Gorge route pleases mayors
Nude run at court
A man stripped off his clothes and ran naked through a courtroom as he tried to make his escape. Dylan James Ellis appeared in the Greymouth District Court on Wednesday, charged with theft, resisting police, assaulting police, possession of cannabis seeds and possession of methamphetamine utensils. Ellis was arrested in Greymouth a day earlier, and Judge Anthony Couch said he was ‘‘very distressed’’ when he first appeared in court. ‘‘He discarded the clothing he had been provided and attempted to run from the court,’’ the judge said. Ellis had to be taken back to the cells and returned to the court once he had calmed down. Judge Couch said Ellis was on bail for an earlier charge of theft. He failed to appear in the Westport District Court on three occasions and a warrant was issued for his arrest. When police found him at a
Greymouth house, he was allegedly hiding in a cupboard and became aggressive. ‘‘He was waving a sledgehammer around. He allegedly resisted arrest and in the course of doing so assaulted a police officer and gauged his eye. The police officer required hospital treatment for that,’’ Judge Couch said. When he was arrested, police found 150 cannabis seeds and a methamphetamine pipe in his pocket. Judge Couch remanded Ellis in custody to reappear on March 28.
Multiple fractures
A 4-month-old baby girl admitted to hospital in Auckland with significant fractures all over her body has sparked a police investigation. The infant’s Howick family took her to a doctor, who referred her to the hospital where fractures to her skull, ribs, arms and legs were found. The injuries were of varying ages and were ‘‘classically associated with nonaccidental injury’’, said Detective Senior Sergeant Eddie Sutherland. The Ministry for
Children’s south Auckland regional manager, Jim Wilson, said the child was not previously known to Oranga Tamariki. ‘‘The baby girl is now in our custody and recovering well with Oranga Tamariki caregivers.’’
Defamation case fails
A jury has rejected claims by Invercargill City councillor Karen Arnold that she was defamed by the city’s mayor, Tim Shadbolt, and media company Stuff. The 12-strong jury delivered its verdict about 3.30pm on Friday in the High Court at Invercargill after an almost three-week trial and more than eight hours of deliberations. Arnold had sued Shadbolt and Stuff, formerly Fairfax Media, for defamation over comments made by Shadbolt in four columns published in The Southland Times in 2014 and 2015.
Gang link to drug bust An international criminal syndicate including Australia’s notorious Comanchero bike gang has been linked to a multimillion-dollar methamphetamine bust in
Auckland. On Tuesday two people were arrested after $2.4 million worth of methamphetamine was seized at Auckland International Airport. A 22-year-old Waikato man and a 48-year old Auckland woman were arrested and charged with importing methamphetamine. Police on Friday said they were looking for Brent Nicholas Taylor, 43, and Kelly Eugene Edmonds, 37, in connection with the drug seizure. Both men were said by police to be part of an international crime syndicate responsible for the importation and supply of methamphetamine to New Zealand with links to the Comanchero and Filthy Few gangs. Both gangs have a growing presence in New Zealand, and over a dozen patched members of the Comancheros have been deported to New Zealand under Australian immigration laws. Taylor and Edmonds are both known to frequent the Waikato and Auckland areas and were said to be ‘‘actively avoiding police’’. The Tararua and Manawatu¯ mayors are delighted at the option chosen for the Manawatu¯ Gorge replacement route, although it is not the one they lobbied for.
Their joy comes from the NZ Transport Agency’s decision to create a business case looking into a regional freight ring road, which would link Manawatu¯ ’s growing transport and logistics hubs. The agency announced on Friday its preferred route would go north of the Manawatu¯ Gorge, but south of the Saddle Rd bypass.
Traffic will use the bridge already going across the Manawatu¯ River east of Ashhurst, but veer north just before the Manawatu¯ Gorge entry, go east across the range, then head down the other side into Woodville.
State Highway 3 through the gorge has been closed since April, after two slips came down on the road.
The notoriously unstable hillside was then found to be moving at a faster rate than normal, forcing workers off the site.
The agency had put out four options for consultation: A route north of the Saddle Rd; improving the Saddle Rd; a road starting just north of Palmerston North but well south of Ashhurst; and the option it has chosen.
Friday’s announcement came with a surprise – the agency committing to forming a business case for a regional ring road.
The road would link Kairanga, Bunnythorpe and the inland port at Longburn to Ashhurst, and would include another bridge built across the Manawatu¯ River.
The Manawatu¯ mayors had lobbied for the option just north of Palmerston North, but all spoken to by were happy with the result.
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said doing the gorge replacement on its own would have been good, but it made sense to develop the ring road at the same time.
Woodville, the last town before traffic went into the Manawatu¯ Gorge, has suffered a downturn in traffic thanks to the closure.
Some businesses have previously said their revenue was down by as much as 70 per cent.
Tararua mayor Tracey Collis said the best part of the announcement was the certainty it gave business owners.
The transport agency’s director of regional relationships Emma Speight said the chosen route was safer than the southern one, which would have seen the road go between two fault lines at one point.
The chosen route was shorter by 6.6 kilometres, would also be a quicker trip than the old Manawatu¯ Gorge route, shaving nearly four minutes off, and not be as steep as the Saddle Rd, she said.
Resource consents need to be granted before work begins, with Speight putting 2020 as a construction start date. The work is expected to be complete by 2024.