Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith: Not the flashest of starts to 2022

The free splashpad at Memorial Park is a great place to be this summer. Photo / Palmerston North City Council

OPINION:

I trust you managed to take advantage of the holiday sunshine and enjoy a well-earned break.

That's been the upside to a New Year that hasn't exactly made the flashest of starts.

Last year ended and this year began under tragic circumstances. My deepest sympathies to our Burmese Karen and Samoan communities and families for those they lost in the Manawatū River at Ahimate Reserve.

We were still coming to terms with those calamities when the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga rattled us. I'll take this opportunity to commend all those in our Pasifika and wider community and in council who rallied in support of the relief effort coordinated by former All Black Sir Michael Jones. They include city MP Tangi Utikere, and the business sector - Fonterra and Mainfreight among them.

Sending a locally raised container of care products, food and supplies to Tonga reinforces once again the generous considerate nature of Palmy residents. It's a practical gift that will make a telling difference to those recovering in the aftermath of the disaster.

Then, while we were all looking forward to putting 2021's Covid frustrations behind us, the ultra-contagious Omicron variant and resulting red light restrictions well and truly kicked those hopes into touch.

It's completely gutting our whole summer events programme has been derailed, and my commiserations are with organisers, promoters, producers and performers who can't seem to catch a break.

Among the signature events affected have been the Woodville Moto-X GP, the Superstock Teams Champs, the NZ Grand Prix, the Ashhurst and Pohangina Lions annual Smallholders Auction, our flagship Festival of Cultures, the NZ Rural Games, Summer Shakespeare in the Victoria Esplanade and the remounted We Will Rock You musical from Act Three Productions.

The red light has also had a big impact on city businesses and I urge everyone to support them by shopping locally whenever possible.

Restrictions, cancellations and postponements have come despite the whole wider region being 94 per cent fully vaccinated, with over 14 per cent of the eligible population receiving the paediatric vaccination and 60 per cent of eligible people aged 18+ having booster shots.

Now MidCentral DHB wants everyone to plan for the inevitability of an Omicron outbreak and the real possibility of having to isolate at home. This includes knowing how to self-manage mild symptoms, while working together with a buddy household and with family members or friends for access to food, household and health supplies, and to coordinate any childcare arrangements.

The precautions involve booster shots, vaccination passes, mask wearing and contact tracing - along with consideration for front-line workers - particularly in the health and food sectors.

At this point, most council services and projects will carry on as usual, but with Covid precautions in place. Until further notice, the customer service centre will only be open 9am-2pm weekdays with 24/7 phone access on (06) 356 8199 and online.

Along with Covid awareness, we'd also like city residents to be mindful of water use as the sunshine and heat continue.

In the Chinese zodiac, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger, and unfortunately it appears we have caught a live one by the tail.

Believe me, this is not the way I wanted to welcome in Palmy's New Year, but by sticking together and looking out for one another, we can and will see this through.

• Grant Smith is the mayor of Palmerston North.