personal interest and study the historic importance of the phrase “Lest we Forget”.

It was an interest fostered in Cambridge, which in a New Zealand context is uniquely qualified through its association with Les Quesnoy as a place which remembers and commemorates this country’s service and sacrifice during WWI.

In that environment Delysse’s belief that the past matters was broadened from local history to one of national interest.

She became the custodian of a shoe box of correspondence and photographs, filled with letters from “Somewhere in France” which traced the lineage of one of the many families whose future was extinguished when their only son died on active service.

In 2008 several members of the Cambridge Le Quesnoy Friendship Association, including Delysse, joined my by now annual 11-day, battlefield tour of the Western Front.

It became clear from our conversations that her experience with the contents of this shoe box representing loss of an entire family, had awakened an empathy for a generation of women, who were burdened with grief for a lost son or a loved one.

On Anzac Day in 2012 I was present when Delysse made a presentation at Talbot House in Poperinge, Belgium. It was the contents of the shoe box of family effects and memorabilia, created by the death of 9/1777 Sapper Hugh Lisle Birkett on May, 11, 1917.

the family’s demise returned to be with him in a place of rest in Belgium.

It was an act which also made us aware of a country’s failure to recognise the gender imbalance in our post war assessment of the impact of that war on the nation’s womenfolk, that was to be felt in 250,000 homes.

A new beginning ...

Our Open Day was a bit wet!

We now invite you all to our first Club Day on Monday 17th October (1st Monday of the term) where we will showcase our Junior Tennis program.

Please bring your Juniors at the following times:

Primary aged 3.30 to 4.30pm Intermediate 4.30 to 5.30pm

Secondary 5.30 to 6.30pm

Our existing members please come to the same group time as last season.

Our professional tennis coach will start the tennis learning journey for your young one with a fun-filled session.

Program runs for Term 4 and 1st Term 23. Rackets available. Come and give it a trial!!!

For more info: Email: tatennisclub@gmail.com Text/Ph: 021 904

It was a symbolic act of remembrance for a New Zealand soldier who having died on active service, was now having the details of

On the beat

For Delysse, as an historian with a social interest in military affairs, the years in visiting France and Belgium had also created new friendships and at home further involvement occurred when with Elizabeth Morey we co-edited the book A

Listen up: we’ll be testing

As we head in to (hopefully) warmer, drier weather or as I like to call it, barbecue season - I think it is pertinent to speak to the concept of planning before you party.

This summer the expectation on police from Waka Kotahi is that we will be breath testing in far greater numbers than ever. To that end I have some tips to help get you through summer without appearing before a magistrate.

Have a plan on how to get home. Organise your sober driver early. Before drinking. This way your decision making is not impaired

when choosing who is driving you home. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve pulled a car over on a Friday night to discover the driver was supposedly the Sober “D”. This is often a result of that group failing to put any forethought into who was going to drive home until after alcohol was consumed.

If you are having a party, know who’s coming. Who is invited to your teens party? You have little control over the invitation process now that every teenager is on social media. This often means trouble-makers will

Strong Sense Of Duty recording the life and times of a chaplain to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) during WWI.

He was Reverend Clive Mortimer Jones of St Andrews Church in Cambridge.

During the Covid pandemic Delysse, husband, Reverend Keith Storey, and the Storey family were to endure the tragic loss of their youngest son Edward in Peru.

Over the past few weeks, as she faced the consequences of a terminal illness, it was remarkable to witness her strength of character and courage and fortitude.

Delysse died at her home on Sunday. A private service at St Paul’s Church was held for Delysse, who was laid to rest at Rangioawhia.

In lieu of flowers, the family said donations would be appreciated in aid of the re-establishment of a Ngati Apakura Marae adjacent to the early mission site at Rangiaowhia.

It is said history is not made by what you thought, but what you did. In that respect, Delysse delivered in a small but important way to our military heritage.

Briefs…

Free read

Digital book club Together We Read is offering Waipā library members free access to Cambridge author Nikki Crutchley’s latest novel for a fortnight from today. Readers will be allowed to download an e-edition of the book.

turn up, before you know it, things are out of hand. Consider hiring security for the event, this acts as deterrent and allows you to be able to enjoy the event more. As part of your event planning, consider your responsibilities as a host. Provide non-alcoholic drinks, plenty of substantial food and make sure you understand your attendees’ custodians views on alcohol.

Herbert Farrant, President New Zealand Military Historical Society, pays tribute to Delysse Storey, who died last week.

Delysse Storey

Award winners

Five Waipā homes are included in the top 100 homes of 2022 in the Registered Master Builders House of the Year Competition announced this week. Three homes are in Cambridge, one in Tamahere and one, the work of Linux Homes is in Te Awamutu.

Bridge closed

The Mangapohue bridge walk at Te Anga has been closed because of weatherrelated erosion. The track, a short drive from Waitomo offers a walk through an ancient limestone gorge. The Department of Conservation says it is difficult to put a timeframe on repairs or modification of the track, given the investigation and planning work needed.

Film premiere

The Waipā premiere of When the Cows Come Home will be held in Cambridge and Te Awamutu next week.

Filmmaker Costa Botes, best known for his work with Peter Jackson on Lord of the Rings and the hoax documentary Forgotten Silver, filmed Fencourt resident Andrew Johnstone picking up litter and tending to his cattle on adjacent grazing land. The result is described as a beautiful and edifying film about a bloke and his cows.

