NZ Rugby (NZR) has confirmed today that Dane Coles is the recently retired player on its appointments panel for the next All Black coach.
NZR had previously announced the five-person panel would include Board Chair David Kirk, 132-test All Black Keven Mealamu, interim CEO Steve Lancaster and former Black Sox coach Don Tricker.
Coles comes back into the All Black environment after retiring in 2023, having played 90 tests over 11 seasons.
The panel will find a successor to Scott Robertson, who was sensationally sacked as All Black coach last month.
Robertson guided the team to 20 wins in 27 tests over two seasons, however Kirk said that the NZR board had concerns over the trajectory of the team before next year’s World Cup in Australia.
The leading candidates appear to be Jamie Joseph and Dave Rennie, after the confirmations that Joe Schmidt will stay in his role as Wallaby coach, and Vern Cotter’s move to the Queensland Reds next season.
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New Plymouth mayor Max Brough previously said the removal or modification of the cycleway would be one of his first jobs.ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
The mayor of New Plymouth has revealed low-profile rubber lane dividers will replace the city’s controversial concrete cycleway separators – nicknamed Tim Tams due to their resemblance to the popular biscuit.
In a video briefing Max Brough said the rubber lane dividers – he’d branded Mallowpuffs – would replace the Tim Tams along a stretch of Devon Street West.
“We’re going from Tim Tams to Mallowpuffs. The concept is that we’re going to go away from those horrible concrete blocks that are causing so much stress and the new ones are going to be put down and I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.”
Brough campaigned on pulling up the Tim Tams and wanted to turn it into a community event.
He apologised for how long it was taking.
“The Tim Tam battle could’ve been accelerated faster but we’ve got where we’ve got to and it’s largely down to the cost.”
The Transport Agency paid for and installed the $3.8 million cycleway and council staff had estimated it would cost $1.6 million to remove them adding 1.1 percent to rates.
Brough said councillors had baulked at the expense during a December meeting that recommended they remain for at least nine months.
“That was the appetite in the chamber on the day if we’re going to rip all of that out and go back [to what we had] is it a retrograde step and then the cost that was looked at it came back as too much to be doing in a hurry.”
Some motorists complained they had driven into the concrete lane dividers causing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to their vehicles, but the cycleway was popular with some bike riders and an audit by engineering firm Becca found it had improved safety along Devon Street West which feeds onto State Highway 45.
Brough said NZTA was co-operating with council and a design had been completed for the Morley Street to Belt Road section of Devon Street West.
That work would start at the end of March to coincide with the resealing of the road.
Some carparks would be reinstated and there was an information evening for planned residents.
Max Brough says NZTA are co-operating with council and a design has been completed for the Morley Street to Belt Road section of Devon Street West.ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
Brough did not clarify what the ‘Mallowpuffs’ would be made of in the video briefing, but he told the Taranaki Daily New they would be low-profile rubber dividers about 80mm high and 2m-long.
Motorists would be able to drive over them.
The Tim Tams were more than 100mm high.
In the video briefing, Brough was not clear whether the ‘Mallowpuff’ solution was a trial or intended to be used along the entire length of the cycleway.
In a statement, council officers said it was only a trial.
“Several different types of separators as an alternative to the current concrete structures, will be trailed, along with a shared path.
“We will be monitoring the trial area and the rest of the corridor and report back to council in September. This will inform the elected members’ decision on what will happen next.”
Tim Tam Alley was the subject of two presentations due to be heard at the first meeting of the council’s new Public Engagement Committee.
The mayor established the committee to give the public a greater opportunity to speak directly with councillors and influence council decisions.
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A cordon is in place on Ulster Street in Hamilton.Libby Kirkby-McLeod
A person has been taken to hospital in a critical condition as police swarm a Hamilton street and close off a hotel.
A motel staff member inside the cordon along Ulster Street and Abbotsford Street in the suburb of Whitiora said they heard gunshots about 10am on Wednesday.
St John said they were called to the scene just before 10am and had taken a critically injured person to Waikato Hospital.
A police spokesperson said cordons were in place while they responded to an incident but did not provide further details.
Libby Kirkby-McLeod
An RNZ reporter at the scene said police cars could be seen parked in the street and police officers are going door-to-door speaking with people.
They declined to answer questions.
