View from above
Water under the bridge?
By Mary Anne Gill
Election year rifts among elected Waipā District Council members appear to have been sorted out just in time for crucial decisions about the future of water supplies and local government mergers.
Two councillors, Roger Gordon and Liz Stolwyk, were unhappy with the recent closed-door workshop on water services.
The Water Done Well workshop last week included presentations from competing water organisations – one from Hamilton city and Waikato district councils and the other from a consortium representing Matamata-Piako, South Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Taupō, Waitomo and Ōtorohanga.
Councillors were to discuss the proposals before making their decision in an open session yesterday (Wednesday) after The News went to press.
Last week, Gordon asked at the Strategic Planning and Policy committee why the
following workshop with the two parties was being held in committee.
Mayor Susan O’Regan was expected to provide reasons at the workshop. However, the livestream to the meeting was cut off and not restarted for the workshop, so the public never heard her response.
The News sought a transcript of the discussion held after the plug was pulled.
In response, communications head Lisa Nairne said “the Governance team have confirmed that there is no transcript. The reason for public excluded is as per the website,” which was to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions.
Gordon said the Three Waters issue was the biggest one facing the community.
“What happens with waters also determines what happens to the rest of council,” said Gordon.
Stolwyk, who chaired the Strategic Committee, shared similar concerns about
the lack of public transparency saying she felt “uncomfortable”.
“I always believe that the best outcome is one where the community feels like they have been brought along the journey,” she said.
Following the closed-door sessions, several councillors requested a public workshop to discuss the water proposals.
Gordon was among those.
“Given we will make a decision one way or the other, a huge resource will be compartmentalised away from the council,” he said.
“It’s important for our ratepayers to understand that this is not just about Three Waters. It’s about the future of the entire local authority structure.”
Asked whether rumoured rifts between councillors were delaying decision making, Gordon said: “If there are peripheral issues that are taking away people’s energy and application to looking at these important issues, then they should put those off the
table. Get rid of them.
“This year is so important that we do need to put our absolute focus onto the matters in hand. And anything that takes away from that focus is detrimental.”
The council is not legally obliged to broadcast meetings and can turn them off at will. But the decision to censor a council debate comes in the wake of their shock decision to switch meetings from a Tuesday to a Wednesday.
That came despite a late email from Good Local Media editor Roy Pilott who said it would mean meetings were held the day after the Cambridge News and Te Awamutu News went to press.
The council also voted to stop sending reports in agendas – reports which The News has developed into stories. Governance manager Jo Gread said where relevant and appropriate, such information would be considered for publication on council’s website.
Enjoying the Bloom twilight market at Leamington Domain on Saturday were Jayco Huxtable, 8, left of Leamington Primary School and Milah Hotene, 11, who has recently started at Cambridge Middle school. They took in the view from the top of the two-storey, octagonal band rotunda built in 1910 and moved from the corner of Bracken St and Te Awamutu Rd to Leamington in 1921 to prevent vandalism. Meanwhile work developing a new
iconic steam roller
removed. Work will finish in May.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Who came with the X factor?
By Mary Anne Gill
A mystery adventure race that annually transforms Lake Te Koo Utu in Cambridge into a haven for mums, dads and children attracted 473 participants this year. The XRace, held on a humid Friday
afternoon last week, took competitors an average of one hour, seven minutes 17 seconds to complete.
The Korakonui duo of daughter Gemma and father Grant Honeyfield blitzed the field, completing the 10 mystery challenges in just 43 minutes and 18 seconds.
Starting with catches, police in Cambridge responded to a family harm event last weekend where a male was reported for threatening to kill a female. He had left the address but was found to also be breaching court bail conditions and subsequently located. He faced charges in court accordingly. In another incident, another male was reported as behaving disorderly in a retail store, having stripped to his underwear whilst appearing to be under the influence of an unknown substance. Police attended, located and arrested the male. He was subsequently provided medical assistance and required hospitalisation due to his drug taking. Our attendance at the latter incident highlighted a couple of things. While the intoxicated male was being escorted out of the store, members of the public were trying to squeeze around the officers, presumably in a hurry to exit. With the nature of the male’s behaviour, those people put themselves at potential risk from an unpredictable person. They also slowed the officers’ exit. Once outside, a parked vehicle then began reversing out when the male was about to be placed into a waiting patrol car stopped behind, causing delays to that process.
It is a good follow on to last week’s column to remind you that when police are on scene and dealing with an incident, please be patient and aware of the complications caused when people trying to push past us
or otherwise hinder our progress.
In Te Awamutu, a few people have fallen prey to scammers in the past week. In one instance, a person making a purchase on Facebook marketplace was asked by the seller to pay a deposit due to a high level of interest in the item. Once the deposit was paid through online banking, the seller blocked all communication and needless to say, the trade did not proceed - leaving our victim out of pocket. Be wary of anyone asking for a deposit for something you have already arranged to pay for on collection.
Similarly, a second person paid in full online for a marketplace purchase. Once that payment was received, the seller requested further payment to cover insurance for the courier. A quick call to the courier company showed that this was not something they do. The trade ceased and the buyer never got the original money back.
As I always say, when purchasing through Market place, it is best to pick up and pay on collection, especially for items costing a monetary amount that you cannot afford to lose. A New Zealand bank account is not necessarily always a sign of legitimacy.
In a third example, a person received a phone call from someone pretending to be from Inland Revenue. After duping the person into providing private bank details, the scammers made an unauthorised money transfer out of the account. Spread the word and be scam aware.
The New Zealand Home Loans-sponsored event which started in 2013, was created by Shane Hooks of Auckland. It went through many name changes before XRace was finalised.
This mystery adventure race pairs parents with children aged 6-14 to race together, locate and complete mystery challenges, and compete against the clock and other family teams. The challenges range from physical (like tug-of-war) to mental (like memory challenges) to knowledge-based (like music challenges), and they change from year to year and course to course.
No two XRaces are the same. Events are held in Whangārei, Devonport, Tauranga, Taupō, Napier, Hutt City, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Hamilton, and Auckland. Medals this year in Cambridge were presented by New Zealand representatives Zack Rumble (rowing), Bennett Greenough (BMX), Danielle Aitchison (Paralympian sprinter) and Becky Leigh (rowing).
Results:
Overall winners: daughter and fatherGemma and Grant Honeyfield (Korakonui), son and father - Harris and Adam O’Leary (Cambridge), daughter and mother - Jamie and Caitlyn Phillips (Hamilton).
Age Divisions
Junior (under 7) girls Zoe Gerritsen 1h4s, boys Marlow McDonald 56m44s, 8 year old girls Leina Kaelin 1h2m57s, boys Sam Panting 57m19s, 9 year old girls Chloe Blackstock 55m, boys Cian Moore 46m42s, 10 year old girls Charlotte Tate 50m21s, boys Harris O’Leary 43m25s, 11 year old girls Sophie Hickey 54m14s, boys Connor Moore 46m39s, senior girls Gemma Honeyfield 43m19s, boys Alex Simmonds 48m56s.
Naomi and Alex Simmonds of Cambridge, centre, after completing the X race with their medals presented by New Zealand representatives, from left Zack Rumble (rowing), Bennett Greenough (BMX), Danielle Aitchison (Paralympian sprinter), Becky Leigh (rowing). More cambridgenews.nz.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Party cost
Waipa’s Party in the Park to celebrate the district’s Olympians and Paralympians last year cost ratepayers nearly $16,000, not the $40,000 sources had suggested. The money came from existing operational budgets, the council told The News in a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act response. Read more online at cambridgenews.nz
Headline act
New Zealand born Kaylee Bell, the most streamed female country artist in Australasia with more than 60 million streams will be the feature act at Cambridge Raceways’ Night of Champions in April.
