Hydrants, Hatches, and Hushed Silence: MEGA Sounds the Fire Alarm!
Hydrants, Hatches, and Hushed Silence: MEGA Sounds the Fire Alarm!
Eastbourne isn’t going to make itself safe again.
MEGA has been quietly (well, not that quietly) approached by members of the Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade with a very real concern: a worrying number of fire hydrants in Eastbourne and across Lower Hutt are faulty, poorly maintained—or not working at all.
And no, this isn’t some obscure bureaucratic backlog. It’s an emergency waiting to happen.
While the responsible authorities (that’s Wellington Water and Hutt City Council) have recently taken the time to slap on a fresh coat of paint over the hatches—how lovely—not one of them, it seems, has bothered to check if the valves underneath actually work. Because who needs water during a house fire, right?
Here’s the kicker: Mayor Campbell Barry was Chair of Wellington Water during this period of neglect, and surprise—he’s still ultimately responsible as Mayor today. As for Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis, our local representative? Crickets. It seems she’s in the dark as some of those rusty valves.
Let’s be crystal clear: this isn’t about politics. It’s about people’s homes, lives, and the volunteer firefighters who put themselves on the line. Fires escalate in minutes. If there’s no water at the hydrant when they arrive, what then?
MEGA is calling for immediate inspection and servicing of all hydrants in Eastbourne and across the Hutt Valley. A coat of paint doesn’t stop a blaze. Action does.
Stay safe. Stay MEGA. www.mega.kiwi.nz...
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.9% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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29.7% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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