Councillor comments

The Waihinga Centre.It is now over a year since the Town Hall “Feasibility Study” was presented, all the proceeding work is the result of the study which laid the basic foundation and assisted in providing a mandate to which our various teams have worked. We have a very able Comms team who are far more capable than I but I would just like to reinforce a couple of points about the new centre.

1. The core project cost of 5.2million and the additional playground and streetscape costings from the “Study” have been adhered to as a result of careful negotiating by our diligent construction team.

2. The focus of the project is the new Library, I Site and Plunket/toy library facilities it is these activities that create the vibrant hub that will enhance a strengthened refurbished Town Hall. All these components combined will create an efficient, sustainable and exciting centre we can all enjoy. … Continue Reading

Cross Creek Blues Club

We began the Blues year in fine style with a return by special request, of those two slinky sirens, Marian Carter and Cindy Jane Muggeridge, “The Raven Mavens” with Mr Neil Billington on Harmonica. They were sophisticated, superbly sultry and I guarantee you will never have heard a harmonica do what Neil did!!

The evening also featured a support programme from: the Honky Tonk Heroes; the Freda May Band; Stefan Kingsford Brown; Blakewater Blues; Salt of the Earth and the Brad Reeves Band. You will get to hear all these talented local musicians and more at our February “Members” Club night where our Wairarapa musicians get the chance to “strut their stuff”. … Continue Reading

Country Dog City Dog

Book review

The Grand Dame of crime writers, P.D. James, died last year in her late nineties. While being partial to the odd crime story I had not read any of her books considering that they would probably be of the Agatha Christie mould.

However after reading of her interesting life I thought that maybe my baseless judgement was wrong.

The Library has a couple of dozen of her books in their stack collection of which I chose what is probably her last, ‘Death in Holy Orders’, published at the age of 95 in 2001. … Continue Reading