Local News

Split over voting age

A move to lower the voting age for local body elections is getting mixed reviews from the region’s politicians. Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty introduced the bill into Parliament on Wednesday last week – but…

A very good vintage ….

Car lovers braved Sunday’s heavy rain and showed up in their droves at the annual Vintage Car Club (Waikato) fundraiser for the Cancer Society. Car Club members from five Waikato hubs – Hamilton, Matamata, Morrinsville,…

Kapa haka event postponed

Te Awamutu’s longstanding kapa haka festival Te Rā Whakamana Rangatahi is set to make an “exceptional” return – in September 2024. It’s been confirmed the 2023 event will not go ahead. Last November’s festival in…

Sign off fraud hits church

The newest building at Zion Church’s community space in Te Awamutu is among Waipā projects caught up in potentially fraudulent engineering signoffs. And the space – which the church had hoped would be open by…

Park plan: Holt holds line

Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board chair Ange Holt remains on a collision course with council staff over plans for War Memorial Park. Holt’s concerns were amplified in a regular column she wrote recently for…

Councillors in workshops

Waipā District Council held another ‘secret’ workshop and briefing day for councillors this week, the second this month and the seventh this year. One of the items on the agenda was a potential new targeted…

Youngsters schooled early in Waipā history

Hundreds of Waipā pre-schoolers are getting a head-start on local history. It’s been 12 months since the Te Awamutu Museum, Education and Research Centre secured a three-year contract with the Ministry of Education. The contract…

Working with Troy delivers results

Road trips are Troy Tucker’s happy place. “He’ll drive anywhere, he’s just content in the passenger seat watching the world go by,” dad Gavin said. Now, the Kihikihi father and son are tapping into that…

Donating the donations box

Te Awamutu Riding for the Disabled (RDA) has a brand new, hand-crafted rimu donations box thanks to its very own “expert wood turner”. Or so they now call him. RDA head coach and manager Rosalie…

Waste not, want not …..

Thirteen organisations will share $52,030 from the Waipā Waste Minimisation Community fund for projects as diverse as embedding worm farms into berms to establishing a reusable party supplies hire kit. Waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser…

1 82 83 84 85 86 202