Teen glider injured in Waikawa crash

A man flown to hospital after being involved in a paragliding crash in Waikawa, near Picton, on Friday is understood to remain in a stable condition.

The 19-year-old UK man who was ‘‘in a lot of pain’’ after his glider crashed at Endeavour Park was transported to Nelson Hospital.

Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Trust responded to the call at 12.40pm and flew the conscious man to the hospital where he was being treated.

Rescue Helicopter Trust crewman Carl Babe said the paraglider must have ran into some problems while coming into land at Endeavour Park.

‘‘He’s obviously been paragliding, there’s been some problem for him when he’s been coming into land resulting in him having a heavy landing,’’ he said.

Babe said the rescue helicopter crews tended to be quite busy when people were on holiday as there were more people out and about enjoying their time off.

‘‘Sunny weather, weekends and a bit of a holiday, it always gets people out and about adventuring . So the chances of something going wrong, obviously the more people out there, the bigger the risk of there being an accident,’’ he said.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said.

‘‘It’s being investigated by the Hang Gliding Association who are then going to give a report back to us,’’ he said.

Marlborough Hang Gliding and Paragliding Assocation president Vern Sanders said there could be any number of reasons why the man crashed.

‘‘It just depends on what the circumstances are ... There’s all sorts of ways accidents can happen,’’ he said.

While Sanders did not want to speculate on what might have happened, he said paragliding was a ‘‘pretty dangerous sport’’.

Drive in movie

Churchward Park Scouts in Blenheim are bringing a touch of nostalgia to their latest fundraising bid. On April 14 two drive through movies, Ferdinand the Bull and Hunt for the Wilderpeople will be shown at the Blenheim Car Club grounds at Omaka. Sound will be streamed via car radios. Entry is $30 per vehicle and the gates open at 4pm. Visit cwparkscouts.org.nz for more information and to buy tickets.

Correction

The Earth Day column ‘Play green’ – what does it mean? published on March 23 was incorrectly credited to Peter Deacon. This column was written by Don Miller.

Predator free

Kaipupu Sanctuary could be predator free within five years, not New Zealand. An article in the Saturday Express on March 24 said Kaipupu Sanctuary project manager Rachel Russell said New Zealand could be predator free in five years. The error is regretted.

Book Exchange

St Arnaud has a new book exchange. The brightly painted booth is full to the brim with fiction, non fiction and children’s books. The exchange is situated in the Alpine Store car park, Main Rd, St Arnaud. If you don’t have a book to exchange you are encouraged to leave a gold coin donation in the Lifeflight box at the store.

Tui to town

Marlborough District Council is offering a dollar-for-dollar funding of up to $1000 for the restoration of plantings that will provide habitat for Tui in Marlborough. Reinstating Tui habitat has been taking place since 2008 and funding is available for planting areas over 1000 square metres. The Tui to Town project has been extended beyond the Wairau Plain area to include the upper Wairau Valley and south east to Seddon and Ward.

Tourism spend

The latest monthly regional tourism estimates released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show that tourism spend for Marlborough is estimated to be $379 million for the year to February 2018. MBIE Manager of Sector Trends Mark Gordon says that of this tourism spend in the year to February 2018, international visitors spent $130 million (up seven per cent), and domestic tourists spent $249 million. ‘‘When it comes to the monthly expenditure, tourism spend in Marlborough for the month of February 2018 is up 16 per cent compared,’’ says Mr Gordon.

Serious injury

A man seriously injured in a crash on State Highway 1 in Marlborough is in intensive care. A truck and a car collided near the highway’s intersection with Redwood Pass Rd, south of Blenheim, about 10.30am on Tuesday. The man was flown by helicopter to Wellington Hospital. A Capital & Coast District Health Board spokesman said the man was in a serious condition in intensive care on Thursday afternoon.