Reporter Zoe Hunter speaks to local businesses about the ongoing impact of roadworks and asks the council if they'll be done by Christmas.
Bay of Plenty Times is looking back at the stories of 2023. Here’s what made headlines in July
July 1
The boss of one of New Zealand’s largest residential building companies has likened the recession gripping the country to the Global Financial Crisis and believes there will be more businessclosures.
Associations in the industry told NZME it was holding workshops for its members to navigate the headwinds and while the sector was used to the boom/ bust cycle, construction faced more volatility than other industries.
Businesses such as Auckland-based builders Scarbro Construction, founded 27 years ago, and Construct Civil had been put into liquidation and made headlines while other companies had laid off staff, pivoted, and put managers back on the tools to ride out tough times.
On July 3, 1963, all 23 people on New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC) flight NZ 441 died after the DC-3 Skyliner ZK-AYZ crashed into the Kaimai Range.
It remains New Zealand’s worst domestic air accident, second only to New Zealand’s worst-ever aviation disaster when Flight 901 crashed into the side of Mt Erebus during a sightseeing flight in Antarctica, killing 257.
At least one man survived Flight 441, Auckland businessman John Hardley, who later died of exposure before rescuers found the downed plane.
David Gauld, 80, was a 21-year-old Auckland University student and member of the tramping club summonsed to help search for the wreckage of the Kaimai crash. Photo / Supplied
July 5
A Tauranga historian and iwi representative feels “embarrassed and ashamed” a local community hall is hosting anti-co-governance meetings, which he believes excludes people because of their race — and is vowing to protest at the events.
But the man at the centre of the meetings – Julian Batchelor – says he’s just kicking out troublemakers and it has nothing to do with ethnicity.
Three Stop Co-Governance meetings are being held at Mount Maunganui Community Hall from Friday to Sunday this weekend.
Buddy Mikaere has called for the meetings to be cancelled because of what he believes is their “anti-cogovernance diatribe”.
Buddy Mikaere at a city council meeting discussing the future of Tauranga Racecourse. Photo / Alex Cairns
July 8
A Tauranga family are devastated after losing more than half of their $55,000 house deposit when a building company franchise collapsed.
The 39-year-old father, who did not want to be named for privacy reasons, said they were “desperate” to get their money back and had hired a lawyer.
“This is a crisis situation. How are we going to get another deposit? It will take us a good few years to even be in a position to buy another house or to build a house.”
The father said he and his wife migrated from South Africa to New Zealand in 2018 to give their 4-year old son and 6-year-old daughter “better prospects”.
A Mt Erebus tragedy widow who invested compensation money into buying a commercial property is threatening legal action against a council over roading changes she claims have knocked $800,000 off the value of her building.
It is one of two legal threats Tauranga City Council has received in relation to the Cameron Rd upgrade project. The council revealed it had received the legal notices, and at least 136 complaints, about the project in response to a Bay of Plenty Times official information request.
The Building our Future Cameron Road, Te Papa project is aimed at improving travel, beautification, and updating ageing infrastructure including water pipes and utility services.
Christine Currie, who owns 405 Cameron Rd, where NZME is based. She has threatened legal action against the council for its decision to close 7th Ave access from Cameron Rd, saying it devalues the building which is her "baby". Photo / Alex Cairns
More than half of vehicles inspected over the past five years failed Warrant of Fitness tests, with new data showing lights, tyres and steering and suspension are the most common fault areas.
Mechanics say busy people skipping servicing and having less interest in working on vehicles at home are contributing to the failure rate — but there are easy checks people can do at home.
Motor Vehicle Register data supplied by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency shows more than 10 million vehicles were inspected between 2018 and 2022, with just over six million failing at least once.
