Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cries during the Whakaari White Island commemorations in Whakatane. Photo / File
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cries during the Whakaari White Island commemorations in Whakatane. Photo / File
The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2020. Here's what made headlines in December.
December 1:
Half the organisations facing charges over the deadly Whakaari/White Island eruption that claimed 22 lives have come forward, forgoing name suppression ahead of the first court appearance.
Reporter Caroline Fleming followed the case through the trial and spoke to Bay of Plenty Police district co-ordinator of child protection Lindsay Pilbrow, who played a key role in securing the manslaughter conviction.
December 9:
Survivors, families of the dead, first responders and people around Whakatāne have observed a minute's silence at the same time as the Whakaari/White Island eruption one year ago.
Many have gathered at Mataatua Marae for a commemoration service on the anniversary. The ceremony is being live-streamed at a nearby reserve where members of the public also stood in silence.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cries during the Whakaari White Island commemorations in Whakatane. Photo / File
December 11:
Homeless people living in the city's motels is not the long game - the Government wants them in housing, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
Kimalyn Smith-Filipo was passionate about her Tokelauan and Māori heritage - and those cultures came together to mourn after the talented teen died suddenly.
The 17-year-old died suddenly on Friday after a "freak accident at home" and her death has left a "gaping hole" in the community.
Kimalyn Smith-Filipo. Photo / File
December 16:
Rotorua's controversial i-Park parking system cost the district just over $1.7 million last year, consuming almost 84 per cent of its just over $2m parking revenue.
Despite this, i-Park's drain on parking revenues was not mentioned in Rotorua Lakes Council's 2019/2020 Annual Report.
Residents and Ratepayers secretary Paddi Hodgkiss. Photo / File
December 17:
Record house prices month after month, low interest rates creating more competition, a cap on the first-home grant that doesn't match current house values and a severe housing shortage.
Investors and first-home buyers looking to get on the property ladder have helped boost the median property value in Fordlands by almost 30 per cent over the past year.
Fordlands remained Rotorua's cheapest suburb - promoting a surge in demand with properties being snapped up at a median of just 12 days, according to a new property report.
December 22:
The number of young people sleeping in parks and reserves, couch surfing and in emergency housing is on the rise in the Bay of Plenty, social agencies say.
And when his homemade tree transformed from a present on the ground to a full standing Christmas decorated robot - he knew he had done just that. He had created a Transformer tree.
Rotorua man Steven Newland's Transformer Christmas tree. Photo / Supplied
December 28:
An electronic sign slating Rotorua's Hemo Gorge roundabout sculpture as a "monument to waste" will be investigated for potentially breaching district plan rules.
The sign is located on private land bordering Mokoia Drive and SH5, about 100m from the Hemo Gorge roundabout where the 12m-high 3D-printed sculpture Te Ahi Tupua stands.
NZ Taxpayers's Union boss Jordan Williams is in Rotorua, erecting physical signs in addition to the electronic sign by Hemo roundabout. Photo / File
December 30:
A machete, knuckledusters, a homemade bong, brick, knives, methamphetamine, cannabis and three cans of alcohol are just some of the items people have tried to smuggle into Rotorua Courthouse.
Information released under the Official Information Act has revealed the disturbing items security officers have confiscated off visitors to the courthouse over the past year.