Market change
Kaipaki Market has been held in the community’s hall for the last time after two years. From later this month it will move to Selwyn Park in Te Awamutu and be renamed the Rosetown Monthly Fair.
Meeting cancelled
Waipā District Council’s Finance and Corporate committee meeting next week has been cancelled.
Raceway hearing
A two-day hearing has been set down for next week in Cambridge to consider an application by Cambridge Raceway for renewal and variation of an on licence. The hearing on Monday and Tuesday will be in the Totara Room of the Bridges Church. Later in the month a third application for a special licence – for the club’s Night of Champions event on April 4 – will also be held.
Correction
Ellyn Profitt is not a nurse practitioner as reported in The News (January 30) but a clinical nurse specialist and she wants to raise awareness at the importance of having a whānau member or friend acting as a key support person for all patients, not just cancer patients.
Council told to join fight
Waipā District Council has been ordered to add fluoride to Cambridge water supplies. Last week anti-fluoride campaigners introduced American lawyer Michael Connett to underline their opposition – to an audience that, bar one, appeared to need no convincing.
By Chris Gardner
Waipā District Council should join other councils in a legal challenge against the Ministry of Health edict to add fluoride to Cambridge drinking water, says campaigning US lawyer Michael Connett.
Asked by The News what advice he would give the capacity crowd who attended a public meeting in Cambridge Town Hall last week, Connett said Waipā could potentially join Rotorua Lakes, Tauranga and Whangārei in a legal challenge against the edict.
“It should be a decision for this community. This is not just a problem in Cambridge. It’s a problem in other areas. This is a national problem right now.”
Prior to 2021, local authorities decided whether to add fluoride.
Legislation changed that year, supported by most councils, to the director-general of health.
Waipā has never had community water fluoridation and was ordered in 2022 to do so in Cambridge.
The council has already begun costings, design and a timeline for the work. Part of the funding, about $480,000 for the capital works, will come from the ministry. The amount of any funding for capital works has not yet been confirmed.
The work is expected to take nine months and once implemented cost
Cambridge ratepayers $130,000 a year to put fluoride in the water.
Connett won a legal battle against fluoridation in the United States last year, in which the court had found scientifically credible evidence establishing that fluoride poses a risk to human health.
“It is associated with a reduction in the IQ of children and is hazardous at dosages that are far too close to fluoride levels in the drinking water of the United States,” the ruling said.
Connett spent some time discussing neurotoxicity, crippling skeletal fluorosis and severe dental
fluorosis with the crowd.
“The next chapter in all of this is yours to write in New Zealand,” he added.
“I have met over the past few days with council representatives from Whangārei, Tauranga, Rotorua, and there is deep concern about stopping fluoridation. They are being pressured by the Ministry of Health,” Connett said.
While there were half a dozen empty seats in the town hall at the start of the meeting, there were more than a dozen people left standing at the back of the room as Fluoride Free NZ campaigner Kane Titchener
introduced Connett. Titchener, deputy chair of Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board, said Cambridge was on a precipice as the council prepared to obey the Ministry of Health. At the end of the meeting, He told the crowd he planned to present a petition on the matter to Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters early this week.
The News has sought comment from Waipā District Council but it has previously said it would be an offence under the Health Act to ignore the directive.
Dental expert bemoans ‘truth decay’
By Mary Anne Gill
Cambridge volunteer dentist
Penelope Roberts has removed mouthfuls of rotting teeth from children, travelled New Zealand and the Pacific islands on mercy missions, practised at the world-renowned Paddington Hospital in the UK and provided life-changing dentistry for more than 30 years.
But at last week’s Fluoride Risks meeting in Cambridge Town Hall, she was a lone voice arguing the benefits of community water fluoridation.
In a statement the Ministry of Health said it does not attend every event related to the topic, but health officials do meet with local authorities.
The crowd heckled her, shouted her down, suggested she should listen or leave. She left the meeting visibly distressed and was again heckled outside.
She told The News the meeting should have been called “Truth Decay”.
“He really manipulated the findings and used only the sections of the scientists’ testimonies that backed
up his argument. All the evidence he was using was for high fluoride situations.”
US lawyer Michael Connett mentioned four times parts per million at one point which was nowhere near what would be in Cambridge’s water supply, she said.
Fluoride is added at 0.7 ppm in the United States and New Zealand and at those levels there was no conclusive evidence of any effect on children’s IQ. None of Connett’s studies were done in the US, said Roberts.
“There was so much manipulation
of the evidence and effects to get his court ruling and to make his argument sound plausible. He really knows how to manipulate an audience with half-truths.” Roberts practised as a dentist in the UK, including Paddington Hospital – founded in 1845 as a voluntary hospital for the sick and poor in north London - Sydney and New Zealand. She was a dental lecturer but resigned from that to volunteer with Youth with a Mission Ships Aotearoa and Trinity Lands Ltd - a charitable trust which owns
Continued on page 7
Jono Gibson Funeral Director
US lawyer Michael Connett, left, with Fluoride Free NZ’s Kane Titchener, before the meeting got underway. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Repair experts at the ready
By Mary Anne Gill
“Somebody’s trash is another’s treasure,” as the saying goes, and two more community organisations took giant steps this week to establish themselves in Cambridge’s recycling hall of fame with that ethos.
The Cambridge Repair Collective held a repair café at Memorial Park on Sunday aimed at bringing people willing to fix items free of charge with those who have something broken or in need of repair.
Founder Geoff Bentley first started the venture in 2018, but it
stalled during Covid.
Now the Urban Miners volunteer – another community group in the hall of fame – is on the lookout for others who can repair all sorts of item either by sewing or soldering as he was doing to a toaster when The News caught up with him at the Trash n Treasure Market.
“It’s much more useful when you have other people involved. I need to get more people, the ones who love repairing things.”
A group he wants to connect with is the Cambridge Menz Shed which will open its workshop this Saturday nine months after Waipā
District Council entered into a community lease agreement for the former Leamington Dairy Factory in Carlyle Street.
Since then, the group of retired men – last count 65 – have transformed the 123-year-old building, with its leaking roof, rotten timber weatherboard cladding and broken windows, into an ultramodern workshop.
The renovation cost $100,000, some in kind and some from donations. Following some vandalism, the building is kitted out with an alarm system and monitored cameras.
Eric Hill, owner of Print House, plans to dissemble his woodwork shop at home and move it into the Menz Shed hobby room.
John Sheridan’s duties at the
workshop are limited, he said. “I’m in charge of pencil sharpening.”
Barry Harding has found plenty to do, he is the scrounger extraordinaire securing cabinets for the group’s smoko room, the first area developed.
“If we didn’t have Barry, we wouldn’t have a kitchen,” said co-founder Mike Gast, who is president of the Te Kūiti Menz Shed.
The building is a Category C Waipā-listed building that had become an eyesore.
Menz Shed secretary Myles Prebble had been on the lookout for something suitable since the organisation held its inaugural annual meeting in November 2023 following an article in The News which appealed for interest.
It is now an incorporated society.
“The concept of a Menz Shed brings men together in one community space to share their skills, have a laugh, seek fellowship and work on practical tasks individually or as a group for the shed or the community,” Prebble said in his application to the council for the building. When it opens, it will be Waikato’s newest Menz Shed and the second in Waipā – there is also an active shed in Te Awamutu –and others in Ōtorohanga, Te Kuiti, Hamilton, Matamata, Mangakino, Morrinsville, Paeroa, Pauanui, Tokoroa, Tairua, Taupō, Thames, Whangamata and Whitianga. Saturday’s opening, for 50 guests, will include a tour of the new facility.
