Vegetables, meat _ and Christmas goodies

The Foodbank group are saving the best for the last of the year.

At Christmas, school-age children of foodbank “clients” all get a present.

The gifts come from under the Pain and Kershaw Christmas Tree, with age and gender data placed on the tree to help locals target their Christmas presents.

“So everybody who gets food from the Foodbank _ their children get a present in the Christmas food box,” said May Croft. There is also a special bag of “things for on the Christmas table. It’s nice to know everbody gets something special.” … Continue Reading

Uplift Wairarapa opens wallets to save lives

On 1 November, the Waihinga Centre was abuzz with red balloons and crews of volunteers sporting red hair and wearing the red lookalike Life Flight overalls. Uplift Wairarapa’s Fundraising event was due to Take Flight.

“We first intended to have this fundraising event in 2021,” Susan Stephen announced, “but Covid severely limited the number of people who could participate so we postponed it until this year. One of our major supporters for the event was the Life Flight Events Co-Ordinator, Sherry Herrick who was so energetic but sadly died in April 2022.”

“With JC Baxter as a co-coordinator we decided that it was time to carry on.

“Our planning began back in February. In September we started with a raffle offering accommodation at 10 different locations. All prizes were generously donated by local homestay operators or owners from Ngawi to Castlepoint,” she told the audience.

“So, before we had even opened the doors to the Waihinga Centre we had raised $27,500 from ticket and raffle sales.” … Continue Reading

Wairarapa Music in the Country celebrates 10 Years

This year Wairarapa Music in the Country is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Held at the scenic

Tauherenikau Racecourse, the three-day event (January 10 – 12) continues to attract music lovers from across New Zealand with its impressive lineup and welcoming atmosphere.

The three-day festival boasts an impressive roster of multi-award-winning musicians with distinguished careers both nationally and internationally. The lineup includes: The Warratahs, Dolly Parton Experience, Sisters in Country (Jodi Vaughan, Aly Cook, and Wendy Thornton), Melissa Partridge, Coopers Run, Jackie Bristow, Ainslie Allen, Matt Joe Gow. Saddle Up Sisters (Steffany Beck and Miranda Eastern), Katie Thompson and Kayla Mahon to name a few. … Continue Reading

Will these newly-founds increase rates take?

Peering over hedges and up South Wairarapa town driveways has seen council officials uncover what may _ or may not _  turn out to be a small, extra rating windfall.

A month of urban snooping, the first leg of the process under way, has helped unearth some “approximately 120 properties” that do not appear in council records.

These property owners should brace for an official letter asking them to “please explain” the “additional dwelling that are not reflected in our (council) records.”

In other words, are these newly-unearthed premises in fact dwellings that have _ for whatever reason _ fallen outside the council’s financial scoop-net?   

SWDC said in a brief statement the request will enable it to “understand the nature and use of the dwellings, so our records along with those of QV (Quotable Value) can be updated as needed.

QV holds the main recording system for the rating system used by councils.

It notes upgrading the system with this fresh information will add to the equity and fairness of the current rating system _ which some householders have noted has increased rates an average of 95 percent over five years.

Why rural properties are excluded from the “survey” has not been explained.