Valuations delayed

Waipā rating revaluations, due to be finalised this month, have been delayed until early next year. Waipā’s property values will be based on the most likely selling price as at August. Valuations will be used by council to help set rates.

Whānau Hauā forum

Te Whatu Ora Waikato (formerly Waikato DHB) will hold a Waikato Regional Disability Hui and Whānau Hauā forum via Zoom on Monday. Topics include an update on the Whānau Hauā Responsiveness Plan, equity update, and discussion on the new health system and localities.

The cost of a killer frost

By Benjamin Wilson

The coldest October morning in half a century is likely to trigger a national berry shortage – and have longer term effects.

Temperatures reached negative 2.9 degrees at the Hamilton Airport last Friday, but at Waipā’s Monavale Blueberries the temperatures were closer to minus five.

“We have never had a frost like this before, we have never walked out and thought ‘there is nothing left’ before,” said Monavale Blueberries orchard manager Oliver de Groot.

MetService New Zealand said it was the coldest morning of the year, and the coldest October since records began in 1972.

The plunging temperatures caught out home gardeners who had put their vegetables out early – and left berry farms, kiwifruit orchard and asparagus growers counting the cost.

In a midnight bid to save their crops, the blueberry growers at Monavale used helicopters to blow the warmer air that sits at a higher altitude down onto their crops to stop them from freezing.

But this warmer air eventually froze as well, and Monavale’s orchards of white flowers turned brown overnight. An estimated 90 per cent of their working crops were destroyed.

It’s a loss equivalent to 250 tonnes of blueberries.

“Not only that, but we have damage to our new growth which could potentially affect next year’s growth as well,” said managing director Marco de Groot.

Blueberries flower and produce fruit once a year.

“It is almost as if a close person has died, that is how it feels. I am struggling to keep my tears back because we have put so much passion, work, and energy into this, and now it is gone,” said Marco.

If the frost had happened a week or two earlier, their crops would have been fine.

“It happened at the worst possible moment, when the flowers were the most open, the most sensitive, and just as the berries were forming, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.” He says this is the third bad year in a row for the family-owned business.

In 2020 and 2021 Covid restrictions left the farm short of seasonal workers to harvest their crops, and at the start of this year, the crops were a victim of the damage caused by Cyclone Dovi.

“We are making a bit of noise about this because it is not just our finances, it is our livelihoods, it is our mental wellbeing... I do not think in general people have an appreciation of how difficult it is to grow.”

Marco said they hope the government will declare the frost as

a severe weather event to pave the way for assistance, and possibly tax relieve.

There is a flow on effect for work in Waipā. Monavale normally employs over 100 seasonal staff in summer. This year it will be no more than 15.

“It is not only disappointing for ourselves, but for a whole range of other people,” said Oliver.

He said transport and packaging companies will also miss out, and the Australian importers, who buy 90 per cent of Monavale’s berries, will not be getting any this summer.

“Nearly all the blueberry growers in the Waikato have been affected, to different extents. We predict that there is going to be a lack of supply, and that will affect the pricing,” said Marco.

It is unlikely that Monavale will be allowing “pick your own” blueberries this summer either.

“I think the key message that we want to get out is we will put our café first. We will try to continue with the Cambridge and Hamilton farmers’ markets, and if there are any more blueberries left then they would go to selective selected supermarkets in New Zealand,” said Oliver.

Celebrating Life - Your Way

Jim

Father and son blueberry growers, Oliver and Marco de Groot (right). Photo: Benjamin Wilson

Normally white, most of Monavale’s blueberry blossoms are now brown.

Kapa haka festival a celebration

By Benjamin Wilson

Thousands of students are expected to participate in Te Awamutu’s annual kapa haka celebration next month.

“The highlight of the event is that it is for everybody, it is not just something that is aimed towards just Māori, it is a vehicle to bring all cultures together,” said Te Wharekura o Ngā Purapura o Te Aroha principal, Jade Tapine.

His wharekura will to host the November 11 festival, named Te Rā Whakamana Rangatahi, a Celebration of Our Young People.

Tapine says up to 1800 people and students from most schools in the greater Te Awamutu area are expected to attend the festival in the Te Awamutu Events Centre.

School in Te Awamutu embrace kapa haka, he said.

“They give it a good go and that is what it is all about - it is going to be a celebration not a competition, it is a day to celebrate them,” he said.

Jaedyn Randell, who is the voice of Moana in the Te Reo version of the Disney movie, will be one of the event’s MCs.

Tapine says the event will be a celebration of culture.

“Kapa haka for us is like a vehicle to be able to express our uniqueness and tell our stories. It is an artistic expression of who we are as Māori, we do that through song, through haka.”

Because of Covid restrictions, this year’s event has been three years in the making, “for us and for everybody,” Tapine said.

“We are trying to make the most of this opportunity, because who knows what the future will hold for us, and when the next pandemic will strike? We have to really live in the moment and celebrate when we can.”

By Benjamin Wilson

The national commemoration of the New Zealand Land Wars is being acknowledged with flags on display throughout Te Awamutu.

“We are highlighting that on October 28 we will have commemorations for the Land Wars, and will be putting down a wreath at Orakau for the occasion,” said Te Awamutu Museum host, Hillary Collinge.

In 2016 the government declared He Rā Maumahara, a National Commemoration of the New Zealand Land Wars. It was first observed on March 11, 2018.

