The launch of a fully-electric autonomous tractor at Forest Lodge Orchard on Saturday (July 29) marked the final component in the circuit electrifying the cherry orchard and accompanying buildings and ditching all fossil fuels.The Monarch Tractor was the 66th to roll off Monarch’s production line in California and is not only the first in New Zealand, but the first to go outside of California. Monarch Tractor co-founder and president Mark Schwager flew in for the launch, which was attended by more than 150 interested parties from all walks of life, as well as politicians from three different parties.“To have the very first exported tractor - to be part of such a visionary farm is truly special,” Mark said. “I came here yesterday and I was astonished by the level of detailed planning into every aspect of this farm for electrification. It’s remarkable. It’s inspirational.“Farmers need tools with the latest and greatest technologies to drive profit. At Monarch, we believe that in order to achieve environmental sustainability, we must first achieve economic sustainability.“New Zealand’s vineyards, orchards and vegetable farms comprise a robust, high-value crop industry with ever-growing worldwide recognition.” Orchard manager Euan White introduced the autonomous tractor to a large audience at its launch yesterday by having it follow him as he walked out from the workshop to the orchard. PHOTO: The Central AppNew Zealand’s farmers had the audacious spirit to employ technology to increase yields, lower operational expenditure and increase crop value, Mark said.Minister of Agriculture and Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor (Labour) said Forest Lodge Orchard’s electrification was a look into the future.“We have an incredible marketing opportunity as a country if we embrace it enthusiastically and move forward,” he said.Damien said the presence of his colleagues from different political parties meant they all understood the challenges ahead.“We do know that the world is warming up and we have to do everything we can to reduce our impact. As a country with the brand NZ all around the world, if we can just hook on the fact ‘and we are also committed to net zero’, that puts us a leap ahead of many of our other competitors in the market.”Kiwi farmers were known for their innovation and taking up technology if they saw the value in it, Damien said.Minister for Climate Change James Shaw (Greens) said the great blessing he and his ministerial colleagues had was getting to see how things were changing, and real acts of leadership like that taken by the owners of Forest Lodge Orchard.“That’s the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in making this orchard the world’s first, 100 per cent fully electric orchard. That is an incredible achievement.”He acknowledged that people would say the tractor would not work in all rural or farming settings, but said we were living in a time where things changed quickly.Three years ago, James said, only one per cent of all new vehicles bought in New Zealand were fully electric; in June of this year, that percentage had risen to 47 per cent.The upfront capital cost could be eye-watering, he said, but the operating costs were way lower. “You can see that the economics of this are really going to transform once we get some scale and get these kinds of tractors and this kind of equipment running on orchards and farms all over Aotearoa.“The idea that this country could be the first country in the world where our food is produced and our fibres are produced without a single drop of fossil fuels is, I think, an incredible opportunity for us.”Member of Parliament for Southland Joseph Mooney (National) said the new tractor was exciting technology.“It’s not a solution for everyone but where it makes economic sense, it’s exciting,” he said.Orchard owner Mike Casey is also the chief executive of New Zealand Zero, which is driving zero fossil fuel use in agriculture. He said the new tractor was a welcome addition to the orchard, which now relies on electricity for all of its processes, including frost-fighting, and those of the attached household and staff accommodation.The autonomous nature of the tractor also meant mundane tasks such as mowing or spraying the orchard could be done by the tractor working alone, with human hours freed up for more important functions.“This completes the electrification of the orchard and it should be able to run as well if not better than any orchard,” Mike said, adding that the long-term goal was to be the country’s most profitable orchard. 

It’s a classic rags-to-riches tale where someone is discovered on the street or behind a bar or counter, offered a modelling job and, with luck and good judgement, goes on to make a career from it.Listen to Jamie-Leigh in todays podcast The Outlet PodcastSuch a discovery was the start for Alexandra local Jamie-Leigh Kerr, who two years ago was a 16-year-old working at Monteiths when Jamie Richards and Sue Laing, part of the WoolOn Creative Fashion Event, came into the restaurant.“We’d had a model casting and went to Monteiths for a debriefing,” Jamie said. “Jamie-Leigh served us behind the bar and Sue and I just looked at each other.”Jamie-Leigh picks up the story: “Jamie and Sue asked if I would like to model for them for WoolOn.”That was her first modelling gig but she has since signed with Portfolio Model Agency in Christchurch, where owner/director Mel Radford Brown said she stood out even at age 16.“Jamie-Leigh came up and did our teenage confidence and deportment workshop and she was quite a star,” Mel said. Jamie-Leigh is at the development stage of her career, building her portfolio and making connections, Mel said. Jamie-Leigh is also studying beauty therapy in Christchurch, which Mel said is a perfect match with modelling.An image from Jamie-Leigh’s portfolio for Portfolio Model Agency. PHOTO: David James (@marlborough_lights)“What stands out about Jamie-Leigh is her energy,” Mel said. “She has been so eager. I have had particular emails from the photographers to say how easy she is to work with.“We are very happy to have her with us.”Jamie-Leigh is keen to see how far her modelling can take her.“In 10 years, I would love to see myself overseas modelling, but I will always have the beauty therapy also,” she said.Growing up in Central Otago she enjoyed the outdoors life, but loved clothing construction and design, she said.“At heart I was a bit of a farm girl but I loved fashion. I always used to go to my grandmother’s and use her sewing machine.”Jamie-Leigh hopes to come back and model at WoolOn 2023 from August 11 to 13, but is having to juggle her fledgling career with her studies.“I would love the opportunity to come back to WoolOn this year, but with my study up in Christchurch, I’ll have to try to fit it in,” she said. 

