Library dragged into show controversy
The simple announcement of a show for children sparked two petitions, a series of articles and plenty of community comment that stretched nearly two months, Doug Sail discovered when he reviewed the news that made headlines in August 2020 as part of our s
A Timaru woman launched a petition calling on the town’s library to cancel an event which would have seen a drag queen duo address children on diversity.
Taranaki-based drag queens Erika and Coco Flash were due to visit Timaru on August 20 to deliver their Rainbow Story Time NZ session as part of a two-week nationwide tour.
The duo, who have delivered performances to schools and other groups for five years, said their sessions included reading books, playing games and dancing to encourage acceptance, inclusion and diversity for toddlers to intermediate-aged children.
On August 2, Timaru resident Wendy Newman launched a petition calling for the library to reconsider the event, which she labelled ‘‘inappropriate’’ entertainment for children.
‘‘It is adult entertainment and not suitable for children,’’ Newman said.
On August 5, Christchurch woman Geni McCallum countered with a petition of her own in support of the show, and the performing duo said they were pleased with the support.
Within a few days of The Timaru Herald articles, 99 people had registered as attending or being interested in attending the event.
As the interest soared, a second show was pencilled in for Timaru on August 7, but both were eventually postponed on August 16 due to Covid-19 alert level 2 restrictions.
The petition against the performance, with 337 signatures, was presented to the Timaru District Council on September 22 with Newman telling councillors she had been abused and attacked for starting the petition and that drag queen entertainment was inappropriate for libraries.
‘‘This petition is not about the gay agenda but the inappropriate exposure of queer gender ideology to noticeably young children.’’
After much discussion, the council took the petition as read.
Pressure on community grants
Demand for Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury funding was three times greater than the $500,000 available, with the high number of requests being attributed to Covid-19.
The trust said on August 4 it had dipped into its ‘‘rainy day’’ reserves to approve $552,300 worth of grants to 26 organisations, chairman Nathan Mills said.
‘‘The board was aware that accessing funding was one of the biggest challenges that not-forprofit organisations faced following Covid-19,’’ Mills said.
‘‘The Community Trust has also suffered investment losses but . . . [it] was committed to continue funding community groups, so they were able to deliver their vital services to the region – especially in times of high need.’’
‘It’s amazing to be back’
Fifty-nine days after departing Timaru on a mission to retrieve stranded fishermen from the Falkland Islands, the San Aotea II returned to port on August 4.
The longliner departed Timaru on June 6, to collect 15 fishermen who had been fishing in the South Atlantic for toothfish when Covid19 forced the closure of international borders, leaving them with no viable route home.
The decision was made to take the San Aotea II south on a challenging voyage to collect the stranded crew and deliver a fresh crew to the San Aspiring so it could continue operating to the end of the fishing season.
The mission was not without incident, with three men arrested, convicted and jailed on assault charges following an incident on June 29.
South Atlantic News Agency reported Samuel Goldsworthy, Sonny Ball, and Chassy Duncan were sentenced on August 7 to prison terms of 14 months, 12 months, and eight months respectively after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
They had assaulted a group of customers at Deano’s Bar in Stanley after being refused service. One of the men was from the San Aspiring with the other two off the San Aotea.
‘Lucky’ Temuka does it again
Temuka notched its fifth big Lotto win of 2020 on August 5, with a third first-division winning ticket sold.
The town of about 4000 people also sold two second division winning tickets this year, the five winning tickets totalling more than $1.3 million in prizemoney.
Temuka New World co-owner Tammy Maxwell said the town was absolutely the luckiest place in New Zealand.
Hands picked for Rangitata
National named Megan Hands, an Environment Canterbury councillor based in Darfield, as the electorate’s new candidate following a party meeting in Ashburton on August 8.
The party was forced to select a new candidate just weeks out from the election after Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon resigned amid allegations he had sent unsolicited indecent images to several women.
Hands joined list MP Jo Luxton (Labour), Hamish Hutton (ACT), Gerrie Ligtenberg (Greens), Lachie Ashton (New Conservative) and Brannon Favel (Social Credit) in the battle for the Rangitata seat.
Threats to shoot choppers
Multiple threats of shooting down helicopters and harming Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage were reported to police in the wake of the Department of Conservation’s controversial tahr control programme.
All but one of the 18 threats, reported from June 17 to August 4, were made on social media, with a majority of those ‘‘suggesting shooting down helicopters’’ involved in the tahr control programme, with others suggesting burning down helicopter hangars.
Directors get pay increase
Directors on the Timaru District Council’s independent holdings company, Timaru District Holdings Limited, received a significant increase in their fees.
Councillors decided on the increases on August 12 after receiving a report from the Institute of Directors setting the chairperson’s fees at $60,000 (previously $31,400), the deputy chair $43,000 ($21,540) and ordinary directors at $35,000 ($18,000).
$30m hospital revamp confirmed
A four-year refurbishment of Timaru Hospital’s clinical services building will cost $30 million.
The South Canterbury District Health Board announced on August 12 it had approved the programme.
The refurbishment programme is planned to be completed by December 2023, chief executive Nigel Trainor said.
Timaru’s Centennial Park lit up over August 14-16 as thousands of people attended a drive-through light festival in aid of charity.
The sold out Light up the Night held over three days raised money for Plunket. It was a contactless event with tickets sold online.
Those who attended were treated to an array of lighting in the park including meteor shower lights, firefly lights and colour changing trees.
Glenavy wins speed fight
A battle for lower State Highway 1 speed limits in the Glenavy area, which began 10 years ago, was finally won.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency announced on August 20 new permanent speed limits on the highway through the township and across the Waitaki River bridge.
From September 18, the new permanent speed limits on SH1 through Glenavy reduced from 70kmh to 60kmh.
On SH1, south of Glenavy, across the Waitaki River bridge to south of the Waitaki Bridge village, the speed limit reduced from 100kmh to 80kmh.
Rangitata crash hotspot made speed limit zone
A start date for a new speed limit zone at a dangerous State Highway 1 intersection at Rangitata was confirmed on August 23.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency director regional relationships Jim Harland confirmed the intersection speed zone (ISZ) where SH1 meets SH79 would go live from September 9 ‘‘to help prevent deaths and serious injuries from crashes’’.
The ISZ system uses electronic signs to detect when a motorist is turning into or out of SH79, temporarily reducing the speed limit on SH1 from 100kmh to 60kmh, Harland said.
Temuka wins rugby title again
The Temuka senior rugby team won the Hamersley Cup for another year after beating Waimate 20-18 in a nailbiting final.
Temuka were back-to-back champions after a dramatic last minute penalty snatched a 20-18 win over Waimate in Timaru.
Covid-19 restrictions limited the crowd size for the final to 500 supporters for each team.
Fire sparks evacuation
August ended with the first of two major fires that would hit the alpine region in a relatively short space of time.
Visitors to Aoraki/Mt Cook were evacuated as firefighters continued to battle a blaze which closed two state highways and threatened properties.
State Highway 8 and SH80 were both closed as firefighters fought the fire which flared up on a Twizel riverbed and spread into a large forest area on Mt Cook Rd.
Fourteen helicopters equipped with monsoon buckets, two fixedwing aircraft, and 10 appliances, were called to the fire, which burnt through two kilometres of trees in the first hour.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said a building at Pukaki Downs Station had been ‘‘lost’’ and the fire had threatened others, all of which were evacuated.