The national commemoration is now recognised annually on October 28, the day the 1835 Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand was signed.

The council hung flags throughout Te Awamutu and Cambridge at the start of the month, and they will be on display until the October 28 commemoration.

They were designed in 2020 by Waipā artist and museum coordinator Henriata Nicholas, and feature four takarangi –spirals - which representing the district’s rivers, Waipā,

Mangapiko, Waikato, and Pūniu.

Their red, black, and white colouring is significant. The red is a representation of blood, and the loss of lives during the wars, the black signifies the mourning of the lives lost and white

represents the connection Māori have with the whenua.

The Te Awamutu

Museum’s Front Porch Gallery will also highlight this month’s commemorations.

Images of archival photographs and objects

related to the 1963 to 1964 Waikato Wars are being projected in the gallery.

A large portion of the museum’s collections are dedicated to the Land Wars, because of its significance to Waipā and tangata whenua, Collinge said.

Flags recognise Land Wars Flag’s commemorating the New Zealand Land Wars will be on display throughout October.

Spotlight on

TE AWAMUTU

Murray Hunt Furnishers stores fully stocked heading into Christmas

As Bev Cooper and Brodie Hewlett head into their fourth year in business as Murray Hunt Furnishers in Te Awamutu, they are getting plenty of positive vibes from their customers.

The mother and daughter say they are not witnessing what the media say is doom and gloom. In fact, it’s the complete opposite.

“Our customers come in the shops feeling pretty positive and are already buying for Christmas,” says Bev.

“We’ve all had a turbulent couple of years due to Covid, but our customers feel they have turned a corner and so do we,” says Brodie.

“People are already starting to think about Christmas and treating themselves to things like a new bed, new linen, new everything!”

Fresh stock has arrived in all three of their stores – the little one at 220 Alexandra Street and the bigger Beds R Us showroom at 45 Arawata Street and at 63 Maniapoto St, Otorohanga.

The two women have recently returned from a gift fair where they secured even more beautiful stock for Christmas.

“We were really excited by what we saw and so will our customers be. Stock is arriving every day and we can’t wait to unpack it,” says Bev.

To celebrate their birthday, Murray Hunts Beds R Us Te Awamutu and Otorohanga is offering great discounts on selected beds, for one week only, (14 – 22 October), long term finance deals and of course free delivery in Waikato and King Country. Anyone who spends $100 in any of their stores in Te Awamutu and Otorohanga until Christmas will go in the draw to win a gift basket valued at over $500.

“We have a full range of giftware, home décor, bedding and furniture in all stores.”

In Arawata Street, they have on display the biggest and best selection of beds and mattresses in Te Awamutu along with linen and other bedding extras. They stock the Sleepyhead brand, winner for nine years running of Reader’s Digest most trusted brand –voted on by New Zealanders. Both women keep up with the latest developments; Brodie attends Red Seed training every week with Beds R Us so she can “tap into” the expertise on offer on behalf of clients.

“We bend over backwards to make our customers’ experience a nice one. That’s our priority,” said Brodie. “We pride ourselves on great customer service.”

To celebrate our birthday, Murray Hunts Bedsrus Te Awamutu and Otorohanga is offering great discounts on selected beds.

for one week only, (14th Oct un�l 22nd Oct), Long term finance deals and of course free delivery in Waikato and King Country.

Anyone who spends $100 in any of our stores in Te Awamutu and Otorohanga un�l Christmas will go in the draw to win a Gi� Basket Valued at over $500.

Brodie Hewlett, left, with mother Bev Cooper in Murray Hunt Beds R Us Te Awamutu store, one of three stores they run.

O’Regan’s win was down to business

By Mary Anne Gill

When the call to Susan O’Regan came at 1.30pm on Saturday from Waipā chief executive Garry Dyet that she had been elected mayor, her first reaction was relief.

But that was soon replaced by euphoria as Dyet confirmed she had beaten Jim Mylchreest and Chris Woodhams comprehensively enough for him to call it only 90 minutes after polling booths closed.

The 50-year-old, who secured 6793 provisional votes as of Tuesday, becomes Waipā’s first female mayor and Mylchreest the first incumbent voted out.

During the campaign, it was always Woodhams and not Mylchreest she worried about.

She was sensing people wanted a “bit of change” and someone

with stability and experience. She campaigned on “A Time for Change” and so fitted that bill, but would voters see that?

Woodhams, with no local body experience who described himself as an evangelist for the district, went after the Cambridge votethe ‘pro third bridge’ and ‘woe is us missing out in favour of Te Awamutu’ group.

Ironically, it is likely Woodhams lost the vote of the powerful Cambridge business community the night of the Chamber of Commerce’s Town Hall meeting last month.

Then he said Cambridge businesses had nothing to offer by way of employment opportunities.

Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid’s presence at O’Regan’s house for the election party spoke volumes at how

that claim went down among the town’s business powerhouses.

O’Regan was in the tired looking mayoral office at Waipā District Council’s Te Awamutu headquarters at 8.30am on Monday with a notebook full of ideas she has been compiling in her head for years.

O’Regan often talks about applying her lawyer’s mind to things. She was a practising barrister in Te Awamutu before she was elected to the council in 2016.

“I’m quite big on process and a lot of people will know that.

“The process has delivered a result and I’ve come out on top, and I’m really flattered.”

She has what she calls a “stable” team around the council table which makes choosing her deputy mayor and committee chairs relatively easy.