A Maniototo farmer says sheep farmers are frustrated by the need to prove the fundamentals of wool as a product, with the economics of raising sheep for wool continuing to decrease.Penvose Farms owner Stu Duncan was commenting on the Ministry of Education's decision to fit out hundreds of rural schools with US-made nylon carpet. Wools of New Zealand, a farmer-owned company that Penvose is a member of, bid for the contract with a wool floor tile that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) helped fund the development of, but did not yet have the credentials to prove the tiles’ sustainability.“That’s quite alarming really,” Stu said. “New Zealand has had a sustainable product in wool for 150 years and some academic has decided it’s not good enough. You would have thought the fundamentals of wool would have been well known.”Geraldine farmer Angela Blair started a petition calling on the government to use NZ wool carpets rather than the US nylon product, citing both economic and environmental advantages. As of Thursday (July 28) morning, the petition had received more than 3,700 signatures.“I’ve been around wool my whole life and it’s such a fantastic and versatile product,” she said. “You get rid of your wool carpet at the end of its lifetime and it decomposes.”In contrast, Angela said, nylon was made from crude oil - a fossil fuel - and burned hot and fast like crude oil also. Some nylon carpets had fire-resistant chemicals added but that meant school children would get to sit on a cocktail of oil and chemicals five days a week. “Essentially we are commissioning 800 schools’ worth of plastic carpeting to be made. Recycling it is all well and good but it doesn’t take it out of commission, it’s still in the world.”One of the schools that will be getting the nylon carpet tiles is Poolburn School in the Maniototo and principal Melissa Gare said the rural school would obviously prefer to have wool but it was not their call.“A lot of times these decisions are not ours to make,” she said.Sam Fowler, Ministry of Education head of property, infrastructure and digital, told the Central App that schools had the option to use other capital funding they receive for property improvements to fully fund the installation of carpets of their choice outside of the ministry programme. “The tender pricing for 230,000 square metres of the successful tenderer’s product is around $7-8M,” he said. “The equivalent tender pricing for the wool tile was substantially more expensive.” “In the wool carpet tile offered, only the pile is made of wool yarn. All submissions we received for this tender, including the wool carpet tile option, had a significant proportion of synthetic material with most of the carpet tile’s mass being a synthetic backing."Wools of New Zealand chief executive John McWhirter said the company was set up by farmers for farmers to improve prices at the farm gate.In the mid-1990s, wool carpet accounted for 95 per cent of NZ carpet sales, he said, but two years ago, that had reduced to only 14 per cent.In an effort to raise that percentage, Wools NZ partnered with MPI in Project WOW - Walk on Wool, to create a sustainable wool carpet tile. That had been achieved, but empirical data proving the product’s sustainability took 12 months to gather and collate, so was not available when the Ministry of Education put the school carpet contract out to tender.“We did bid for it but we didn’t have the data to support the credentials of this product so we didn’t get far,” John said.“We are already selling our tiles into offices, into one of New Zealand’s largest banks, we have our tiles going into government offices, going into classrooms for new builds. We have tiles going into rest homes.”One of many advantages of wool was its fire-retardant nature, he said.“We know we exceed the fire requirements by four times the standard. Wool by its nature self-extinguishes.“The future is bright because Wools of New Zealand will meet the requirements. It was just unfortunate in terms of timing.”Whether that happens quickly enough for sheep farmers is yet to be seen, with Stu saying that Penvose’s wool income had gone down by $120,000 in a year while shearing costs had increased by $40,000.“The accountants are saying that wool is really just a byproduct,” he said. “If the wool cheque doubled, it still wouldn’t be enough compared to other stock.”Paying more to shear wool than a farmer was paid for the fleece would lead to fewer sheep being farmed, which could see more environmental degradation by other stock, Stu said.“It’s nearly $10 to shear a sheep,” he said. “We are in a really tricky spot in agriculture.“It’s really frustrating for farmers. Do we stick with wool or do we turn to other livestock?”

