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Headliners

What made news in our region...

A masterplan for Māpua

Māpua’s future will be more streamlined with the creation of a masterplan for the town. The masterplan combines five separate plans for Māpua, consolidating both the work of council staff and community and iwi consultation. “It’s about pulling together all of these projects,” says TDC project manager of environmental policy Anna McKenzie. “The idea is that we effectively coordinate this, and decision-making is cohesive for Māpua.” A steering committee will oversee the development of the masterplan which will include extensive community consultation and recommending a final plan for adoption by council.

Service animals remembered

A new memorial dedicated to the animals who were lost in battle was unveiled at Marsden Valley Cemetery last month on Purple Poppy Day. The annual day acknowledges the animals that served alongside our men and women, during times of war. During World War I alone, 16 million animals, including horses, pigeons, cats and dogs, were deployed with eight million perishing in the conflict. Nelson RSA’s Brian Ramsey says, “we want this project to be able to go on through the generations to acknowledge the animals.”

Haere mai Nelson

Two new bilingual signs now welcome travellers to Nelson. The new signs, reading ‘Welcome to Nelson –Haere mai ki Whakatū’ have replaced the older signs which only included the Māori welcome. The change was requested by Mayor Nick Smith following his election last year. “I was concerned that as a tourist destination with very few international or national visitors being proficient in te reo Māori, the welcome signs needed to be in both official languages of New Zealand,” he says.

Raymond makes Rough Island home

‘Raymond’ the stingray is still very much at home in the estuary next to Rough Island. Sightings of the stingray were first reported to Tasman District Council in January after he entered the water reservoir in the Rough Island area. He was spotted recently still swimming around his Rough Island pond. The Department of Conservation and TDC continue to monitor the situation with a view to helping him relocate back to open water, however, for now there are no immediate concerns for Raymond’s welfare, infact, he appears to love his new home.

The race to retirement

The baby boomer generation and out-of-towners are beginning to put pressure on the region’s retirement villages and Nelsonians are being warned they need to get their name on a waiting list. With Nelson being a popular place to retire it is becoming increasingly important to plan in advance for those wanting to live in a village as they age. Ernest Rutherford Retirement Village has a two-year wait for some of its accommodation, while some of the designs at Nelson’s Coastal View Lifestyle Village have a waiting time of a few years.

Our Treasure Island super fan

Nelson has one of our own to support on screen in TVNZ’s Treasure Island: Fans vs Faves. Nelson super fan Dave Ward, aka Wardie, says he was in tears when he got the call to say he would be one of the 16 contestants competing in Fiji for the hit show. After watching Survivor for years and applying several times to be on it, getting the news was a dream come true for the Nelson dad of two. With filming now finished, Wardie is back in Nelson, although must remain tightlipped about what the outcome of the show is, as it is streaming now.

Things we love

The once under-utilised Branford Park in Nelson is being revitalised with the instalment of a new 18-basket disc golf course. The course is taking shape through the park and will add to Nelson’s collection of top disc golfing locations. Exciting times ahead for the sport that is growing in popularity in the Nelson Tasman region.

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