Ngatea dairy break-in leaves store owner and family shaken, P3 In store this week huge new range of pots & planters!!! www.theplanteryshop.co.nz The Depot, 715 Pollen St, Thames. Behind Café Melbourne ISSN 2703-5700 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY Issue 025 June 16, 2021 Road ‘too dangerous’ for kids C 100KaiauaC 0 primary students have been clipped by cars and M 25 knockedM 0 off their bikes while riding home from school. Y 0 Y 0 K 0 KELLEYK 100 TANTAU investigates the school’s plea for action. tanding on the road between safe pedestrian access from the Sthe white line and Kaiaua full primary school on East Coast School is a feat not for the faint Rd to Whakatīwai were brought Fontof heart. :: Times There (modified) is only a mere to Hauraki District Council’s at- metre between the line and the tention by concerned resident fence, and its access for pedestri- Roger Barlow at council’s long ans is made difficult by the road’s term plan hearings last month. downward slope, which makes it In his submission, Mr Barlow near-impossible to manoeuvre said the Kaiaua School student for students riding their bikes. voice was “very compelling and It’s the same towards the set- frightening”. tlement of Whakatīwai, a kilo- He also said the roadworks metre away. completed on the road in front of There is no footpath either side the school earlier this year high- of the road, and children have lighted the lack of a safe access been clipped by cars as they rode for pedestrians. their bikes to and from school. “Before, I used to be able to One incident even saw a child walk along the fenceline. Now, knocked off his bike, Kaiaua I just don’t try anymore. It’s just School principal Karlos Bosson too dangerous,” Mr Bosson told said. The Profile during a visit to the “The driver of the van did stop Hauraki school. and see if he was okay, picked “When we take the children him up, threw the bike in the across the road to the beach, back of the van and drove him we now have a person up on the home. bend that will signal down when “As principal, straight away it’s safe to cross, and the kids, you think of the health and safe- basically, walk very briskly,” he ty requirements of a child being said. picked up by a stranger, and then “That’s a procedure we need to you consider how it happened: iron out: we want all staff to wear being involved in an accident. high-vis vests.” “These are things that we’re Mr Bosson has been principal facing.” at the school for three-and-a-half Another child was riding her years. When he started there, no bike and wanted to cross the students rode their bikes to and road to where there was a foot- from school. Now, close to a path. On her way, she fell off third of the roll did. and landed on the road. Luckily, “It’s a large number, and the those students were okay but the risk factor is huge,” he said. “Re- close-calls have prompted the member when you were a kid school and community to act. and could easily ride to school? Kaiaua School principal Karlos Bosson is concerned for the safety Issues regarding the lack of a CONTINUED ON P2 of his students who ride bikes to and from the beach-side school. Photo: KELLEY TANTAU Need a rubbish bin? With a range Classic to contemporary styling of size options – we’ve got you All aspects of colouring covered! Blonding specialists PHONE 0800 4 MY BIN (0800 469 246) “City styling in the EMAIL [email protected] heart of Coromandel” ONLINE www.smartbins.co.nz 558 Pollen St, Thames. Phone 868 6105 www.walterandco.co.nz WE ARE LOCAL – proudly 100% Kiwi owned & operated www.facebook.com/walterandcothames Instagram@walter_andco 02 THE VALLEY PROFILE, June 16, 2021 www.valleyprofile.co.nz CONTACT US LETTERS The Valley Profile is a community Send your letters to the editor to [email protected] or PO Box 550 newspaper that delivers 100% Thames, 3540. Letters must include your full name and address, be 250 words local news in the Thames Valley or less and may be edited, abridged or rejected at the editor’s discretion. region. We deliver 12,500 copies each Wednesday to CLIMATE CHANGE atmosphere, air, which then heats every letterbox, reaching about I would like to comment on the the water bodies such as rivers 30,000 readers in Hauraki Plains, comment of John Leeman that lakes and oceans that generate Paeroa, Thames, Thames Coast “We are heading to the point of the storms. When summer soil and surrounding rural areas, no return [with climate change]” temperatures were measured, dif- plus bulk distribution around the Electric vehicles on show at