Aline Douglas in the home she has lived in for 67 years. Photo / Zizi Sparks
Aline Douglas in the home she has lived in for 67 years. Photo / Zizi Sparks
The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2022. Here’s what made headlines in September:
September 2:
The boss of a luxury Rotorua restaurant estimated the business had lost more than half a million dollars in its seven-month battle to get a new liquor licence.
But one agency involved in the process has said changes to the application led to a new review having to be done months after it was initially lodged.
A Government order introduced at the start of the pandemic also means the agency has no required timeframe to report on the application until after the Epidemic Notice is lifted.
Auckland-based investor Cindy Hao owns the Black Swan Boutique Hotel at Kawaha Point, Rotorua. Photos / Supplied, Laura Smith
September 6:
Community and political leaders demanded an immediate independent inquiry into Rotorua’s emergency housing situation ‘’for the wellbeing of our most vulnerable”.
Their comments came after a television programme showed what National described as “appalling scenes of intimidation, violence, misery and crime” in Rotorua’s emergency housing, illustrating the Government’s “utter failure on housing” after five years in office.
A Rotorua charitable trust that provides emergency housing in Rotorua said it supports any investigation into contractors dealing with emergency housing.
National housing spokesman Chris Bishop spoke out following the Sunday broadcast, saying Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in complete denial about the Government’s failure over housing and its consequences.
Ian Hulton still considers himself lucky he got to spend his OE working for the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The 72-year-old Rotorua man spoke to the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend about his “wonderful experience” and paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II after her death.
Hulton applied for a job at the palace advertised in the Daily Mail newspaper when he moved to the United Kingdom in 1975 after university. He was 25 at the time.
He was not given the footman role he initially interviewed for but was employed as a household porter.
The new owner of the building, Patsy Chen, said she bought it in March and redevelopment was expected to start in October. Construction was expected to be finished by the middle of next year.
Speaking to the Rotorua Daily Post, Chen said it was an “exciting” project and the building would be developed into 14 one-bedroom units - seven each on the bottom and top floor.
Artist impression of the new development. Photo / Supplied
September 15:
For 23-year-old Raj Nakura, there is “nothing” like the feeling of buying his first home.
After two years of working multiple jobs and saving everything he could, he is proud to own a home in Rotorua, and to have achieved it without being able to use KiwiSaver.
“The vision of wanting to become a homeowner came to mind when I visited my friends’ first home. Seeing how happy they were, I wanted that same feeling.
Rotorua police have now admitted emergency housing has increased the demand on their resources and say staffing had not been increased during this time.
Some locals say the data vindicates their safety fears.
The police intelligence report, obtained under the Official Information Act by retired Bay of Plenty police commander Superintendent Gary Smith, has been given to the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend and shows spatial mapping comparing demand for police services in 2021 compared with 2018.
Rotorua athlete Michael Voss made history with a hat-trick of wins in the city’s flagship marathon event.
Voss has become the first man to win three consecutive Rotorua Marathons since the event began 58 years ago, prompting tears from his long-standing coach.
The 25-year-old builder was still letting the gravity of the moment sink in shortly after his win.
With a beaming smile, Voss said the hat-trick was “pretty special” although it was something he tried not to think too much about during the race.
Aline Douglas was Waipa Mill’s first female worker, in 1939. On September 23, she turned 100, and sat down in her Rotorua home with journalist Zizi Sparks to share a century of vivid memories from her great loves and favourite inventions, to the times that changed the world.
