News in brief
Tarakohe: Option to sell port mooted in media
Suggestions that Tasman District Council may consider selling Port Tarakohe surfaced in the media this week.
In a Nelson Mail story under the headline: “Debt-laden port may be sold off”, Mayor Richard Kempthorne and CEO Paul Wylie spoke about selling the port as an option that will be considered by council later in the year.
Golden Bay Community Board chair Carolyn McLellan describes the story as “unhelpful”.
“The option of selling has never been mentioned to us. We’ve been asking for information on Tarakohe for a very long time but council’s enterprises subcommittee has conducted most of its business in secret and what information we have been given is pretty thin. Golden Bay people don’t want the port sold. It’s ours and it’s got to stay ours. In the past, council people have described it as the jewel in the crown. Why would you want to sell it?”
Mrs McLellan has requested a full report on the matter.
“Council’s community services manager Lloyd Kennedy will be at next Tuesday’s community board meeting. I’ve asked the Mayor to provide him with a full report to bring to that meeting.”
Neil Wilson
Street numbers
With the increase in the number of properties in the district, especially in rural areas, it can be difficult for emergency services, couriers and postal delivery staff to locate a particular property.
Over recent years Tasman District Council has numbered all the properties in the district and this will continue as new subdivisions are completed.
The White Pages used to be prepared by NZ Post. They would show an address like this:
Joe Bloggs, Smith Road, RD 1, Takaka.
It is much more accurate and helpful in emergencies to have your full and correct address in the White Pages:
Joe Bloggs, 146 Smith Road, RD 1, Takaka.
The number 146 means it is 1.46 kilometres from the start, on the right-hand side of the road.
If you have an incomplete or incorrect address in the white pages or the yellow pages at the moment you can change it quite easily.
For the White Pages: Contact your telephone provider. Explain your new address and ask them to update the White Pages. If you don’t ask them to do it, it won’t happen. For example, Telecom subscribers should follow these steps:
Dial 123, listen to the three options, press the # (hash) key.
Ask for “home line new connection”. Confirm yes.
You may get a message “Please hold until one of our customer service representatives is available”. Patience may be required.
Explain your new address and ask them to update the White Pages. This is important.
For the Yellow Pages: If your business is listed in the Yellow Pages, simply phone 0800 803 803 and provide the correct address details.
If you have any queries about this process, please contact Lindsay Skinner at TDC phone 03 543 8448.
Submitted
Annual plan meetings
are an important part of the process
This is the second week of public meetings enabling ratepayers and residents the opportunity to find out about and discuss with councillors, community board members and council officers what is in the draft annual plan for 2011-2012.
“While we have had less than half of the planned public meetings throughout the district, distinct themes are beginning to emerge – cost effectiveness, the need to reinvest in the disaster fund, enabling sound river management and prioritisation of the planned works,” said Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne.
The meetings provide the opportunity for people to discuss the proposed average general rate increase of 4.7 per cent plus 1.98 per cent for disaster funds, what it represents, the impact on individual ratepayers and what it is going towards.
“This draft annual plan marks the third year of the 10-year plan and draws heavily from the ongoing development and planned maintenance within the longer term plan. It is about “steady as we go” and limits the number of deferrals with the impact of future costs in mind and the need to restore infrastructure damaged in the recent floods.
“Much of the capital programme is focused on core requirements of the communities within the district, some of which is restoration as opposed to renewal or new development.
“The public meetings are an opportunity to discuss the Draft Plan and provide information to interested ratepayers and residents, whether they want to make a submission or not,” Mayor Kempthorne concluded.
Wednesday 13 April 2011: Takaka Fire Brigade hall 2pm–4.30pm. Collingwood Sunday School 6.30pm–8pm.
Submitted
Takaka Memorial Library – New Books
Magazines
Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Aimed at mixed-media and fabric artists.
Non-Fiction
Fantastica: The world of Leo Bensemann by Peter Simpson. A beautifully produced book that provides a new window into the art and culture of 20th-century New Zealand.
Power from the Sun: Achieving energy independence by Dan Chiras.
The New Complete Guide to Nutritional Health: More than 600 foods and recipes for overcoming illness & boosting your immunity by Pierre Jean Cousin and Kirsten Hartvig.
Who said that First? The curious origins of common words and phrases by Max Cryer.
The Ashford book of Needlepoint: Inspirational projects stretching the boundaries of needle felting by Barbara Allen.
Complimentary Therapies for Cancer: What works, what doesn’t… how to tell the difference by Professor Shaun Holt.
Tribe: Endangered peoples of the world by Piers Gibbon.
Fiction
For the win by Cory Doctrow. Cyber crime.
The Shelly Beach Writer’s Group by June Loves. Light, easy read.
The Saturday Big Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith. More adventures with Mma Ramotswe.
Treachery in Death by J D Robb. Crime.
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Life is lived according to The Rulebook and social hierarchy is determined by your perception of colour.
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen. A new rendering of the Watson legend.
Softly calls the Serengeti by Frank Coates. Exploration of grief, family and identity set against the upheavals of 21st century Kenya.
Songs My Mother Taught Me
Naomi Ferguson will be performing with Graham Wardrop and Alex van den Broek at the Mussel Inn on Sunday 10 April. Naomi Ferguson has a honey voice, a compelling stage presence, and Songs My Mother Taught Me, presented to acclaim at the 2009 Christchurch Arts Festival and the Wellington Life is a Cabaret season, is the perfect vehicle for showing off her talents.
Songs My Mother Taught Me is very much a New Zealand story, set in the 70s, a time when teenage Cilla leaves behind her sheltered upbringing to let her hair down while studying in Christchurch. Academic study collides with social upheaval as Cilla experiments with drugs, protest, motorbikes and music festivals. She falls in love, has her heart broken and her ideals shattered, eventually finding the strength to live life on her own terms.
Accompanied by top musicians Graham Wardrop (guitar) and Alex van den Broek (piano), Ferguson tours the country to relate Cilla’s story with seamless segues into the iconic songs of the 60s and 70s including those of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Helen Reddy.
“Her versatility is amazing from serious to comedy; upbeat to soul searing sadness... she has so much talent and vitality... Naomi was superb, especially her performance of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’... A gifted and beautiful performer with so much promise.” The Performers.
Submitted
Traditional Tibetan performance
Traditional Tibetan singer/songwriter Tenzin Choegyal is coming from Australia to perform at the Golden Bay High School on 8 April.
Tenzin draws on his Tibetan roots to create music that expresses his existence in modern life. Since his Australian music debut in 1997, Tenzin has performed around the globe, playing the dranyen (long-necked lute) and lingbu (transverse flutes), and is admired for his extraordinary vocal ability. He has worked with many prominent Australian musicians from many different genres and he also sings with the exiled Monks of Tibet.
Tenzin was born in Tibet, escaped to Nepal and was raised in exile in Dharamsala, India. He attributes much of his passion for music to his mother, who sang to him in the nomadic style of Tibet, and his concerts often include educational aspects of Tibetan culture and history.
The representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Australasia, Chope Paljor Tsering, said about the performer that “through his music and his warm explanations, we were transported to a world where peace, love and mediation are central to life. It is Tenzin’s obvious joyfulness when he sings and plays that contributes to our listening pleasure.”
Tenzin Choegyal can also be heard at the Chandrakirti Music Day on 10 April.
Ina Holst
