A Coastguard crew from Napier rescued three people from a disabled 12-metre pleasure craft off Mahia Peninsula late on Tuesday night. Police and the Coastguard were called at about 10pm on Tuesday to assist the people on board the Gitan II. In the...
Lightning from Tuesday night’s severe thunderstorm struck a house with a family inside and narrowly missed a car with people in it. Firefighters were called to the house in Riverside Road — near the Waimata Cheese factory— that was hit by...
An investigation into the death of a Gisborne dog at the hands of council staff has detailed the sad state the animal was returned to its owners in. On September 22, family pet Sarge was euthanised by Gisborne District Council staff after being...
A fast-moving cold front collided with hot air over the East Coast on Tuesday night, resulting in one of the most spectacular lightning storms seen in recent years. The whole sky and landscape was lit up by huge flashes of sheet and forked...
‘Hort Day Gisborne’ went off a treat yesterday morning when a wide variety of the district’s horticulturists took part in The Evergreen Foundation’s cyclone recovery support event. More than 60 local growers and others, about 120 people in...
Cruise ship Silver Muse’s visit to Gisborne on Monday made it six from six for the cruise ship season so far. The moderate-sized ship went to anchor in the bay at around 9.15am. “Tendering started straight away and we would have had 350...
Act leader David Seymour has welcomed King Tuheitia calling a national hui in January to discuss his Treaty Principles Bill and the Government’s Māori policy agenda. He has also revised the wording of the three principles to be proposed in his...
Caitlin Thompson At his funeral on Monday, Norman Maclean was described by Phillip Andrew as “a beautiful soul”. Many words could be used to describe Norm, but those three summed him up perfectly. His soul was wholesome, warm, and welcoming. As...
You are complaining about the state of our inner city?? Years ago when Meng Foon was Mayor, he commented that if you want to have the District Council wash the streets in the CBD, the rates would go up. Years ago, further back, shop owners had their...
My congratulations to the gardeners who created the displays in tubs on corners at various sites in Gladstone Road. I think the main street looks quite festive with the plywood decorated Christmas trees and one shop having an inflatable Santa at...
The Government has made the rebuilding of the railway through to Wairoa and to Gisborne a “low priority”, indicating it has little idea about the needs of rail customers, regional development and how to fight climate change. It has told these...
More than 70 percent of insurance claims for cyclone-damaged homes here have been resolved, latest data from the Insurance Council of New Zealand shows. A total of 991 homes were subject to a residential dwelling claim here at an estimated damage...
Everyone was going to die soon anyway so he could do what he wanted. That’s what a man said when he invaded a woman’s home and sexually attacked her the night before the Covid-19 lockdown started in 2020. The woman’s grandchild was asleep in...
The new National-led Government has scrapped the need for mandatory speed management plans that would have lowered state highway speeds on both SH2 and SH35. Changes made this week remove mandatory requirements for road controlling authorities to...
The Nest Collective is once again running their Giving Trees campaign to help support whānau with babies and tamariki during the Christmas period and into the New Year. The Nest Collective Gisborne, which was launched in 2021, provides baby packs...
Today marks Gisborne resident Lucy Berry’s 104th birthday. Born in 1919 in Rotorua, she went school at Wairoa, before working for Sir Andrew and Lady Russell in the central North Island as a housemaid. She was first married in 1940 aged 20. She...
The Tiniroto community, beset by road closures, has banded together to raise funds for a 4WD minibus. Helping them on their way is a grant from Trade Me Property Community Grants. Tiniroto faced severe repercussions from both Cyclone Gabrielle and...
by Jack Donnelly and Wynsley Wrigley Don Clouston Hay has “crossed the bar” — the naval term for a sailor who has passed and crossed over the harbour sandbar and out into the boundless deep ocean. His pilot is God. He was 90. Don was a man of...
Waihau Beach Road is open again to the public after a significant landslide took out five metres of the road in June. An engineer’s report received last week has given the rebuilt section of the road the seal of approval, reconnecting the small...
Minister of Rural Communities Mark Patterson has met with the local farming sector and Gisborne District Council to assess cyclone recovery. “It is important to get my head around the scale of the events and to be an advocate at the Government...
Amid the ongoing recovery from cyclone devastation in their community, Te Karaka Area School students have achieved 100 percent pass rates in NCEA levels 1 and 2. The school is expecting to get a 100 percent pass rate in Level 3 as well but are...
Gisborne-East Coast growers and farmers are crying out for a decent spell of dry weather, Federated Farmers says. On the back of two challenging years, Gisborne/Wairoa arable farmers have been under pressure again as regular spring rain has...
Faced with increasing resistance to its plans from Māori, the Government will soon find itself fighting on another front with the trade unions. As the second week of its first 100 day programme starts in Parliament, the Government has two key parts...
Clive Bibby My wife and I were privileged to be part of a function that demonstrated why we as a nation need to focus on the things we have in common, rather than the things that drive us apart. Why do we have to put up with a constant barrage of...
As the COP28 UN climate summit nears its end, world governments are still far apart on the central question of whether to phase out fossil fuels. The next few days could be the world’s last chance to keep global heating within safe limits. COP28...
Re: Signs should be te reo first, December 9. Dear Lara, I deeply resent you calling me a monolingual moron by implication in your latest offering. I passed School Certificate French in 1953. My wish for you, for 2024, is to try to be a bit nicer...
Re: te reo place names. I mentioned to my daughter that I had trouble knowing the government agencies because of their Māori names. She replied, “Yes Mum, but the next generation will take them for granted.” Wise words. Heather van Wyk
Relay for Life is back in 2024. After three years of delays and interruptions caused by Covid-19 and flooding, the fun community event and Cancer Society fundaiser is back. The 24-hour event (midday to midday) will be at the A&P Showgrounds, on...
Important work guiding transport planning in Tairāwhiti is gearing up for public consultation at the end of summer. Every six years, Gisborne District Council produces a Regional Land Transport Plan which details the region’s priorities and...
Sunday saw an early start for the Trust Tairāwhiti Rescue Helicopter, whose final mission of the week was a 2.30am call-out to a trauma at Ruatoria. The patient was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital. The team completed four other...
Following the success of The Evergreen Foundation’s recent Hort Day in Hawke’s Bay, the event is being held today at the Four Seasons Packhouse in Gisborne in partnership with Trust Tairāwhiti. Hort Day Gisborne is bringing together about 65...
Rats came through the bathroom wall, rain leaked through the dining room ceiling and there was a large hole in the laundry ceiling where a builder’s apprentice fell through while re-roofing. The house a Wairoa family had been renting since 2012...
Ruatorea residents will this week have a chance to find out more about new social housing coming to the town. Homes built in Gisborne are to be placed on properties at 9 Amiria Avenue, 7 Holland Place, 10 Holland Place and 25 Barry Avenue...
Napier National MP Katie Nimon paid special tribute to Wairoa during her maiden speech in Parliament, calling the community “the heart of the Napier electorate” with “endless potential”. The Napier electorate includes Wairoa, Lake...