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Dear neighbours, in the October issue of NZ Gardener, you'll see the five finalists for our 2022 Ryman Healthcare Gardener of the Year competition. They've all done amazing things for their communities. You can read about their wonderful work here, and then vote for your favourite.
Join the Lake Dunstan Charitable Trust and Te Tapu o Tāne to plant a portion of 10,000 native trees on the beautiful Lake Dunstan shoreline.
Be a part of restoring the native flora and fauna in this stunning location.
Dear neighbours,
Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for new potato recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by Oct 3, 2022.
Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable Growing… View moreDear neighbours,
Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for new potato recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by Oct 3, 2022.
Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable Growing Made Easy.
Retirement is an exciting time, filled with possibilities. Our fixed fee guarantee is one of the ways we provide financial certainty. Ryman residents love it as it helps them reduce rising living costs and surprise expenses.
Enjoy the quality amenities at every Ryman village and splurge a little… View moreRetirement is an exciting time, filled with possibilities. Our fixed fee guarantee is one of the ways we provide financial certainty. Ryman residents love it as it helps them reduce rising living costs and surprise expenses.
Enjoy the quality amenities at every Ryman village and splurge a little on yourself if you feel like it! Take up that hobby you’ve dreamed of or plan a holiday somewhere warm.
It’s easy to live life your way when you have freedom to do the things you enjoy. It’s another example of how we’re pioneering retirement living.
From reporter Debbie Jamieson:
A new Central Otago airport based in Tarras would be reliant on mass inbound tourism to be viable, Queenstown Airport chief executive Glen Sowry says.
“Do the communities of Queenstown Lakes District and Central Otago want that level of mass inbound tourism … View moreFrom reporter Debbie Jamieson:
A new Central Otago airport based in Tarras would be reliant on mass inbound tourism to be viable, Queenstown Airport chief executive Glen Sowry says.
“Do the communities of Queenstown Lakes District and Central Otago want that level of mass inbound tourism that is required to justify that airport?” he asked.
“Every conversation I’ve been part of and privy to, the answer to that is ‘no’.”
Sowry was talking as Queenstown Airport Corporation prepared to publicly launch its first 10-year plan.
The plan recognises that Christchurch International Airport Limited (CIAL) is investigating the feasibility and establishment of an international airport at Tarras but assumes it will not be developed before 2032
Sowry said travellers saw enormous value in being able to fly in and out of Queenstown.
“It is close and convenient. The location and amenity Queenstown Airport offers are very attractive.”
Despite the recent resignation of CIAL chief executive Malcolm Johns, CIAL chairperson Catherine Drayton said the organisation would focus on growth including “intergenerational projects such as the Central Otago airport project”.
CIAL project director Michael Singleton said demand to and from Central Otago would continue to grow.
“Central Otago’s need for new airport infrastructure has been talked about for decades – and not just by us.
“Covid-19 has not taken away the limits on the area’s airport capacity – it’s just changed the timeframe on when they will be reached,” he said.
The 10-year Queenstown plan precedes the preparation of a 30-year masterplan, which will provide more specifics on how the airport will achieve its goals.
The masterplan process will include public input and would replace a 2018 plan, which resulted in a huge backlash from the public that owns three-quarters of the airport via the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
The corporation has since pulled back on contentious issues within the 2018 plan.
It’s intention to introduce more flights to Wānaka Airport was quashed when a High Court Judicial Review found the corporation’s 100-year lease of Wānaka report was unlawful.
The plan to increase noise levels and more than double the number of passenger movements at the airport to over five million by 2031 was so unpopular it was dumped by Sowry soon after he started in the role.
The slow-down in international tourism from Covid-19 has reduced pressure on Queenstown Airport, and the 10-year plan shows capacity to continue growing within current noise boundaries.
Air New Zealand flight NZ1209 from Auckland lands in Queenstown, welcomed by Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult, Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker, and Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Colin Keel.
In 2018 and using pre-Covid-19 growth rates, previous airport chief executive Colin Keel estimated the airport would reach capacity in its noise boundaries around 2022.