It is all about teamwork as Menz Shed members race to get the restored Leamington dairy factory ready in time for the opening on Saturday. From left, Lester King, John Sheridan, Paul Wadey, Craig Ashby, Barry Harding, Bruce Larnach, Eric Hill, Rob Saywell, Les Walsh, Mike Brace, Mike Gast and Myles Prebble. More cambridgenews.nz.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Geoff Bentley gets to the bottom of why a toaster’s popper stopped working and discovered a couple of fuses have burned wires which required soldering. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Dental expert bemoans ‘truth decay’
Continued from page 5
farms, orchards and forestry in South Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
“This is a first world country, but we have third world oral health,” she said.
Trinity provides free fillings and extractions to eligible residents around New Zealand.
Roberts says it breaks her heart to see the state of New Zealanders’ teeth.
Something as simple as community water fluoridation – where fluoride is added to the water supply at a level recommended for preventing cavities – would reduce oral health inequities, she said.
Ministry of Health Public Health Agency deputy directorgeneral Dr Andrew Old said over 60 years of international and New Zealand research shows community water fluoridation is a safe, effective and affordable way to improve oral health.
“Last year, the Ministry of Health published a new evidence review of the risks and benefits of community water fluoridation, taking into account the latest international evidence. The review found community water fluoridation provides ongoing clear benefits even when
alternative forms of fluoride (such as fluoride toothpaste) are available,” said Old.
Also last year, a University of Queensland study found no link between exposure to water fluoridation as a young child and negative cognitive development.
Professor Loc Do from UQ’s School of Dentistry said the IQ scores of 357 people who had taken part in the 2012–2014 National Child Oral Health Study were assessed by registered psychologists to see if their exposure to fluoride as a young child impacted their brain development.
The study showed the participants, now aged 16-26, had IQ scores 0.28 points higher on average than those without.
Roberts tried to make the point at the meeting that her experience showed the education of a child with decaying teeth suffered more than children with health teeth.
There were no Ministry of Health representatives at the meeting but previously they have said Cambridge was chosen because of its population, the “likely savings” of adding fluoride to the water and the “significant improvements” it would make to oral health outcomes in the community.
• Mary Anne Gill is a former Waikato District Health Board communications director who took part in a successful campaign which resulted in 2014 with Hamilton adding fluoride to its water supply.
All in tune
By Mary Anne Gill
Events like the Lions Trash n Treasure market help fine tune the skills of the Cambridge and District Pipe Band who are regulars at events like the market and the Christmas Parade.
They skip the market if it’s raining heavily, but not at the parade in Cambridge where rain the last two years has resulted in hard work afterwards for the bagpipe players cleaning their reeds and drying out the instruments’ bags.
The band practices every week and for special events – like Christmas parades - join forces with their Te Awamutu and Te Kūiti counterparts.
“We’re all a big family,” said member Robyn Irving looking towards Te Awamutu tenor drummer and The News Faith in
*Lending criteria, terms and conditions apply.
Dentist Penelope Roberts, front centre, among the audience at the Fluoride Risks meeting in the Cambridge Town Hall.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Let us entertain you: from left: Robert Moir and Norris Hall (tenor drums), Bruce Annandale, Robyn Irvine, drum sergeant Chris Reynolds, David
When volcanoes shake
A very important part of volcano monitoring is understanding seismicity, meaning earthquakes or vibrations that move through the Earth that we sometimes feel at the surface. Most volcanic earthquakes are too small to be felt by us, but seismometers record them and capture valuable information.
Geophysicists are the experts who study these phenomena and untangle the sometimes very complex signals to unravel clues about what is going on below the surface, using their expertise, experience, and technology. Just to be clear, I am not one of these experts.
When there is an increase in seismicity at or near a volcano, an important start is figuring out what the cause is. Is it volcanic or not? It could be magma, fluids, gases, or faults. Volcanoes are often located in areas with plenty of faults, so earthquakes could have nothing to do with the volcano itself. They can also be produced by shallow geothermal activity, which is likely what those in Taupō were feeling a few weeks ago. When they are near the surface and close, they can feel more intense. If something is moving below the surface, it could be magma, fluids, or gases. Fluids can be a mix of water and other components like CO2 that are released from magma. It can take time and hindsight to work through the signals to understand what caused them.
Earthquakes can be classified into types, given a magnitude, and a location including depth. Here is a very simplified guide. Volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes occur when rock breaks. This can be through faults moving because of tectonic forces or migrating magmatic fluids and gases putting stress on them from a distance, or magma and gases breaking rock
By Janine Krippner
as they move. As magma, fluids (magmatic or hydrothermal), and gases move through cracks they can produce long-period (LP), very-long-period (VLP), or low-frequency (LF) earthquakes. This can be a sign that magma is on the move, but not necessarily.
Tremor is a continuous seismic signal that can indicate that the volcano means business with magma moving or an eruption is even underway, or that there are so many earthquakes that it’s hard to distinguish between them all. Keep in mind that many processes can produce signals at once This includes ‘noise’ at the surface like animals or human activity, or other natural processes like wind, landslides or waves. We need our seismologists around to figure it out!
Since seismicity is a normal part of being a volcano, active or not, it’s important to know what the “background” or usual level of activity is so that we know when something is changing. Incorporating other data such as gas or deformation (movement of the surface), also helps to clarify what’s happening down below.
While these earthquakes are usually small, they can also be very harmful, especially when people live close to where they are originating. As Taupō has seen in the past, seismicity during volcanic unrest can be damaging even without leading to an eruption. Shaking can cause building damage that can result in injuries, or trigger landslides, which can sometimes even lead to a tsunami. It is always important to be prepared and know what to do in our volcanic areas, so be sure to visit getready. govt.nz for more.
Water in demand
MONDAY
WEDNESDAY
7:16, Firebox on fire, Vogel Street 7:02, Animal rescue, Addison Street
9:55am, Cardiac Arrest, Bryce Street
SUNDAY
1:09pm, Building Alarm and evacuation, Ruakura Road
9.07, Building alarm and evacuation, Alexandra St, Te Awamutu
FRIDAY
11:56pm, Building Alarm and evacuation, Hautapu Road
FRIDAY
12.30, Cardiac Arrest, Pengover Street 9.43, Building alarm and evacuation, Cambridge Road
THURSDAY
8:42am, Building Alarm and evacuation. Maungatautari Road
1:41, Building alarm and evacuation, Cambridge Road
1.06, Smoke in the vicinity, Thornton Road
SUNDAY
WEDNESDAY
3:53am, Medical assistance, Karapiro Road
3.56, MVC single truck, Waikato Expressway
Sports hub planned for Pirongia
By Jesse Wood
A committee of Pirongia residents are working towards creating a community sports hub in the village.
Members Michael Earwaker, Layne Kerr and Don Gray asked for community feedback and received 87 submissions.
The feedback was passed on to Design Management Consultants Ltd (DMC) in Hamilton. DMC produced a visual plan based on the sporting numbers of the next 30 years.
“It’s come from a need for upgrading the sports facilities but also working closely to pull the community together,” Earwaker said. “We’re seeing what else is around the community that needs looking after for future generations. You’ll drive past it on the main road. Whether you live here or not, you’re going to see it.
He hopes to see work start on the building within two years and it completed by 2034 debt free.
“We want buy-in from the community with like-minded people wanting to help in the project. It’s a challenge, but it’s achievable.”
The plan is to have a gymnasium catering to many sports, a gym, three squash courts, four tennis courts, two rugby fields, one bowling green, several rentable spaces for private use and bigger areas for function hire.