Central Otago players took five of the six medalist places in the first New Zealand Curling Junior Mixed Doubles Championships in Dunedin last weekend (July 21-23), which was apt as the tournament was the brainchild of Maniototo curling stalwart Peter Becker.Peter, New Zealand’s only inductee into the World Curling Hall of Fame, suggested the championships to NZ Curling to prepare younger players for the mixed doubles played at senior level.“I thought it would be a good idea to put some tournaments in place for our younger players,” he said. Olivia Russell and Jed Nevill, both of whom are only 17, won the championships.Curlers in New Zealand miss out on the high quality games that are easily available to players in Canada, the United States and Europe, Peter said.As NZ Curling coaching coordinator, he was also one of three umpires at the championships, which was also attended by selectors for the national teams.“I went down there and thought it would be some kids just fooling around, but it was very competitive and those who didn’t know much learned a lot on the ice.“I was really pleased to see the juniors stepping up and playing some great games.”Darcy Nevill and Lucy Neilson took silver at the weekend.The gold medals at the championships went to Olivia Russell (of Patearoa) and Jed Nevill (Poolburn); silver to Lucy Neilson (Ranfurly) and Darcy Nevill (Poolburn); and bronze to Tahlia Petersen (Auckland) and William Becker (Patearoa).Peter said that Olivia and Jed, both 17, were competing against a lot of older players.“They really deserved the win,” he said. William Becker and Tahlia Peterson won the bronze.NZ Curling secretary Lauren Becker said doubles was quite a different game to the fours, with fewer stones being played.“World Curling is going to, at some stage, introduce juniors’ mixed doubles, so our juniors will be ahead,” she said.It was chosen to hold the first championships in Dunedin to make it more attractive for curlers from the North Island to attend, Lauren said.“Of the 10 teams entered, six competitors came down from Auckland. It was good to have that Auckland contingent.”“NZ Curling is very conscious of including everyone,” she said.In terms of what the curlers do, Lauren said half were secondary school students and the other half tradies or university students.

Central Otago is accustomed to making the national news but Alexandra had announcers chuckling this week at something not to be proud of - the random items blocking our wastewater pump stations.Central Otago District Council sent out a press release on Monday (July 24) with a plea to only flush the three Ps down toilets - poo, pee and (toilet) paper, as the system had been blocked twice in the past month by pairs of size six underpants. It got a laugh from Radio New Zealand National announcers on air, but water services operations leader Duncan McInnes said it was a serious matter.“Although we can all have a laugh, it’s no joke,” he said. “Blockages cost time and ratepayer money – and they’re a hassle for everyone.”The council’s wastewater operators say that 90 per cent of the blockages at the Eureka pump station are caused by clothing of some description, and more often than not, it is underwear. The wastewater pump stations can also get blocked by wipes, sanitary products, nappies, and fats and oils.“It’s also a reminder to keep fats and oils out of your kitchen drain,” Duncan said. “They can also wreak havoc with the wastewater system. Help us maintain a reliable wastewater system and protect the environment from potential wastewater overflows.”

The future of Central Otago as a destination looks bright, with significant investment to be realised in the next two to three years, which would add to the amenities available to the local community and visitors.That was the message from Tourism Central Otago head of destination Antz Longman when he spoke to the Central Otago District Council at its meeting on Wednesday (July 19).In his summary accompanying the presentation of a destination management update, Antz said the ongoing investment from both public and private sectors in experiences and infrastructure showed a continued confidence in not only the region’s appeal to visitors, but also as an attractive place to live.  “Our approach to managing and promoting the district through the destination management plan means we are focused on delivering and supporting projects that support our communities’ ambitions for place,” he said. “In doing so the tourism industry can live up to its potential as a catalyst for economic, social, cultural and environmental prosperity.”In a later interview with the Central App, Antz said that destination management was a more holistic approach to tourism than the older marketing model.“Destination management is an approach to managing tourism and its positive and negative impacts on a region,” he said.“Central Otago has always had a bit of a focus on destination management but, during Covid, the government gave funding to the 31 regional tourism organisations around New Zealand to create formalised destination management plans, which are really plans for how communities want tourism to be developed in place.“It’s putting communities first rather than tourism or business.”The idea was to get the communities’ current impressions of tourism and what they would like the community to be in 50 years time, he said, in what was referred to as a ‘future state’.“The end outcomes aren’t necessarily a tourism outcome. We want a diverse and accepting community. We want a strong and healthy environment, and sustainable jobs and incomes. We want to be a place that celebrates our events and our seasons.”It was the council's role to support people’s wellbeing and the destination management plan had been aligned with that, Antz said. “While the economic impact of tourism and visitation is one of the measures that is important - we want sustainable ongoing businesses which support employment - there are other benefits that can be derived through tourism for our community that are social and cultural.“More and more organisations are looking at how we measure the wider impacts of different sectors on our environment, on our cultural and cultural wellbeing as well as our economic.” Antz said 65 per cent of Central Otago residents who worked outside of the tourism industry believed the region’s tourism activities and recreational assets were important to the success of the sector in which they worked.“How do we engage our visitors in supporting those outcomes that are important to our community?” he said. “It’s not a purely financial transaction.“How do we create a connection between the visitor and our place and our people, which makes them leave as an advocate of Central Otago? That might be purely word of mouth, which helps someone else come and experience our place, or it might be that they go and buy Central Otago wine once they’re at home, whether that’s in Auckland, Melbourne or Los Angeles.”The Destination Management Plan can be found here.