Coromandel Peninsula. ( ferences were measured from one Thames expo, Valley Profile, June farming system to another of 16 NEWS/EDITORIAL 2). This is related to an article degrees centigrade. The main dif- Editor Teresa Ramsey about electric vehicles reducing ference between the properties Ph 0204 0944 853 carbon emissions. The first point was the amount of carbon in the Email: [email protected] to consider is how our electricity is soil. Describing exactly how one Reporter Kelley Tantau being produced for powering the can increase the carbon as humus Ph 022 619 4889 vehicle. If the electricity is being in the soil as well as increasing the Kaiaua School principal Karlos Bosson on the dangerous stretch of road. Email: [email protected] produced by photo voltaic plates net profit of those farming the soil on the roof, by local windmill or would require a longer article. It ADVERTISING stream, or it could be that the ex- has and is being done by a small Kaiaua Rd ‘too dangerous’ Ad manager Nikki Sanders tra electricity is being produced but increasing number of people. CONTINUED FROM P1 first staff had heard of the inci- Ph 022 1303 885 by coal-fired or other fossil fueled From my point of view, this is the dents along East Coast Rd. Email: [email protected] generator, which is only shifting most important way that we can “That’s no longer the case any- “It raised our concerns as MISSED PAPERS/ADMIN the perceived problem to another participate in moderating climate- more. It’s become a very dan- well. We care about what’s hap- Ph 027 396 2459 place. In my observation as a soil related events in a manner that gerous proposition for a lot of pened… and we’re actively look- Email: [email protected] consultant, the important point to will also clean our water and en- our kids.” ing into solutions,” he said. consider is the loss of carbon from hance fish for recreation and in- Mr Barlow and Mr Bosson Mr de Laborde said while 100% LOCALLY OWNED our soils. Over a period of collect- dustry. The opportunity here is to said a footpath from the school there were no finalised plans or AND OPERATED ing soil samples from farmland, I increase prosperity of the whole to the settlement needed to be designs at this stage, council had noted diminishing organic matter country. established. They also wanted indicated it wanted to look into PO Box 550, Thames 3540 percentages in soil samples. This Peter Bacchus, Thames the speed limit of the road to be the viability of constructing a www.valleyprofile.co.nz leads to a lack of of carbon in the reduced from 70kmh to 50kmh. footpath in the area. Staff were Hi, my name is Pete soil that has the capacity to hold TELL US WHAT YOU THINK “We have logging trucks using currently preparing a report de- the Pukeko and I’m four times its weight in water. The Valley Profile welcomes your the road, we have tractors and tailing possible options for con- here to help you. When that carbon is incorporated opinions, views, accolades and other agricultural vehicles us- sideration. Find me in one into the soil as humus by soil biol- concerns. Writing a letter to the ing the road, we have car clubs He also agreed the speed limit of the display ogy, the humus can hold its own editor is one of the easiest ways to using the road, we have motor- could be too high on this section advertisements weight in water. Water is the most get your message across to tens of bikes using the road, we have of road. in The Valley Profile, then email important element for the growth thousands of Profile readers. So, tour coaches using the road, we “This is currently being inves- [email protected] or Ph/ of plants. The markers for climate if there’s something happening in txt 027 396 2459 with your full have cyclists using the road, we tigated as part of a wider review name, the business name and page change are floods and flood dam- our community you feel strongly have locals using the road,” Mr of speed limits across the district. number of the ad by the following age and temperature. The greater about, please get in touch - this Barlow said. “Once this review is com- Monday to go in the draw to WIN the quantity of moisture an envi- space is available for you to pub- “What we do not have is a foot- plete, we’ll ask our communities a car valet from Thames Autos ronment, including soil, can hold, lish your views, comment on a re- path that will allow us to walk for feedback on our proposed worth $150! The prize is drawn at the less likely a damaging flood cent story or respond to the issues safely.” changes,” he said.