Who, what made the news
Naomi Arnold looks back at what made the news in 2012 – and speculates on what will keep us talking this year.
Nationally, 2012 was the year of Gangnam Style, Kim Dotcom, Ewan Macdonald, volcanic eruptions, The Block, and a small brown-haired hobbit who went for a very long walk. Locally, everyday life was punctuated by a few horrific incidents in our community: bursts of crime, stabbings, deaths, workplace accidents, and two women murdered. But there was good news too: small touches of warmth and happiness among the pain. A man got a new leg. A much-loved dog was rescued. A refugee couple bought their first home, six years after arriving in Nelson penniless.
But a few of those issues from 2012 just aren’t going to go away. Here’s a look back on a few sad, funny, serious, and light-hearted moments of last year – and a few of our predictions about what will continue to make an impact in 2013.
If the previous December brought steady, devastating rain, January was all about the cleanup. The aftermath of the once-in-500-years rainstorm, which saw homes, roads and infrastructure washed away or severely damaged, consumed the time, money and energy of many in the community, particularly in Golden Bay. Residents say the cleanup is continuing today, with some of the slips in the worst-hit areas still without a protective cover of vegetation, more than a year on.
Later in the month, adventurous toddler Gnarley Maguire stowed away on his grandfather’s trailer and took a ride along 20km of winding Takaka Hill. Luckily, the trailer had a 1.2m cage around it, and Gnarley was kept safe until a motorist managed to alert his grandfather when he stopped at a store in Motueka. The Mail met him safe and well at his Takaka Hill home, where he gave a burbling video interview.
In February, the murder trial for the group involved in the 2009 shooting of Nelson man Troy Minto started at the Nelson District Court. All five men, all in their 20s, were found guilty, with Blair Robert McNaughton and Blake Paul Cunnard guilty of murder and Samuel Ingram Gillbanks, Jared Matthew Perry, and Issac Crawford Warren guilty of manslaughter and guilty of unlawful possession of a shotgun. McNaughton was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years, and Cunnard received 10 years.
Meanwhile, the proposed Nelson City Council dog control policy and bylaw review saw more than 300 dog owners and dogs taking to the streets in protest that month. The changes suggested adding more dogs-prohibited areas and more requirements for dogs to be leashed in public urban areas, including the Maitai Walkway.
The council received more than 300 submissions from people wanting their say, but a meeting set in November to discuss them did not attract enough councillors to go ahead, and a workshop to provide guidance to council staff on the discussion was held instead. With nothing yet finalised, dog owners are sure to take a keen interest in continuing discussions and to remain vocal on the issue this year.
In March, the second week of autumn brought disruption to quiet Harley St when a man arrived at Nelson police station, bringing with him a 5-year-old girl. He told the watchhouse assistant there was a woman’s body in a parked van nearby. Later, the man, Michael William Beca, was charged with the murder of Lisa Marie Corbett, and police believe she was killed at the Spooners Range lookout. She was a single mother of three, who owned a caravan and lived at the Brook Motor Camp in Nelson; the girl was her daughter, and may have been present when she died. The case is still before the court.
Later that month, in a New Zealand first, Nelson man Phil Coulson flew to Sydney to receive the first of two operations for his new bionic leg after he lost it in a motorcycle crash. Months later, he would describe his new leg as ‘‘everything I could hope for, and more’’. He can now sense carpet, turn his leg to wipe his shoes on a doormat, and is almost evangelical in his quest to help others undergo the same difficult but life-changing surgery.
In April, we were entertained by a young Scot who’d fallen in love with a visiting woman during Christmas 2006 – but couldn’t remember her name. ‘‘I think it’s Laura,’’ Steve Drew said when he contacted the Nelson Mail, asking for help from people who might remember her. Thinking ‘what if’ was driving him crazy, he said.
‘‘I’ve read two stories about people who had thought they would never find someone and have, so I figured why not give it a go?’’ He remembered a string of details relating to his lost love, including the make and colour of her Kiwi friend’s brother’s car (a gunmetal grey 1980s Holden Commodore), and a few places they went sightseeing. Everything, it seems, except her name. His search, unfortunately, appears to have finished at a dead end – unless you can provide further information.
We argued about hundreds of different issues in 2012, but hardly more fiercely than the debate over Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio’s proposed amalgamation of our two regions. Though tricky for headline writers, amalgamation took up plenty of space in the news pages. Spearheaded by Mr Miccio, who first mooted it in his mayoral campaign of 2010, the debate rolled throughout the year, culminating in April when poll results showed that while more than half of Nelson supported it, three-quarters of those in Tasman were against. But in early December, Mr Miccio said he hadn’t ruled out another bid for the council reorganisation – and this year is election year. If he decides to raise it again, we can expect plenty more debate as October’s local body elections get closer.
On the first morning in May, we awoke to discover the groundbreaking news that Stoke had enjoyed its sunniest April, with its 247.6 hours of sunshine eclipsing the previous record set in April 2005.
But May also brought news that Richmond School for Girls with special needs, Salisbury School, was under threat from a Ministry of Education plan to review special residential schools and instead provide a new ‘wrap-around’ model of education in the girls’ home communities. The proposal was met with disbelief from educators, and the school’s board of trustees spent the next eight months embroiled in submissions and legal advice.