When George McIntyre (6) came home from school on Friday (July 21), he was filled with stories of the things he learned at the Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery earlier that day.George was one of 470 schoolchildren who experienced the Tūhura Otago Museum’s Digital Starlab and interactive science experiments as a preview to the Winterstellar Community Day on Saturday.“He wouldn’t stop talking about it,” said George’s mother, Lauren McIntyre, “and then Harry got jealous.”Harry is George’s four-year-old brother, who got to experience the wonders of the skies himself on Saturday when Lauren and Bryan McIntyre brought the whole family back, including their daughter, Hazel (2).“Hazel loves the stars,” Lauren said, while making star wheels so the family could stargaze from their Alexandra home.Clyde School pupil George McIntyre experiments with a plasma ball during the interactive activities. The Winterstellar Community Day was an interactive and educational astronomical and astrophotography event run by Central Stories, CO Reap, the Otago Museum and the Winterstellar Charitable Trust.Members of the trust gave talks on astrophotography, activities such as making the star maps were available for children and adults alike, and videos showed images taken of the night skies in Central Otago.The wow factor for most participants (particularly the children) was the Digital Starlab - an inflatable planetarium visitors enter to see the sky displayed and constellations explained.Marijn Kouwenhoven of the Otago Museum science outreach team said the presentations in the Starlab changed according to the age of their audience.“With the wee ones, we just try to inspire awe and talk about the fact we can use the stars to tell stories and share knowledge with each other,” she said.“We can show the lines that people drew between the stars when they saw them thousands of years ago. When you go out stargazing in real life, you can’t make that artwork appear.”Within the Starlab, the sky first appears during the daytime, before Marijn “fast forwards” time to sunset and the stars begin to appear.“Anytime in the Starlab when we move to sunset and the first stars appear, there is always that ‘Wow’ moment, she said.Winterstellar Charitable Trust chief executive officer Andy Davey agreed.“Just standing outside the stardome, when it switched from day to night, you could hear all the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’,” he said.Emily Eastgate, of Tūhura Otago Museum’s science outreach team, sets up a telescope to allow people to safely view the sun.Andy said the visitors really enjoyed the displays and talks, and the feedback was brilliant.For him, the best result was when schoolchildren, like George McIntyre, inspired their entire family to come to the community day.

An Otago Regional Council (ORC) wellbeing report received by the Central Otago District Council (CODC) at its meeting on Wednesday (July 19) reinforced for councillors what a great place they live in, despite one councillor being being “gobsmacked” Otago scored lower than Auckland in the healthy natural environment dimension. CODC senior strategy advisor Alix Crosbie said the challenge with the report was getting the data sources down to Central Otago, rather than all of Otago.“As we all know, what’s happening in Dunedin and what’s happening in Ranfurly are worlds apart.”The Otago Wellbeing Baseline Report was funded and commissioned by ORC.The ORC report measured seven dimensions of wellbeing. PHOTO: SuppliedThe Otago region and its communities fared better than the national average in terms of healthy and fulfilled people, with people in the region living safe, meaningful lives with good physical and mental health; belonging and identity, with residents of all backgrounds reporting a sense of belonging in Otago; and participation and governance, with formal and informal governing bodies functioning effectively through active and diverse engagement.The region performed at or near the national average for a good standard of living, and a healthy natural environment.Central Otago councillors were surprised to learn that Otago performed below the national average for connected communities, and an enabling built environment.The framework the report was based on had input from all local territorial authorities, manawhenua-owned consultancy Aukaha, representatives from the public health sector, and some community groups. CODC chose to participate for the opportunity to gain better understanding of wellbeing measures, “and because of a belief we should work together for the wellbeing of everyone”, Alix said.In comments on the report, Tracy said she was “completely and utterly gobsmacked” that the Otago region scored considerably lower than Auckaland for a healthy natural environment.“That does not make any sense at all,” she said.“I suppose it’s the same for the population reporting that their dwelling is cold sometimes,” Tracy said. “We live in Central Otago, it is cold.”CODC community development advisor Rebecca Williams said that was inherent in the limitations of the report covering such a wide area, but that the data was still useful. “This is our baseline, so even with that data, it will show improvement or not.”Both Mayor Tim Cadogan and Cr Cheryl Laws said the report showed them that Central Otago was a great place to live.“The report really confirmed that we live in a really good place,” Cheryl said.Find the full report here.

Central Otago District Council (CODC) on Wednesday (July 19) approved the closure of an unformed portion of Branxholm Street in Roxburgh, subject to the applicants paying all costs, including paying market value for the land on which their property encroaches.Property owners Sharyn and Noel Miller appeared in the public forum before council considered the matter, arguing that there was no evidence to show their cottage was not built before the road.“Before 1930, the cottage didn’t encroach, after 1930 it did,” Sharyn said.The request to close the road was first tabled at the Teviot Valley Community Board in March and was referred to the council’s April 19 meeting. The road stopping request was to legalise an historic encroachment of part of the house, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Act 1981. The community board recommended to council that the applicants pay all costs associated with the stopping, and in addition pay $1 for the transfer of the land and obtain consent of their neighbour. The matter was left on the table at the April meeting pending receipt of more information regarding when the road was originally surveyed and whether the road reserve was defined prior to the house being built. The council on Wednesday considered the additional information that had been gathered. The date the dwelling was built is unclear, however the encroachment of the building on council unformed road was clearly evident on the certificate of title from 1958.Councillor Tracy Paterson asked the Millers if there were any of the options before council other than option 1, with the $1 fee for the land transfer, that would be acceptable to them.“We just want to be legal,” Noel responded.Council staff in their report said option 1 would be contrary to roading policy, would not be consistent with other private road stoppings that had been approved, could set a precedent, and no income would be received for the purpose of addressing public roading matters.CODC property and facilities manager Garreth Robinson clarified that in similar situations where council land encroached on roading, council paid market valuation for the landMayor Tim Cadogan said mistakes on historical documents were not uncommon in the region.“The nature of living in a historical area is that there are going to be a number of these mistakes, and they’re gradually being picked up on,” he said.Cr Sally Feinerman, who also sits on the Teviot Valley Community Board, said several road stopping issues had come before the board, “and every time, the person has paid for that”.Cr Cheryl Laws asked how often in a similar situation had council made a decision to go against the roading policy. “I am not aware of any times,” interim chief executive officer Louise van der Voort said.Relevant to the decision was the fact it was a property owner’s responsibility to be aware of the location of boundaries before buying property, and the encroachment was listed when the Millers purchased the property in 1958.The council moved that the applicants pay all costs associated with the stopping including purchase of the land at valuation; that they obtain the consent of the adjoining owner; the land be amalgamated with record of title; the stopping be approved by the Minister of Lands; and the final survey plan be approved by the chief executive officer.

