Rotorua Daily Post Year in Review: September 2023

The Ministry of Justice are building a new courthouse between Pukuatua and Hinemoa street. Wilsons Barber Shop owner Glen Atkinson's business is in the building. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2023. Here’s what made headlines in September

September 11

Doctors told Rotorua man Matthew Keogan to “let nature take its course” and then say goodbye to his family.

Two days later on November 1, 2021, he was writing his will at his hospital bedside with lawyers.

He had been given three to six months to live.

“You sort of think of cancer as a death sentence. Once you’ve got cancer you’re gone,” Keogan said.

But his oncologist suggested he try Pembrolizumab, known by the brand name Keytruda, a non-funded cancer immunotherapy medicine.

The result has been miraculous.

With the help of his medical insurance, Keogan, 51, has had 24 Keytruda infusions over the past two years costing more than $113,000.

Each early round of Keytruda costs $9745.10. From the 10th round, each infusion cost $1700.

Full story here.

Matthew Keogan reflects on his cancer battle. Photo / Andrew Warner

September 14

The Government has dropped two of its 13 contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua after a “marked decline” in people needing help.

It comes as Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell this week met urgently with Housing Minister Megan Woods and government officials to discuss ongoing emergency housing concerns.

New Castle Motor Lodge on Ward Ave and Ann’s Volcanic Rotorua Motel on Malfroy Rd are no longer used as contracted emergency housing motels, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development confirmed.

September 15

“I will be fighting it with everything I have.”

These were the words of former Te Pāti Māori co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell as he announced his cancer diagnosis in a statement on his Facebook page this afternoon.

“Tēnā tātou katoa e te iwi,” Flavell’s post said.

“I wanted to share some personal news with you today. After one of my routine medical check-ups, I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer.”

Flavell’s statement revealed he had his first round of chemotherapy and hormone treatment two weeks ago.

“I am leaning on Western medicine, traditional Māori rongoā, and healers as well as other alternative therapies.

Full story here.

Te Arawa Whanau Ora chairman Te Ururoa Flavell. Photo / Andrew Warner.

September 20

A Rotorua resident who once took a weedeater to overgrown council grass is now tackling the city’s “massive” litter problem, filling seven abandoned trolleys with rubbish collected over seven months.

But Tracey McLeod says she believes the litter in the city has worsened in that time, in spite of her efforts — and the more than $6.3 million a year the local council spends on rubbish and recycling services.

“It started to get quite gross,” McLeod said of the rubbish she saw on the city’s streets.

Full story here.

Restore Rotorua's Tracey McLeod has been collecting rubbish in abandoned trolleys along Pererika St. Photo / Andrew Warner

September 21

A site steeped in hospitality history has been chosen for Rotorua’s long-awaited new courthouse.

The site has been bought for $7.15 million but completion of the much-anticipated new courthouse is still five years away.

Members of the legal fraternity have called for a new courthouse for more than half a decade, with the conditions in the existing building described over the years as “feral”, “disgraceful” and a hindrance to speedy justice.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed it has bought 1130 Pukuatua St.

The building is currently home to several businesses and organisations.

These include former emergency housing facility The Grand Treasure Hotel — and Wilson’s Barber Shop, which has been at its Pukuatua St site for the past 33 years.

Full story here.

The Ministry of Justice is building a new courthouse between Pukuatua and Hinemoa streets. Wilsons Barber Shop owner Glen Atkinson's business is in the building. Photo / Andrew Warner