Lynne Ogilvie retired from her job working at KFC for 43 years this week. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2022. Here’s what made headlines in June:
June 1:
One month after buying their new house, one Rotorua family was searching for a place to live after floodwaters swept through their home.
Another resident described the “frightening” moment they found their home was flooded during a deluge.
Rotorua suffered heavy rainfall over 12 hours on Monday, May 30, with a significant amount falling in a short window of time.
Rivers and streams rose quickly and streets became flooded, causing havoc during the busy school pick-up time.
But not all residents were able to seek shelter indoors as they found their homes inundated by floodwater.
June 9:
A brand new $2 million backpackers lodge was being planned for central Rotorua.
The Rotorua Lakes Council issued a building consent valued at $1.5m in April for the new backpackers lodge at 27 Toko St.
Local tourism leaders said a ready supply of high-quality backpacker accommodation was important as borders reopened and it was great to see new investment in the sector.
Roger Willard, speaking on behalf of the owners Rivers Property Management Ltd, said the $1.5m consent was for a two-storey backpackers lodge with 28 rooms and the project was expected to cost $2m total.
June 12:
Construction work on a new $2 million clubhouse at Rotorua’s Lakeview Golf Club was about to tee off - two years after a fire destroyed its old clubrooms.
The Rotorua Lakes Council issued a building consent for new clubrooms at the Lakeview Golf Club on State Highway 5 in Hamurana.
Its old clubhouse was destroyed by fire in February 2020, taking 50 years of history with it.
President Alan Deverson said the consent was valued at $1m, but the project was expected to cost as high as $2m total.
“It is quite a relief,” he said. “We are very pleased. The council pushed it through quite quickly.”
June 14:
Then-mayoral candidate Fletcher Tabuteau launched a petition to Parliament demanding action to fix Rotorua’s Fenton St “ghetto”.
The petition called on the House of Representatives to direct the Government to stop motels being used as emergency housing to host non-Rotorua residents, as well as for it to invest in more police for the city and find “real alternatives” for emergency housing.
The petition also called for the local council to enforce “the original intent of the district plan, which does not allow Fenton St to be used as long-term accommodation” and to take action on crime prevention and enabling long-term housing development.
Tabuteau told the Rotorua Daily Post emergency housing was one of the biggest issues impacting Rotorua residents.
June 16:
A month ago, 42-year-old father Shane Edwards “vanished” from his Tokoroa home “without a trace”.
There had been no confirmed sightings of the Māori performing artist since the afternoon of May 14 - no phone, bank or social media activity, no contact with friends or family.
His wallet and phone were missing, presumed taken with him, and the pushbike he usually used to get around the South Waikato forestry town was left at home.
Detective Sergeant David Whitecliffe-Davies said today there had been two potential sightings of Edwards in Whakatāne and Rotorua but nothing was “firm”.
June 17:
In its last meeting before dissolution, a Lakes District Health Board member took a final swing at the Government over MIQ, saying it was “imposed” on the city.
The Government has previously said the primary objective of MIQ was to keep Covid-19 out of the community and keep returnees and staff safe, and it took local matters into consideration.
Lakes DHB – along with all DHBs – will be disestablished on July 1 when they merge into the national Health NZ and Māori Health Authority. The board’s meeting on June 17 was its last.
Board member Merepeka Raukawa-Tait made the comments after chief executive Nick Saville-Wood’s report to the board, which contained a list of achievements since Lakes DHB’s creation.
June 22:
When Lynne Ogilvie started work at KFC in Rotorua 43 years ago, she was paid $2.47 an hour.
As the decades ticked by, not once did she think about leaving.
But at the age of 71, the familiar face at the Amohau St restaurant decided she had cooked her last quarter pack and was looking forward to a quieter life.
It was Ogilvie’s last day at KFC and she admitted she was leaving with some sadness.
June 24:
Working according to Maramataka Māori just makes sense, said businesses following the Māori lunar calendar.
And the benefits for those businesses and workers are better than a four-day week, one believed.
Maramataka is the Māori lunar calendar. It marks the phases of the moon in a lunar month. The word Maramataka literally means “the moon turning”.
Two Rotorua businesses have joined a wider movement to revive the maramataka mindset in the workplace.
June 25:
The cost of renovating the Rotorua Museum could swell to as much as $83 million, creating a $30m funding shortfall, a document obtained by Local Democracy Reporting revealed.
At a minimum, the cost could rise by $15m, according to the document.
The document is a confidential report to elected members from the Rotorua Lakes Council’s Strategy, Policy and Finance Committee meeting on April 14.
The council would not reveal how the committee – and later, the council – decided in the meeting, saying those details would be released once funding discussions had finished.
Daniel Rikiti was sentenced to three years but remains on bail during appeal.