In 2016, award-winning photojournalist Birgit Krippner spent 26 days at sea on cargo ship the Spirit of Auckland, photographing the wide open seas and skies as the ship made its way through the Panama Canal, to Columbia and on to Philadelphia in the United States, where she disembarked.The Austrian-born artist had a body of work from that trip but when she and her kiwi husband, Murray Nash, moved to their new home in St Bathans, she kept noticing similarities between her seascapes and the landscape surrounding her..“We moved to this house 15 months ago, and early on I felt like being bought back in time,” Birgit said. “I felt like I was back on the ship.”A photo she took of an empty Central Otago rural road reminded her of an earlier image taken of the wake of the cargo ship, and she kept seeing similarities in her new work and the images she photographed at sea.Those similarities led her to put together a book, PAREIDOLIA - SYNDROME, a collection of facing pages of photography, with clear similarities between those on the ocean and under Central Otago’s wide skies.Similarities between photos Birgit took at sea and those in the Central Otago landscape led her to publish a book - “It really fell into place,” she said. Pareidolia is the tendency to perceive a meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none.Birgit said she is dyslexic, so she perceives things differently. “I think photography is my language - it’s much stronger than words. It was difficult for me growing up but I found my voice and I would not wish differently. It was a weakness, but it became a strength.”The stunning coffee table book is just one work in Birgit’s extensive portfolio, as she has worked on assignments for some of the world’s best-known and well-respected publications, including the New York Times and the New York Times magazine. “Maybe 12 years ago, I built my website, and I was invited to Berlin and Denmark to exhibit, and somehow New York Times and Wall Street News and Bloomberg Journal and Foreign Policy found me,” she said. “It happens like that - I don’t know when it happens, it could happen tomorrow or in six months’ time. I get a phone call to tell me what it is about and if I can do it and two or three days later, flights are booked and I’m off.”Those projects have included photographing Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights defender, writer and film producer Behrouz Boochani (who now lives in Christchurch) for the New York Times; a trip through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway; and time spent in Israel and Palestine.More recently, since she and Murray returned from New York to New Zealand in 2003, she has worked with Maori activist and artist Tame Iti, and photographed a series with Ngāi Tūhoe iwi.“All my projects, I feel stretched,” Birgit said. “Everytime I go on assignment, I feel stretched as a human being.”Facing pages of Birgit Krippner’s book, PAREIDOLIA - SYNDROME, show the resemblances between her recent work and photographs she took while on a cargo ship for 26 days. PHOTO: Supplied Birgit’s website can be found at birgitkrippner.com and she appears on The Outlet Podcast - The Voice of Central, today.

In what has been a long time coming as projected costs have only risen, Central Otago District Council (CODC) gave approval yesterday (Wednesday July 19) for the demolition of the Cromwell Memorial Hall, the next step necessary in the building of a modern multi-use replacement.Council’s 2021/31 long-term plan allocated $31.5M for the Cromwell Memorial Hall project and the Cromwell Community Board was told at its May 8 meeting that the developed design estimate had risen to $42.849M. The board endorsed the developed design and the start of a detailed design phase, subject to additional reporting about how the centre would operate and any rating implications.“It’s exciting that we’re moving cautiously forward,” board chairwoman Anna Harrison said at the time. “After all, at nearly $43M, this is by far and away the biggest proposed spend that the district has ever seen.”The board’s decision came back to the CODC yesterday as the original building is a council-owned property so its agreement was required before any demolition.Councillor Stu Duncan said the shortfall was “a lot of money” and he was concerned the cost would continue to creep upward.“It always alarms me when I see budget blowouts and we are looking at $11.3M,” he said. “Our ratepayers will pay for this somewhere down the line.”CODC property and facilities manager Garreth Robinson said some mitigating factors could be put in place to ensure the budget did not blow out further.“The more comprehensively we do the design phase, the more guarantee we can have on the cost,” he said.Demolition of the hall is necessary for a comprehensive design, as it will allow foundation and geotech assessments to take place.Mayor Tim Cadogan pointed out that the Cromwell Community Board had been delegated the power to decide what was done with its finances. The board proposed funding the shortfall from $5M expected from external funders to be confirmed in November 2023 and the remaining $6.349M proposed from the sales of land from the Cemetery Road industrial development.“Cromwell has the money,” Tim said. “We chose to allow Cromwell to have this money because it came from Cromwell.”The then-Cromwell Borough Council had made smart decisions when they had the opportunity, he added.Cr Tracy Paterson asked about the potential external funders.“In the event that doesn’t come to fruition and there is a lesser amount, is there enough in the land sales additional to cover that shortfall?”Cr Cheryl Laws, who also sits on the Cromwell board, said there was still a long way to go in the process.“That is not to say there cannot be pare-backs if the budget continues to blow-out,” she said.Cr Martin McPherson reminded his colleagues about the council’s delegations to the community board, and said they were only being asked whether they recommended the demolition of the council-owned building.That being the case, the council voted unanimously to receive the report and accept its level of significance; approve the demolition of the existing hall building and appropriate salvaging of materials; and note that an upcoming district review of museum funding includes the Cromwell Memorial Hall project.

