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Richmond
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Hope
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Brightwater
Every Wednesday
Mural completed for the kids Page 21
Wakefield
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Murchison
Wednesday 13 April 2011
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NEW Showhome Opening
Introduction to summer sports Page 22
Liftout Page 15 - 18
Church hits back at Weekly The Holy Trinity Church has hit back at Waimea Weekly, after it reported the church lied in last week’s issue. But the church has been caught out by its own written statements. The church felt aggrieved by the article about the felled 100 yearold oak tree, stating in a letter that the tree was not cut down because it was rotten and “any suggestions to the contrary are misinformed”. Waimea Weekly last week wrote that a report, commissioned by Tasman District Council, showed the tree was healthy and not a safety risk due to rot, despite the church saying that was one of the reasons it was cut down. Since the church felled the tree in early March there has been a public outcry. After last week’s article, several members of the parish and other community members phoned Waimea Weekly, thanking it for bringing the issue to light. Clearly the iconic tree meant a lot to the wider community. The letter by Rev. David Hollingworth to Waimea Weekly states: “The decision by the parish authorities to fell the oak tree at Holy Trinity Church, Richmond, was made in 2009. The sole reason for the tree to
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be felled was the location of the proposed community centre” and “the church has never stated that the reason for felling the tree was because it was rotten.” However a press release sent to Waimea Weekly in March and signed by David said: “The expert who felled the tree for us offered his opinion that the tree was a major safety risk as there was rot in the main trunk.” The “expert” was a West Coast bushman, according to a local arborist, called in to cut the tree after qualified arborists refused to do the job because in their opinion the tree was healthy and should stay. The church says it did not lie because it was not aware of a report commissioned into the health of the tree, until it was too late and “the die had been cast for the felling of the tree”. Although the church admitted it saw the report in February, before the tree was felled. The report, written by an arborist, confirmed the tree was healthy and “was not a safety risk”. “The felling of the oak is a loss, but we need to keep our eyes on our vision for the future; of the light literal and metaphorical we wish to shed, and of the service we wish to offer,” wrote David. Editorial on page 3.
Going up in smoke
TRIAL RUN: Appleby rural fire fighters Tom Jackman and Spike O’Donoghue prepare to do battle with this deliberately lit house fire on Sunday morning. The house, on Waimea West Rd, was believed to be around 100 years-old and was set on fire by local rural fire fighters so they could train and new fire fighters could gain experience. Brightwater Rural Fire Force Controller Mark Donaldson says he has received positive feedback from all those who attended. The house was donated for this training purpose and had remained untenanted since 2002. Photo: Teresa Hattan.
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