April: A month of many losses
Three weeks to make the road safe again was the early expectation from the New Zealand Transport Agency following two slips that closed the highway through the Manawatu¯ Gorge.
At the time of the slips on April 24, neither were considered significant hurdles.
The agency’s transport systems manager Ross I’anson said the road was expected to re-open within a month, and within four days the smaller slip, at the Ashhurst end, had been cleared and work was beginning on the larger slip near Woodville.
Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon expressed disappointment the slips had not been cleared sooner.
Commuters also had their challenges at the beginning of
April, when the remnants of Cyclone Debbie spread its wrath across the country for two days.
Whanganui and Rangitı¯kei were the hardest hit areas in the central North Island, with states of emerg- ency declared due to slips, flooding and closed highways.
There were fears the devastating 2015 floods would be repeated, as the Whanganui River came close to breeching its banks and 150 residents were evacuated from their homes. But the skies cleared and anxieties were eased.
The bad weather had a more lasting impact in Ashhurst, where hundreds of trees and huge chunks of the domain were destroyed by the Manawatu¯ River.
The devastation began just a day after Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith had described the lack of action to protect the area as ‘‘disastrous’’, and resident Gary Tanner called it ‘‘criminal negligence’’.
The area was outside Horizons Regional Council’s lower Manawatu¯ river management scheme, while the domain was owned by the Palmerston North City Council. Both councils would invest $100,000 of temporary protection works over winter to avoid further erosion.
The mood of the nation wasn’t much brighter on April 10, when news broke of John Clarke’s death.
Born in Palmerston North, the satirist was most famous for creating the black singlet-clad Kiwi icon Fred Dagg.
Clarke died of natural causes while at hiking. He was 68.
Though he had called Australia home for many years, his connection to the region’s heartland was indelible.
Rangitı¯kei mayor Andy Watson said much of Fred Dagg’s character would have been influenced by Clarke’s childhood in Manawatu¯ . ‘‘Everything he did would have come from what he saw and had observed on real-life farms.’’
There were sighs of relief when motorsport venue Manfeild fought off some formidable opponents to retain hosting rights of the New Zealand Grand Prix for the next three years.
Manfeild had hosted the race since 2008, but had came under fire after concerns it no longer had the profile the grand prix deserved.
Businessman Tony Quinn was outspoken in his criticism while trying to lure the event to his Hampton Hills track in Waikato.
Manfeild is able to secure another two years, beyond 2020, but needs to grow both the stature of the race and the crowds over the next three years.
April also brought a green-light for the contentious proposal to build a cycle and pedestrian bridge across the Manawatu¯ River in Palmerston North.
The He Ara Kotahi bridge, to be built on Dittmer Drive at the end of Ruha St, endured some forceful objections from nearby residents who thought the project had been rushed, the design ugly and not in the right location.
Cycle groups, however, backed the city council, believing the bridge would be of great value for recreation and commuting.