Taranaki Daily News

Multiple maunga rescues prompt police warning

If you’re not an “extremely experienced” climber, stay off Taranaki Maunga in winter conditions, police have warned after multiple mountain rescues at the weekend. Three people were rescued from the mountain on Sunday, while on Saturday another...

Trolley bus going free for a restoration destination

Wanted: A new home for a 76-year-old New Plymouth relic. Must have plenty of space, a passion for history, and a knack for restoration. After spending more than half a century in retirement on the Kāpiti Coast, New Plymouth’s first trolley bus is...

Amalgamation not as easy as it looks

When Neil Volzke became mayor of Stratford in 2009, he could not have foreseen having to shepherd his community into an amalgamation that will probably end his role. “I never thought in my time I’d end up being the last mayor of Stratford. It seems...

Mānawatia a Matariki mā Puanga

A Matariki festival celebrating stars, stories and connection has illuminated central Christchurch, with new projections and artworks bringing Māori narratives and southern journeys to life. Tātai Whetū, Tātai Tangata – meaning “a gathering of stars,...

Kāinga Ora selling city site

A multimillion-dollar plot of land in central New Plymouth is back on the market after the Government abandoned plans to build social housing on the site. Kāinga Ora confirmed that it was selling three neighbouring inner-city properties, 86 Lemon St...

‘Inexperience’ killed climber

An “inexperienced” climber’s decision to take on Taranaki Maunga in winter with inadequate equipment was a “reckless act” which ended in his death, a coroner has found. Vladimir Levchenko, a 69-year-old retiree from Whangaparāoa, Auckland, died after...

Whiten

Every solid routine needs a strong foundation. Swap your standard paste for Colgate Optic White Pro Series Stain Prevention Toothpaste. Formulated with a potent concentration of hydrogen peroxide, this daily essential removes 15 years of stains* when...

The $15k race to help Jesse

After a long battle, some people see light at the end of the tunnel; Jackie Hereora sees a roast dinner. She can’t wait for the day her teenage son eats her out of house and home. And she longs to look in the fridge and wonder where all the food went,...

TSB Showplace celebrates 100 years

Vivienne Baty can still picture the room clearly: the clatter of the sewing machines, the half-built stage sets, and the heavy silence that fell over the committee table. It was 1969, and the New Plymouth Operatic Society (NPOS) had just been handed a...

PROPERTY Home for sale after 68 years

For almost seven decades Deirdre Brockhill has opened her doors to one of the best views New Plymouth has to offer. Now the sprightly 89-year-old is preparing to say goodbye to her Fitzroy bungalow and retire to a villa in one of the city’s rest...

The wahine setting an equal standard

Elaine Aorangi lives in New Plymouth in a beautifully restored, sun-bathed, colonialera home with her husband and daughter. She has a favourite window seat where she can sit and read and relax. At work, the health, safety, and wellbeing manager for...

Region’s tourism positive

One of the most significant surveys conducted through the region’s main gateway has found more than half the passengers travelling through New Plymouth Airport are visitors to the region. However, the results showed there was not enough demand to...

Crown drops acquisition notice for earmarked land

After years of legal action, the Government has withdrawn the notice allowing it to compulsorily acquire a Taranaki couple’s land for the Mt Messenger bypass. A High Court minute, released on June 19, confirmed Minister for Land Information Mike...

Push for Taranaki grand final

Sarah Avery knows the Young Farmer of the Year grand final is where the country’s best young farmers are pushed to their limits. But before any finalist picks up a tool, tackles a practical challenge or faces the pressure of the buzzer during a quiz,...

Hospital wing officially open

Picture an indoor space so vast its fire sprinklers cover the equivalent of 15 rugby fields, illuminated by enough lightbulbs to power 180 homes. To understand the sheer scale of Taranaki Base Hospital’s new east wing, look past the modern wards, the...

Views mixed on mayor’s proposal

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough has been given the go-ahead to advocate to the Toi Foundation on behalf of the district on the proposed $620 million sale of TSB to Heartland Bank. The backing, which came with mixed views from elected members, followed a...

Mayor publicly apologises for name-calling

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough has made a public apology to two of his district councillors for calling them “f .... n critters” in their absence during a private workshop. The first-term mayor opened yesterday’s New Plymouth District Council meeting...

Accepting incurable MND

Living with an incurable disease, Lynnie Phillips is choosing acceptance and joy over despair. Phillips was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) a little more than two years ago, but thinks she had it for about six months before that. MND is a...