However, the number of passenger movements peaked in the year ended June 2019 when there was 2.3m passenger movements (or 1.15m arriving) passengers.
That dipped to 1.1 million in the last year. Forecasts now project 3.2 million passenger movements in the financial year ending June 2032.
The plan anticipates these numbers will be achievable within the current noise boundaries.
Airlines use of “new engine option” (neo) planes could increase capacity at the airport by another 25%, Sowry said.
Air New Zealand and Qantas are already including the planes in their fleets. They use 15% less fuel, are quieter and carry more passengers.
Sowry said the 10-year plan was written to reflect the “sensitivities and concerns” of the community, but also apply a responsible view of the biggest economic asset the region owns.
Increasingly that was about delivering those principles in an environmentally sensitive manner, he said.
The plan includes an intention to achieve carbon neutrality in the coming year, and net-zero by 2040, within the airport.
With the bulk of carbon emissions coming from aircraft, the airport would look to support the “highly motivated” airlines and aircraft manufacturers looking to run electric aircraft and those operated by alternative fuels.
It also contains an intention to develop airport owned land to diversify revenue, including moving the general aviation hub and creating commercial and industrial developments around Queenstown Airport.
The corporation also owned 148.5 hectares of land surrounding Wānaka Airport, which was leased for farming activities and to NASA for their superpressure balloon launches.
There were no plans to further develop that land.
From reporter Olivia Caldwell:
Karen Peterson says there is a chance she is now the oldest living queen.
The 80-year-old was the first woman to be crowned Alexandra Blossom Queen in 1957, but says a lot has changed since the days of judging on beauty alone – and it had to.
“Put it … View moreFrom reporter Olivia Caldwell:
Karen Peterson says there is a chance she is now the oldest living queen.
The 80-year-old was the first woman to be crowned Alexandra Blossom Queen in 1957, but says a lot has changed since the days of judging on beauty alone – and it had to.
“Put it this way, it had to move somewhere. If they carried on running it the way they were, it wouldn't be here today,” Peterson said.
“Back then all the princesses on the float had to wear a white dress. Today you can't put any old person on the float. It is just so different - I am going to notice a big difference.”
Festival organiser Martin McPherson said the Blossom Queen competition has never been a beauty pageant – or at least the benchmark to become queen has shifted in the festival’s 65-year existence.
“Having these things in the 21st century may seem a bit archaic, but it’s not like that. The young women who volunteer put their hands up, there is never any shortage of them.”
The balance between living out a tradition and moving with modern day society has to be met, he said. Judges look at the entrants through a different lens now.
Contestants are still aged between 16-25, he said, but judges look at what they do for the community, rather than their physical appearance.
“It's never been a beauty pageant in the sense of Miss New Zealand. Princesses have always tended to be either on the winning float as judged by the public, or judged by a group of judges. It's definitely not a beauty pageant.”
In 2018, Timaru’s annual Caroline Bay Carnival’s traditional beauty pageant style competitions went under review amidst dwindling numbers and calls from the public saying it was inappropriate for the time.
Dianne Elliot, princess convenor of the Alexandra Blossom Festival, said the princesses are not judged on beauty. “The judges ask them all sorts of questions. It has never been a beauty contest, you wouldn't get girls putting their names forward.”
A few years back, the festival included a fashion parade and this put many of the contestants off, she said.
“It is surprising how much community involvement [the entrants] have - sport, community, extracurricular, hobbies and whatever they like about Alexandra. They are just local girls and most of them have been involved in some way.”
McPherson said a few men had entered the competition over the years, but there are none this year.
Peterson was excited to head back to her hometown for the event this weekend. She will be joined by 21 more former Blossom Queens.
She said she won by luck because her mother was part of Plunket, and she was on the Plunket float at the time.
After being crowned she walked into a hall where men were boxing in a ring (a festival event at the time) and the boxing match was stopped as all the men came over to shake her hand.
Peterson, now retired and living in a retirement village in Christchurch, was 14 when she was crowned, and says it is a point of pride even today.