Pirongia has been Earwaker’s home for more than two decades, while Kerr and Gray have lived there for in excess of 40 years.
The committee says the centre is not just about sport, it is just the vehicle they’re using.
“We’re saying to the people, we’ll make
the space available, but we want you to use it and to have faith in the whole organisation.
As well as Pirongia, the facility could service Kāwhia, Pāterangi, Ngāhinapōuri, Ōpārau, Whatawhata and Raglan.
“This is an opportunity to join our community together and if we can make it an enjoyable experience, it will entice more people.
The idea also brings the possibility of rehoming the Pirongia Memorial Hall facade as the current building continues to deteriorate. That is still to go through community consultation.
“We’re trying to keep the old with the new so that we can bring the past forward into the future and it’ll last another 100 years,” Earwaker said.
“It’s lasted more than 100 years. How do we stop something with so much history from falling down and losing it forever? Yes, it’ll cost money, but we want to give it another life.”
Anzac services and markets are among the many community events that could be held at the facility.
“The big thing for the community is we want them to have what they’ve got now, but we also want them to have more,” he said. “If someone comes up with a really good idea, let’s try it.
“This is the design concept of where we’re at and it’s subject to change. We’ll update the community as we go. There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then, but I’m confident that it will be built, and hopefully faster.
“The biggest thing is we want community buy-in, this is all for them and feedback is greatly appreciated.”
Wetlands celebrated
World Wetlands Day at Lake Rotopiko just south of Ōhaupō was an overwhelming success for its organisers, attracting close to 200 visitors in just four hours.
The collaborative family day was held in alignment with the United Nationsdesignated World Wetlands Day, an international event held on February 2 each year to mark the anniversary of the 1971 signing of the Convention on Wetlands Treaty.
Organisers of the day at
Lake Rotopiko included the Te Awamutu Rotary Club, DOC, the National Wetlands Trust, both Waikato Regional and Waipā District councils, and Landcare Trust.
There have been several World Wetlands Day (WWD) events at Rotopiko since the sanctuary was built. Other WWD events have been held across various Waikato wetland locations over the past 25 years, with the exception of the Covid years. Days before the event, it was revealed the Whangamarino Wetland has
proven more resilient to fire than expected following an October fore
The blaze covered about 1000 hectares in one of the few remaining raised peatlands in the southern hemisphere.
Despite the considerable damage caused, DOC Whangamarino ranger Lizzie Sharp said thanks to relatively high water levels in the peatland before the fire, only a shallow layer of the peat soils was burned.
“The wetland is showing signs of hope,” she said.
RYMAN VILLAGE
FRIDAY 14 & SATURDAY 15 FEBRUARY, 10AM - 2PM
The concept idea for the front of the new Pirongia Community Sports Hub – the gateway to the building. Image: Design Management Consultants
Uncertainty can be corrosive
By Peter Nicholl
Donald Trump has been dominating global news since he took office as he keeps up a constant stream of ideas, decisions, postponement of decisions and the flying of all kinds of kites.
He has created an enormous amount of uncertainty almost everywhere.
This got me thinking about a policymaking lesson I learnt in my early years working in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
We had a visit from Paul Volcker, the then Chairman of the US Federal Reserve. He gave a talk to a group of young staff of the bank, and someone (not me) asked him: what are the most important lessons for young policy-makers?
He replied that one lesson is far more important than all the rest.
It was that the worst thing policy-makers can do for the private sector is to generate uncertainty.
He went on to say the private sector can cope better with bad policies than they can with uncertain policies. They won’t like the bad policies and will lobby to get them changed - but they will make what they think are the most sensible business decisions given the rules in place.
But if there is a lot of uncertainty about what the rules are, investment becomes very risky and the most rationale response of the private sector is to do nothing, wait and hope that some clarity will appear before too long.
It was probably about 1975 when Paul Volcker made those comments. Trump has brought them back to the forefront of my mind. The statement in the title of this column doesn’t come from me. It is from a
recent article in the UK Economist magazine. They said Trump is playing a dangerous game that can lead to miscalculations and corrosive uncertainty for the global economy.
Trump’s decisions on tariffs are one example. He ordered tariffs of 25 per cent on Canada and Mexico. On Tuesday they were put on hold for a month. What happens in a month’s time? No-one knows.
But the miscalculations the Economist refers to can come about because of Trump’s ego.
What could determine whether the tariffs are reimposed in a month may be determined by the decision that in Trump’s view will best avoid him looking weak.
Some people have told me that Trump won’t carry on making decisions and threats at the speed and range of his first two weeks in office.
He has wanted to grab the world’s attention, and he has certainly achieved that. Now that he has done that, they expect him to slow down and become more ‘normal’. I hope they are right, but I do not share their confidence.
Prior to Trump’s arrival in office the general consensus on the US economy was that they were going to have a soft landing from their recent disinflationary cycle. If Trump carries on the way he has started, few countries, if any, will have soft landings. Trump won’t be making America ‘great’ again – but he will succeed in making America ‘grate’ again.
Our common problem
By Murray Smith, Bridges Church
The Auschwitz prison sirens wailed long and loud in 1941 announcing a prisoner’s escape.
In reprisal, 10 fellow prisoners would diea slow starvation, buried alive in a specially constructed concrete bunker.
Tortured by sun, hunger and fear, the prisoners were lined up while the German commandant and his Gestapo assistant sauntered between the ranks to arbitrarily select the chosen 10. The commandant pointed to a prisoner, Francis Gajowniczek, who cried out in despair, “my poor wife and children”.
Another man with sunken eyes and round glasses in wire frames stepped out of line and took off his cap. “What does this Polish pig want?” asked the commandant.
“I am a Catholic priest; I want to die for that man. I am old, he has a wife and children,” said Father Maximilian Kolbe. “Accepted” retorted the commandant, moving on.
That night, the priest with nine others went to the starvation bunker. Two weeks later, three of the men and Father Maximilian were still alive.
The bunker was required for others so on August 14 the remaining four were disposed of. After two weeks in the starvation bunker and still conscious, the Polish priest was given an injection of phenol ending his life at the age of 47.
I’ve stood in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, where many years following his death, the memory of Father Maximilian was commemorated, thus revealing its true perspective.
Present in the crowd of 150,000 was Francis Gajowniczek with his wife, his
children, and his children’s childrenindeed, many had been saved by that one man taking the place of another.
The death of Christ is similar although much more amazing. He died not just for one man and his children’s children, but for every individual in the whole world.
While there is something of dignity about all human beings since we were created in the image of God, nonetheless, we’re all born with a propensity to do evil. Like a bowling ball with its bias, we are drawn to bad and self-destructive behaviour. That image of God has been to a greater or lesser extent tarnished and in some cases almost eradicated by ‘sin’ - it’s a problem common to all.
Have you noticed how prone we are to compare ourselves with other people? Comparing ourselves with others, we’ll always find a way to make ourselves look pretty good.
But the only true measure is the righteous standard found in the life of Jesus Christ - against that ‘yardstick’ of perfection, we realise just how much we’ve fallen short. Perfection? We all need forgiveness and when Jesus was crucified, He paid the penalty for every wrong thing we ever did. A legal exchange took place. He died to remove our guilt and to free us from addiction, fear and ultimately death. He took our sin, so we can receive His free gift of righteousness… that’s no guarantee we’ll never commit a sin again… but the miracle is, He so changes our hearts, we won’t want to.
Community Connect
February 13, 2025
out and play!
