Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The closure of an intersection on a state highway feeding into Hamilton’s south-east has turned surrounding roads into commuter chaos.

In mid-February Hamilton City Council closed the Hillcrest intersection at Matangi and Morrinsville roads until 19 May for the construction of a peanut-shaped roundabout.

The closure of the arterial route, which some residents claim was not properly consulted, displaced traffic from rural Matangi Road and commuters from Morrinsville, forcing it through two interchanges on the Waikato Expressway at Ruakura and Tamahere.

The result has been long delays and queues at both interchanges during rush hour, and at least four crashes.

It’s also a key route for school buses with two primary, one intermediate and two secondary schools located within walking distance with combined rolls of 4500 students, a rest home and numerous businesses as well as the nearby University of Waikato campus.

Ōhaupō resident Claire Ruffell said her 18-year-old son Charlie was driving home from his first day at university three weeks ago when around a blind bend of State Highway 1 he encountered a long queue on the Waikato Expressway.

“He hopped on at the Ruakura onramp heading south, went under the Hillcrest overbridge and it’s a sort of sweeping corner and… you have to merge lanes with the traffic coming from Hillcrest and then jump over another lane to get into the Tamahere offramp.”

The speed limit is 110 kilometres an hour on the expressway.

“Once he got over to where the Tamahere offramp is, he suddenly noticed there’s a queue with a stationary vehicle right in front of him.

“And so he careered at 110 into the back of a stationary vehicle.”

Ruffell said Charlie spun out across the other lanes and ended up facing forward into oncoming traffic.

“To our incredible relief, he has managed to escape all severe injury. He’s walked away with just a minor concussion which is actually pretty miraculous but it’s definitely shaken him up and definitely given us all a huge fright.”

Charlie wrote off his car and has been handed a $150 fine for not being able to brake in time.

Ruffell said her family now avoided the expressway.

She wants a temporary speed reduction on the impacted part of the highway until the end of the peanut project.

Tamahere resident Andrew Mowbray said he was caught in the tailback at the Tamahere/Airport offramp the first day Morrinsville Rd (SH26) and Matangi Rd were closed.

“On the very first morning of the closure, when the traffic was banked up right back into Hamilton as we crawled along, there was a nose-to-tail accident just after the Bollard Rd onramp where a New Zealand Transport (Agency) car had driven into the back of the stationary line of traffic.”

Moments later Mowbray witnessed a truck and trailer brake heavily, locking up, and swerve into another lane to avoid a stationary ute trying to merge into the Tamahere queue.

Over on State Highway 26 in the queue for the Ruakura interchange, there was a three-car nose-to-tail near Newstead School.

Mowbray said he also now avoided the expressway.

“You end up with stationary traffic in one lane. You end up with traffic trying to speed up in a lane coming from Hamilton.

“You’ve got a lane of traffic trying to slow down and merge coming from Auckland, and then another lane sitting on the outside that’s doing 110.”

He said he and other residents tried to warn Hamilton City Council and NZTA the closure would create extra congestion at known pinch points.

“I don’t think they did any assessments of the number of vehicles that use Matangi Road or the number of vehicles that use Morrinsville Road.

“And I don’t think they really particularly looked at where those vehicles were going to end up going to, and how that traffic was going to end up moving around.”

RNZ asked NZTA and the council for the traffic impact assessment for the peanut project but neither did one.

Before the intersection closure, NZTA told RNZ minor nose-to-tail crashes are a frequent occurrence at peak times on highways around New Zealand and are usually caused by driver inattention.

The following week, a spokesperson confirmed an NZTA-branded car crashed into the tailback at the Tamahere offramp the first morning of the SH26 intersection closure.

“Which driver was at fault has not been determined and we don’t have further detail to provide. Unfortunately the crash did cause additional congestion and delays in the area.”

Waikato District Councillor for Tamahere Woodlands, Mike Keir, said a number of residents had raised concerns about the safety of the expressway in recent weeks.

“So as a result of those concerns we’ve been to NZTA and said look you need to do something. They’ve put up some variable message boards, and there was another incident just the other day.”

In that crash last Tuesday another motorist was rear-ended.

An NZTA spokesperson said the warning signs were positioned for traffic entering the expressway at Tamahere in both directions, and from Hamilton via Cambridge Road.

“While the boards are highly visible, NZTA is continuing to monitor traffic and driver behaviour.”

She said mobile variable message signs were the most effective and immediately available tool to directly warn road users of queues ahead and the need to slow down.

The spokesperson said 14 non-injury crashes had been reported at the Tamahere interchange since it opened in 2022, not including the latest one.