Continued on page 10

We say… Goodbye Jim, hello Susan

The first unplanned changing of the guard in Waipā district’s local body history comes with the knowledge that the baton is passed into a safe pair of hands.

Jim Mylchreest’s service to Waipā has been exemplary. He bowed out on the weekend of his 70th birthday and with Covid.

It was one campaign too many for this political heavyweight who is a strong, ethical and knowledgeable leader.

By convincing the electorate to give her the mayoral chains, Susan O’Regan has achieved what her late mother Katherine tried and failed to do in 1995

Waipā’s first female mayor comes wellequipped for the role, and we suspect it will be three “steady as she goes” years as the council battles inevitable difficulties caused by the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation.

Of the four candidates, only Bernard Westerbaan could be safely placed in the no chance of winning category. He tried for seats at every level and failed.

The absence of any reliable polling left us up in the air during the campaign.

A lot of money was on Mylchreest, despite the fact that he ran a campaign bereft of

advertising in print.

That is something he might regret. We wondered whether he and O’Regan might be seen as too similar – to the point that the fourth candidate, Cambridge based Chris Woodhams would get the nod.

But the electorate didn’t vote “local” when it came to the top job. Of the 15,695 votes cast, the only Cambridge-based candidate got just under 20 per cent.

Woodhams ran the most energetic, if not most expensive, campaign and presented some bright ideas.

He distanced himself from Voice for

Freedom but his “fake news” claims, inaccurate accounts of discussions and regular threats to complain to the Media Council, backed by an online cheerleading team with anti-council, anti-media overtones, were from the Donald Trump campaign manual. He may have been seen by voters as more nightmare than right mayor.

Mylchreest showed his class by calling O’Regan as soon as the result was known.

We salute the enormous contribution he makes to Waipā – and welcome in a new leader.

Susan O’Regan with husband John Hayward moments after they received the news of her election as mayor. Photo: Mary Anne Gill

And your representatives are…

The local body elections have again highlighted a major disconnect with communities.

In Waipā three-term mayor Jim Mylchreest was voted out and while the voting turnout across the board was above 2019 – 36.87% from 35.62% - a paltry return of 22.8% in the new Māori ward is of concern.

Mayor Susan O’Regan will welcome two newcomers – Mike Montgomerie from Maungatautari and Māori ward member Takena Stirling.

Sally Whitaker and John Wood join the Te Awamutu Community Board, which has had a strained relationship with Waipā District Council in the last term while on the Cambridge board, the only fresh face is Maungatautari’s Andrew Myers.

Hopes of having two mayors in The News’ circulation area were dashed with Aksel Bech’s defeat in the race for the Waikato district mayoralty, but his two Tamahere neighbours – Crystal Beavis and Mike Keir – will look after the TamahereWoodlands ward.

At regional council level Stu Kneebone is joined by Clyde Graf who becomes a councillor for the second time, this time in the Waipā-King Country ward.

Holt outlines work ahead

By Benjamin Wilson

The newly elected Te Awamutu Community Board must improve its communication with the council and be a better

advocate for the community.

“It is about working better with council, focusing on advocacy, and being there at the start of projects so we can get that community voice in before decisions are made,”

Ange Holt, who chaired the board in the last term and was highest polling candidate this time, told The News.

Holt’s comments follow a review of Waipā’s community boards by local government

consultant Steven Finlay, which was released in July this year. Finlay said the community boards and council needed to better communicate with each other, so that the needs of the community were

better represented.

Holt was re-elected for the board on Saturday with incumbents Jill Taylor and Kane Titchener, and newcomers Sally Whitaker and John Wood.

“It is going to be a very different and an exciting time. There is probably going to be a fair amount of hard work involved, because it is going to be a new way of doing things on the community board,” said Holt.

New arrivals from Spain:

Wood, a semi-retired plumber and drainlayer, says he has no agenda other than being a representative for the community, and ensuring that the board’s current projects get completed.

“I have got no specific agenda of my own, I am there to make sure what the community wants is pushed forward to council,” he said.

He was previously the chair of the Pirongia Community Association, is a CommSafe trustee, and is on the executive committee of the Returned Services Association.

Wood says he doesn’t know the other community board members well.

“We have just got to work together, there may be some discrepancies between each other, but we just have to work for the best of the community,” he said.

Whitaker, the other

newcomer, has revealed she is aligned with Voices for Freedom.

“Having made no secret of my alignment with various groups like Voices for Freedom, New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science, and Taxpayers’ Union to name a few, it is my belief our communities have spoken,” she told The News after being elected.

While she said she had made no secret of her stance, she was one of the candidates who did not respond to a series of questions posed by The News and which provided readers with extensive information on their opinions during the election campaign.

During her campaign Whitaker said that she was disillusioned with central government, and wants to push back against their overreach into local matters.

“It will be a privilege and a huge learning curve, to listen, learn and represent all those in our communities to the best of my ability. I relish this opportunity,” she said.

Her new colleagues Titchener, Taylor and Holt have also expressed dissatisfaction at government mandated initiatives, such as the fluoridation of Waipā’s water supply and Three Waters.