Waipā’s newest destination playground at Cambridge’s Papatakohe Park on Hugo Shaw Drive will open with a celebration event on Saturday, February 15, from 12 30pm to 2 30pm
Tamariki can explore the new playground and enjoy a free sausage sizzle put on by contractors Camex Civil, a scavenger hunt and colouring activities. The highlight will be a free throw competition on the fullsized basketball court, with great prizes to win.
Community Services Manager Brad Ward is excited for the event.
“We can’t wait for everyone to check out the awesome new space. Playgrounds are essential for healthy, vibrant and connected communities, offering a space to explore, play, learn, and stay active.”
Built by developers 3MS in collaboration with Waipā District Council, the new park is in the Bridleway Estate subdivision.
“It’s going to be a fun day out for the whole whānau, you can bring a picnic, enjoy the food trucks, or grab something from the free BBQ.”
The park boasts a range of exciting attractions, including a double flying fox, exercise equipment, water and musical play features, and three distinct play areas designed for pre-schoolers, intermediate-aged children, and older kids. Parking is available, but people coming along are encouraged to walk, bike, or scoot to the event if possible.
The community event is being hosted in collaboration with developers 3MS and other contractors who have helped build the new park – Fluhler Contracting, McCaffrey and Cable Consultants, Camex Civil, and C & R Developments.
Waipā’s public art goes digital
People can now explore Waipā’s public art collections online.
Waipā District Council cares for nearly 100 artworks –all of which have been donated or commissioned over the last 80 years. The collection includes both indoor and outdoor artworks, such as murals, carvings, mosaics, paintings, sculptures and photographs. As the council doesn’t have enough suitable locations to display all of the indoor works, putting it online is a way for it to be instantly accessible for everyone. A brochure has also been created showcasing the 29 artworks in the outdoor collection, encouraging
people to explore and discover art around the district. Notable works include the iconic bronze mare and foal sculpture outside Cambridge Town Hall, pieces in Te Awamutu’s Sculpture Park, and pou at Mātakitaki Pā in Pirongia.
The outdoor collection also includes five pieces by acclaimed sculptor Fred Graham (Ngāti Korokī Kahukua, Waikato-Tainui).
Waipā’s public art can be viewed online at tamuseum.org.nz/publicart, or visitors can pick up a brochure from the Te Awamutu Museum or one of the council offices.
Waipā is at Water Alert Level 1
Under level one, sprinklers can only be used between 6-8am and 6-8pm, but you can use handheld hoses any time.
For commercial customers who use water as an essential activity – such as landscaping, nurseries and sports fields – outdoor watering is allowed in both level one and two. However, we encourage all business owners to follow the rules for using sprinklers during the restricted times.
What’s on
Pirongia Four Square Movie Night 14 February 2025, 7.30pm - 10.30pm Rangimarie Reserve, Pirongia Bring a picnic and enjoy a family movie.
Rosetown Monthly Fair 22 February 2025, 9am – 1pm Selwyn Park, Te Awamutu
A community event to enrich the experience of living, working and shopping in Te Awamutu. Whakamaumahara Rangiaowhia
Rangiaowhia Commemoration Day 21 February 2025, 6am – 11.30pm
Rangiaowhia Road
A commemoration of the lives lost at Rangiaowhia on 21 February 1864.
Arapuni Powerboat Regatta 22-23 February, 8am – 5pm
Arapuni Landing
Over 30 boats competing.
Waikato's new chief welcomed
Waikato District Council welcomed new chief executive, Craig Hobbs, at its Ngāruawāhia council chambers last week.
A pōwhiri was attended by more than 100 people including representatives from other councils, iwi, business and community leaders and Turangawaewae marae.
Mayor Jacqui Church expressed her enthusiasm about Hobbs’ appointment, saying he was a leader who was respectful, collaborative, dynamic and looking for the future.
Hobbs has experience working in local government and executive roles including at Paralympics New Zealand, the National Maritime Museum, South Waikato District Council and Auckland Council.
“I’ve got a lot to learn about Waikato District Council, about Waikato Tainui and local iwi, my guarantee to you is that I will be on that journey and walk alongside you,” he said. “I am very collaborative, and I like working in partnership with to build on the great things that the Waikato District
Council team; staff, mayor and councillors have been working on.”
Paying tribute to outgoing chief executive Gavin Ion, for his 20 years’ service Hobbs said, “I promise I won’t break your legacy, and we will carry on and grow.” Ion will stay on at council until June to complete the Local Waters Done Well project.
Waikato District Council’s new chief executive Craig Hobbs at his pōwhiri.
Leamington Primary School PTA’s fundraising efforts for swings at the school – something the school has never had – got a much-needed boost when the Harbour City Rod Club chose them as their charity of choice on Sunday for its Pre 49s Hot Road Show and Shine at Cambridge Raceway. Looking after one of the entrances were, from left front: Sophia Gawler, 10 holding Stella, 4, a Maltese dog, Riley Hanna, 7 and at back Mike Malcolm and Katie Hanna.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
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Visit resonatehealth.co.nz to read more of our 5-star reviews
Phil’s artistic tip… just add water
By Mary Anne Gill
Phil Mead has tried all the art mediums, but it is the magic of water colours which he has finally settled on. It might have taken him more than 20 years but his success as overall winner at the Cambridge Society of Arts annual exhibition in 2023 with The Sounds seems to confirm his decision.
“You wet the paper, pick the paint, apply it and hope it works,” the 89-year-old retired forest manager told The News during the society’s Art in the Park exhibition on Sunday.
The society has about 80 members but is always on the look out for more.
Cambridge News’ person of the year Jared Milbank is a recent addition to
the ranks who meet in The Painting Place above Lake Te Koo Utu on Thornton Rd.
Twice a year the society is represented at the Art Alive exhibition in the Cambridge Town Hall. In August, more than 120 pieces of work were on show, most of them for sale.
The exhibition will also be featured at next month’s Autumn Festival.
Alys Antiques & Fine Art
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Art in the Park: Cambridge Arts Society members had their art on display outside the Thornton Rd clubrooms. From left: Ian Lewell (treasurer), Joanna Holmes (secretary) and Phil Mead.
Hard at work inside the Cambridge Arts Society open day in Thornton Road were, from left: Jill Wilkinson, Erin-Monique O’Brien, Jared Milbank and secretary Joanna Holmes. Photos: Mary Anne Gill
John Chrisp, Cambridge, NZ. Norfolk Broads in Summer. Oil on board. Conservation framing. Signed. Dated 2024. 48x39cm.
Date
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From trash to treasure
By Mary Anne Gill
Boyd Nelson’s expertise in hot rods was clear when he and his 17-year-old son Brock named the 1935 Havana brown Ford Coupe the best among 139 other cars at Cambridge Raceway.
“That’s a winner,” the former Cambridge resident who moved to Katikati two years ago and now runs his own hot rod business.
And he was right. Graeme and Debbie Dodd of Masterton won the popular vote at the Harbour City Rod Club’s Pre-49s Hot Rod Show and Shine at Cambridge Raceway with the car that, 12 years ago, was sitting upside down in a Californian rubbish dump.
He bought the car for an undisclosed sum, imported it to the Wairarapa, and spent the next 10 years rebuilding it.
The two-door coupe - now resplendent with its THRTY5
number plate and one of about 240,000 produced in the US in 1935 - was five years in the panel beating shop, he said.
“This is the first time we’ve won overall, so we’re stoked.”
The couple drove up from Masterton on Thursday and stayed with the other 250 participants at Clearways in Rukuhia, heading out each day on road trips around the Waikato, and finishing at Cambridge Raceway on Sunday.
“This has been a really well organised event, and we really enjoyed our time in the Waikato,” he said.
