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Backyard invention turns into hot property

Source: Radio New Zealand

A jerry-rigged backyard invention has turned into sizzling hot property for a retired farmer turned entrepreneur.

Alan Dyer has worked out a way to brown sausages evenly, ensuring they don’t roll around on the barbecue.

Using piece of wire, he shaped a device that keeps snags in place while they brown and then helps to roll them all over in an orderly fashion to crisp up the reverse side.

And so, the Sossbosser was born.

Having refined the culinary accessory, it’s now attracting international attention.

Dyer told Checkpoint that coming up with the Sossbosser was a light bulb moment.

“When I first had that unruly sausage floating around the barbecue, misbehaving, and I fashioned this U shape out of a piece of number 8 wire, yeah it was quite a ‘gotcha’ moment to see that renegade rollaway finally under control.”

Dyer said he got annoyed that he couldn’t put the sausage where he wanted it to go because it kept rolling back onto the side that was already cooked.

After he promoted the device on social media there was some international interest, he said.

After appearing on a Chicago TV channel and with the help of some viral videos, the number of people ordering Sossbossers skyrocketed, he said.

“At one stage there we had to actually shut the website down because we couldn’t handle it and I was a bit concerned about taking money off people and not being able to provide them with product … but anyway we got through that.”

One of the videos “baited the Aussies a bit”, he said.

“We told them, you know we’ve invented this and we invented the flat white and we invented a few other things and they kind of took a bit of umbrage at that.”

But that worked out because people engaged with the post and it ended up getting several million views, he said.

To cook a good sausage you need to cook it slowly so that it hardly sizzles at all and to cook it gently all the way around so it’s totally brown, he said.

“Do not pierce the skin because you want to retain all that juice in there, I mean that’s the flavour that the butcher’s gone to all that trouble to put in there.”

There should be no white stripes or “zebra sausages”, he said, because that meant they were only semi-cooked.

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Government ‘listened to Aucklanders’ by weakening housing intensification rules, Character Coalition says

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government agreeing to lower the maximum number of houses in Auckland shows they have been listening to Aucklanders, a heritage group says.

Cabinet agreed to lower the maximum number of houses in Auckland from 2 million to at least 1.6 million, it was announced on Thursday.

Auckland Council had been progressing a new plan to accommodate up to 2 million homes in the coming decades.

The council opted out of medium-density rules that apply to most major cities on the proviso it set up zoning for 30 years of growth.

The council’s Plan Change 120 set out the process for doing this, but the government had since come under pressure from proponents of heritage homes who raised concerns about further intensification in character areas that were already seeing major development.

Devonport Historic Society chairperson Margot McRae said the decision was the best-case scenario for them. 123RF

John Burns from the Character Coalition said two million zoned sites was always an unrealistic and unnecessary target.

“We’re also pleased it will leave it to the council to decide which areas are going to be removed from intensification. We do hope the council will consult with communities this time round before making any decisions.”

He was still concerned about character housing in Mount Eden and Kingsland after the minister said the council should prioritise intensification near the city’s rail network.

“We agree growth around stations generally is a good thing, but there’s plenty of zoned land around Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside stations, and we say there’s no need to destroy these few surviving reminders of our heritage.”

Devonport Historic Society chairperson Margot McRae said the decision was the best-case scenario for them.

“Very relieved that finally common sense has prevailed. Chris Bishop and this ridiculous Plan Change 120, it was always just completely wrong-headed.”

She said the government had pushed Plan Change 120 onto the council and Aucklanders.

“Auckland Council has professional planners, and they’ve always said that Plan Change 120 was terrible. It was not the plan they would’ve written, it was imposed on them by central government.”

“Now they’re backtracking, thankfully, but what a waste of money, resources, time, and anguish that people all around Auckland have put into this. Thousands of people have submitted, and now they’ll have to re-submit. It has been a disaster and proves central government should not get involved in local city planning matters.”

Roughly 10,000 submissions were made on the proposal by organisations and members of the public.

McRae said many people’s opposition to Plan Change 120 was not just about protecting heritage buildings, but building more houses in places Aucklanders actually wanted them.

“The council will now have the right to decide which areas will be intensified, and we all know there are areas that can be intensified and they will be, and lots of areas in Howick, Belmont, and Milford, all of these places were going to be possibly ruined by high-rise buildings.