“Longer term, and outside of the State Highway 26 closure, the merge and diverge area between SH1C Cambridge Road and SH21 Airport Road are being assessed for improvements in the vicinity of the Tamahere interchange.”

Hamilton City Council general manager of infrastructure and assets Kevin Strongman said the council revealed on 18 December last year it would fully close the intersection instead of keeping it partially open under a stop-go system.

“Decisions like this are always challenging and our focus was on what’s best for the communities affected.

“We didn’t take the decision lightly, but the benefits of full closure were so significant that it became the clear choice.”

Before making the decision the council worked with emergency services, community groups, freight industry representatives, NZTA, Waikato District Council, and Waikato Regional Council, Strongman said.

Early discussions with community groups indicated a strong preference to get the work done faster – “rip the plaster off” rather than drag it out, he said.

However the council admitted it did not consult with any of the impacted schools, and relied on the Ministry of Education to inform parents of rearranged bus timetables.

Strongman said the council looked at options to keep traffic moving through the construction site, but this would have meant a stop/go system, extending construction and travel disruption by up to six months, adding around $1 million in extra costs, lower quality road surface and increased safety risks for workers and the public.

He said the council did not undertake a traffic impact assessment because they understood the likely impacts and detour routes could safely accommodate the extra vehicles.

However, Mowbray calculated the financial and time cost on residents exceeded the council’s savings.

His calculations were made before the war in the Middle East pushed up the price of petrol.

Meanwhile, State Highway 3 traffic was currently being diverted at Ōhaupō onto Airport Road and the expressway to avoid delays while unrelated works were carried out, pushing even more vehicles through the choked Tamahere interchange.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Christchurch’s new covered stadium was put to the test as it is officially opened on a wet and stormy day in the southern city.

The $683 million stadium is the last of the city’s anchor projects intended to revitalise Christchurch after the earthquakes.

It has 25,000 permanent seats with capacity for a further 5000 temporary seats and can house about 36,000 for concerts.

There were years of debate post-earthquake about the size and whether a new stadium needed to be covered, before the plan was signed off by the council in 2021.

Opening the stadium on Friday mayor Phil Mauger said he was absolutely delighted it was on time and on budget.

As rain lashed the outside of the One New Zealand Stadium on Friday and everyone inside stayed warm and dry, Mauger said it proved the decision to build it covered was the right one.

“Some people weren’t happy when we first mooted that it was going to be built but now you can’t argue with it. It’s hosing down outside and we are standing here in the dry. It is grouse,” said Mauger.

It was one of the last cogs in Christchurch’s earthquake recovery, he said.

“We have Parakiore [recreation and sports centre] around the corner, we’ve got Te Pae [convention centre], we’ve got Margaret Mahy [playground], we’ve got Ngā Puna Wai [sports hub]. We’ve got so many things that will make Christchurch the sporting and events capital of the country by a long shot,” said Mauger.

After the ribbon was cut marking the official opening, former All Black and Crusaders first-five Dan Carter kicked a conversion.

“Its a huge privilege to be part of this opening,” Carter said.

“And a little bit relieved now that it went through and I didn’t miss.

“There’s going to be so many incredible memories, records broken, historical moments that are all going to be happening here.”

Carter said he was envious of the current crop of players and future superstars that got to play at the stadium.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Christchurch’s new stadium was truly world-class.

“It just means we can go out in the world and compete with Australian states and now we have a great venue we can bring acts to. And every act is about driving jobs and lifting incomes because people come here and then walk into the city and spend money in the hotels and bars and that leads to more jobs and higher incomes for everyone,” Luxon said.

Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said it was ironic to have rain and wind battering the new stadium on its opening day.

“It’s incredible having a roof – it really does give us the ability to do things all year round. A diverse range of content. So the irony of today being the ceremonial opening – it certainly showcased its benefit,” she said.

The stadium’s first event will be a Super Round of Super Rugby Pacific over Anzac weekend with 10 of the competition’s 11 teams playing in five matches in Christchurch.

Harvie-Teare said about 75,000 people were expected at the stadium over three days.

“Five games of rugby on the grass. So it is certainly one way to put this venue under pressure straight way but it will be an incredible event for the city – so we can’t wait.”

British pop superstar Robbie Williams is scheduled to be the first international act to play at the stadium in November and rock legends Foo Fighters follow in January next year.

One New Zealand Stadium hosts its first concert in May with Six60, Synthony and Kaylee Bell playing the Once in a Lifetime event.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Bluebridge ferry passengers are feeling deflated and frustrated by ongoing disruption to sailings, with one ferry out of action and the other running four hours behind schedule.

Sailings on Connemara have been canned for the eighth day in a row due to a technical fault, which is causing issues for its remaining service, Livia.

• Have you been affected? Email mary.argue@rnz.co.nz

Connemara, which usually sails up to four times daily between Wellington and Picton, hasn’t been running since the fault was identified almost a week ago.

Sailings on the ship had also been cancelled for Saturday.

StraitNZ Bluebridge spokesperson, Will Dady apologised “unreservedly” for the disruption but didn’t elaborate on what the fault was, just that it was taking longer than anticipated to fix.

Maritime NZ confirmed it would undertake its own inspection of the vessel to ensure safety standards were being met, but did not provide a timeframe.

On Friday, Bluebridge issued an alert on its website informing passengers Livia was running four hours behind schedule due to re-accommodating Connemara passengers.

“All affected customers will be kept up to date with email and text notifications with revised sailing and final check in times,” it said.

Grace and John, who travel from the South to the North Island for work, said it wasn’t the first time they’d been caught up in a ferry cancellation or delay.

“Not only do we have to deal with increased fuel costs to drive up the South Island to the ferry, now we have to tolerate an appalling service from an essential transport network.”

They said they were booked on Friday’s 7.15pm Livia sailing and had just been told there was a four hour delay – it would now depart after 11pm.

In their opinion, “technical issues” was an insufficient explanation for the delays and cancellations.

“The New Zealand public deserves better.”

Another passenger, who was meant to be sailing on Connemara on Friday, said he was exhausted after spending a night trying to rebook on another service.

The man, who didn’t want to be named, said he was told late on Wednesday the crossing had been cancelled.

“The car was fully loaded, the cat was in the cattery and we were about to drive up from Dunedin to Picton. I feel like if they knew about this problem on Saturday why did they give us such little notice.”

He said the trip north to visit elderly parents came after a year of hard work saving up money and annual leave and the “last-minute contact” meant there was no time to recoup costs on pre-booked accommodation.

“I stayed up all night [on Wednesday] refreshing Bluebridge’s and Interislander’s websites and managed to book the Sunday night sailing and feel lucky to do so, but still feeling pretty deflated,” he said.

Dady said the company was doing everything it could to get the Connemara up and running again as soon as possible and that from time-to-time things went wrong “with large, complex ships sailing multiple times a day”.

“We are extremely aware [of] how disruptive this is for our customers, many of whom are long term and very loyal, and we apologise unreservedly to all of them.

“We want to reassure everyone that our team of engineers are working around the clock to return the ship to service.”

Maritime New Zealand said it was StraitNZ Bluebridge’s responsibility to repair Connemara.

“StraitNZ needs to work with the ship’s Classification Society (a non-government organisation that establishes and maintains technical standards) and flag state (Bahamas), to ensure the repairs are carried out and approved to their satisfaction.”

Following this, Maritime NZ would be informed and could either accept the approved fixes or make further enquiries, a spokesperson said.

Maritime NZ had also scheduled its own inspection of Connemara to confirm the operator was meeting safety standards.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Police say they have not yet started investigating what technologies they might need to implement intelligence-gathering powers contained in a new bill that would give police new powers to move and detain.

They also said public consultation on the policing amendment bill would happen at the Justice select committee where it was sent after its first reading this week.

The bill delivered new powers to police to move or detain someone, but just how far it went would now be decided in select committee.

There was no public consultation on it until now, with a regulatory impact statement saying the time pressure had been to enact the changes as soon as possible after a Supreme Court ruling almost a year ago, “given the impact on daily policing activity”.

Two official inquiries and a Supreme Court ruling almost a year ago, challenged police’s understanding of how they could collect general intelligence and, the bill said, narrowed the law.

This came after police photographing people indiscriminately was ruled unlawful, and police storage of tens of thousands of images was exposed for the first time as so haphazard they still had not been able to locate them all.

Police missed a mid-2025 deadline to find a way to identify and delete all the photos.

Their updates to the Privacy Commissioner over several years showed that while they stopped the practice, and taking youths fingerprints unlawfully too, they failed to find or afford technology to destroy the pictures, or to flag them if they cropped up in a current investigation.

The tech gap was raised in the debate over the bill’s first reading this week by Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Andersen.

A digital evidence management system had been presented as a solution, she said.

“We have a right to know how long those photographs or video recordings or sound recordings are being held for and where they are being stored,” Andersen said.

“It’s important to know that there is a system in place within police for this to be done responsibly, and it’s also important for us to know if this is funded, because we know… there’s been inadequate funding for the development and implementation of a digital evidence management system.

“Had they had that, police would have stored and identified photos and linked them to specific cases, which would have also meant [that] staff would have documented the lawful purpose for taking the photo.”