Slide spoiled in saboteur spree

A significant spike in vandalism and graffiti is costing New Plymouth district ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and clean-up. The latest incident occurred during the weekend, when an unknown arsonist torched a popular slide at...

Coffee business’ perfect blend

A long black and a savoury muffin at a small Westown café sparked more than a coffee order for Adrianna Greenhill. It was at Caffe Blues where she first met barista Tane Morgan, who was working alongside his father Wayne. Nearly two decades later,...

Mission to ‘change hearts and minds’

Under an overcast New Plymouth sky, Andrew Judd stood out in his royal blue waterproof parka, a somewhat unusual pairing with the showy, silver mayoral chains he won the right to wear in 2013. Three years later, the businessman-turned-civic leader was...

Major upgrades for school

Millions of dollars in desperately needed funding has finally been made available to Hāwera’s Te Paepae O Aotea school to upgrade classrooms and build new learning facilities. Education Minister Erica Stanford made the announcement yesterday as the...

Call to pause bid for bank

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough has called on the trustees of the Toi Foundation to hit pause on a proposed merger and sale of TSB to Heartland Bank. Brough hand-delivered a letter to the trustees at last night’s public meeting at New Plymouth’s Novotel...

Father of coward punch victim frustrated at laws

The father of a coward punch victim has described the potential weakening of tougher sentencing legislation for the violent crime as feeling like a betrayal. Teuraura Nganeko had been campaigning the Government to fast-track legislation for tougher...

The Agency Michael Fassbender on the return of his spy series

NEW PLYMOUTH Police lock in CBD patrols

What began as a trial to tackle disorder and improve safety in New Plymouth’s CBD has become a permanent part of the city’s landscape. New Plymouth’s police beat team has been operating permanently since late March after police decided to make the...

Secrets of a Taranaki centenarian

When you visit Ernie Andreoli, prepare to stay for a cuppa and a few ripping yarns. Many of them were collected in a book printed in 2019 titled Bella Italia Luck o’ the Irish, about Andreoli and his late wife Joan, and their families, after their...

Petition launched to save TSB

A petition to stop the sale and merger of TSB to Heartland Group attracted hundreds of signatures just hours after it went live online yesterday. Launched by veteran New Plymouth district councillor Gordon Brown, the petition aims to show Heartland...

City worker awarded $30k

A New Plymouth tattoo shop employee has been awarded more than $30,000 after her abrupt sacking left her so fearful of her former boss she relocated twice. Devon Whitham was awarded $30,591.47 after successfully bringing a case to the Employment...

New shop for old building

A chef, a baker and former mayor walked into a building and instead of a punchline they created a speciality food store that looks like a step back in time. Last month, chef Jo Blanche and her baker husband Andrew Blanche opened the Good Score General...

Public opinions on potential sale of TSB heard at meetings

The first and potentially only public meetings to gauge reaction to the sale of TSB after the shock announcement of a conditional merger with Heartland Bank drew out decidedly mixed messages across Taranaki yesterday. They included fears Toi...

Subsidy changes trigger concerns

Changes to a transport subsidy scheme for the disabled community will make it more expensive to get around. Some fear it will be too expensive.

Halamoana sculpture lifted off CBD corner

It has stood on one of New Plymouth’s most prominent corners for more than two decades, but the towering sculpture Halamoana is preparing to begin a new chapter elsewhere in the city. The 14-metre-tall artwork, which had occupied the corner of...

TSB merger news shocks

Taranaki residents have less than a month to provide feedback on the sale of TSB after a shock announcement of a conditional merger with Heartland Bank was made yesterday. Toi Foundation, which wholly owns the former Taranaki Savings Bank, announced...

Bagels a reminder of home

When Brian Dolenti is homesick, he goes to the same place – the kitchen. That yearning to recreate the foods of his American childhood led to a business in bagels, which has just turned a year old. He and his Kiwi wife Ashlee run The Cheeky Bagel,...

Community leader is made an MNZM

He has helped organise a homeless shelter and run local boards, but New Plymouth’s John Flowers has a new challenge: convincing his daughter on a new tattoo. Flowers has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the King’s...

When love goes wrong

The lime tree lives but it has reason to be furious with me. It started off with such good intention, a wellmeaning attempt to save it from an invasion of bugs. Except my spray job somehow went awry and killed a year’s worth of new growth at the same...

