Gisborne District Council road and utility crews are working their way through reconnecting communities, where they can. The council has asked for patience from rural road users. As of yesterday, 89 local roads were still closed, restricted or with...
The sound of rain has become a nightmare for many, says Whangara farmer and Federated Farmers national board member Toby Williams. “It’s hard not to cringe when you hear rain falling now and that’s for town or country people in the region.”...
Nedine Thatcher Swann, Gisborne District Council chief executive I am really disappointed The Gisborne Herald placed criticism of Civil Defence, Council and the Mayor on its front page during the State of Emergency. The timing and content of the...
Few weeks in local history can have started on as bleak a note as this one as our rain-drenched district struggles to return to even a fraction of normality. While the weekend rain was not quite as heavy as predicted, it was enough to make a bad...
Gwynne Dyer Russia was in a state of acute crisis up until late afternoon Moscow time on Saturday, with Yevgeny Prigozhin pulling his “Wagner” arm y of mercenary soldiers out of Ukraine and sending some of them racing up the highway towards...
When you have a panel of five making decisions that affect the community and one of the panel lives in Wellington and three others have a combined total of approx. eight years in our region, what would they know about the history of our district and...
Not too long ago wildfires weren’t really a topic of conversation around the dinner table but now those discussions are unavoidable. The thing about wildfires is that they wreak havoc in every which way and are very, very difficult to put out...
Turanga Health nurse Riaana Higgins is passionate about hapori whānau nursing and is studying to become a prescribing nurse in the community. After a year working in Oranga Hinengaro Māori Mental Health in Manawatu, the 28-year-old has returned...
A man sentenced this week for possessing 60 unlawfully taken crayfish was just a minor player in a much bigger black market racket discovered during a sting on poaching at Mahia Peninsula. Tei Nohotima, 50, was fined $1500 on Monday in Gisborne...
The Olympic Pool complex remains closed until tomorrow at this stage, with a further update expected in the morning. It has been closed for more than a week now due to water heating issues. “We are currently waiting on a part to fix the...
It’s that time of the year again when thousands of Kiwis head into their garden to count the birds they see and hear as part of the New Zealand Garden Bird survey, which started on Saturday. Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research (MWLR) social science...
Gisborne police have been investigating multiple reports over the past week of vehicles being stolen from residential addresses, along with the theft of valuables from unlocked vehicles. Acting Sergeant Rangi Kingi from Community Policing said in...
Cyclone Gabrielle’s impacts continue to be felt, with a new report listing Gisborne’s regional economy as the nation’s poorest. The latest ASB Regional Economic Scoreboard report which assesses 16 regional economies every quarter, puts...
Te Karaka fire chief Jamie Simpson has called on Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to do something about the road at Nisbett’s Dip which floods every time there’s a fresh in the Waipaoa River. “The flood-prone spot, four kilometres south of Te...
Civil Defence in Tokomaru Bay have expressed concern for around 40 families in surrounding areas who have been cut off over the weekend due to flooding and slips. Inland Tokomaru Bay has been slammed in the past week, with Gisborne District Council...
Rain-weary residents of the Gisborne-East Coast region may be wondering why ordinary winter rain turned into such a devastating event over the past week. While not as intense as the four-day Cyclone Bola disaster, the rain event over recent days was...
Girls’ High band Eleventh Hour’s exhilarating performance helped them secure first place in this year’s Smokefreerockquest Tairāwhiti regional final at the War Memorial Theatre on Saturday. The venue was almost at full capacity with parents...
The state of emergency was lifted in Tairāwhiti at midday on Sunday and while there have been no reports of homes flooded, in the words of Civil Defence the rain has left behind a “sodden and exhausted community”. There are concerns for...
Congratulations this week to Katrine Matthews and Carolyn McMurray for scoring 74.74 percent on Wednesday. Monday, June 19 — No Trumps Pairs 3 (Howell movement) John Rouse, Brent Turnbull 61.90 Carolyn McMurray, Frank Nieuwland 57.74 Patrici...
The final Saturday of Round 2 in the Poverty Bay Premier club rugby competition, which was called off due to the state of emergency announced on Friday, will not be played. That means the competition standings remain as they are and semifinals of...
Ngati Porou East Coast have Lochore Cup-winning brains back in 2023. With Hosea Gear as the Sky Blues’ first-ever director of rugby, world secondary school championship-winning coach Kim Harris returning as technical adviser and Kahu Tamatea going...
Newspapers are now frequently featuring articles regarding the desperate plight of our healthcare and hospital services due to understaffing and poor working conditions. Even now, however, neither politicians nor healthcare authorities will say if...
The state of emergency has been lifted in Tairāwhiti but widespread damage remains on a sodden and exhausted community. Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz lifted the state of emergency this afternoon, effective from 12 noon Sunday 25 June. Torrential...
Heavy rain overnight has created slips and sewage issues around the city and State Highway 2 north is closed due to severe cracking on Otoko Hill. Less rain fell than was forecast, however the sustained rainfall over the past three days has made the...
Gisborne residents are being asked to reduce water use as the wastewater system is at capacity for the city. Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Controller David Wilson says our pipes are overwhelmed with the volume of water and this has coincided with high...
To win the Lew Patterson Cup for three years in a row would be a tremendous achievement. But two-time defending champions of Civil Project Solutions Senior 1 rugby, Charteris Choppers Wairoa-Athletic, have a tough nut to crack first. No points were...
INDOOR BOWLS Poverty Bay-East Coast indoor bowlers continued their impressive run at the New Zealand Indoor Bowls Championships by winning the District Challenge in New Plymouth. Each district was represented by four bowlers and 22 districts started...
The New Zealand Surf Lifesaving Black Fins team have been named for the International Surf Rescue Challenge 2023 and five of them are from Gisborne clubs. The Challenge is being held in South Padre, Texas, from September 20 to 23. Among the...
While New Zealand rugby’s 12 Heartland Provincial Unions are highly competitive on the field, the strength of their bonds off it are as strong as ever following the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle earlier this year. The cyclone left thousands of...
Heavy rain continues to threaten a sodden Tairāwhiti and its rain-weary residents, although the risks from this latest severe weather look to have peaked on Thursday afternoon. Ongoing wet weather developed into a 24-hour deluge from Wednesday...
Clive Bibby A progress report on one of the region’s most needed projects and an online response by a former councillor attempting to discredit my own observations on necessary land-use changes are currently masquerading as fair comment about...
It has been known for a long time that vulnerable land in Tairāwhiti is unsuitable for harvested tree crops and livestock. These soils are too fragile, catchments are steep, streams are short and fast-flowing in rain, dead and dying wetlands still...
In virtually all myths, there’s a reluctant hero who, when faced with a life or death challenge, goes in search of a saviour, only to find in the end that he is the one — that the force to overcome the challenge is within himself, and that he...
Two men accused of breaking into and stealing building materials from a shipping container at a De Lautour Road property, have appeared in court. AJ Breland Garrett Pohatu and Rex Tyronne Waite, 37, each face two counts of burglary, to which they...