Natalie Wineti and her husband Laurence Wineti. Photo / Mead Norton
Natalie Wineti and her husband Laurence Wineti. Photo / Mead Norton
The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2022. Here’s what made headlines in December:
December 2:
Rotorua’s motel sector warned the Rotorua Lakes Council more than four years ago that the city’s housing crisis would spiral and Fenton St would resemble “squatters’ accommodation” if it didn’t put tighter controls on private holiday rentals.
One Rotorua motelier believes the influx of homeless needing emergency housing motels is directly linked to the rapid growth of private holiday rentals, leaving a massive gap in Rotorua’s rental market.
The council said all options to improve housing availability needed to be looked at, including private holiday rentals, but they were not a “silver bullet”.
And Rotorua’s biggest supplier of holiday rental accommodation, Airbnb, said most of its hosts were just trying to combat rising living costs, and that the company’s efforts to make travelling more affordable could benefit local businesses.
Rotorua's motel sector warned four years the housing crisis would spiral as more rental homes were turned into Airbnb holiday accommodation. Photos /123RF / Andrew Warner
December 6:
Tears, hugs, smiles and receiving “the best Christmas present ever”.
Cystic fibrosis sufferers around the Bay of Plenty are celebrating after Pharmac announced on Sunday funding of the “miracle drug” Trikafta is proposed to start on April 1.
Cystic fibrosis is an ultimately terminal condition that produces thick and sticky mucus and which mainly affects a person’s lungs and digestive system. Trikafta treats its underlying cause, but at $330,000 per year, the drug was out of reach for many families as it had not been publicly funded in New Zealand.
Natalie Wineti and her husband Laurence Wineti. Photo / Mead Norton
December 8:
General practices could collapse under “relentless” pressure, Bay of Plenty GPs say.
The comments come as an association representing about 400 general practices launches a nationwide campaign to “save your family doctor service”.
General Practice Owners Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (GenPro) launched a #saveyourfamilydoctorservice campaign last month.
The campaign comes after the publication of Te Whatu Ora’s annual New Zealand Health survey results revealed 11.7 per cent of adults in New Zealand or an estimated 478,000 people reported not seeing their GP due to wait times in the past 12 months.
A lack of GP availability is a big part of the reason, health experts say. Photo / Matthew Kay
December 7:
A Rotorua dairy owner has described how he and his father fought back with a hockey stick and a cricket bat against an alleged would-be robber who entered the store armed with a hammer in broad daylight.
It’s the second time this year the hockey stick has come out in an effort to defend one of Harshminder Singh’s businesses in the city.
Harshminder owns the Kawaha Point Dairy and adjoining Liquor Centre on Chapman Place. Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post after Tuesday’s incident, he said he had been standing at the dairy counter when a man walked in at about 2pm.
Kawaha Point Dairy and Liquor Centre owner Harshminder Singh shows the injuries he recieved from an alleged robber. Photo / Laura Smith
December 15:
A report revealing the emergency housing system breaches human rights has prompted a National MP to describe the Government as Rotorua’s “worst slumlord”.
A Human Rights Commission review into the country’s emergency housing, released Tuesday, found the system did not seem to adequately respond to the issue and breached the right to a decent home three times, including “serious and ongoing” breaches relating to a lack of accountability.
It has sparked a strong reaction from Rotorua’s National MP Todd McClay, who said in his view the Government was the city’s “worst slumlord”.
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell said the report reiterated her concerns and that of the community. “It is distressing to hear just how common these breaches have been for those who are most vulnerable.”
The purpose of the report, Homelessness and human rights, was to give people impacted by emergency housing an opportunity to have their voice and experiences heard, and, secondly, to outline the human rights of an emergency housing system and what it needed to look like to meet basic human rights standards. An assessment was then made as to whether the current system met those.
The Human Rights Commission has released a damning review of the emergency housing system. Photo / NZME
December 19:
A Rotorua father-of-three sold his beloved drift car and gave up being self-employed so he and his wife could buy their first home.
The young family share their story of success as cautious home buyers play a “big waiting game”, experts say, while property prices continue to fall.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s latest data shows Rotorua’s median house price dropped 9.6 per cent - or $60,000 - to $685,000 in November. Annually, it rose 0.7 per cent - or $5000 - from $680,000 in November 2021. A total of 67 properties sold in Rotorua last month compared to 88 in November 2021.
