Te Awamutu Courier Office Will Close for 2015 at Noon on Tuesday, December 22
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Te Awamutu B S U N S I O N TI ESS LU & LIFE SO CouPublished Tuesday & Thursdayurier THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015 +64 7 872 0566 NOT YOUR TYPICAL ACCOUNTANT Community Newspaper of the Year | APN Regional Media Awards 2014 EXTRA COPIES 40c First step to secure Office hours extra water source Te Awamutu Courier office will close for 2015 at noon on Tuesday, December 22. We will re-open at 8am Waipa District Council has Monday, January 11. taken first steps to secure a new water source for Te Awamutu. Yesterday Council approved Blue Christmas spending around $1 million on a This year has not been an new bore on council-owned land easy one for many people. If at Frontier Road. The approval is Christmas is yet another stress subject to final tests, with results for whatever reason you are available in late December. invited to attend the Blue The new bore is one of three Christmas service at Te sunk by Council — including two Awamutu Methodist Church this year — in efforts to secure this Sunday at 7.30pm. more water for Te Awamutu and This is a service where we can surrounding areas during peak acknowledge our griefs and demand. The other test bores losses and struggles and sense sunk at Te Tahi and Pirongia once more hope and strength. cannot supply enough water and have been discounted. Council service Te Awamutu’s water is cur- Waipa District Council offices rently sourced from the will be closed from 3pm on Mangauika Stream on Mt Thursday, December 24 until Pirongia. Council can only take a Tuesday, January 5. finite amount of water from the If you have any enquiries you stream under the terms of its can still call 0800 924 723. resource consent from Waikato The Library is closed December Regional Council. It means the 25-28 and January 1-4. Other days Council struggles to provide are 9.30am-5.30pm. enough water to the town, especi- The Museum closes 3pm ally during summer. This year, Christmas Eve and will be closed sprinklers in Te Awamutu were December 25-27 and January 1 completely banned from January TC171215DT06 and 3. 22 and water restrictions were WAIPA water services manager Tony Hale is hoping to turn the tap on a new water source for Te Reduced hours (10am-2pm) not lifted until early April. Awamutu. apply this Saturday and December Early indications suggest the 28, January 2 and 4 and 10am- new Frontier Road bore could TC171215SP01A 4pm other days. yield up to one million litres of TEST bore at Frontier Road in water per day — enough to operation. service 1000 households. If the Wrong float test results are acceptable, the test bore will be turned into a be required to get a new resource production bore and the water consent from the Waikato treated to meet national drinking Regional Council to take 100 per water standards. cent of its allowed water take Council sunk two bores from the Mangauika Stream as earlier this year after outlining it well as the bore water. as a second option in its 10-Year “So there’s still some hurdles Plan. The option needs Council to jump yet but at this stage, but The winner of the Christmas to secure an additional six it’s an option worth pursuing.” Float Parade School/Church million litres of water per day, as The Council has already com- category was listed as Arohena well as take 100 per cent of its mitted to a $5 million upgrade of School. It was in fact allowed water take from the ment plant, take more water promising, further water sources the existing treatment plant at Arohena Playcentre which Mangauika Stream. If successful, from the Waikato River and pipe were still required. It was likely Pukerimu, scheduled for 2018/19. created the category it could save between $10 — $13 that water to Te Awamutu. a fourth test bore will be sunk Upgrading works are also winning ‘The Hungry million and be a viable alterna- Group manager service deliv- near the Taylor’s Hill reservoir planned for Cambridge’s water Caterpillar’ float. tive to a $24.5 million project to ery Barry Bergin said while the in the new year, he said. treatment plants and pipelines to upgrade the Parallel Road treat- Frontier Road bore was looking Waipa District Council would allow for future growth. We are now pumping 24/7 g.a.s Rosetown Holden’s after hours selfpay is up and running. We accept the following cards: Eftpos • BP Fuel • Visa Mastercard • Amex • Diners RD1 • Farmlands • Cardlink Evia • FF Card ROSETOWN HOLDEN YOUR ONEg STOP.a MOTORING.s SHOP ROSETOWN HOLDEN 93 Churchill