“It’s not just people wanting to protect the old houses. It would’ve affected every part of Auckland.”

Council would ‘stick with the two million and carry on’ – mayor says

Wayne Brown at the housing intensification announcement. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown fired a warning shot after the announcement that he would not be dictated by Cabinet.

Act leader David Seymour said the reduced number is a decision in principle and still needed legislation passed.

“The government will now await Auckland Council producing a summary of how the zones will change before legislating,” Seymour said.

But Brown suggested otherwise.

“We’re not doing this in order to go to the government and to the Cabinet and ask for their approval,” he said.

“I mean, the Cabinet mostly don’t even live in Auckland, so that’s not going to happen.”

The council would “stick with the two million and carry on” if it had to do that, he said.

On the whittling down from two million homes, Brown said people were focused on the wrong thing.

“And that was, we weren’t going to have two million houses, and it was just a concept that was beyond the thinking of most people.

“If it calms down some worried elderly residents in Epsom, then that’s done its job.”

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Firefighters at scene of reported chemical leak at Levin industrial site

Source: Radio New Zealand

Firefighters are at the scene. (File photo) RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Firefighters are at the scene of a reported chemical leak at an industrial site in Levin.

Firefighters from Otaki and Levin and a specialist crew from Palmerston North were at the scene on Thursday evening.

An ambulance was also at the scene with more on the way.

It’s not yet known whether anyone had been injured.

MORE TO COME…

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Overseas experts flown in to assess damage at Moa Point wastewater treatment plant

Source: Radio New Zealand

Untreated water was leaking onto the capital’s south coast beaches. (File photo) RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Experts are being flown in from Australia to help assess damage at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant.

Wellington Water said over the past 24 hours, the short 5-metre pipe close to the shoreline had not been spewing raw sewage, and the long outfall pipe was being used instead.

On 4 February the plant failed – sending millions of litres of raw sewage into Cook Strait every day.

This map shows the Moa Point sewage spill along Wellington’s south coast. The pipeline network is shown in red, including the 5-metre and 1.8-kilometre long outfall pipes discharging to the ocean. Supplied, CC BY-NC-ND

In an update on Thursday, Wellington Water said due to heavy rain this past Monday, bacteria levels around the plant’s short outfall pipe and southern coast beaches had increased.

“Public health advice remains the same: it is strongly recommended for the public stay out of the water on the South coast of Wellington. Do not collect kai moana,” it said.

It said it hadn’t found any structural issues with the long outfall pipe – such as a blockage – which was restricting flow through the pipe.

Wellington Water said it was trying to increase the volume of sewage that could be pumped to the long pipe – because after its equipment failure – it can’t cope in wet weather.

It expected construction work on a large air vent on the outfall pipe to begin this weekend, with the aim this will help improve the flow through the long pipe.

“Workers are onsite at Moa Point, continuing to assess the damage, working to manage odour, and manage network flows.

“As part of the damage assessment, experts are being flown in from Sydney to assist.”

Wellington Water also warned residents about a stink coming from the plant since it failed.

It said crews were clearing wastewater and sludge from the plant as quickly as possible, and it expected that to be done by early March.

“Odour monitors are being installed to measure the impact at sites surrounding the plant. We have one unit available and will confirm when this is in place.”

Meanwhile, the water operator had warned residents living near the southern landfill of an increased bad smell on Thursday, as it carried out unplanned work at the Carey’s Gully sludge dewatering plant.

“Carey’s Gully usually manages the sludge from the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant,” it said.

“Because the plant is currently closed, the sludge tanks at Carey’s Gully are not being used and so the unplanned maintenance involves draining these tanks.”

The work should be completed by the end of Thursday, it said.

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Confidential Wellington council documents found in sold desk should have been destroyed, review finds

Source: Radio New Zealand

In September last year a stash of more than 200 papers were found in a locked cupboard within a mayoral desk that was bought from Wellington’s Tip Shop. 123RF

Confidential documents discovered in a former Wellington mayoral desk sold to a member of the public should have been destroyed, a review has found.

It’s also revealed the desk was checked three times before its sale.