James and Annie Offord moved to Rotorua from Palmerston North in August 2021.
“Our goal was to rent for a couple of months and then look to buy.”
James and Annie Offord with their children Silvia, 4, Melody, 5, and baby Niko. Photo / Supplied
December 20:
Rotorua’s new police boss says he wants police to focus on community safety, being visible and keeping in touch with locals.
Inspector Herby Ngawhika is Rotorua-born and bred, a hearty and humble Te Arawa leader, loves his rugby, and is said to already have the respect of local staff - attributes which local leaders say make him the perfect choice to lead Rotorua while it faces social challenges.
Ngawhika is the new Rotorua Police Area Commander, and was officially handed over to the role with a Pōhiri at Rotowhio Marae at Te Puia yesterday.
“I’m not going to be making big statements about how we’ll do this and that. I will give a commitment though, that our staff will be working as hard as we can,” Ngawhika told those at his celebration.
Rotorua police area commander Inspector Herby Ngawhika. Photo / Andrew Warner
December 22:
A Rotorua family has been forced to leave their home just four days before Christmas after it flooded for the second time this year.
Pukehangi resident Rebecca Brake and her family had just moved back into their house on Hoyte Place two weeks ago after a flood in May made the building unlivable.
“Everyone’s pretty miserable. It’s black water so anything that it’s touched has to go or be replaced,” Brake told the Rotorua Daily Post on Wednesday, the day after heavy rain caused flash flooding across the city.
“We’ve been told to find accommodation for another two months. All the carpets and all the flooring need to be pulled up again. And since it’s Christmas there’s not a lot of people around who can do the job.”
The Brakes bought the home in April. A month later, floodwaters swept through the house, leaving behind sodden floors, walls, ceilings and belongings.
The damage took seven months to repair, with Brake and her family having to find alternative accommodation.
“We just moved back in two weeks ago. It had a couple of finishing touches to go.”
Pukehangi resident Rebecca Brake inspects the damage in her garage the day after it flooded. Photo / Ben Fraser
December 23:
It was one of Rotorua’s most devastating Covid-19 casualties, but now there is renewed hope for the city’s “iconic” Rainbow Springs after a local iwi collective struck a deal to take over the closed site.
Ngāti Whakaue announced yesterday the collective was buying the land from Ngāi Tahu Holdings, which closed the 90-year-old tourism business seven months ago.
News of the deal has been greeted with happiness and excitement from Rotorua leaders and locals, with Ngāti Whakaue kaumātua Monty Morrison saying it was a time to “rejoice”.
Rainbow Springs Nature Park opened as a tourism experience in 1931, and Ngāi Tahu had owned it since 2004. With the borders closed and overseas tourists shut out due to the pandemic, it put the business into hibernation in April 2020.
Ngāti Whakaue have purchased the Rainbow Springs whenua, and its assets are to be transferred. Photo / Andrew Warner
December 26:
Fabian Takerei-White “could have been the biggest star in the sky”.
But in the early hours of December 21, the 18-year-old’s light was extinguished in a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 33 just outside of Paengaroa.
He leaves behind his mother, father and five brothers and sisters.
Fabian’s uncle Jared Williams, 29, was present when police knocked on his sister’s door to notify her of Fabian’s death.
Williams wanted the world to remember his nephew as “kind-hearted” and “a bright star”.
“I just want them to know how much of a life he had,” Williams, fighting tears, told the Rotorua Daily Post.
“He was the kind of guy who would take the shirt off his own back to give to you. He just wanted love and to give love.”
Fabian Takerei-White, 18, tragically lost his life in a crash on SH33 on December 21. Photo / Supplied
December 31:
It was a “wow” moment for Rotorua’s Trevor Maxwell when he picked up the phone to be told his services to Māori and local government were being recognised in the New Year Honours - again.
He thought they had the wrong number: “Are you sure?”
Very pleased and very proud, the news was bittersweet, as his one regret was he could not share it with his late wife this time around.
Maxwell is one of four Rotorua people to be acknowledged in the New Year Honours including former coroner Wally Bain, Rotorua Boys’ High School principal Chris Grinter and retired GP Dr John Armstrong, who have all been made members of the New Zealand Order of Merit. There are 14 honourees in the Bay of Plenty region.
Maxwell has been made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori and local government.
Trevor Horowaewae Maxwell was appointed Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002. Photo / Laura Smith