Winterstellar 2023, an exhibition of astrophotography, has opened in Arrowtown for its second year, with the heavens aligning for its opening at Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery in August.As a teaser to the coming attraction and accompanying photography competition, a community day is planned for this Saturday (July 22), Winterstellar Charitable Trust chief executive Andy Davey said.“The science outreach team from the Museum of Otago are going to bring their inflatable planetarium,” Andy said.“Over 400 local schoolchildren will be coming through the museum, getting a planetarium experience, doing science experiments and hearing talks on astrophotography. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday is all about the kids.”Those interested in attending the community day on Saturday are advised to register at [email protected] as places are limited. The opening of the Winterstellar 2023 exhibition at Central Stories will take place in early August, with the exact date also to be confirmed. Professor Brian Boyle talks with visitors at Lakes District Museum and Art Gallery in Arrowtown about astrophotographyOne of the talks will be given by Andy about something close to his heart - dispelling the belief that astrophotography requires expensive camera equipment or totally dark skies such as those in Naseby.“Modern phones can capture the aurora,” he said. “I see a lot of pictures from iPhones that are really pretty good.”His own camera is an Android, but he has taken surprisingly clear photographs and videos using it.“At the opening in Alexandra, what I’m going to show them is that it is possible to see auroras from the middle of town,” he said. “A couple of years ago, we saw Matariki rising from Pioneer Park.”Last year was the first Winterstellar exhibition, and winners of the astrophotography competition were announced at the official opening ceremony. This year, and for subsequent years, that would be moved to the closing ceremony, Andy said.“It’s definitely happening,” he said. “We have multiple thousands of dollars of camera gear in prizes.“It has been such a good astrophotography year as well, so it gives people time to get their work in.”That doesn’t mean those interested should wait for the end to see the exhibition (dates also to be confirmed), as Andy promises there are other things waiting in the skies to be revealed.“There are some surprises we are holding back for the opening,” he said.

When Grant and Fiona Sutherland bought the Chatto Creek Tavern in November 2020, there were many traditions they wished to keep alive.One of those was the Chatto Creek Hunt, and former proprietor Lesley Middlemass was on hand yesterday (Sunday July 17) as that tradition was followed, seated front and centre as the day’s take was brought in and weighed.“I did it for 20 years,” Lesley said of the hunting competition. “It’s lovely to see it continue.”Grant ran the barbecue grill as Fiona oversaw the bar service, in between running an obstacle course race for the younger hunters, who had accounted for a pile of rabbits and magpies that would warm any Southern farmer's heart.Rico Naylor practices running the obstacle course before the race begins.“It’s country kids doing country things,” Grant said.“There were a lot of traditions like this that they used to run. We wanted to keep alive the traditions they had around here.”The junior hunters vied for the heaviest possum, heaviest duck, average weight hare, average weight nanny goat, longest nose to tail wallaby, most rabbits, and most magpies.The young hunters accounted for a lot of rabbits, possums and magpies.Senior hunters competed for heaviest boar, average weight fallow deer, average weight red deer, and average weight boar. The large animals were gutted before weighing, to protect the meat which was auctioned off later in the afternoon. Grant said the most popular in the auction were the fallow deer and a couple of big boars, the largest of which weighed in at 68.5 kilograms, although one hunter joked that they preferred weights in pounds as it sounded more impressive.“Most prices were from $20-$30, and the most expensive was a large red deer that sold for $80,” he said.“Five wallabies were shot, which would make the council very happy.”Most of the animals hunted were pest species, such as rabbits and possums, or were hunted for their meat, such as the deer and wild pigs, Grant said.“Just around the pub, on the hillside up back of the pub, it has been decimated by rabbits.”It had been a great day, he said, and was very much a family event with the children involved as well.Grant said he and Fiona were happy to have former publican Lesley present.“She sat out in pride of place watching the weigh-in,” Grant said. “She had a great day.”