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Councils: No, yes, no, maybe

Taranaki’s four elected councils have signalled their collective willingness to get on board with the Government’s local body reforms. However, they appear divided on how they would approach it. Each council – New Plymouth, Stratford, South Taranaki...

Red sky in mourning for departing fine spell

It has been an autumn to remember in Taranaki but the clear, sunny days look to be giving way to less settled weather as winter approaches. The red sky across the region yesterday morning may have given weather watchers a hint things are about to...

Motorsport project sunk by compliance

A key component of the ambitious Stratford Park project has collapsed after the Taranaki Motorsport Facility Charitable Trust announced it was stopping all attempts to develop its proposed facility. The decision follows multi-year compliance battles...

‘Miracle’ drug changes boy’s life

April Peterson was driving from New Plymouth to Auckland when she received a life-changing phone call. Trikafta, a medication for cystic fibrosis (CF) that costs $1000 a day, was finally going to be funded for children aged 2 and over. Her husband,...

NP mayor skirted rules to get CE

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough worked behind the backs of councillors and alongside outgoing boss Gareth Green to make sure Steve Ruru was appointed interim chief executive at council. Documents released under the Local Government Official Information...

Work starts on sports hub

Athletes and sports clubs will wait another two years before the Tūparikino Hub opens as foundational work ramps up on the major indoor sports facility next to the New Plymouth racecourse. Taranaki construction company Clelands took over the site...

Licence used in fraud spree

Waitara teacher Rob Wheatley got a big shock when his One NZ bill for November arrived, showing expensive top-of-therange items had been added to his account on credit. This included an iphone 17 Pro for $2576, a UE Hyperboom party speaker for $623,...

School chemical blown up

A loud boom put an end to a near sevenhour emergency situation following the discovery of an “unstable” chemical at New Plymouth Boys’ High School yesterday. Students were evacuated to school fields just after 9am, when a science teacher discovered...

Crunch on to keep costs down

Though many Taranaki food businesses have so far kept a lid on prices through the fuel crisis, many say the pressure from extra fuel and delivery costs is a challenge. The Baking Company in Stratford had been absorbing the increases, manager Lynn...

The chronicles of farming

When accountant Leanne Blakelock started rearing calves as a new-to-farming wife, she never expected it to become her passion. But an online blog she began, to keep her townie friends abreast of farm life, grew into the Calf Chronicles, where she...

Jury finds pair guilty of murder

Friends and family of a man known as Yip Yip erupted with applause and cheers as a jury found two men guilty of his murder after two days of deliberations. Stefan Hannon-McGinn, 28, of Hamilton, and his best mate, Ethan Howe, 28, of Huntly, had denied...

Gas shortage halts investment

A commercial laundry business servicing hospitals and rest homes says worsening gas shortages are freezing major investment because it no longer knows how long supply will last. Inglewood-based La Nuova is among many Taranaki businesses reliant on...

NPDC top job scrutinised

Concerns have been raised within the New Plymouth District Council about continuing with an interim chief executive as Government reform becomes a reality. At an extraordinary council meeting yesterday, councillor Dinnie Moeahu openly questioned...

Study eyes old wells’ future

Hundreds of old oil and gas wells scattered across Taranaki could find a second life as a heating source for homes, greenhouses, industrial processes and pools instead of being left permanently plugged and abandoned. The possibility is being explored...

Eagle, birdie, back to work

Taranaki’s four councils are preparing to seek public feedback as they work through the Government’s push for local authority reform and possible amalgamations. The mayors of New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki, along with Taranaki Regional...

Rising diesel costs hitting Taranaki harder: economist

Surging diesel prices and repeated Awakino Gorge closures are hitting Taranaki harder with businesses facing mounting costs and uncertainty, a leading economist says. Speaking to the New Plymouth District Council’s Going for Growth committee,...

Ain’t no mountain high enough

The first time Mike Andrews attempted to get to the summit of Mt Everest, he was chasing a place in the history books. The second time, he was chasing the challenge – could he take on the world’s tallest peak and win? In the end, it wasn’t the mountain...

Union pushes for new station

The union representing professional firefighters has taken its push for a fire station in Bell Block to the New Plymouth District Council. At Wednesday’s extraordinary council meeting, New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union New Plymouth branch...