Harbour City Rod Club president Ian McNeill, whose Glen Eden Auckland club organised the three-day event, said there were 250 people and 140 cars. Thirteen came from the South Island, one from California, and the rest from the North Island.
The club secured a $1000 grant from the Cambridge Community Board’s Discretionary Fund and in return offered to give a local organisation the opportunity to collect gate takings.
Leamington Primary School, which is fundraising for swings for its playground – something the school has never had – was chosen.
“We spent more than $80,000 in the (Waipā) community,” said McNeill. “We got a really strong vibe from everyone.”
Each hot rod, all pre-1949, was
conservatively worth $100,000 –making the collective value of the cars on show at about $14 million.
But some – like the 1935 Ford Coupe – was worth way more.
Boyd estimated it would sell for more than $250,000.
Brock, a Cambridge High School old boy who now sports an impressive mullet, is about to start an engineering course in Tauranga but is hoping to get into something a bit faster than hot rods – aeronautical engineering.
The top 10 were: 1932 Ford
Roadster (Bert and Helen Dove), 1936 3 Window Coupe (Kevin and Judy Smith), 1934 Ford Tudor (Anne and Lloyd Wilson), 1932 Ford Tudor (Paul and Helen Falvey, 1934 Ford Phaeton (Wayne Gibbons and Kathy Russell), 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe (Keith and Sonja Hunter), 1934 Chev Master 5 Window Coupe (Terry and Delia Boulden), 1932 Ford Pickup (John and Janet Reid), 1932 Ford Roadster (Sharon Allen), 1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe (Graeme and Debbie Dodd).
Terry and Delia Moulden’s 1934 Chev Master 5 Window Coupe Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Boyd and Brock Nelson back home in Cambridge with their pick of the hot rods, a 1935 Ford Coupe. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Aidan’s racing to Perth
Cambridge’s Aidan Tidd is heading across the Tasman on an international mission.
The 16-year-old will represent New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman Ministock Challenge and leaves for Perth on February 28.
The event is a two-year challenge –Australian drivers came to here to compete last year, this time New Zealand Youth Ministock team heads to Australia.
Ministocks is an introductory class enabling young drivers to learn the basics of motor racing. It’s a non-contact form of racing around a dirt oval.
In last year’s event Tidd, a former Cambridge High student, took the first chequered flag at Kihikihi and New Zealand won the first leg after events in Huntly and Rotorua.
The son of Kayley and Marcus Tidd is the oldest of five siblings and races out of Rotorua.
“Aidan has been involved in speedway his whole life,” Kayley said. “He attended his first race meeting when he was just two weeks old when his dad used to race modifieds.
“It's a real family sport for
soon, his cousins Dexter and Kody also race ministocks and his uncle Jarvis races a super saloon.”
Tourists’ rugby lament
Sheila and Robert Davies of Blackwood north of Cardiff were still spitting tacks in Cambridge last week less than three days after Wales lost 43-0 to France in the Six Nations rugby tournament.
So imagine how they were feeling as they tiki-toured the rest of the North Island on Sunday to hear of the 22-15 loss to Italy?
Visiting Hamilton – birthplace of Welsh coach Warren Gatland – only added to their annoyance the previous week as it was a brutal reminder of the woefulness of Welsh rugby these days.
The couple on a four week visit to New Zealand stopped the night in Cambridge after visiting Hamilton Gardens and the city.
“He should go, he’s not doing us any favours as coach,” said Sheila. “We got no points in the game and that’s the first for years.”
They felt Gatland had done very little to bring players through and should go.
They found the Hamilton Gardens were “amazing” and had no qualms forking out an entry fee for a world-leading experience.
They also were able to take a photo of champion rower Nicola Coles’ plaque in the Sports Walk of Fame in Duke St, Cambridge and send it to their friends in Tauranga.
Other friends in Australia received a photo of the couple in front of the plaque honouring Cambridge’s Melbourne Cup winners.
“We’ve really enjoyed our time here,” they said.
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Aidan with his younger brother Connor racing ministocks, his sister Brooklyn is to start racing ministocks at Waharoa very
Welsh visitors Sheila and Robert Davies in Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
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Ultra effort for the community
By Viv Posselt
When Cambridge chiropractor Shelley Parker takes on 53km of next weekend’s Tarawera Ultramarathon in Rotorua, it will be with one eye on the past and the other on the future.
She is grateful for having overcome a nearcrippling back injury that made walking
difficult and thoughts of running almost impossible.
With that now behind her, she will use Saturday’s event as a fundraiser for an organisation she sees as one of Cambridge’s core achievers, Cambridge Community House (CCH), and is keen on doing similar charity-aligned fundraising runs in the future.
Shorter distance works for McCarroll
Progressive mare One More Dance dropped back in distance and picked up a lucrative maiden victory at Te Rapa on Saturday, claiming top honours in the TAB 1200.
The daughter of Sweynesse had recorded three minor placings from seven starts, while her most recent effort was a game fourth in a competitive Maat contest at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day. On that occasion, she was ridden by Sam Weatherley, who advised her Waipā trainer Ross McCarroll to revert the mare back to 1200m, advice he took on board and targeted the $65,000 event.
One More Dance closed among the middle market with race winners Phoebe Buffay and Ballon D’or the top picks, and both favourites settled at the back end of the field early. One More Dance had powered from barrier six for Sam Spratt, who allowed her to be crossed by Charmrose and Special Sakura.
Charmrose showed a good kick on the turn and had her rivals chasing hard, and leading the charge, One More Dance wore down the leader just in time to take the race by a short head, with Phoebe Buffay closeup in third.
“Halfway up, I thought they had a kick on us and we weren’t going to get it, but the last little bit when I really asked her, she found the line well,” Spratt said. “It was good.
“She’s a nice horse, I remember riding her ages ago in her first couple of trials and she showed a bit, but she’s just putting it all
together.”
McCarroll was rapt with the result, having been unsure initially in the tight finish.
“I thought on the line that we had missed, but then George (Simon, commentator) said she’d got up so I was hopeful,” he said.
He acknowledged Sam Weatherley “because after he rode her at Ellerslie, he said he was adamant she wants 1200m”.
“I gave her two weeks off, brought her back and Sam (Spratt) couldn’t have ridden her any better. I’m sorry for Sam Weatherley, but I’m pleased for Sam Spratt.
“She’s probably better off fresh, with three or four weeks between runs, and we’ll stick to the 1200m.”
One More Dance was purchased by the Te Awamutu horseman for $40,000 out of Seaton Park’s draft at the 2022 Karaka Yearling Sales, and much of her large syndicate was on course to celebrate the success.
“There are a lot (of owners) in her, about 20 or 30 that have little bits of shares,” McCarroll said. “We thought she’d win before this, but this is a good one to win that’s for sure.”
Bred by the N and P Balia Family Trust, One More Dance was the fourth foal out of Aaja Nachle, a five-race winner and Listed performer. The mare also produced One More Time, who placed in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m). – Jess de Lautour LoveracingNZ
Parker wants to help CCH financially and boost their profile. She started a social media fundraising page a few weeks ago and plans to keep it alive for a while after the run. At the time of writing she had raised more than $1000.
“I wasn’t aware of CCH or what they do, but when I looked into it, I was very impressed with just how much they achieve in this community,” she said.
Chiropractic is Parker's second career. She was a horsey girl who grew up in Drury, went to Cambridge’s St Peter’s School and worked in police communications. A riding injury in her 20s left her with two herniated discs in her back and sent her spiralling into depression.