When Linley Hatrill and her husband first set up Dunstan Educare in Alexandra, the early childhood education centre was in response to a pressing need in her own family. More than 20 years later, the centre is still a family affair, with one of Linley’s daughter’s working there as a teacher, and also very much a part of the wider whānau of the children of Dunstan Educare, both present and past pupils. “We moved here at the end of 2001,” Linley said. “I was a registered teacher and thought I would do some relieving, but there was nowhere to put my wee 12-month-old.”After learning of many other families with the same difficulty, they decided to set up their learning centre.“We went to the council and said, ‘we think this is something we need,' as I already had 12 families interested,” she said.Linley says she has to turn down three or four families a week looking for early childhood education - “It’s devastating”. PHOTO: SuppliedDunstan Educare has since seen more than 1000 children pass through its doors and the relationships that are formed were apparent when Linley and the Central App went to a local cafe for this interview. Almost every child, both pre-school age and older, who entered with their parents knew Linley and all made a point of catching her attention to greet her.“It is very much about connection, knowing the children, knowing their whānau, and building on these relationships through learning experiences,” she said.“As an owner and a head teacher, it’s really interesting to see it through my daughter’s eyes as a teacher here, and my grandchildren’s, who go here. It was always family, and from the feedback we get, it is really part of our children’s families too.”Linley said the centre has a beautiful mix of children from around the world, with a high percentage of Maori children, “which is a real honour”.“Our philosophy is that every child experiences an empowering curriculum that recognises and enhances their mana and supports them to enhance the mana of others.”To listen to Linley and learn more about Dunstan Educare, check out The Outlet Podcast The Voice of Central podcast. 

Central Otago police are advising drivers to take the usual winter care this weekend, when there are likely to be more vehicles on the roads for the Matariki holiday weekend.Alexandra Acting Sergeant Graham Perkins said this weekend would compare with winter driving in general.“With the low-lying fog we have recently had in the mornings, people need to look at the road conditions and the roadworthiness of their vehicles,” he said.“Make sure your tyres are in good condition, and especially check your headlights and tail lights. Take a walk around your car and check all lights are functioning.”He advised to use headlights on dip rather than full-beam when driving in fog as the vision would be better, and to slow down so you could stop in time of what you could see.Most modern cars would turn the headlights on automatically if conditions were dark enough, but lights were needed in fog for everyone to ensure you were visible to others.“Older cars, if it’s dark and most of the other cars have their lights on, you probably need yours on too,” Graham said.With people probably travelling further afield for the long weekend, drivers needed to plan accordingly, he said.“Leave plenty of time to get home, as there’s a bit of roadworks around, and lots of red cones.”His final advice was to drive to the speed limit, even when taking a shortcut.“The police will be out and about, especially in places like Earnscleugh Road where people tend to speed up.” Stay safe this Matariki weekend check the Roads on The Central App.

The event organiser for the Aotearoa New Zealand Ice Swimming Open Water Championships at St Bathans this past weekend is happy with the success of the event, despite one competitor being airlifted to hospital with water on her lungs.The woman, who was competing in the mile swim on Monday (July 10), the final day of the event, was pulled out of the water by paramedics in a rescue boat after her stroke rate dropped noticeably.“She was struggling,” event organiser Susan Sherwin said. “She got out of the water and started talking and seemed fine, then she deteriorated in the tent.”The event had two doctors and two paramedics monitoring the swimmers and they decided to call the rescue helicopter immediately.“We are very well looked after by very experienced people,” Susan said.One competitor was airlifted to hospital after swallowing water but is now recovering at home. PHOTO: Birgit Krippner“Swimming in under five degrees (Celsius) is dangerous - it is an extreme sport. People can have a heart attack, people can breathe in a little water - that is one of the signs of hypothermia. The longer you are in there, the less effective your muscles are.”Susan is an ice swimmer herself, competing in what is known as the extreme ice mile this year. One mile is 1600 metres and anything over 2km is considered an extreme mile. “That last 400 metres, I could definitely feel the effects on my muscles,” she said.Susan said competitors take part “partly because we can, partly because of the personal challenge”.“About five years ago, because of Covid, we were forced to swim outside and it got us thinking about it, then we learned about ice swimming and thought, ‘Why not?’”After the swimmer was airlifted, there were still another six swimmers to compete, Susan said. “We had stopped everything. We had a debrief and event officials and medics decided we were happy to continue, then we put it to the swimmers. They all said they felt safe to continue.”The event will return to the Molyneux Aquatic Centre in Alexandra next year, as it alternates between pools and open water, and will be back at St Bathans in 2025.“We all decided that St Bathans is such a magic place, we will be back in two years,” Susan said.As always, the priority will be on swimmers’ safety, and she said New Zealand standards were above and beyond those required by the International Ice Swimming Association.“My first priority is to have everyone go home alive,” Susan said. “We have a debrief every day - what can we improve, what can we do better.“After being to the World Cup in France this year, our safety systems are well up there.”The hospitalised swimmer plans to continue competing.“She’s definitely keen,” Susan said.

