Te¯na¯ koutou katoa,
Greetings to you all,
Thank you for your patience and working with us during the water shutdown in Pahiatua. We acknowledge the inconvenience created when we missed our publicised 6pm deadline for the water services to be resumed. The day went smoothly, but the pressure took longer than anticipated to return. The new pipes are complete and we envisage no further shutdowns of this magnitude. The new water treatment plant will deliver water we can be proud of and the Prime Minister has been invited to open the plant in September and it will be running in October.
Last week the New Zealand Geographic Board officially added the macron to Eket¯ahuna. The macron is critical in telling the story behind the name. Locals have long referred to the name translated to crossing a sandbank or run aground on a sandbank. Named by tangata whenua to describe the location on the Makakahi River where their waka (canoes) could travel no further upstream. Eke is to cross and t¯a huna means sandbank. If the name isnot used with the macron it changes the whole story. It is important to have this recognised for Eket¯ahuna and the community are really pleased. The macron was already being used locally and Council will progress changing stationery progressively to save costs and will look at signage changes.
Eket¯ahuna has been a town of two names in history and early Scandinavian settlers called the settlement Mellemskov, which means middle of the forest. The forest through the seventy-mile bush was thick and full of bird life and Pukaha Mt Bruce, our national wildlife centre, is a wonderful reminder of this.
fiLoveLocalTararua s our land and people. Our land, our people and our stories. We have such rich histories in all our towns, so we were devastated by the theft of our Huia last week from the Dannevirke Gallery of History. The last official Huia was seen in the Ruahine Ranges in 1907. This was a very special taonga and we urge anyone with information about the theft to contact our local police or call the anonymous Crimestoppers number, 0800 555 111. There is a reward offered for any information leading to the safe return of the Huia. The Gallery has footage and police will be checking cameras.
Noho ora mai all the best