“I couldn’t do anything… couldn’t even get my own shoes and socks on. Surgeons wanted to fuse my back. They said I wouldn’t be able to run, ride or surf again… I was desperate.”
A crossroads decision saw her push aside thoughts of giving up and instead learn as much as possible about the body while trying to recover. It was a path that led to her studying chiropractic, then doing the post-graduate study of a technique she says is responsible for her recovery.
She started running only last April.
“I had a little horse and decided to sell that. There was an empty space in my life, my back was feeling really good, so I started with 1km around Lake Te Koo Utu which ended up being half walk, half run.”
The buzz grew with each kilometre she covered. In September, she did 10km at the Whangamatā Half Marathon event. She followed that with the Legend of the Peaks at Rotorua, 12km through the redwoods.
“I learned I loved the hills… I was a snail in Whangamatā.”
She did 21km at November’s Queenstown Half Marathon, then 13km at December’s trail run in Waihi. Last month, she completed 42.2km in the First Light Marathon in
Gisborne, coming in first in her age group. Shelley reckons she has learned a lot about herself and is now physically and mentally ready for the challenge of next weekend’s longer run.
Part of the learning curve has been setting up a running group, the Slower Snails Running Club, which helps with the training and boosts running camaraderie. Shelley was in the news in September 2023 when she and her husband Sam Wilkinson squired one of their pet lambs, Princess Laminton, around local resthomes to cheer the residents.
Ssshhhh…the Manawa Chiefs were in town
By Mary Anne Gill
The Chiefs Manawa team was hoping to keep a low profile when players trained in Cambridge at Hautapu Sports Club on Sunday.
But team management chose what was potentially the busiest day of the year around Memorial Park with the monthly Trash n Treasure on the adjacent fields and
across the road, the Pre 49ers Hot Rod Show and Shine.
The workout was in the stifling heat under the watchful eye of head coach Dwayne Sweeney and assistant - former Black Fern Carla Hohepa. Players then headed indoors to fine tune their haka ready for the opening match on March 1.
Chiefs Manawa, finalists last year, will have a pre-season hit out against the
champion Blues team later this month in Hamilton as the curtain raiser to Super Rugby’s Chiefs v Crusaders.
Among the players at training was fourtime world champion 15s and sevens player Kelly Brazier, 35, returning to the Chiefs Manawa she played for in 2022 when they won the inaugural Aupiki title.
“Kelly is a player that embodies professionalism and work ethic, which we
value highly here at the Chiefs. Her hunger to compete is what sets her apart and is evident in her successes with the Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens,” Sweeney said when her signing was confirmed.
Another star is winger Ruby Tui, 33, a regular in the Black Ferns Sevens team who like loose forward Kennedy Simon is another world champion contributing to the Chiefs’ team this season.
Shelley Parker with the fistful of medals she hopes to add to this weekend.
Photo: Viv Posselt
Chiefs Manawa outside the Hautapu clubrooms in Cambridge after training.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Providing transport to medical and health related appointments between Cambridge, Hamilton and return. 0800 846 9992
Bookings are required by 3.00pm the working day prior to appointment. Donations appreciated.
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Across: 1. Taxing, 5. Cobble, 8. Ash, 9. Hacker, 10. Exodus, 11. Omit, 13. Sorcerer, 14. Adore, 15. Gaffe, 19. Estimate, 21. Guru, 22. Vacant, 23. Turnip, 25. Aye, 26. Museum, 27. Rubber. Down: 2. Alarmed, 3. Irk, 4. Garish, 5. Cherry, 6. Boomerang, 7. Louse, 12. Terminate, 16. Furtive, 17. Bantam, 18. Better, 20. Snafu, 24. Rob.
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LABEL
LABYRINTH LACE
AUCTION: Cambridge
Situated
81 Raleigh Street
Cambridge 143 Taylor Street
Vendors moving on - selling now
The kids are grown, the parents are moving on - this property's got to go! Seriously for sale and presented to the market in a freshened state, this is an outstanding offering that you won't get again. Our instructions are clear - they want a sale on auction day. Our vendors have loved raising their children in this wonderful home, but it's time for a new family to come and enjoy the sensational space found here. The 2195sqm section is adorned with beautifully established tree specimens and plantings, and presents a veritable lifestyle oasis in town. Entertain friends and family in your generous open plan area, which spills out to the fantastic paved outdoors, complete with pergola & built-in fire. Enjoy 100sqm of workshop, and outstanding onsite carparking - 5 vehicles undercover plus several more out front - as well as greenbelt parking across the street. Just down the road you can enjoy a day at the races or the market at Memorial Park on a Sunday, and the property is in zone for all levels of schooling. The unparalleled atmosphere of this special property can only truly be appreciated in person - come along to an open home or make an appointment to view... you'll be enchanted.
12.00pm, Thu 6th Mar, 2025, (unless sold prior), Property Brokers Cambridge, 34 Victoria Street, Cambridge 3434
Timeless Elegance Meets
14 Baxter Michael Crescent, St Kilda
- A separate formal lounge/media room, four double bedrooms, including a generous primary suite looking out over the swimming pool and with a large walk-in-wardrobe and ensuite.
Open Homes Saturday 11.00 - 11.30am & Sunday 1.00 - 1.30pm
- Central hub boasts an open-plan design featuring a spacious kitchen, dining, & family living areas, including a fabulous media room.
- This home is perfect for multiple generations under one roof.
- Fenced, landscaped section and covered outdoor dining space.
- The kitchen flows seamlessly into the dining &
areas, allowing access to two outdoor entertainment spaces. - Second lounge is the perfect spot to unwind, featuring a cosy gas fireplace and large picture windows
(total 2040sqm more or less, including driveway).
- Perfect for first-home buyers, investors, or renovators looking to bring their vision to life.
Home Sunday 1.00 - 1.30pm
Graham
Paulette
Residential Listings
Contact Eilish, Amy or Taylor
Contact Eilish, Amy or Taylor
Contact Eilish, Amy or Taylor
Contact Rachael
Contact Eilish, Amy or Taylor
Sold by Paulette
Contact Graham
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at 1pm 20/02/25 at 1pm 27/02/25
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with Jan Bilton
Sweet on corn
Did you know? The average ear (cob) of sweetcorn has 800 kernels arranged in 16 rows.
Biologists believe that sweetcorn evolved from a wild grain called ‚teosinte’ that still grows in the Mexican Highlands. But it took thousands of years before the teosinte evolved from a grassy plant into the first corn cobs.
And when Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba in 1492, he reported that his men had discovered ‘a sort of grain called maiz’. This was the first time Europeans had heard of the plant we call corn.
Corn is a starchy vegetable like potatoes, but its kernels are considered grains and can be milled into flour. But it’s also technically a fruit because it comes from the seed or flower of a plant, similar to tomatoes. And like many fruits, due to its sugar content, corn can be turned into syrup as well.
Fresh sweetcorn is versatile and popular family fare. Sunripened, fresh young corn is luscious, even when eaten raw. Corn in the husk can be cooked in water, baked, barbecued or microwaved. Covering the corn while cooking keeps it moist and flavourful.
Sweetcorn is ready to pick when the fine tassels or silk at the ends are brown.
Spiced sweetcorn salad
2 large corn cobs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon each: whole cumin seeds, fennel seeds
pinch ground cinnamon
1/2 red capsicum, seeded and diced
1/2 cup each: diced cucumber, roasted peanuts
1 red chilli, diced
2-3 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves and stems
1/4 cup lemon juice
To remove the kernels from the cob, strip off the husks, stand the corn on its straight end, then run a sharp knife down between the kernels and the core.