Closure was announced in October, and the saga culminated, for now, when a High Court judge ruled this month that Education Minister Hekia Parata’s decision to close was unlawful. However, although Ms Parata last month ruled out appealing the decision, the axe seems shelved only until Salisbury’s current students finish their two-year terms. The board is due to meet Ms Parata this month; although the board has said they fully intend to remain open, more challenges may lie ahead.
It was Richmond’s turn to be shocked that month when local woman Sharyn Wilkinson-Foley was discovered dead at her Salisbury Rd flat in early May. A 55-year-old man has been charged with her murder, and the case is still before the court.
Winter brought wild weather to the region, with Murchison homes and businesses copping the worst of the floods in early June and then again two weeks later.
On a Saturday morning in the second week of June, we awoke to news that revered Nelson artist Jane Evans had died peacefully at her Russell St home, surrounded by a close-knit group of friends and family. It resulted in an outpouring of affection for the 65-yearold artist, who was formally farewelled by more than 400 people at a memorial service at Nelson’s Christ Church Cathedral.
Art of a different kind was in the news when Spanish artist Juanjo Novella’s sculpture was unveiled at Miyazu Park at a cost of $200,000 – not including the $25,000 overspend. Some liked it; some hated it; some questioned why ratepayers had to spend so much on a work by a foreigner, when Nelson was groaning with talented artists. The cycle repeated again in November, when Terry Stringer’s piece Dance to the Music of Time was installed near the intersection of Queen Elizabeth II Dr and Trafalgar St; and no doubt similar complaints will happen again the next time the council tries to brighten up our public spaces.
An evening in early July saw a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rock the region, bringing back some bad memories for former Christchurch residents now settled here. But together with the rising cost of insurance, ongoing quakestrengthening work of public, heritage, commercial, and private buildings is costing both the councils and businesses a fortune. There is a shortage of certified buildings in Nelson, and in the coming years, Nelson City Council expects to issue notices on hundreds of buildings as it assesses their strength. Expect it to be another big issue this year.
July was also the month that Tasman police district commander Superintendent Richard Chambers disestablished the job of assistant Search and Rescue co-ordinator Sherp Tucker, leading to a wave of support for the man who’d organised thousands of searches throughout the years.
And for those of us following the life and times of our serial protester Lewis Stanton, aka Hone Ma Heke, there was some amusement – or disgust, depending on your viewpoint – to see him on the front page, captured on Trafalgar St as he scuffled with Nelson Marlborough District Health Board member Judy Crowe. Mr Stanton’s battles with the council are still not satisfactorily resolved, so you’ll continue to exasperated and amused well into 2013 while they get things sorted.
In August, as the nation was caught up in the London Olympics and we were first introduced to the national debacle of Novopay, Motuekans were thrilled to see their own Jonelle Richards take out bronze in the three-day team eventing, an amazing result for a 32-year-old at her first Olympics.
Nelson city councillors were given iPads to replace bulky agendas, which caused an outcry; and Liam ‘‘Geezer’’ Dunne, a Taupo skydiver, shocked onlookers at Motueka’s Good Vibes skydiving festival when his main chute’s steering malfunctioned and his reserve chute opened just 230m above the ground. He landed heavily on grass at the aerodrome, suffering back injuries.
September saw a fireball engulf Talley’s 64m fishing vessel Amaltal Columbia, with 41 staff stranded at sea off Canterbury, in cold, rough waters. A Sanford Fisheries vessel, the San Discovery, responded to the mayday call, and the crew, who all escaped injury, huddled on deck for several hours and then abandoned ship in the early hours of the morning, climbing into lifeboats. The ship was towed, still burning, into Lyttelton the next day. Talley’s hopes to salvage the vessel.
Late September and early October brought an outpouring of affection for Rah, or Michael Bruce Wixon, an itinerant man well-known to many in Nelson, if only by sight. He died after being hit by a car on Queen Elizabeth II Dr, on an evening in the last week of September. At his funeral, many from businesses and agencies around town – a bank, the library, the night shelter – spoke of him with affection and respect.
That month, debate also raged about
what to do with Aragorn – once again. The popular white swan on the Maitai river had suffered dog attacks and regularly made national news for his springtime attacks on kayakers, walkers, children – and this time, a whitebaiter, who he allegedly tried to drown. A week after that attack, he was captured and sent to a Kaikoura adventure park, where a fenced private paddock awaited. Sadly, Aragorn died three weeks later. The Maitai in 2013 will be a less interesting place without him, though perhaps safer in the nesting season.
In November, the Novopay debacle continued to rage, with more than half of schools nationwide continuing to have problems.
Nelson College had a support staff member who had been underpaid one week, overpaid the next, then received a debt collection agency letter requesting the overdue amount; and another who had been paid for part-time work at another school. As at December, pay errors continued to range from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars under or overpaid, and principals foresaw more problems with settling end-of-year accounts and managing payments for the new year, when many staff members move to different schools or change their positions. Many expected to begin this year out of pocket.
The first week of December was sad for the Motueka community when Motueka High School’s board of trustees was found to be at fault for the death of 5-year-old Glenn Te Miha Barlow, who was crushed when a log, stacked on a pile in school grounds, rolled on to him in February last year.
The board was charged under the Health and Safety Act for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure that the actions of any employee at work harmed another person, and was ordered to pay $60,000 in reparations. In court, board chairman Ian Palmer assured the family that the school would never forget Glenn, the matter was not closed, it was undertaking a case study, and would work with other schools to ensure a similar school tragedy did not happen again.