Susan O’Regan

Andrew Brown

Mike Pettit

Stu Kneebone Clyde Graf

Liz Stolwyk

Lou Brown

Marcus Gower

Crystal Beavis Mike Keir

Takena Stirling Clare St Pierre Phillip Coles

Ange Holt Kane Titchener Jill Taylor Sally Whitaker John Wood

Mike Montgomerie

Bruce Thomas Roger Gordon

Sue Milner Alana Mackay Jo Davies-Colley Elise Badger Andrew Myers

Waikato Regional Council

Waikato District Council

Te Awamutu Community Board

Cambridge Community Board

‘Humbled and privileged…’

By Benjamin Wilson

Takena Stirling will be the first to represent Māori on Waipā’s newest ward.

The 38-year-old commercial lawyer and soon to be councillor picked up more than half of the Māori ward’s 552 votes when voting closed on Saturday.

“It is certainly momentous, I am humbled and privileged to make history for not only the Waipā council, but also for Māori,” he said.

Stirling hails from the iwi Te Whānau-ā-Apanui on his father’s side, and Tūhoe on his mother’s. He was raised in Kihikihi and attended Kihikihi Primary and Te Awamutu Intermediate, before he became a boarder at St Stephen’s School in Auckland.

After he completed a law degree at Waikato University he opened his law firm Stirling Legal in Te Awamutu. He lives in Kihikihi with partner Terri Green and their three tamariki, Takena, 14, Nepia, six, and Mareikura, five.

Stirling ran for the Māori Ward seat to ensure its success and legitimacy.

“For me, the rationale for running for the Māori Ward was to show support for it. Because it is so new, I wanted to make sure that it had a good foundation before pursuing any other type of council position,” he said.

Takena was the only candidate to answer The News’ electoral questions, and believes answering

them may have contributed to his victory.

He says he has nothing but respect for Bill Harris and Gaylene Roberts, who were the ward’s other candidates.

“Both whaea Galene and matua Bill, they have a lot of experience, years of experience in this realm and in the Māori community of Waipā.

“We certainly shared a number of the same views, wants, and aspirations for the Māori Ward… that is how tikanga Māori works, we look after each other.”

Stirling hopes to find or establish “the perfect comms” to engage with Māori in Waipā.

He says that the ward is necessary to ensure that the concerns, wants, and issues of mana whenua are

heard “and at least acknowledged” by the council before any decisions are made.

“Some people would say, why not just run in the general roll, the problem with that is that it is a numbers game. If every Māori voted for their candidate in their area, they still wouldn’t have the numbers to get a seat in any of the wards,” he said.

Stirling is a supporter of papakāinga (communal living on Māori ancestral land), and hopes to see it better provisioned by backing policies such as Draft Plan Change 23 while he is on the council.

One of Stirling’s main priorities when campaigning was to encourage more Māori to vote, and he applauds the 23 per cent of voters on the Māori Electoral Roll who did, but hopes for a much larger turnout at the next election.

“It didn’t matter who you voted for, what I wanted to see was a genuine support for the hard work people have put in to get us a Māori Ward, and it’s good that 20 per cent got out there and voted, but we still needed more.”

He fears that administrative blockades – such as being unable to change from the general to Māori electoral roll before the electionmay have contributed to this year’s low voter turnout.

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Glass recycling is temporarily suspended

Driver illness and a nationwide shortage of truck drivers mean we’re struggling to keep up with recycling collections.

To help, we have put a temporary hold on glass recycling services across the district. This is effective immediately. Normal services should return by the end of the month.

PLEASE DO NOT PUT OUT YOUR GLASS (BLUE-TOP) RECYCLING BIN It will not be collected. If your bluetop bin is currently out, please take it in.

MIXED RECYCLING COLLECTION (YELLOW-TOP) WILL CONTINUE, and you should keep putting your yellow-topped bins out for collection on the scheduled day.

This is temporary. We expect normal, full recycling services to resume by the end of October.

YOU CAN HELP BY:

Only putting out yellow-topped bins if they are at least half-full. (Fewer bins will mean quicker pick up.)

Ensuring there is adequate space between bins, clear from parked cars so they can be easily grabbed by the truck.

Placing all bins on level, stable surfaces. Being kind to the recycling crews – they’re working really hard!

Thank you for your patience.

Takena Stirling celebrates his new position with his tamariki, from left, Takena Jr, Nepia, Mareikura, and partner Terri Green.

Four didn’t stand, four were voted out, two were returned unopposed – and just four were voted back into power in a day of change for the Waikato Regional Council.

Clyde Graf overcame unwanted reminders of a dark past and allegations of sharing “disinformation” to pull off one of the surprise results of an eventful election.

He replaces Andrew MacPherson who stood down, as one of two

Waipā-King Country ward members.

The other sitting ward member, Stu Kneebone, bolted home.

Graf, who is anti1080, ran for Parliament with United Future in 2011 and has served on the regional council before, so his history has been well documented. Graffiti reminding voters he had been convicted of armed robbery 36 years ago was daubed on at least one of his posters. Stuff reported in the

wash up of the election on Saturday that he frequently shared disinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine on social media.

The successful campaigns by Kneebone and Graf came at the expense of regional council leader Barry Quayle, who was put into the chair in May following the dumping of Russ Rimmington.

Quayle made a fateful late call to switch from Hamilton to WaipāKing Country to reflect

Clyde Graf

the fact he was moving to Cambridge.

But the former Fieldays chief executive polled third – losing his

O’Regan’s win was down to business

Continued on page 10

The News expects to see Mylchreest’s loyal deputy Liz Stolwyk installed as deputy mayor with Andrew Brown and Marcus Gower put in charge of Finance and Regulatory committees.

