CATCHING UP: Asbestos removal under way at council flats

Re-roofing is well under way on 10 Greerton pensioner flats threatened by asbestos dust.
The discovery of the less harmful white variety of asbestos inside Fay Dooley's Pooles Rd flat led to the council taking urgent action to eliminate the problem.
Builders moved in last week and have already re-roofed the block occupied by Mrs Dooley and her neighbour Pat McQueen.
Mrs Dooley has not accepted the council's offer of a health check to see whether she has contracted asbestosis - the lung disease caused by the inhalation of the potentially fatal fibres.
She and the other 10 residents are staying in a Tauranga motel until work on the flats have finished.
Mrs Dooley said they were receiving two free meals a day and she was very happy with the way the council was treating them. They have not been told when they will be returning home. Minor alternations are also being carried out to the flats.
John Cousins
Tsunami houses
Offers from Tauranga people to help rebuild houses destroyed by Asia's tsunami have been warmly received by the international charity organisation Habitat for Humanity.
Jim and Ann Dowman, who head the Tauranga branch of Habitat, recently travelled to the organisation's world headquarters in the United States while on a family trip to see what plans were in place to rebuild homes in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.
Mr Dowman said about eight locals had already expressed interest in travelling to the affected region to help and the offer of assistance was greatly appreciated.
'That number will make up a couple of good teams so we're really just waiting to hear where exactly we'll be needed," he said.
While in the United States, the Dowmans were told a Habitat representative was currently writing a full report on where the greatest need was. "They're also finding out where they can get materials to because that'll be a big thing - getting access."
Once that report had been completed, the call for volunteers would go out world-wide.
Mr Dowman said the plan was to build basic one-room shelters at first and later expand them into proper homes.
Jo-Marie Brown
Lollipop call
Bill Holmes wants the existing pedestrian traffic light crossing outside Tauranga Primary School to have a "lollipop" road patrol system also after his son was clipped by a passing car.
His call comes after a Bay of Plenty Times report that Brookfield Primary School wanted to have road patrols scrapped in favour of traffic lights.
The Otumoetai Rd/Bellevue Rd intersection was becoming increasingly busy and principal Anton Prinsloo wanted traffic light signals for his students.
But Mr Holmes' 10-year-old son Brandon was clipped by the wing mirror of a car travelling on the inside lane of Cameron Rd, while there were three cars stopped in the outer lane.
Brandon crossed with two other adults and other children but was a step ahead of them, so was the only person hit. He was not injured.
Mr Holmes urged drivers to be more aware around pedestrian crossings.
And he wanted a change for the crossing for Tauranga Primary students.
Anna Bowden
120 new retail jobs
A major DIY and home-improvement retailer is hiring 120 staff for its new store in Tauranga.
The Bob Clarkson-built Bunnings Warehouse, which sells to the public and the trade, is nearing completion in Jean Batten Drive near the airport and is expected to open around the end of next month.
Bunnings general manager Brad Cranston said the management team had been appointed and most of the staff would be full-timers.
The Bunnings-owned Benchmark Building Supplies in Mirrielees Rd will close when the new $12 million store is operating, and the 20-strong Benchmark team will move across.
The 12,500 sqm store includes 2500 sqm for a garden centre and is the ninth Bunnings Warehouse to open in the country. Tauranga follows the new Rotorua store, which opens on April 13.
Bunnings is a leading Australian chain that is taking an aggressive approach to New Zealand. It wants to open 20 stores within four years.
The Tauranga opening was dependent on the installation of traffic lights at the busy intersection of Jean Batten Drive and Hewletts Rd. They will be in place by the end of the month.
There will be a dedicated right-turning lane and a straight-through left lane coming out of Jean Batten Drive on to Hewletts Rd.
A new link road between Aerodrome Rd and Jean Batten Drive has been completed and the contractors are putting the final asphalt on the roundabout heading for the airport terminal.
Graham Skellern
A $20,000 success
A day of relaxation on Tauranga Harbour has produced great results for a major Bay community service.
Tauranga organisation Drug Arm - a drug and alcohol support service - will receive a new van after the Port of Tauranga 2005 Charity Regatta fundraised more than $20,000 this week.
Regatta coordinator Barry Ward said the event, which saw corporate employees pay a per-head fee for lunch, dinner and an afternoon of sailing, was an "absolute success".
He said the 8th annual regatta, which nominated Drug Arm as its lead charity on Tuesday, attracted a record 179 sailing enthusiasts.
"The day went really well and the weather also managed to hold out for us."
Mr Ward said the regatta, which also attracted 260 people for lunch and 230 for dinner, was everything organisers could have hoped for.
"An excellent day was had by all," he said.
Mr Ward said most of the cash was set aside to buy the van, but some cash was left over for charities supported by the Tauranga Te Papa Rotary Club and the Tauranga Yacht Club.
Yvette Wakelin
X-rays speed searches
A multi-million dollar x-ray unit has been busy at the Port of Tauranga since arriving last month.
The $3.8 million container inspection unit is one of only three in New Zealand.
The mobile Mercedes unit - which looks like a high-tech spacecraft - rolled into Tauranga on February 16. The other two Paris-made units are in Auckland and Dunedin.
The inspections team has learnt how to interpret the detailed x-ray pictures and look for bombs, drugs and illegal items.
On Wednesday this week 20 containers were inspected in one day - a job that would normally take days and even weeks.
The unit takes 20 seconds to scan a container for illegal items.
Examination team leader Steve Wineti said nothing "dodgy" been discovered.
A variety of import and export containers had been x-rayed. Customs officers control a fold-out arm that passes over a container on the back of a truck. The image appears on a computer.
Staff then use the container's paperwork to ensure the contents match what appears on the screen. They are also trained to identify drugs and bombs.
Kristin Edge
75 per cent plunge in jobless
The number of unemployment beneficiaries in the Western Bay has dropped by over 75 per cent in the last five years.
This compares with a 60 per cent drop over the entire Bay of Plenty and South Waikato.
The Work and Income regional commissioner for the Bay of Plenty, Carl Crafar, ascribed the greater Western Bay decline to a booming economy and more diverse range of employment opportunities.
He was disappointed this was not reflected in wages.
"The average wage in the Western Bay is lower than Rotorua and I find that hard to believe."
Figures for the wider Bay of Plenty released by Waiariki MP Mita Ririnui show 5597 people received the benefit at the end of last year - compared with 14,795 at the end of 1999.
These statistics emerge while New Zealand sits on the lowest unemployment rate in the developed world - 3.6 per cent - with the Western Bay slightly higher on 4.2 per cent.
The number of people working in the region rose from 106,300 in December 1999, to 109,800 at the end of last year.
Mr Ririnui said this was great news for Maori, who were continuing to gain employment.
"Overall there are now 40,000 more Maori in jobs since 1999; that's a fantastic achievement and we should all be proud of it."
He said the falling Maori unemployment rate was having an effect on overall beneficiary numbers.
Rachel Tiffen