“I am the oldest queen in the world now. I’ve even got my original sash and all the bits and bobs. I have an album of all the old paper clippings, that’s my pride and joy.”
Dear neighbours,
Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for new potato recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by Sept 25, 2022.
Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable … View moreDear neighbours,
Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for new potato recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz by Sept 25, 2022.
Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable Growing Made Easy.
From reporter Debbie Jamieson:
Student workers as young as 12 are being snapped up by Queenstown employers facing critical staff shortages.
And despite there being no minimum wage for children under the age of 16, many are being paid over $20 an hour.
Trinity Jones, 14, started working at … View moreFrom reporter Debbie Jamieson:
Student workers as young as 12 are being snapped up by Queenstown employers facing critical staff shortages.
And despite there being no minimum wage for children under the age of 16, many are being paid over $20 an hour.
Trinity Jones, 14, started working at Joe’s Garage Cafe in Frankton last December and has fast become a valued member of staff, co-owner and Joe’s Garage Five Mile restaurant manager Ryan Churchman said.
He employed about 20 students from nearby Wakatipu High School, and they now make up more than half of his employees – with the youngest 12 years old.
They started on a wage of $16 but many of the students were now above the adult minimum wage of $21.20, he said.
“[Employing students] started out of necessity, but it’s definitely something we would keep doing, even if we didn’t have to, because the students are really good.
“We make sure we’re paying them what they’re worth if they’re doing the same work as older staff.”
Queenstown businesses have been struggling with a critical worker shortage since international borders opened earlier this year, paving the way for the return of overseas visitors.
The key difficulty has been replacing the thousands of migrant workers who worked in hospitality and service industries but left New Zealand during Covid-19.
The pages of local newspapers are filled with hundreds of job vacancies and almost every restaurant, cafe and bar has a “staff wanted” sign in the window.
Most are closed two or three days a week, some are restricting their working hours and others are downsizing their menus to cope with the lack of staff.
For many, employing young people has helped fill that gap.
Skyline Queenstown general manager Wayne Rose said his company had always employed local teenagers but had significantly more students working during school holidays this year as they sought to fill roles.
Fourteen-year-olds were paid the same rate as adult workers, he said.
Queenstown Pak’nSave owner Michelle King said the supermarket had always employed local high school students but had recently noticed an increase in applicants.
“It’s not that we’ve necessarily gone looking for them, but it’s been really great timing.”
In terms of staff numbers, students now make up about 10% of the supermarket’s workforce.
Queenstown’s only secondary school, Wakatipu High School, moved to Frankton, close to the supermarket, in 2018, and that had been an advantage, King said.
The supermarket paid all staff members, including students, above the minimum wage from their start with the company.
Novotel Queenstown Lakeside general manager Jim Moore said he would love to have more students working in housekeeping, and suggested the students had their choice of jobs in the current market.
“If my kids are anything to go by, cleaning their room is not one of their strengths,” he said.
Sharlene Inch said daughter Amber started working in housekeeping at a hotel last year when she was 14, and recently switched to restaurant work.
She was getting at least the adult minimum wage in both jobs.
New Zealand’s employment laws do not provide a minimum wage for children under the age of 16 but do stipulate that their employment cannot interfere with them attending school, and they cannot work between 10pm and 6am on any day.
While most employers respected the importance of school work, one mother said her son had been asked to take a day off school to work in his retail job, to ensure the store could open that day.
Another father said his child left a job because of pressure to work longer hours.
Mother-of-three Nikki Jones said all of her children were working in cafes, including 12-year-old Jett, a year 8 student who recently started work at the Airspresso Cafe at Queenstown Airport, on $16 an hour.
“I always joke that the children are holding up the tourism industry in Queenstown,” she said.
Her daughter, Trinity Jones, said she enjoyed having her own money but also working with the friendly staff at Joe’s Garage.
“My confidence has definitely grown,” she said.
Daniel Davies, 15, was employed at Joe’s Garage after he walked in and asked for a job.
He’s now saving for a car for when he is 16.
“There are a lot of jobs available. You could walk in anywhere,” he said.