In September last year a stash of more than 200 papers were found in a locked cupboard within the desk bought from the Tip Shop, a second-hand store at the city’s landfill.

Furniture from the Wellington Town Hall was sold there during the building’s redevelopment.

The council has been investigating how the items were sold, and why confidential documents were not removed from them.

The documents were dated between 1988 and 2004, during which time Sir James Belich, Dame Fran Wilde, Mark Blumsky and Dame Kerry Prendergast were mayor.

When the papers were discovered, Dame Kerry said they were “potentially incredibly damaging”.

The agenda for next week’s Audit and Risk committee meeting show the “desk privacy incident” will be discussed.

The council carried out an internal review and also commissioned Grant Thornton to carry out a review, the agenda shows.

The Grant Thornton review found the storage of the documents – which included personal information like names and email addresses – did not follow council policy.

It said a number should have been destroyed, and others should have been destroyed after seven years, while two should have been archived.

“From an interview with an ex-Mayor, we understand the documents were created and deliberately stored outside of the WCC filing system as they were considered confidential to the Mayor, due to the nature of the documentation, reflecting the Mayor’s responsibilities regarding the Council Chief Executive and elected members.”

It was unclear whether the council knew about the documents, but mayoral staff would have, it said.

The desk had been checked for documents three times as it was moved from place to place – once in 2013 and twice in 2025.

The last inspection was at the Tip Shop, where “all drawers were found to be empty, and the item was cleared for removal and sale”.

The review said there was no evidence to consider whether the locked cupboard was not noticed, or if it was noticed but not checked.

“While WCC were unaware of the documentation in the locked cupboard in the desk, there were three opportunities for the

cupboard to be identified, opened and the documents retrieved,” the report said.

“The disposal processes do not appear to be consistent with the requirements of the Council Privacy Policy to ensure ‘everything reasonably within the power of the agency is done’.”

Elected members were not bound by council policies but the council could do better by giving greater support around record-keeping, it said.

The council’s “key challenge” was increasing the awareness of risk and the importance of following policies among staff, it said.

It recommended the council establish an asset disposal policy, strengthens its procedures, improves information management training, and enhance “relocation controls”.

The council’s internal review found it breached two privacy principles: storage and security, and retention.

It accepted both reviews’ findings and has since updated Tip Shop’s operating procedures, commissioned a formal asset disposal policy, strengthened its relocation and furniture checking processes, and enhanced “elected member transition processes to support the return of confidential physical documentation”.

It’s also considering mandatory information management training, and has checked remaining furniture in storage to ensure no more documents were “overlooked”.

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A tragedy avoided

Source: New Zealand Police

Being prepared almost certainly saved a rock fisherman’s life at Piha.

Police were contacted at 7.43am on Wednesday by a fisherman advising one of his companions had fallen into water at The Gap.

Acting Senior Sergeant Mark Jamieson says the Police Maritime Unit took over incident control of the water rescue.

“The Police Eagle helicopter deployed over South Piha, and soon caught sight of the fisherman, and the crew could see he was well prepared,” he says.

“He had been fishing with a lifejacket on, and another fisherman had thrown an emergency life ring out to him.”

Meanwhile, Police Maritime Unit had called out Surf Life Saving NZ at Piha.

Acting Senior Sergeant Jamieson says Eagle kept watch from above while an IRB was heading to the location.

“Although he was struggling in the current, the devices were doing a good job at keeping him afloat while help was on the way.”

The man was soon uplifted and brought back to shore.

First responders are praising the event, as the fisherman walked away safe and well.

“Time and time again we have seen these stories end in a tragedy, and these rescue responses turn into recovery missions,” acting Senior Sergeant Jamieson says.

“This is a story where things were done correctly; the man was prepared and wearing a lifejacket and there were people equipped with a phone so that they could call for help.”

Acting Senior Sergeant Jamieson acknowledges the various resources involved.

“There was good collaboration between Northern Emergency Communication and Dispatch, Police Maritime Unit, the Police Eagle helicopter and Surf Life Saving NZ which brought about a prompt rescue.”

Surf Life Saving New Zealand GM – Northern Region, Zac Franich says the outcome highlights the importance of wearing the appropriate safety equipment when rock fishing, particularly a life jacket.