The retirement of Grahame Webber leaves a vacancy as Service Delivery chair. Pirongia’s Clare St Pierre, now into her fourth term on council, looks odds’ on favourite there. Her studious approach to issues will translate well into the committee’s work.

Residents saw another side of St Pierre late into last term when she publicly criticised the “parochialism” shown by Cambridge councillors Roger Gordon and Phillip Coles over a third bridge across the Waikato River and she will not tolerate any hint of conflict by the men in that space.

It is the Strategic Planning and Policy committee which O’Regan will find difficult to fill.

She chaired it the last three years which included

overseeing the exhausting Long Term Plan hearings.

O’Regan, ever the politician, will be aware of a perceived Te Awamutu bias with St Pierre, Gower and Andrew Brown as chairs so favourites for the powerful Strategy committee include Cambridge school principal Mike Pettit and Stolwyk.

O’Regan went to Waikato Diocesan School for Girls where Local Government minister Nanaia Mahuta was a year ahead of her.

But that schoolgirl friendship will not get her any favours in Wellington, she surmises, but at least it means Mahuta knows who she is as do other bureaucrats in the Beehive where O’Regan once worked in MP Murray McCully’s office.

She and husband John Hayward are awardwinning dairy farmers in Roto-o-Rangi and have five children between them – Emily, George, Ben, Lily and Jack.

• Read more: teawamutunews.nz

seat.

It all means six councillors will be joined by eight newbies at table when the new council meets in Hamilton for the first time on October 27 to elect its third chairperson for 2022.

Newcomers are Graf, Bruce Clarkson, Chris Hughes, Mich’eal Doward, Warren Maher, Robert Cookson, Ben Dunbar-Smith and Noel Smith.

The survivors from the election are the

council’s two Māori ward members, Kataraina Hodge and Tipa Mahuta who were elected unopposed, Pamela Storey, Kneebone, Angela Strange and Jennifer Nickel.

New look regional council Stu Kneebone

Quayle, Rimmington, Fred Lichtwark and Dennis Tegg were voted out, Stu Husband, Hugh Vercoe, Kathy White and MacPherson did not seek election.

Husband was beaten in a close race by sitting councillor, Walton

AGE OF REASON

Left out in the cold

By Peter Carr

Well, the great lead-up and excitement heralding last week’s local body elections fizzled out as a damp squib in voter turnout terms.

Pitifully low interest was shown - most of which was possibly attributable to those on the left and Māori (as far as Māori wards are concerned).

But that squib fizzling sadly in the corner of the garden had within it a clear message for the government of the day.

Dominant and possibly domineering ministers with agendas not necessarily in the interests of ‘the people’ - need to take a cold, hard look at the 12 months ahead. We are now entering national election year.

There were marked changes in Christchurch with a sharp move to starboard (my mariner background showing here).

There is a clearly Green and driven new mayor in Wellington where there has been far too much intra-council squabbling over the recent triennium. And the election for the Auckland mayoralty removes the previously simpering attitudes due to long-held political party beliefs to what is really needed.

Meanwhile back in the capital an MP (also previously an elected councillor) finished fourth - a clear indication that not telling the truth does not necessarily place one in good light.

He previously clearly stated he

would not leave his very safe Wellington seat to contest the mayoralty.

Clearly in our nearest city, the sitting mayor was returned with just enough margin to give a sigh of relief and be not beholden to vote recounting.

Hamilton needs – and is due forcontinuity in the mayoral chair if it is to reach above its nomenclature of being perceived as a bovine paradise.

But let us return home to Waipā. I am not surprised by the mayoral result. No suggestion here that mayor Jim did not do a good job. He is patently honest and hardworking, but it was clearly time for a change. And I was present when he promptly phoned the new mayor to offer his congratulations – a measure of the man.

No surprises either in Cambridge and Te Awamutu but there was clearly unrest in the former with regard to the inactions and poor political nous of one of the quartet which criticism showed numerically in the polls.

Nationally the voting – howsoever low – was giving a clear message to the government. Simply put – hands off our patch. Good luck to the successful candidates. Thank you for standing – it is no secret that the effect on personal and professional life for local body electees is far from a sinecure.

By locals, for locals.

Your local, independent Cambridge and Te Awamutu team

dairy farmer Adrienne Wilcock, in the race to succeed MatamataPiako mayor Ash Tanner.

Family and supporters celebrated at Susan O’Regan’s house on Saturday.

Photo: Mary Anne Gill

Change and anxiety

By Julie Guest

Lenin wrote “there are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen”.

It seems as if we are living through weeks when decades happen. The death of our Queen, a consistent, life-time presence, has been unsettling for many people. Current local body elections will bring change in many communities.

Even the weather is joining in, with onein-a-100 year rain-storms over much of the country followed by a sudden snow dump severe enough to threaten many regions with power outages.

Uninhabitable homes and roads left so damaged that many communities face isolation are the result. This rapid change is happening in other countries too.

A pastor friend in Australia has just released resources aimed at supporting young people to recover from anxiety. He explained that this group of young Australians have lived through terrifying bush fires, the pandemic and long lock-down along with destructive floods in their own country, combined with a war in Ukraine which now carries the threat of going nuclear.

All this instability has occurred while the brains of these young people are developing, and their understanding of the world is being formed.

It is not surprising that they and their elders are worried and anxious. So as we try to get on with life, what can we do to not just survive, but to thrive?

