Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

A two-storey classroom block at Auckland’s St Kentigern College in Pakuranga caught fire on Wednesday afternoon, leading to a full school evacuation.

About 20 firefighters attended the incident after Fire and Emergency said they were called to the school on Pakuranga Road about 1.30pm.

A FENZ spokesperson said firefighters saw a “large plume of smoke” coming from the building when they arrived.

Students and staff were evacuated onto the sport fields as a precaution.

The school confirmed there were people inside the classroom when the fire started.

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A spokesperson for the college said the fire was quickly put out, which allowed senior students to start their exams at 2pm despite the brief disruption.

The cause of the fire was unknown and the school was working with Fire and Emergency.

The school could not confirm the extent of damage done to the classroom block, but nobody was hurt injured.

Police have been approached for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man who was travelling on State Highway 25 towards Coromandel town this morning said he saw rocks, small slips and “spontaneous waterfall” along the way.

Mieke Kregting took a video of what appeared to be a landslide along SH25.

The video showed rocks and debris spilling onto the highway, and water gushing down a muddy cliff-face onto the road.

Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty Regional Council activated its flood room protocols as it prepared for a downpour.

MetService has issued an orange heavy rain warning for Bay of Plenty until 11pm on Wednesday, with 80mm to 110mm of rain on top of what has already fallen expected.

The heavy rain warnings in place in Bay of Plenty as of Wednesday 3pm.

In a statement on social media the Bay of Plenty Regional Council said it was reacting as a result of the wet weather.

“This means our flood team is set up to monitor the situation 24/7 as it develops. We will be providing real-time river level information to supporting agencies (such as local councils and Waka Kotahi), to assist with planning and responding to local communities.

“We’ll also have our flood monitoring team out in the field. It’s their job to be the eyes and ears on the ground, checking flood defences (such as stopbanks and floodwalls), monitoring river levels, flows and rainfall and reporting back to the Flood Room.”

The council said members of its operations team were also out in the community, checking the condition of the flood infrastructure, assessing the weather conditions in key areas and pumping out flood waters from any drainage canals where needed.

“Your local council is also monitoring the situation and will be providing updates via their websites and social media channels around roading, blocked culverts/drains, and water/stormwater/wastewater.”

Heaviest rain in Auckland CBD

Earlier on Wednesday central Auckland bore the brunt of the rain, MetService said.

Orange heavy rain warnings were in place for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island (until 2pm), Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō (until 6pm), Bay of Plenty (until 11pm) and Tongariro National Park (until 10pm).

MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said all those areas had received a “decent amount” of rain overnight.

It was heaviest in Auckland, particularly in the central city, he said.

Have you been caught up in the weather? Share your stories and pictures with us at iwitness@rnz.co.nz

“Some stations in Auckland have recorded about 15.5mm of rain in the period of an hour, some even as high as 21mm of rain,” he said.

The band of rain would move eastwards throughout the day, easing before another band was due to ramp up again in the afternoon.

Gisborne was not under a weather warning, but the rain was heading that way later this afternoon, he said.

After Wednesday, high pressure would begin to build, Magwala said, “giving us some more settled weather for a couple of days”.

Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune, as well as Taranaki are also under heavy rain watches until Wednesday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Bluebridge ferry, Connemara, is stuck in Picton after an issue with the ramp has left passengers unable to disembark.

The ferry left Wellington shortly after 8am and arrived in Picton just before midday.

Passenger Nick Simcock said those onboard had been told the ramp was stuck and staff had been working for the last 2.5 hours to free it.

“We boarded in Wellington about 8am and it was a great sailing across the channel but we arrived about midday and no-one has been able to get on or off the ferry, the back door ramp is firmly stuck,” Simcock said.

“It’s something to do with the mechanism, the pins are stuck that lock the door into position.”

Simcock is heading to the Marlborough Sounds for a fishing and diving trip with friends and he said they were keen to get off the ferry so they could get on with that.

“Everyone is resigned to the fact I think, we have been down this road before with the ferries here.”

Bluebridge has been approached for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government’s Cook Strait ferry project will cost less than $2 billion, says the Rail Minister.

Winston Peters announced in March the government would buy two new Interislander ferries to replace the current ageing fleet.

The new ferries are expected to come into service in 2029.

It was revealed today the total budget for the project was currently estimated to be $1.86 billion – with taxpayers paying less than $1.7 billion of that.

Briefing documents said the cost would not surpass $2 billion.

Peters said the contract for the ferries were a fixed price $596 million between Ferry Holdings and shipbuilder Guangzhou Shipyard International.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis pulled the plug on iReX, the previous government’s Cook Strait mega ferry plan, in 2023.

Peters said the public had benefited as a result of the new plan.

“Spending less than $1.7 billion means the taxpayer has saved $2.3 billion while still getting the ferries and infrastructure they want, because we have done away with the expensive consultants who hijacked the project by adding more and more infrastructure until Treasury warned the project would cost $4 billion.”

He said funding spent on infrastructure would be recovered over the life of the new Interislander ferries and infrastructure, through port fees paid from Interislander revenue.

Interislander would also be expected to build sufficient money reserves to buy new ferries again in 30 years, Peters said.

The new ships would be 200 metres long and rail-enabled, which meant rail freight could be rolled on and off them.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Anita Hart, 61, was reported missing on 13 November, after her abandoned car was found on Gillespies Road.

“Police, along with multiple Search and Rescue teams, have been extensively searching the area working to locate her, and while this is not the outcome we hoped for, we hope it will help provide some closure for her family and loved ones,” Detective Senior Sergeant Kylee Cusin said.

“Police would like to thank the public and everyone who helped in the search.”

Her death has been referred to the Coroner.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A two-storey classroom block at Auckland’s St Kentigern College has caught fire this afternoon, and about 20 firefighters are in attendance.

Fire and Emergency said they were called to the school on Pakuranga Road about 1.30pm.

A FENZ spokesperson said firefighters saw a “large plume of smoke” coming from a two storey classroom block upon arrival.

She said the building is 50 metres by 22 metres, and the fire has now been contained to one classroom.

FENZ said nobody has been hurt.

Five fire trucks are still at the scene.

More to come…

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Manawatū Prison has reopened after a bomb threat.

The facility was locked down after police received a threatening phone call at 8.40am on Wednesday.

The prison’s deputy general manager Shane Petersen said police conducted an extensive search but no bomb was found.

“The safety and security of the prison is our priority. We take threats to the operation and security of our facilities very seriously and have detailed protocols for dealing with incidents of this nature,” Petersen said.

There were no injuries and prison staff were assisting police with follow up enquiries into the threat.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand