Latest from Gisborne

Town v Country fixture resurrected after Covid

Premier grade rugby takes a break this weekend as the annual Town v Country weekend makes a return. Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union has announced the squads for the Saturday match-up to be played at Paddy’s Park in Patutahi, 2.45pm kick-off. The...

East Coast Premier Men’s club rugby season kicks off

Saturday was a great one in Ruatoria as the the Ngati Porou East Coast Premier Men’s club rugby season opened with Club Day at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria. Defending champions Tihirau Victory Club beat powerhouse Tokararangi 15-12, Hikurangi...

Call for patience as Wairoa tackles silt removal

River silt and sediment from Cyclone Gabrielle has had a major impact on whānau homes and the township, Wairoa District Council says. Around 12,000 tonnes of silt has been stockpiled with much more silt removal needed, especially from under houses...

‘Groundswell of awhi’ for sandbagging to protect homes, businesses

A community project at Makaraka this weekend is aiming to fill 10,000 sandbags for Tairāwhiti. The joint initiative between Gisborne District Council and the Rapid Relief Team (RRT) has attracted a “groundswell of awhi”, says Tairāwhiti...

Petition organiser pushing for more signatures

A Gisborne woman on a mission to prevent a law change that would prevent her importing life-saving medication says she’s humbled by the response to her petition. Theresa Zame is seeking as many signatures as she can to amend the Therapeutic...

Shoplifter with ‘fair bit of history’ back in court

A recidivist shoplifter who successfully appealed a jail sentence when it was imposed on her four years ago continues to offend. Ereti Lara Hinaki, 32, pleaded guilty in Gisborne District Court on Monday to three thefts from shops involving goods...

‘This thing saves lives’: staunch supporter of Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust

Neil Kitchen has for years played in the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s annual Charity Golf Tournament. Not with any success, he admits, and not thinking he would ever use the rescue service himself. That was until December 2019 when he was on...

Life membership for U3A music stalwart

A Life Membership Award was presented to Norman Grey in recognition for his services to U3A over 13 years . A certificate and bouquet of flowers were presented by U3A president Anne Pardoe to Mr Grey at Gisborne Cosmopolitan Club last month. “From...

Time to discontinue the covid narrative?

The World Health Organisation said on Friday that Covid-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of...

‘A black eye for green energy’

The folly of hitching oneself to the prevailing popular narrative wagon is that your position quickly becomes unstuck. So entrenched and righteous in your stance, you fail to appreciate the consequences of often short-sighted views and actions. And...

Rural roads in disrepair

Our local rural roads are rapidly falling in to disrepair as a result of many years of inadequate maintenance and increased heavy traffic, especially logging trucks. Some of these roads are now dangerous to drive on, especially at night and when it...

A coronation and a new era in trade

For royalists as well as many people who are ambivalent about royalty, Saturday night’s coronation of King Charles III was well worth sitting up into the early hours of Sunday morning for. The pageantry surrounding the event is what sells it to...

Slash for Cash project aims to 'heal the land'

Imagine exchanging slash for cold hard cash. Slash for Cash is a local and upcoming eco-startup that aims to encourage people to bring in slash and turn it into products that can “heal the land”. “It’s an opportunity for community members to...

Trainee builders providing homes to whānau in need

Trainee and student builders are continuing to deliver the goods by providing quality new homes for those in need. In recent weeks Kāinga Ora has continued to take delivery of new homes built by students of trade academies here and further afield...

Water restrictions lifted

Gisborne District Council has dropped all water restrictions. “It’s been a tremendous effort to get to this point and we would like to thank you all for playing your part,” a GDC statement said on Facebook. “We encourage you to continue to...

Students deliver race unity speeches with ‘dynamic, ‘impassioned clarity’

Gisborne Girls’ High student Te Paea Maurirere took the top prize in this year’s regional heats of the Race Unity Speech Awards. Organised by the New Zealand Bahá’í Community, the speech awards have been running for 23 years, helping...