Street • Te Awamutu • Ph (07) 871 5143 2 Te Awamutu Courier Thursday, December 17, 2015 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CourierTe Awamutu Community Newspaper of the Year 2014 Thanks to all those locals who volunteer Your community newspaper for This year I have seen the These are run by caring, of them and wanted to say as who put so much into our over 100 years. amazing work that local organ- dedicated people who do a lot the year wraps up a big thanks. community I hope you have a Circulated free to 13,968 homes through Te Awamutu isations like Kainga Aroha, for free to make sure people in Without you Waipa wouldn’t great Christmas, happy New Ma¯ori Women’s Welfare trouble or needing help get the be the same. Year and get a well earned and surrounding districts. League and many others do to support needed. There isn’t enough space to break. CIRCULATION 13,968* (7059 urban, 6909 rural) support our community. I have come to know many name everyone but for those DAN ARMSTRONG We welcome letters - preferably via email. They should be under 300 words and must have the sender’s name, address and phone number. No Abseiling day a success Water woes back pseudonyms are accepted and names will only be withheld in special circumstances at the discretion Ryder-Cheshire Foundation a heap of effort into ensuring the Summer is here again, along with the dreaded water of the editor. Letters are not usually acknowledged (Waikato) Charitable Trust wishes systems were in place and tested, restrictions. and may be edited, abridged or discarded. to sincerely thank the following before abseiling people in chairs and It always amuses me that we actually live in one of the MANAGER people for making our abseil day Kate’s husband Dean made special wettest climates in the world, with two major rivers Alan Price held at Pirongia Forest Park Lodge a ramps for the doors into the Lodge so dissecting our district and many lakes above and below [email protected] huge success: Kate Parr from First we could get in and out easily. ground, yet we are told water is a finite resource. Step Outdoors and her fellow Not only is the Lodge itself a If you lived in Western Australia that would probably be EDITORIAL instructors, Doug Faulkner and wonderful facility, but the beauty of true, but we don’t. Towns actually only take a small Dean Taylor (editor) Bruce Postill. the mountain and the views made percentage of the water in the Waikato River then return [email protected] Te Pahu School students Laura the day extra special for us city around 80 per cent back in storm water and grey water. Cathy Asplin (journalist) and Ellen Tosse, Sophie and Taleisha dwellers. During the last two council terms there have been [email protected] Lewis, Nicholas Geer and parent Te Pahu can be proud that its positive steps made to to increase the water supply to Colin Thorsen (journalist) helpers Craig Geer and Karen Taylor young people are willing to give up safeguard our future, a big new reservoir on Frontier Road [email protected] for volunteering to push/pull people their free time to help others and to has been built and the future upgrade of the Parallel Road in wheelchairs back up the hill. Mike do so in such a joyful manner, treatment plant is not far away, along with a larger pipe line ADVERTISING Dorinda Williams Ground, Graeme Burberry and Tina encapsulating the spirit of Christ- Te Awamutu. [email protected] Haakma, for being there when we mas. Water meters are to be installed to help reduce demand. needed you to be. We are also grateful to Hamilton I’m not entirely convinced about meters as they may well Ange Holt Five people with functional dis- City Council for making the funds penalise young families and keen gardeners. I would rather [email protected] abilities, including two who use available to cover the costs of the see us solve the water problem by increasing the supply to Bookings wheelchairs, braved the unsettled day. meet the demand. If we had the ability to store a small [email protected] weather and their own fears to give If you think you can, you can. percentage of the rain water that rushes out to sea we would CLASSIFIEDS abseiling a go, and it was only MARGARET McQUILLAN not have a problem. Rhonda Oosterman, possible with a concentrated team Operations Manager Summers are getting hotter, Waipa is growing at more Tania Cortesi-Western, effort and a lot of planning. Ryder-Cheshire Foundation than a house a day, compounding the problem. Controlling Julie Montague I know Doug, Bruce and Kate put (Waikato) Charitable Trust growth may well have been an option.