There is a story in the bible about a group of people who have found themselves forced out of their country.

They end up held captive, oppressed, and

having to live alongside people they regard as an enemy, with a political system very different from their own, and with cultural practices offensive to them.

God’s instruction is to build a home, plant a garden and seek the welfare of the community in which they find themselves. (Jeremiah 29:4). So much wisdom in so few words.

Although we are not captive and oppressed like the ancient Israelites, we, too, find ourselves in communities that seem to be divided about fundamental ideals.

Jeremiah’s word to the captive Israelites can speak to us.

We, too, should work to establish a life that leads to a flourishing community in the future as well as the present.

We, too, should learn to see the common good which unites us to the other members of our communities as we work to make that good apparent and available for all around us.

We are to plant gardens and build houses for the benefit of each other.

In other words, when members in a community work for the good of each other, the community begins to thrive and therefore the individuals within it can too. This is always God’s plan for us.

As we make the wellbeing of those around us the focus of our life, our own wellbeing is enhanced. Anxiety and stress diminish.

The more we live with the wellbeing of others at the centre of our own life, the more we network and connect, the more we thrive as individuals too. Where can you contribute?

Of doves and hawks

By Peter Nicholl

The terms doves and hawks are drawn from foreign policy. Doves take a diplomatic approach to foreign policy problems, hawks favour an aggressive approach.

Recently, these terms have been often used often to describe central bankers. A central banking dove is more relaxed about inflation, partly because they think it will come back down without them having to raise interest rates further, and is more concerned about growth and employment. A central bank hawk believes the bank’s main goal is fighting inflation and is prepared to take an aggressive approach to get inflation back within their target range.

Two recent articles described central bankers as hawks. One in the New Zealand Herald said ‘while the rapid end of monetary stimulus and a steep rise in interest rates was clearly needed, the momentum is now so hawkish that we risk over- correcting’. The other article was in Newsroom under the title “Central Bank Hawks Unnerve Markets’. I was a long-term central banker. Based on my experience, I wouldn’t describe any of the world’s main central banks as hawks at present. In response to their concerns about the impacts of Covid, most of them moved well beyond being doves into the realm of being Father Christmas.

They threw enormous amounts of almost free money into the financial markets. The US Federal Reserve, for example, injected around $3.3 trillion. Most central banks are still a long way from reversing those liquidity injections. Until they do, they are still partly doves.

Also, when I worked in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, research work was done

to estimate what the ‘neutral’ real interest rate was. This is the interest rate at which monetary policy is neither contractionary or expansionary. It wasn’t possible to come up with a single number –economics isn’t that precise. But the RBNZ research came up with a range of +2.8 to +5.6%.

Around the same time, an American economist came up with the Taylor rule that assumed a neutral level for the US Federal Reserve’s policy rate of +2%.

The policy interest rates set by the central banks in the USA, Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand are all still well below their countries’ inflation rates. In real terms they are still negative and therefore still well below a ‘neutral’ rate.

Central banks have become a lot less dovish this year. But it is unrealistic to describe them as turning into hawks.

What happens to inflation in the next few months will be important for determining whether central banks have to turn into real hawks to beat the current inflation surge or whether being ‘less dovish’ will be enough. The next important inflation number is the USA which will come out on the day this this column will be published.

The CPI rate in the US in year to August, 2022 was 8.3%. If the September number is lower, the central bank doves will relax a bit and the pressure on them to turn into real hawks will ease.

I expect the US September CPI number to be a little higher than August. But I won’t be unhappy if I am wrong as a lower number will be much better for the world economy.

Kitchen capers

In many ways, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between school holidays and lockdown. But to keep spirits up during the hols, encourage the kids to enjoy some simple fun playing chef in the kitchen.

The following recipes don’t require much cooking so they are suitable for kids of all ages. It’s throw together food.

However, give a little guidance, if required.

• First, make sure hands are washed in hot soapy water and dried thoroughly.

• Read the recipe first and place all the ingredients required on the bench so they are within easy reach. This also helps ensure that all the ingredients are used.

• Use consistent measurements in each recipe. That is, use metric measuring spoons and cups — not a mix of everyday spoons or imperial and metric measures.

• Spoon dry ingredients into a measuring cup then carefully level off to the required amount without compacting the mixture. The exception to this rule is brown sugar. Normally this is pressed into a cup or spoon.

• When measuring liquid, place the measuring cup on a flat surface then fill to the required level.

• Ensure knives are sharpened as it’s easier for fingers to be cut with a blunt knife as more pressure is required to cut through food.

• Clean up as you go!

CHOCOLATE HOKEY POKEY ICE CREAM SLICE

You can use plain hokey pokey, if preferred — either purchased or home-made. Before using baking paper, crumple it, then flatten. It’s easier to line pans when it’s crumpled. Choose oblong biscuits, if possible, as these fit the tray more easily.

2 teaspoons powdered gelatine

2 tablespoons cold water

250g malt biscuits or similar

300g chocolate hokey pokey clusters or hokey pokey crunch chocolate 600ml cream

2 tablespoons icing sugar

395g can sweetened condensed milk

Place the gelatine in a small bowl and add the water. Stand

for 5 minutes for the gelatine to swell. Place in the microwave for 10 seconds to dissolve. Cool.

Meanwhile, line a 35cm x 25cm x 4cm slice tray with baking paper.

Cover the base evenly with the biscuits. If using round biscuits, crush these first and sprinkle evenly over the base.

