Waimea Weekly
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Wednesday 27 July 2016
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McGlashen Page 8 Grandmother wants custody of grandson - CYF apologises for failure Page 4
A Stoke grandmother is relieved her young grandson has been taken away from the boys’ mother and says “we are not sending him back to that crap” following serious concerns for the boys’ safety and well-being. The grandmother approached the Waimea Weekly last Wednesday desperate to get her nine-year-
old grandson away from the boy’s mother and her partner who had been living in a “disgusting” faeces-ridden flat in Richmond. The grandmother, who does not wish to be named, says she has been worried about her grandson’s well-being for some time and had contacted Child Youth and Family (CYF) about the
situation. Although she says the Richmond flat was disgusting, with rubbish, human faeces and drug paraphernalia throughout the house, she claims CYF failed to do anything to help. But this week the grandmother’s family took the initiative when they went to her grandson’s new home in Nelson and removed the
boy. She says they have contacted their lawyer and are hoping to obtain a court order to gain permanent custody of the boy. “The grandfather went around to see my grandson at this new place which CYF says is okay but that has nine people squashed in,” she says. “My grandson was really upset and she [the mother]
Helicopter’s leading lady recognised Simon Bloomberg Eighty-eight Valley’s Robyn Reid will be the latest person inducted into Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame, recognising achievements in a wide range of business sectors including over 30 years in the aviation industry. Robyn has been in the headlines in the last few years after she and her husband Bill completed a 10-year-long restoration of a classic 1936 Avro Anson Mk1 warplane in Nelson. But Robyn’s career in aviation started long before that and ultimately led to key roles in a wide range of business and community groups. Robyn started her involvement in aviation after meeting a young helicopter pilot named Bill Reid in Nelson in 1979. The couple
Wakefield’s Robyn Reid is being inducted into the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. Photo: Simon Bloomberg. married after a “whirlwind romance” and started Nelson Helicopters which led to Robyn playing a part in developing safety regulations for the industry. “We started our business in deer recovery but we could see that deer prices were going to crash
and we needed to get into commercial work. Deer recovery was a pioneering industry and of course with any pioneering industry the stakes were high. Consequently there were many helicopter accidents in those days.
“Bill had been flying for his father’s company prior to us starting our own business and he always had a really good approach to safety. I think that helped us implement good safety procedures for our business too and that led to my involvement with
was bawling with a bleeding nose and she begged the grandfather to take the boy because he was so upset. “So we have got him and we are not giving him back. CYF have gone down there [to the mother’s new rental] and had a look and
SEE PAGE 2 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Aviation Industry Association trying to up the game for the whole industry.” Robyn was appointed to the CAA’s manual development team in 1994 and a year later was awarded the inaugural Civil Aviation Directors Award for Safety for an individual. She has also been a member of the Civil Aviation Authority and the NZ Aviation Security Board, the chair of the CAA audit committee, Helicopter Division of Aviation Industry Association and Top of the South Aviation Cluster while interest in vintage aircraft led to her appointment as a trustee and director of Warbirds Over Wanaka Ltd. Robyn says she is “really proud” of winning the inaugural directors award for safety in an industry that demands extremely high standards. “It was for a commitment to improve safety in aviation which is an industry that demands excellence. Ninety-five per cent is not
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