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan on medium-low. Add the spices and cook until the mustard seeds start to pop, about 30 seconds. Add the corn kernels and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the red capsicum and continue
cooking for another 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Add the cucumber, peanuts, chilli, coriander and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Serves 4 as a side dish.
Gluten-free corn fritters
1 large corn cob
3/4 cup chopped ham
2 spring onions, diced
1/2 small red capsicum, seeded and diced
4 tablespoons gluten-free self-raising flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
To remove the kernels from the cob, strip off the husks, stand the corn on its straight end, then run a sharp knife down between the kernels and the core.
Place the corn kernels, ham, spring onions, GF flour, egg and milk in a medium bowl. Stir well.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan on medium. Add 1/4 cup measures of the fritter mixture in batches and panfry for 2-3 minutes each side, until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Great served with fresh fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup. Makes 8 fritters.
Corn with chilli n’ herb butter
These can be roasted in the oven, cooked in the microwave or barbecued.
Chilli n’ Herb Butter: 125g butter, softened
1/4 cup each: coriander leaves, flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed pinch cayenne pepper, optional
Corn: 6 sweetcorn cobs with husks
Combine the butter, herbs, chilli, garlic and cayenne pepper.
Roll into a long log and wrap in plastic film. Freeze, until solid. Preheat the barbecue. Peel back the corn husks a little, remove the silk then close the husks back up. Place the cobs on a medium-heat barbecue for about 10 minutes, until sizzling. Turn often.
Remove from the grill. Carefully cut down the length of the husk with scissors or pull back and open out. Top with slices of the butter. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
Microwave corn cobs with basil butter
4 corn cobs with husks
Basil Butter: 50g butter, softened
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese freshly ground black pepper to taste
Discard any husks with imperfections.
To make the butter, beat all ingredients and spoon into a small ramekin.
To cook corn cobs in their husks place in the microwave oven and cook on high (100%) power for about 6 minutes. Serve with the butter. Serves 4.
Spiced sweetcorn salad
Gluten-free corn fritters
DE DENNE, Gloria Norma, (nee Beckett) – Peacefully slipped away at Waikato Public Hospital on Saturday, 8th February 2025. Aged 77 years. Dearly loved mother to Frank, Jo, Rachel, Christine, Victoria and grandmother to eight grandchildren. The service for Gloria has been held. All communications to the De Denne Family, c/3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 3434.
DE DENNE, Gloria Norma (Beckett) – Much loved mum and mother-in-law of Jo and John. Treasured grandma of Devon. Remembered with love. The best things in the world cannot be touched, they are felt with the heart. It takes a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye. Gone but never forgotten.
DUNN, Carolyn Margaret – Passed away peacefully at Waikato Public Hospital on Thursday, 6th February 2025. Aged 86 years. Dearly loved wife of Jim for 68 amazing years. Much loved mother and mother-in-law to Greg & Vivienne, and the late Eric. Much loved nana of Charlotte and Cameron. At Carol's request a private farewell has taken place. All communications to the Dunn Family, c/- 3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 3434.
FUNNELL, Judith –
Slipped away peacefully at Cambridge Life on Sunday, 9th February 2025. Aged 83 years. Loved mother of Leanne, and Kim. Loved grandmother and greatgrandmother. Special thanks to the staff at Cambridge life for the love and care shown to Judy in her final days. At Judy's request a private farewell has taken place. All communications the Funnell Family, c/- 3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 3434.
GORDON, Grant Stephen – Unexpectedly passed away at home on Thursday, 6th February 2025, aged 44 years. Adored husband of Liz, cherished father to Kacie and Charlee. Loved son of Alan & Mary and son-in-law of Colin & Merilyn. Brother of James & Rochelle, Linda & Kerry and Wayne & Liz. Fun loving uncle of 11. “All round good guy” A celebration of Grant’s life will be held at the Hamilton Park Chapel, Morrinsville Road, Hamilton on Thursday 13th February at 11.00am. In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to the Heart Foundation and may be left at the service. All communications to the Gordon Family, c/- 3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 3434.
Family Notices
Seventh-Day Adven�st Church Cr. Shakespeare & Browning Streets Bible Study Each Saturday: 9.30am – 10.45am
Worship Service: 11.00am
Like us on Facebook: h�ps://www.facebook.com/cambridge.sda.9 email: cambridge.sda.nz@gmail.com
Phone: 027 677 6433
Hope Channel – Freeview Ch 27, Sky 204
We offer detailed study of the Bible and inspiring worship experiences. All Welcome.
Silage
38 & 40 Maungakawa Road, Cambridge, 2500sqm sections. 2 x flat, regular shape sections in a highly desirable location, only 4km from town, flat, level sections, fully fenced. No building covenants. North facing. Title issued. We will do the earthworks for your house floor for free, excludes supply and delivery of product. Enquiries over $699,000 per section. GV $810k. Ph 0274 736 882
Cambridge Miniature Rifle Club Inc Notice of AGM
3 March, 7:00pm
Pope Tce Club Rooms Agenda: Welcome Apologies Minutes of previous AGM Matters arising Correspondence
Financial Report
President’s Report Election of Officers
Vote to amend constitution
Vote to change name
General Business
THE WONDERFUL lady who helped a distressed women to find her car (Suzuki Swift) outside Vege Fresh Tuesday or Wednesday last week, please phone Bill 0273043879
QUALIFIED builder – for all your building and painting needs call the professionals. Call Ross 021 079 4514
and
Contact Mike
NOTIFICATION OF INTENTION TO CONSIDER TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES
*Please note this is an amendment to the public notice printed on 06/02/25.
Waipa District Council will consider an application to close the following roads to ordinary vehicular traffic on Friday, 25 April 2025 from 11am to 6pm, to enable organisers to hold the Cambridge Cycling Festival:
• Alpha Street – between Bryce Street and Victoria Street
• Dick Street – between Queen Street and Duke Street
• Duke Street – between Hallys Lane and Commerce Street
• Victoria and Alpha Street exits from Hallys Lane
• Victoria Street – between Queen Street and Commerce Street
• Lake Street – between Kirkwood Street and Victoria Street
• Alpha Street – between Victoria Street and Empire Street
The application will be considered under the Tenth Schedule of the Local Government Act 1974.
Emergency Services will have complete right of way at all times during closure.
Any objections to the proposal must be lodged with Waipa District Council, in writing to events@waipadc.govt.nz, before 4.00pm on Friday, 28 February 2025. Please include the nature of the objection and the grounds for it. See the Privacy Statement on the Council’s website for further information.
For more information, please contact Waipa District Council on 0800 924 723.
Steph O’Sullivan CHIEF EXECUTIVE
School Nurse
Te Awamutu College recognises that students who are healthy are ready to learn and participate fully in school.
Te Awamutu College has a Registered Nurse on site in its Health Centre 8.30am-3.30pm daily, 32.5 hours per week, term time only
We are seeking the services of a Registered Nurse who can work Monday to Friday during school term time.
The Nurse we are looking for will have:
• A current Annual Practising Certificate
• A current workplace First Aid Certificate (min Level 2)
• Practice Nurse experience or Primary Health care experience
• The skills and passion appropriate for health care and health & wellbeing promotion
• Self-confidence and ability to work both as a team player and independently
• A willingness to undertake further Professional Development relevant to the role
This position is subject to Police Vetting.
A Job Description is available and must be requested prior to application.
Please send your CV with a cover letter to: The Principal Te Awamutu College PO Box 369 Te Awamutu 3840 or email: info@tac.school.nz Applications close Monday 24 February 2025.
week prior to your garage sale day. Payment due Tuesday prior to garage sale day. Cambridge News is published on Thursdays.