“This is a really positive outcome, and the fact the fisherman was wearing a lifejacket made a critical difference,” he says.

“When people are swept into the water while rock fishing, conditions can change very quickly. A lifejacket helps keep you afloat, conserves energy and buys crucial time for rescuers to reach you. Were it not for the lifejacket, we could very easily have been reporting on a fatal drowning.”

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

A video of the rescue has been posted to the North Shore, Rodney & West Auckland Police Facebook page.

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Calls for tougher penalties to stop roaming, aggressive dogs

Source: Radio New Zealand

A pack of roaming dogs in bush near Paihia in the Bay of Islands. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

Further calls have been made for more to be done about dangerous dogs, in the wake of Tuesday’s fatal dog attack in Northland.

Mihiata Te Rore, 62, was killed by a pack of three dogs at a property in the small town of Kaihu on Tuesday. She was the third person to be killed by dogs in the region in four years, and fourth nationwide.

It has prompted calls for change from as high up as the prime minister, meanwhile RNZ has been contacted by multiple dog attack victims who have shared their frustration at what they say is a lack of action by authorities.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he had been exploring non-legislative options to help councils deal with the issue.

But multiple organisations have been calling for a change at a policy level, including the SPCA, which said the Dog Control Act was “hopelessly out of date”.

Whangārei man Jade Campbell was among the dog attack victims calling for more to be done.

“They stick their head through the hedge and bark at us, and they’ve frightened the missus off the bottom of the section with the boy, the boy’s only two years old,” he said.

“They’re aggressive, they’ve come over and killed our cat.”

He said the council hadn’t done anything in response.

Campbell believed owners should have the legal right to destroy a dog if it roamed onto their property.

“A bite and a couple of shakes will kill a young child easily, so the law basically says I have to wait until the dog kills my son before I can kill the dog.”

Under New Zealand law, it was only legal to kill a dog if it was actively attacking a person or animals.

Whangārei District Council’s manager of health and bylaws Reiner Mussle said they investigated every complaint they received, including Campbell’s case.

“Unfortunately, the cat was found in a decomposed state and there was insufficient evidence available to determine how it died or to establish that a dog was responsible,” he said.

“While historic dog footprints were identified on the complainant’s property, these indicated that dogs had been present in the area at some point in the past, but there was nothing directly linking those footprints to the death of the cat.”

Mussle said they were actively monitoring the issue of non-secured dogs in the wider area, and taking action where required.

But the issue is not just in Northland.

More than 200 children aged under 15 and nearly 3000 adults were attacked by dogs in Auckland between July 2024 and June 2025.

Papatoetoe resident Krish had been chased through the street by roaming dogs. His cat had also been killed.

He said more needed to be done.

“It’s been a pretty devastating loss for our family, so I’m trying to make it my mission over the next few weeks to actually get something done about it,” he said.

Krish had engaged lawyers about his case, and wanted to speak to his local MP about boosting enforcement for unruly dogs.

“If you have an off-leash dog, there needs to be more punishment for it, almost like an instant impound or severe fines, or just no off-leash dogs almost,” he said.

“And then possibly looking into banning dangerous dog breeds or unleashed dogs.”

Police said the dogs involved in the Kaihu attack were with Animal Control and would be destroyed.

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How a tiny fish could lead to treatment for a painful, chronic condition

Source: Radio New Zealand

In this living zebrafish larva, the lymphatic vessels are fluorescently labelled red, while blood vessels are green, allowing scientists to visualise vessel growth. SUPPLIED

The larva of a stripey fish could be the key to preventing a chronic and painful swelling condition that’s a common side effect of some breast cancer treatment.

Lymphoedema usually affected the arms or legs and could be caused by cancer treatments that remove or damage the lymph nodes. There was currently no cure.

The condition could be congenital or caused by an injury, but it mostly occurred as an unintended consequence following breast-cancer treatment.

Auckland University scientists discovered a molecule in zebrafish larva that offered hope of eventually treating or preventing the condition.

Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Astin, told Checkpoint, the larva of zebrafish were often used to answer scientific questions as the larva was almost completely transparent, making it easy to fluorescently label any organ system.

Astin said the way a human embryo developed was initially almost identical to a fish embryo – so the hope was what was discovered using zebrafish could be directly translated into understanding human development and disease.