Roughly chop the hokey pokey pieces.

Whip the cream and icing sugar together until stiff. Fold in the cooled but still liquid gelatine and the condensed milk. Fold in half the chopped hokey pokey. Pour evenly over the base and smooth the top.

Sprinkle evenly with the remaining hokey pokey pieces.

Freeze until solid. Using a large, heavy, sharp knife, cut into bars or squares and serve. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer. Makes about 16.

SMOKED CHICKEN SPRING ROLLS WITH HOISIN DIP

To julienne, means to slice into very thin batons. 200g skinned and boned smoked chicken

12-14 round rice paper wrappers

3 cups finely shredded crunchy lettuce

1/2 red capsicum, seeded and very thinly sliced 24 each: mint leaves, coriander sprigs

3 spring onions, thinly sliced Hoisin Dip: 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Julienne the chicken. Have all the other ingredients — prepared — on hand.

Place 1 sheet of rice paper in a shallow dish of warm water, until just softened. Place on a chopping board.

Place a little lettuce and 3 slices of the capsicum on one edge of the wrapper. Add 2 mint leaves and 2 coriander sprigs, some spring onion and a little chicken. Fold in the sides and roll up, enclosing the filling. Place on a platter and cover with a damp paper towel.

Repeat until all the rolls are prepared.

Combine the ingredients for the dip and serve with the rolls. Serves 4 as a light meal.

BLISS BITES

Fresh dates could replace the prunes. 20 pitted prunes

3/4 cup each: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup shredded coconut 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon pinch salt

Optional: 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Place the prunes in a food processor and whizz until well chopped. Add the seeds and pulse until chopped. Add the coconut, cinnamon and salt and pulse to combine. Remove from the food processor. Stir in the mini chocolate chips, if using.

Line a tray with baking paper. Take heaped tablespoons (30g) of the mixture and roll into balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Makes 12.

Cambridge Owned & Operated

Council takes glass action

Glass recycling is off Waipā’s agenda – probably for the rest of the month.

The district council says contractor Metallic Sweeping can’t get enough Class 4 truck drivers on the job and has been struggling for three months.

Staff are battling illness and there is a nationwide shortage of drivers with the appropriate licence to step in.

In a statement released this week the council said residents should not put out their blue-top glass recycling bins and those on the roadside should be taken back onto sections.

It says contractors will pick up mixed recycling yellow-topped bins and that will enable them to get up to date with mixed recycling.

“They have done all they

can to keep on top of it, but we’ve had to make a call. Truck drivers need a break as well,” Transportation manager Bryan Hudson said.

“… we’re better off taking this action now, and getting back on top of things than simply falling further and further behind.

He said residents can help by putting out only yellow topped bins when they are at least half-full, ensuring there is space between bins, they are clear of parked cars, and are on level, stable ground.

…and people are cross

Cambridge Owned & Operated

Cambridge Owned & Operated

Owned & Operated

Owned & Operated

This week’s announcement from the council about glass recycling drew an almost hysterical response among some of the 138 posts on the council Facebook page.

WASHING - ROOF TREATMENTS

“Hey Waipā DC have you considered the increased manual handling risks that you are now placing on your householders in the district?”

Amy Marie suggested it was “time to chuck our glass in the bin”.

“Will there be a reduction to our rates to reflect this as we are paying for a service you and your contractors are to unable fulfil and no other options such as the dump?” Donna Rasmussen asked.

HOUSE WASHING - ROOF TREATMENTS

HOUSE WASHING - ROOF TREATMENTS

-

HOUSE WASHING - ROOF TREATMENTS

-

REMOVAL

Andy Bunyan asked.

Kim Brierley claimed sickness was not an issue.

“They're hoodwinking everyone,” she announced.

There was also confusion over who employs the drivers.

The posts did reveal that some areas in the district had gone for weeks without collections.

On a positive note, Jo Bell’s suggestion that neighbours talk to each other to share the load went down well.

PLUMBING

Tyler Lindsay told the council to match going rates for drivers… “I wouldn't get out of bed for what most are paying especially when you earn more on the dole…” he wrote.

Ben Ostern was unimpressed by the criticism.

“This is some 1st world problems for some. Those demanding rate reduction etc from this, take a mirror to bed, and wake up to yourself,” he said.

Highway plea from mayors

In one of his last acts as Waipā mayor, Jim Mylchreest joined forces with two colleagues to lobby Waka Kotahi.

Responding to the latest road fatality on State Highway 1 at Karāpiro last week, Mylchreest, Waikato’s retiring mayor Alan Sanson and Hamilton’s Paula Southgate told the roading agency they had to invest in more safety measures.

“One person is dead and another seriously injured on this notorious stretch of road between Cambridge and Piarere. Just two weeks ago, two others lost their lives on the same bend, including an ambulance officer,” they wrote.

“The road has an intolerable record of death and destruction. It is shameful.

The trio said they knew designs and safety improvements were already planned “but the reality is that substantial safety improvements are years away. We need immediate action now; our communities are demanding it and we support their call. Something must change.”

They asked Waka Kotahi to “immediately consider” a range of rapid safety measures.

“We are seeking a demonstrable change to the roading environment and ask consideration be given to tools like safe hit posts, rumble strips, reduced speed limits, speed cameras, signage and pavement markings.”

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CollectableandFair

Craft

TE AWAMUTU OPEN HOMES

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