Amalgamation ideas flowing

Taranaki’s four council leaders will start the process of local government reform when they meet tomorrow, with all agreeing on the need to move fast before change is forced. On Tuesday, Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop gave...

Overnight convoys allowed

Overnight convoys on weekdays have been announced as a way to manage traffic access through the slip-plagued section of state highway in Awakino. A massive slip caused by heavy rain, which occurred about halfway through the Awakino Gorge, had resulted...

Hot viewing for cool nights

Tucci, Kiwi traitors and the return of Rivals

Business still owes over $1m

A fire sale of stock from one of Taranaki’s most iconic appliance stores has done little to mitigate the money its directors owe. While liquidators appointed to oversee the demise of Mason Appliances managed to recoup some money, about $1.5 million...

Cleanup effort stuns digger driver

For digger operator Matt Hareb, the scale of the Awakino Gorge cleanup was obvious even before he reached the main slip that closed State Highway 3 a fortnight ago. “There was a lot of water, mud everywhere,” he said. The Taranaki-based contractor...

Ex’s damning testimony

A former long-term girlfriend of murderaccused Stefan Hannon-mcginn has given evidence at his trial about two guns appearing at her house in the days after a man was shot and killed at a remote settlement east of Taranaki. Veronica Peebles said in the...

Popular couple to decamp

A Labour Weekend rush more than two decades ago gave Ian and Teresa Hayston an immediate taste of what life at the Urenui Beach Camp would be like. They had moved in only a week before the 2002 public holiday, after selling their house in Levin and...

LNG terminal is ‘critical’

The Taranaki Chamber of Commerce has urged the Government to “proceed decisively” with a liquefied natural gas terminal, saying it is critical to stabilising energy supply and boosting business confidence for the country. In a letter to Energy...

Car painting a gift that keeps on giving

When Emma Watson was 8 years old she painted a picture of a Ferrari so it could be auctioned to raise funds for Camp Quality. Imagine her surprise when a decade later she discovered her picture had been auctioned off each year. And now they wanted her...

NZ surgeons refuse surgery

Nichola Smith was told her symptoms were “all in her head”. Now, she’s heading to Australia to fix a condition New Zealand surgeons won’t touch. Smith has Nutcracker syndrome, which is so rare no-one in New Zealand will perform the operation that will...

Twist on tradition

Making a batch of Anzac biscuits may be on the cards this weekend, so today I’ve shared my daughter’s chocolate version of the classic biscuit for something a little different (or you might prefer to stick to the traditional version). Alongside that,...

Anzac Day honours for former journalist

A former Taranaki reporter, Harry Dansey, is among the service members being honoured in a unique collaboration between Air New Zealand and Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. This Anzac Day, flight NZ101 from Auckland to Sydney will...

State highway disappears

The full scale of a slip in the Awakino Gorge has been revealed, as State Highway 3 at the Awakino Gorge north of New Plymouth remains closed. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) released aerial images showing one of the worst-hit sections of the...

Point-blank murder claim

In the early hours of October 11, 2023, murder accused Stefan Lee Hannon-mcginn, 28, and his best mate Ethan Howe, 27, trudged several hundred metres across marshy farm land armed with a shotgun and hunting rifle. Under darkness, they called...

MP takes long way home

For Taranaki-king Country MP Barbara Kuriger, a routine trip home turned into an 11-hour expedition, after State Highway 3 through Awakino Gorge was closed due to slips. Kuriger was one of hundreds of motorists returning to Taranaki from the north who...

Night sky photos go viral

Brendan Larsen spent years slowly building his reputation as a nationally respected astrophotographer but it was when he started showing how he did it that his profile shot into the stratosphere. Astrophotography is the photography of astronomical...

Sweet move sees chess prodigy win silver

A block of Whittaker’s chocolate proved the right fuel for one of New Plymouth’s brightest chess talents at the Oceania Youth Chess Championships in Christchurch. The sugar boost paid off for 10-year-old Geetham Addagada, who powered through long days...

Chong refuses to take part

The under-fire New Plymouth deputy mayor Murray Chong refused to participate in a council workshop yesterday, instead choosing to watch proceedings from the chamber’s public gallery. The Huinga Taumatua workshop on the draft council Tiriti Outcomes...

An electrifying lifestyle

In the face of soaring fuel costs and rising power and food bills, a New Plymouth woman is reaping the benefits of going electric. Jenni Hammonds, who set about electrifying her life about six years ago, hasn’t bought petrol for six years, and her...