More than 70 percent of insurance claims for cyclone-damaged homes here have been resolved, latest data from the Insurance Council of New Zealand shows. A total of 991 homes were subject to a residential dwelling claim here at an estimated damage...
Everyone was going to die soon anyway so he could do what he wanted. That’s what a man said when he invaded a woman’s home and sexually attacked her the night before the Covid-19 lockdown started in 2020. The woman’s grandchild was asleep in...
The new National-led Government has scrapped the need for mandatory speed management plans that would have lowered state highway speeds on both SH2 and SH35. Changes made this week remove mandatory requirements for road controlling authorities to...
The Nest Collective is once again running their Giving Trees campaign to help support whānau with babies and tamariki during the Christmas period and into the New Year. The Nest Collective Gisborne, which was launched in 2021, provides baby packs...
Today marks Gisborne resident Lucy Berry’s 104th birthday. Born in 1919 in Rotorua, she went school at Wairoa, before working for Sir Andrew and Lady Russell in the central North Island as a housemaid. She was first married in 1940 aged 20. She...
The Tiniroto community, beset by road closures, has banded together to raise funds for a 4WD minibus. Helping them on their way is a grant from Trade Me Property Community Grants. Tiniroto faced severe repercussions from both Cyclone Gabrielle and...
by Jack Donnelly and Wynsley Wrigley Don Clouston Hay has “crossed the bar” — the naval term for a sailor who has passed and crossed over the harbour sandbar and out into the boundless deep ocean. His pilot is God. He was 90. Don was a man of...
Waihau Beach Road is open again to the public after a significant landslide took out five metres of the road in June. An engineer’s report received last week has given the rebuilt section of the road the seal of approval, reconnecting the small...
Minister of Rural Communities Mark Patterson has met with the local farming sector and Gisborne District Council to assess cyclone recovery. “It is important to get my head around the scale of the events and to be an advocate at the Government...
Amid the ongoing recovery from cyclone devastation in their community, Te Karaka Area School students have achieved 100 percent pass rates in NCEA levels 1 and 2. The school is expecting to get a 100 percent pass rate in Level 3 as well but are...
Gisborne-East Coast growers and farmers are crying out for a decent spell of dry weather, Federated Farmers says. On the back of two challenging years, Gisborne/Wairoa arable farmers have been under pressure again as regular spring rain has...
A North Island saloon car title, an overall team victory in superstocks and a fighting third in stockcar teams competition made the weekend memorable for Gisborne Speedway Club. In Stratford, saloon racer Daniel Cook (77G) racked up his fourth North...
Long-time Poverty Bay-East Coast and now Tairāwhiti men’s golf team manager Dave Keown has enjoyed plenty of highlights over the years. Last Friday at the national interprovincial tournament on the Paraparaumu Beach course was near the top of...
Rising cricket talent is on show in Gisborne this week at the Northern Districts Emerging Rangatahi (under-19) tournament on the Harry Barker Reserve pitches. Eight teams are competing in three rounds of 50-over and four rounds of twenty20 games —...
Old Boys Rugby and High School Old Boys will contest Poverty Bay cricket’s Doleman Cup final. The Nick Greeks-led Coastal Concrete OBR team booked their place in the first Premier Grade club cricket showpiece of the season with a 143-run win...
Faced with increasing resistance to its plans from Māori, the Government will soon find itself fighting on another front with the trade unions. As the second week of its first 100 day programme starts in Parliament, the Government has two key parts...
Clive Bibby My wife and I were privileged to be part of a function that demonstrated why we as a nation need to focus on the things we have in common, rather than the things that drive us apart. Why do we have to put up with a constant barrage of...
As the COP28 UN climate summit nears its end, world governments are still far apart on the central question of whether to phase out fossil fuels. The next few days could be the world’s last chance to keep global heating within safe limits. COP28...
Re: Signs should be te reo first, December 9. Dear Lara, I deeply resent you calling me a monolingual moron by implication in your latest offering. I passed School Certificate French in 1953. My wish for you, for 2024, is to try to be a bit nicer...
Re: te reo place names. I mentioned to my daughter that I had trouble knowing the government agencies because of their Māori names. She replied, “Yes Mum, but the next generation will take them for granted.” Wise words. Heather van Wyk
Relay for Life is back in 2024. After three years of delays and interruptions caused by Covid-19 and flooding, the fun community event and Cancer Society fundaiser is back. The 24-hour event (midday to midday) will be at the A&P Showgrounds, on...
Important work guiding transport planning in Tairāwhiti is gearing up for public consultation at the end of summer. Every six years, Gisborne District Council produces a Regional Land Transport Plan which details the region’s priorities and...
Sunday saw an early start for the Trust Tairāwhiti Rescue Helicopter, whose final mission of the week was a 2.30am call-out to a trauma at Ruatoria. The patient was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital. The team completed four other...
Following the success of The Evergreen Foundation’s recent Hort Day in Hawke’s Bay, the event is being held today at the Four Seasons Packhouse in Gisborne in partnership with Trust Tairāwhiti. Hort Day Gisborne is bringing together about 65...
Rats came through the bathroom wall, rain leaked through the dining room ceiling and there was a large hole in the laundry ceiling where a builder’s apprentice fell through while re-roofing. The house a Wairoa family had been renting since 2012...
Ruatorea residents will this week have a chance to find out more about new social housing coming to the town. Homes built in Gisborne are to be placed on properties at 9 Amiria Avenue, 7 Holland Place, 10 Holland Place and 25 Barry Avenue...
Napier National MP Katie Nimon paid special tribute to Wairoa during her maiden speech in Parliament, calling the community “the heart of the Napier electorate” with “endless potential”. The Napier electorate includes Wairoa, Lake...
by James Pocock Wairoa District Council is about to commission an independent investigation as part of an effort to explain what the town’s mayor believes was unusual flooding linked to wood debris during Cyclone Gabrielle. Residents of Wairoa are...
Sunday’s inaugural Grey Street Christmas Festival was an “awesome success”, organisers say. Grey Street was closed to traffic between Childers Road and the skatepark for the event, which was organised by Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust (TAT)...
A trial of major road layout changes for Grey and Kahutia streets will press on next month following the conclusion of a series of public information roadshows. After a full week of public presentations about the project, Tairawhiti Adventure Trust...
A 62-year-old Glasgow-born Partick Thistle supporter is Gisborne Thistle’s new coach. But while Tam Cramer has yet to come to grips with the playing strength at Gisborne’s oldest surviving football club, he is no stranger to the city. His wife...
The ram sale season in the district ended on a strong note yesterday at the Matawhero saleyards when Te Ruanui Polled Dorsets racked up a new stud record price. Craig and Yvonne Brownlie from the Waerenga-o-Kuri property put up 80 Polled Dorsets and...
Christimas is just around the corner and at this time of year Focus on the Land likes to give books away. Up for grabs is ‘Secret Gardens of Aotearoa’, written by Jane Mahoney and Sophie Bannan. It explores a dozen “intriguing and unique”...
Beef + Lamb New Zealand will open an office in Gisborne next week. The premises, on the fifth floor of 74 Grey Street, will be officially opened and blessed on Wednesday next week from 1pm till 3pm. Invitations have gone out for the event. It will...