In mid-2024 a project to build such a system was put on hold for lack of money.

RNZ would seek an update from police.

Tim Anderson, Assistant police commissioner for iwi community and partnership said on Friday, “as this bill has only just begun going through the parliamentary process, police has not yet commenced work to [sic] investigating supporting technologies that may be required in preparation for implementation.”

Police began a push for a law change around general intelligence powers in 2022 soon after being taken to task in inquiries by the Privacy Commissioner and Independent Police Conduct Authority.

The government said the new bill sought to correct that and restore their powers but critics say it expands their powers without adequate safeguards.

The lack of consultation before the bill was introduced extended to Māori.

Police said on Friday they would continue to consider and give effect to their obligations to Māori and the Treaty “including ways in which any disproportionate impacts to Māori can be appropriately mitigated”.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Woolworths New Zealand has been fined $33,000 for failing to properly deal with a rat infestation at its South Dunedin supermarket.

The store was closed for almost three weeks in February 2024 to eliminate the pests with more than 20 rats caught and old nests found in the walls.

The company pleaded guilty in December last year to breaching the Food Act after a lengthy investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Judge David Robinson imposed the fine in the Dunedin District Court on Friday.

Woolworths’ failure to act quickly had the potential to expose customers and staff to illness over about four months, Robinson said.

The company failed to escalate the issue to its food safety team with staff treating the infestation as a maintenance issue instead of a food safety matter until a rat chewed through the wires of a forklift, he said.

The company had a pest management plan in place with more than 110 rat sightings in the company’s register between October and December with 10 caught during a similar period, Robinson said.

There was a lack of understanding among staff about who should escalate the issue and he said the company was responsible for ensuring its staff knew what to do.

Woolworths’ lawyer Joe Edwards acknowledged the company made an error in not escalating the problem earlier and accepted there were systemic issues, saying it was not seeking to pass the blame onto staff.

The company apologised and had taken steps to analyse its policies and procedures to reach a “gold standard” for preventing and responding to future pest problems, he said.

Rats were first detected in the Andersons Bay Road store in late 2023 and a photo of a rat perched among bacon products went viral in November that year.

One customer told RNZ she saw a huge rat “living its best life in there”, running through the wine bottles while she was shopping with her children.

Ministry for Primary Industries confirmed an investigation was launched in January 2024 after receiving complaints.

Woolworths New Zealand responded saying it had a comprehensive pest management plan in place and was ramping up cleaning procedures, adding more bait stations and getting daily visits from a pest control contractor.

The company confirmed it would close the store for 48 hours the following month so pest controllers could tackle the furry problem. Woolworths claimed it was told rodents were not nesting in the store.

Pest controllers caught 13 rats over the weekend and the closure was extended with reopening subsequently pushed back several times.

New Zealand Food Safety then confirmed Woolworths had uncovered evidence of rats nesting.

The store finally reopened 19 days later after no rat activity was found for 72 hours. But there were mixed reviews from customers with some planning to stay away and others happy to keep shopping there.

Two more rats were found at the supermarket by April 2024 but New Zealand Food Safety said it was satisfied Woolworths was focused on pest management.

The food safety regulator charged Woolworths New Zealand for breaches of the Food Act last September and the company pleaded guilty in December.

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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 Department of Conservation is investigating the poisoning of 10 black-billed gulls in Te Anau.

Five of the native birds were found sick on the foreshore in January and were euthanised. Another five had already died.

Department of Conservation Te Anau operations manager John Lucas said testing later revealed the black-billed gulls/tarāpuka had ingested alphachloralose, a toxic chemical used for bird control.

The department was appealing to members of the public and local businesses for information about the use of alphachloralose, or products containing the chemical, in the Te Anau area in mid-January.

The deaths were a disappointing blow for the Te Anau population of an often unfairly maligned species, Lucas said.

“Tarāpuka are New Zealand’s only endemic gull and their numbers are in rapid decline, especially in Southland,” he said.

“People may be used to seeing colonies ranging in the hundreds and thousands but with introduced predators, habitat loss and changes in land use these avian fixtures of the south are in serious trouble with some studies estimating up to 80 percent decline in Southland over the past 30 years.”

Black-billed gulls were a protected species under the Wildlife Act and it was an offence to hunt, kill or catch them without authorisation, he said.

“Like kiwi and kākā, tarāpuka are only found in New Zealand and are part of what makes New Zealand special. If you saw or heard anything while out naturing on the Te Anau waterfront this summer that may help us get to the bottom of this please get in touch,” Lucas said.

People could report any information to 0800 DOC HOT, using the case reference CLE-11463. Information could be offered anonymously.

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