In Astin’s lab, the lympahtics of the fish were tagged to help understand how lymphatics form and how lymphatic diseases could be treated.

The scientists discovered a growth-promoting molecule, known as ‘insulin-like growth factor’, or IGF, accelerated the growth of lymphatic vessels in zebrafish, so it had the potential to repair damaged vessels.

“What we’ve done subsequently is grown human lymphatics in a dish and put this human IGF on and that has been able to stimulate human lymphatic growth,” Astin said.

“Finding the molecule in fish allowed us to identify it might be therapeutic and find the human version.”

Astin said lymphoedema was often seen in breast cancer patients, with some estimates that around 20 percent of patients who had lymph nodes removed as part of breast cancer treatment having lymphoedema develop in one of their arms.

The condition was very difficult to cure once a person had it, Aston said, because the fluid build up caused tissue damage which could be hard to reverse, but the hope was it could be prevented.

“The plan would really be prevent it form occurring in the first place, so we hope by identifying this new IGF, it may be part of a treatment cocktail where we might be able to provide these lymphatic stimulating growth factors to patients who have lymph nodes removed in order to prevent the onset or the incidents of lymphoedema.”

Any possible treatment would still be many years off, Astin said, as work was still being done to understand whether it could stimulate repair and the it would need to be tested for safety.

“But this is the first new lymphatic growth factor we’ve identified in many years.”

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Boxing NZ appoints new leadership as investigation into head coach drags on

Source: Radio New Zealand

Boxing gloves supplied

Former Gisborne deputy mayor Josh Wharehinga has been appointed as the new president of Boxing New Zealand as the sport grapples with complaints about its head coach.

The Sport Integrity Commission has been investigating Boxing NZ and its head coach Billy Meehan.

Cathy Meehan, who is the wife of Billy Meehan, recently stepped down from her role as president of the organisation.

Earlier this month, a top Kiwi boxer told RNZ that an alleged culture of sexism, favouritism and bullying drove her to walk away from a promising amateur career.

Commonwealth Games medalist Tasmyn Benny said Meehan killed her passion for the sport.

Described as a ‘boys club’ rife with verbal abuse, sexually inappropriate behaviour and misogyny, Benny said she was made to feel powerless and without a voice in the environment.

“You can’t really go to Boxing New Zealand because it’s all made of his family and friends. They’re all in the same circle,” she told RNZ.

After winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, Benny said she noticed a shift at the organisation.

“All the management and coaching changed for New Zealand boxing and that’s when everything went downhill. Billy was in charge the whole time.”

Meehan has not responded to the allegations. The Integrity Commission has defended the delay in a resolution.

Billy Meehan. Supplied/ NZ Boxing

Wharehinga served four terms on Gisborne’s council – two as deputy mayor – before stepping away from local government earlier this year to concentrate on his business interests and reinvigorating boxing in Tai Rāwhiti.

The respected referee and judge thanked his colleagues on the Boxing New Zealand executive for “entrusting me with this important responsibility,” Wharehinga said.

“The first thing I’d like to do as incoming president is pay tribute to Cathy for her tireless, selfless service to boxing in Aotearoa. Cathy is a tremendous kaitiaki of the sport and will continue to be an important contributor to our future success.

“I’m incredibly passionate about boxing. It has been a huge part of my life so to be appointed to this role at an important time for the sport is a huge honour,” he said.

Local businessman and Otago Boxing Association member Bryan Usher has been appointed vice president, replacing Mark Fuller.

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Gloriavale leader Howard Temple appeals ‘excessive’ jail sentence

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Gloriavale overseeing shepherd Howard Temple. The Press/Kai Schwoerer

The lawyer for convicted sex offender and former Gloriavale leader Howard Temple claims jailing the 85-year-old was excessive.

Temple was sentenced to 26 months’ jail in December for indecencies on multiple girls and young women.

He immediately appealed and has been on bail.

His lawyer, Michael Vesty, argues the sentence is excessive given Temple’s age, bail conditions and cognitive impairment.

Vesty said it should be reduced to two years or less to allow for home detention.

The Crown said the offending spanned many years, despite a previous police warning, and affected a large number of victims.

Justice Paulsen reserved his decision.

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