Woman praises Tokoroa
When Matamata’s Scarlett Morgana-rose Nisbett saw smoke coming out of her vehicle while passing through a strange town at night she was understandably worried.
Nisbett was on her way to Taihape when she decided to stop in Tokoroa for dinner.
It was then that she saw smoke billowing out from under her bonnet.
‘‘I was thinking what am I going to do? I have insurance but I don’t have roadside assist and I didn’t know anyone in town,’’ she said.
With little knowledge about mechanics, and her partner already well away down the line, Nisbett felt very alone. But not for long. T he hospitality of Tokoroa’s community soon saw to that.
‘‘These two young teenage boys were busking and they just grabbed all their coins and came running over and said ‘miss are you alright, do you need any help?’,’’ she said.
‘‘I said ‘I don’t know what’s happening’.
‘‘I was in shock, I thought it was going to blow up.
‘‘They opened up the bonnet and seemed to have a fairly good idea of what was going on.
‘‘We waited until it cooled down and then one of them went to a shop and got a bucket so we could put water in the radiator.’’
She said a local lady called Lisa also pulled over and later on a man.
‘‘I have driven through Tokoroa before and thought it is not a bad place but from what others say it gets a bad reputation so I was surprised by the amount of people who offered to help,’’ she said.
‘‘I was so appreciative of what the people in Tokoroa did for me,’’ she said.
She said despite the two teenagers looking for jobs they refused payment for their help.
The generosity didn’t end there either as Lisa, who organised a local towing company to take Nisbett’s vehicle to a mechanic so it would be safe for the night, also drove her home. All the way to Matamata.
‘‘She had just come back from Auckland but said she would drive me home and she wouldn’t take any money for gas,’’ she said.
‘‘Words can not express the gratitude I feel.’’ The South Waikato’s future was a big part of Taupo MP Louise Upston’s post-budget forum in Tokoroa on Thursday night.
Around 20 people gathered for the talk hosted by the Tokoroa Business Association at the South Waikato Sports and Events Centre and a range of topical questions were put to the MP.
One participant asked why instead of the government paying state house tenants an incentive to move out of Auckland it isn’t instead offering it to potential employers in areas like the South Waikato.
Upston said she could see the positives of the idea but felt there could be a negative impact on locals looking for work.
‘‘If we are convinced we have searched amongst our local population and can’t fill that job then absolutely that model may work. But we need to be making sure we are looking after our own first before attempting to bring in others who may also require additional support,’’ she said.
Another participant asked why the government allowed foreigners to take jobs when many New Zealanders were struggling to find work?
Upston said the main reason was because there are skill shortages within certain professions in New Zealand.
Changing the negative view many non-locals have of Tokoroa was another hot topic.
Upston said now was perfect timing to rebrand.
‘‘If you think about the Waikato Expressway people will leave Auckland and the first towns they will hit are Tirau, Putaruru and Tokoroa,’’ she said.
‘‘We have already experienced the impact of the Taupo bypass and this district needs to make sure it is absolutely grabbing this opportunity with two hands.’’
‘‘I do think we have a sales job to do because there is a really big opportunity of uncovering what we know and what others need to know,’’ she said.