A resident who wanted to go home had been told by police he was not able to at this time.
Alpha Motel manager Ford McArley, inside the cordon, said he also heard something before police arrived at the scene.
“I started drilling in the rooms to put TVs on the wall and just heard what sounded like two car tyres, and didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
“And then right outside the motel, there were police everywhere.”
McArley said police weren’t saying much about what happened.
He said it wasn’t typical of the street.
“I’ve been here just about three months now, and we’ve never had the street blocked off like this,” McArley said.
Police were expected to speak to media about what happened on Wednesday afternoon.
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Three men have been sentenced to the life in prison for the murder of West Auckland teenager Jayden Mamfredos-Nair nearly three years ago.Supplied / NZ Police
Three men linked to the Head Hunters gang have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a West Auckland teenager nearly three years ago.
Three men linked to the Head Hunters gang have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a West Auckland teenager nearly three years ago.
After disappearing in April 2023, 19-year-old Jayden Mamfredos-Nair’s body was found on a Dairy Flat property nine months later.
Police determined he had been a victim of foul play.
At the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday, patched member Zak Kameta received a minimum period of imprisonment of 18 years.
Prospect Matthew Snaylam and their associate Hassan Al Fadhli both received a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years.
Police Detective Inspector Callum McNeill said the death had placed a heavy toll on the victim’s family and he hoped they finally had some closure.
Police issued a statement on behalf of Mamfredos-Nair’s mother Maria who said the sentencing marked the end of a long legal journey, but “the ongoing journey of grieving and healing continues”.
“This crime has had a devastating permanent impact on our entire family, his friends and the community who loved him. The grief, the heartbreak, the devastation – it will never go away.”
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In the past 12 months, seed oils have become a divisive topic, with online claims they are “toxic”, “inflammatory”, and cause chronic health conditions.
When United States secretary of health and human services, Robert F Kennedy Jr announced the new US dietary guidelines on 7 January, he promised to “evangelise real food”.
The 2025-2030 guidelines included a new food pyramid putting protein, saturated fats and whole foods in the spotlight.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has claimed seed oils are toxic.
ANDREW HARNIK / AFP
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Diggers working at the burnt-out Bromley wastewater treatment plant. Christchurch City Council supplied pictures and video of work to remove rot from inside its filters on 10 June 2022.Christchurch City Council
Bromley community leader Jackie Simons has made an emotional plea for more help to be provided to those affected by the foul stench pouring from a sewage plant.
Simons, who sits on the Waitai Coastal-Burwood-Linwood Community Board, made the plea at a Christchurch City Council meeting on Wednesday morning.
Offensive odours have plagued the city’s eastern suburbs after a fire damaged key infrastructure at the Bromley Wastewater Plant in 2021.
Bromley Wastewater Plant.
Complaints about the odour have spiked recently.
Simons told councillors the situation facing locals had now reached crisis point.
“The wastewater plant still stinks. It’s always stunk. It’s been stinking for the last four years,” she said.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve seen an influx of horrendous smell across the whole city. A crisis has come and everyone is in crisis mode.”
The Canterbury Regional Council had received more than 2000 reports about the plant in this year alone.
One Bromley resident told Morning Report the stench from the city’s sewage plant was so bad it had left her coughing up blood.
The city council said the recent heavy rain had affected the health of the oxidation pond and it was using all available tools to improve water quality.
An emotional and frustrated Simons told elected members she was regularly fielding complaints from the community.
There was a perception the council would have acted sooner if it was happening to more upmarket parts of the city, she said.
“When they come to me and they say ‘if this was happening in Fendalton you would’ve fixed it by now’, ‘the council doesn’t care about us in the east’, ‘they don’t give a toss’, ‘they’re not listening’, ‘when are they going to fix it?’ How am I supposed to tell them that you do care when it took the rest of the city to smell it to stand up and show that you cared.”
The council needed to provide more on-the-ground support for those worst affected, Simons said.
“I’d like to see those people asked ‘what do you need?’. Because a gift basket is no good to someone who needs a lift to the doctor. A supermarket voucher is no good to someone who can’t pay for a prescription,” she said.
“They can’t open their windows, they can’t hang their washing out, they have physical symptoms of ill-health, they have respiratory issues, they have depression, they have mental health challenges because of this situation. They are in crisis every day.”
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