Southern dogs under control, behaving and returned

Of the 3,410 registered dogs living in the district, only 152 were listed in the South Wairarapa District Council’s Dog Control Activities complaints register for the year to July 2024 _ 13 more than the prior year but down 57 on 2021-22. The highest number of complaint offences _ 83 …

Toast to the new Taste Wairarapa

By Joelle Thomson, Wine Writer Taste Wairarapa stepped in where Toast Martinborough left off on the third weekend of November this year. The well-known Toast Martinborough food, wine and music event has run for 30 years and will return in January 2025 in a reincarnated form with Foley Wines as …

How Well Do We Know People In Our Community? – December 2024

By Lyle Griffiths Born in Whanganui, Mariana McDermott first lived with her mother in the home of her grandmother. After her mother remarried, the family moved to Martinborough, to Hikawera, where her stepfather, Tiki Mahupuku McGregor, built his own home. It was close to the old meeting house, which had …

Kitcheners ram-raid brings out community support

A front-end loader assault on a bank ATM which collapsed part of a verandah, ripped open a cafe frontage and wrecked building support beams netted the culprit nothing – but brought a swell of community support for the damaged Kitcheners Cafe business. Within nine hours of the ATM ram-raid on …

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FROM THE MAYOR – December 2024

December 9, 2024 December 2024 Comments Off on FROM THE MAYOR – December 2024

By Martin Connelly

This is my final column for the year. I wish all readers of The Star a very merry Christmas. 

Please have a stress-free and relaxing holiday break. I hope I will see many of you on one of the several Christmas Parades around the district. 

To the editors and people who make The Star happen, especially David and Ray, thank you for all you do and a special Merry Christmas to you both.

My final Christmas message goes to the people who run Kitchener’s Café and all those who helped

them out last weekend. This repugnant act of destruction was followed by a huge community

contribution of cleaning, tidying and supporting. It just shows that a helpful group of neighbours can get us all through life’s nasty blows. A merry and caffeinated Christmas to you all. … Continue Reading

Generosity already key mark of this Christmas

December 9, 2024 December 2024 Comments Off on Generosity already key mark of this Christmas

In early November, the Wairarapa region came together to support local food banks through its annual street collection event. 

Martinborough saw an excellent turnout, with 13 volunteers from the South Wairarapa Rotary Club and The Social Crust foodank joining the dedicated crew from the Martinborough Volunteer Fire Brigade for the cause. 

The community’s efforts were met with enthusiastic support from residents, who generously donated canned goods, pantry staples, and personal care items.

Local organisers extended their thanks to the volunteers and donors whose efforts ensure that the region’s food banks are well-stocked for the coming months. 

“It is really quite overwhelming to experience the generosity of so many people who had carefully and thoughtfully selected items to give and even made sure they were protected from the weather on the night,” May Croft of The Social Crust said. “We have spent the last couple of days stacking the shelves and putting aside some lovely Christmas treats for our hampers that go out to all our clients at Christmas.” The result from the collection was shelves groaning with supplies.

Caption: Dianne MacKenzie, Dave Hutchison unpack donated food items at The Social Crust.

Donna Redmond, Cam Sutherland, Neil McCallum in trailer on collection night.

Hill road replacement issue revives

December 9, 2024 December 2024 Comments Off on Hill road replacement issue revives

Remutaka Road Action Group wants the region’s southern lifeline put on central government’s agenda and has identified three new routes as options to replace the current hill road.

Basic New Zealand Transport Agency data show 9,200 vehicles use the hill road each day _ that’s 64,500+ a week, or 3.35 million a year _ surely a road deserving of a “regional significance” designation by the current system.

Other data shows in the past nine years the hill road has seen 382 crashes, including five fatal smashes.

The Action Group is asking a simple question: what to do with a problem like the hill road? – and offering three alternative lower-level routes – including one tunnel, for NZTA to investigate.  

What will be the public response, as this is not the first time well-intentioned locals have raised the issue. 

One such campaigner was former National Party MP for Wairarapa John Hayes, who in his maiden speech to the House in 2006 laid out his goals. 

Among the top three was a road tunnel connection to Wellington _ something he saw as a major upgrade of the transport linkages. … Continue Reading

11 December close-off for electoral poll – December 2024

December 9, 2024 December 2024 Comments Off on 11 December close-off for electoral poll – December 2024

If you want a change of voting system from “First Past the Post” – winner takes all – for the 2025-28 local body elections, you have just days to make a case for change. 

 Under the Local Electoral Act 2021, South Wairarapa District Council has given the required notice to citizens that they “have the right to demand” a formal poll on the electoral system which will be used for the 2025 and 2028 district elections. 

A poll would offer the choice between the First Past the Post (FPP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral systems. 

“Unless a poll determines otherwise, the FPP electoral system will continue to be used for the South Wairarapa District Council,” it noted last month when it posted the notification on its website _ which many will have missed. … Continue Reading

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Sports

Martinborough golf by a hank – of wool

  We start at the end of the month, when the annual Baabraa Trophy between Martinborough and Eketahuna was fought out on a glorious Sunday in Martinborough. A field of 70 played a stableford round and the average stableford points for the two clubs were calculated. Eketahuna scored an average …

Lady golfers show Rosebowl winning ways

September has been an up and down month weatherwise for golfers, some beautiful early spring days followed by cold and rain. Thankfully for the important days the weather has mostly come to the party. Early in the month the Cotter Rosebowl was successfully defended at Carterton by Martinborough’s team of …

Stunning first 4 – 1 win for Marty Women’s FC

By All-knowing Football Reporter It was always going to happen. After a few draws, some losses the newly-formed MWFC won their first game. An impressive and resounding victory. It started with ‘The Fox in the Box,’ the striker who plays in the traditional Number 9 role of marauding the penalty …

Regular Features

From the Mayor

By Martin Connelly Water services have been a political football for some time. We associate …

EVENTS

Wellington Heritage Festival WHEN: October 26 – November 17  WHERE: * Wellington Region – 140 …

How Well Do We Know People in Our Community?

By Lyle Griffiths Pforzheim in Southern Germany was where Thomas Röckinger lived with his family, …

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Could ZERO growth be the answer?   So, Martinborough’s sewage woes continue, and have seriously …

THE STAR BOOK REVIEW

    By Brenda Channer – Martinborough Bookshop “Costanza” by Rachel Blackmore This is a …

THE STAR  BOOK  REVIEW  

By Brenda Channer –  Martinborough Bookshop “All the Colours of the Dark” by Chris Whittaker. …

EVENTS – October 2024

Discover Te Muna  WHEN:     Saturday, Sunday, October 19 – 20  TIME:      …

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