New war memorial planned for Culverden
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
The Culverden community is hoping to have a new war memorial in place for the town’s Anzac Day service next year.
Fundraising is under way and a memorial design has been approved with the support of the Hurunui District Council, Culverden Community Committee chairperson David Croft said.
The new design is based on a corten steel memorial at Leyland in England, with the shape of a soldier cut out and standing 9 metres high.
The Culverden version will be 6 metres high, with a poppy and the words 'Lest We Forget' on the front. A memorial on the other side would light up at night.
It will be placed in the Rutherford Reserve, next to Amuri Area School.
"It is going to be very unique, there won’t be anything quite like it in New Zealand," Croft said.
The project was expected to cost $150,000.
The Hurunui District Council’s Amuri Community Committee, also chaired by Croft, has approved the use of $56,000 in funds held in trust from the sale of the town’s Drill Hall in the 1980s.
More than $20,000 of community support has also been secured.
The Drill Hall was built by the late Duncan Rutherford in 1902 to train mounted rifleman and was gifted to the community. The Amuri mounted rifles had to buy their own uniforms, so Rutherford paid for those who could not afford it, Croft said.
Anzac Day services alternated between Waiau, Rotherham and Culverden. Culverden services were previously held in the Amuri Area School grounds, next to a tree planted in memory of a former pupil who was killed in World War I. But the tree blew over during a storm and had to be removed.
Culverden last hosted the Anzac Day service in 2021, with the community gathering at the Culverden Volunteer Fire Brigade rooms, before crossing the busy Mountainview Rd to a set of memorial gates.
"It was just not the right place for the ceremony because it is such a busy road," Croft said. "And we had the fire alarm go off in the middle of the service."
Culverden is due to host the Anzac Day service again next year. Croft hoped the foundations would be laid before Christmas.
The Culverden Community Committee needed to raise another $70,00 and has approached the Royal New Zealand RSA and the Lotteries Commission, with support from the council.
A leaflet drop in the community is also planned.
"What we plan on building is reasonably simple, but I think it will be really poignant," Mr Croft said.
■ Public interest journalism funded through New Zealand on Air.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.3% Summer
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36.3% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
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