There’s a saying on the mainland that good things take time, and the members of the Alexandra Patchwork Group would be the first to agree.At a recent three-day retreat at Alexandra Community House, the members were taking the opportunity to catch up on projects as well as with each other, with some quilts having been works in progress for many years. Pat Shanks was working on a heritage quilt.“I started it 10 years ago and found it difficult so put it away,” she said. “Three days working here is a good chance to get into it.”Pat Shanks sews an intricate section for a heritage quilt she started a decade agoThe group also meets at Community House on alternate Wednesdays from 10am-2pm but members don’t usually take their sewing machines for such a short meet-up. The three-day events give them the chance to leave their machines set up, and talk in depth about their craft.“What we’ve been talking about this time is quilting tools that make things easier,” Linda McLeay said.Treasurer Steph Carline said the three-day event used to be held elsewhere but, as might be expected from quiltmakers, comfort won out.“In years gone by, we would go somewhere and stay for the night, but now we hold it here so we can go home to our own beds at night.”Although it was obvious the crafters were helping each other with difficult patches, the companionship was key, Steph said.“It’s for the companionship as much as the sewing.”Suzette Pont displays the intricate patchwork in her quiltThe group is also preparing for its turn hosting Country Day in early November, an invitation-only day that brings together patchwork groups from across Central Otago - from Queenstown, Wānaka, Arrowtown, Cromwell, Maniototo, Takatimu, Kurow, and Alexandra.“It’s the highlight of the year,” Steph said. “We work all year towards it.”This year’s theme would be Circles and Square and the group has been busy making visitor labels and gifts, all in the finest of patchwork. 

There’s a saying on the mainland that good things take time, and the members of the Alexandra Patchwork Group would be the first to agree.At a recent three-day retreat at Alexandra Community House, the members were taking the opportunity to catch up on projects as well as with each other, with some quilts having been works in progress for many years. Pat Shanks was working on a heritage quilt.“I started it 10 years ago and found it difficult so put it away,” she said. “Three days working here is a good chance to get into it.”Pat Shanks sews an intricate section for a heritage quilt she started a decade agoThe group also meets at Community House on alternate Wednesdays from 10am-2pm but members don’t usually take their sewing machines for such a short meet-up. The three-day events give them the chance to leave their machines set up, and talk in depth about their craft.“What we’ve been talking about this time is quilting tools that make things easier,” Linda McLeay said.Treasurer Steph Carline said the three-day event used to be held elsewhere but, as might be expected from quiltmakers, comfort won out.“In years gone by, we would go somewhere and stay for the night, but now we hold it here so we can go home to our own beds at night.”Although it was obvious the crafters were helping each other with difficult patches, the companionship was key, Steph said.“It’s for the companionship as much as the sewing.”Suzette Pont displays the intricate patchwork in her quiltThe group is also preparing for its turn hosting Country Day in early November, an invitation-only day that brings together patchwork groups from across Central Otago - from Queenstown, Wānaka, Arrowtown, Cromwell, Maniototo, Takatimu, Kurow, and Alexandra.“It’s the highlight of the year,” Steph said. “We work all year towards it.”This year’s theme would be Circles and Square and the group has been busy making visitor labels and gifts, all in the finest of patchwork. 

The wilding conifer felling at the Half Mile Recreation Reserve near Alexandra has been completed, and the reserve reopened to the public on Monday (July 10).The felling, which was Stage 1 of the reserve’s restoration, took longer than anticipated because of the extra care taken to protect the lizard and gecko habitat within the site, Central Otago District Council parks and reserves manager Gordon Bailey said.“Their protection was paramount; this also came loud and clear from members of the community too,” he said. “To ensure this happened, we made sure the trees were felled with minimal impact on any lizard habitat. Council engaged a qualified herpetologist to be onsite throughout the felling period working under approved protocols from DOC [Department of Conservation] to guide the felling of trees within this sensitive area.”With the wilding conifers now gone it was anticipated the number of lizards would slowly increase over time as a habitat more sustainable for lizards developed, Gordon said.He said a few trees would be left lying on site following advice from the herpetologist, as they would significantly affect the surrounding lizard habitat. “These trees will be made safe. The majority of the large slash has been chipped and again based on advice from the herpetologist the smaller slash will be left on site, rather than raking it up, to naturally decompose to protect the surrounding lizard habitat.”There are large piles of chips from the slash. Some will be used on site as a mulch for the native revegetation plantings, and the council is considering options for any remaining chip.With the reserve open to the public again, users are asked to be careful while visiting. During this week, a contractor will be on site chipping any remaining slash. Users should note that there will be uneven surfaces, so please stick to the main tracks.  The reserve has had wilding conifers growing on it for many decades, so conifer seedlings will continue to germinate for up to five years. Council will continue to manage the removal of these seedlings and other pest plants species to ensure they do not re-establish.The council will continue to work with interested community groups on restoring the reserve, with replanting to begin in 2024, CODC community experience group manager David Scoones said.Extra care was taken to protect the lizard and gecko habitat within the site, CODC said.“We’d like to thank the community for its interest in, and passion for this reserve and its future, and we look forward to working with you towards its restoration to create a community space that will encourage wider use of this reserve.”Vincent Community Board chair Cr Tamah Alley, who has been following stage one of the restoration closely, thanked the contractors for their care of “our beautiful landscape and wildlife habitats”.“Having seen the first phase of the project come to completion, I am really looking forward to being part of restoring this site for generations to come,” she said.