Wakatipu High School principal Steve Hall said he had received a lot of positive feedback from the business community after the staff shortage during the July school holidays.
“They were telling me what great employees the students were and talking about their contribution to the community. People have recognised that’s what’s been happening.”
Working students needed to balance their school work, academic goals and extracurricular activities.
“But working is often really good for young people. There’s so much to learn. If the balance is right it’s a fantastic thing for them,” he said.
You've likely already heard, but this week is Māori Language Week - Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - and we'd like nothing more than to encourage your kōrero with some kai.
We have some delicious Whittaker's tiakarete (chocolate) to give away, so whether it's naming the days of … View moreYou've likely already heard, but this week is Māori Language Week - Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - and we'd like nothing more than to encourage your kōrero with some kai.
We have some delicious Whittaker's tiakarete (chocolate) to give away, so whether it's naming the days of the week, sharing your pepeha, or just a cheery kia ora - it's all about giving it a go.
Share any kōrero or kupu in the comments below to be in to win. Kia kaha!
Become part of our online community for over 60s, and get to know others who appreciate that the good times are just getting started!
PLUS — To celebrate the launch of our new Facebook group, Better Than Ever - each new member will go in the draw to WIN an iPad!
There's still time to sign up for this month's great offer. Our subscribers pay less than retail buyers, and this month, new subscribers also get a $25 voucher for Awapuni Nurseries. Pick from their amazing range of plants, and have them delivered straight to your door with their … View moreThere's still time to sign up for this month's great offer. Our subscribers pay less than retail buyers, and this month, new subscribers also get a $25 voucher for Awapuni Nurseries. Pick from their amazing range of plants, and have them delivered straight to your door with their nationwide delivery. $25 voucher valid from Sept 1-25, 2022.
The chairperson of a body corporate claiming $163 million for leaky building repairs from the Queenstown Lakes District Council says they only want a fair outcome.
The council has said the Oaks Shore claim could result in each ratepayer having to pay $305 more in rates each year for 30 years.
… View moreThe chairperson of a body corporate claiming $163 million for leaky building repairs from the Queenstown Lakes District Council says they only want a fair outcome.
The council has said the Oaks Shore claim could result in each ratepayer having to pay $305 more in rates each year for 30 years.
Oaks Shore is an 84-unit apartment block developed by well-known Southland developer Ross Wensley and opened in 2005.
About 74 owners launched legal action against the council and parties including architects and structural engineers in 2015 when extensive water and structural issues were discovered – including to balconies, roofs, cladding and bathrooms.
Wensley – who was responsible for hundreds of new upmarket apartments in Queenstown before the global financial crisis hit in 2008 – could not be sued as six of his companies were placed in liquidation.
His daughter-in-law, Olivia Wensley, is a mayoral candidate for the Queenstown Lakes District this year.
The apartment owners were in a “horrific” situation, body corporate chairman Graeme Kruger said.
“All we want is our building to be fixed as it was meant to be in the first place.
“It’s broken owners’ hearts.”
A High Court hearing date had been set for February 2023, but he hoped the case would be resolved earlier through mediation.
Kruger said the owners of the apartments were mostly New Zealanders purchasing a holiday home or investment property.
“No matter what the outcome is we’re going to have to contribute to it.
“We just want natural justice and fairness for all parties.”
This month, the council made a submission to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) urging it to include risk, liability and insurance in the scope of its review of the building consent system.
The existing rule meant if one party was insolvent or had no insurance, other parties remained responsible.
The council was often the only party left to compensate homeowners when building defects arose.
Under the current system, the council had experienced an increase in the number of claims by property owners for weather tightness and other building defects, the submissions says.
In the 2021-22 year, the council spent about $40m defending and/or resolving claims, which led to a median $50 rate increase for every property.
The council was disproportionately exposed to claims due to its small ratepayer base and large number of developments, it says.
Between 2003 and 2006, Queenstown Lakes issued the highest proportion of new dwelling consents per ratepayer in New Zealand, with 31.7 new dwelling consents per 1000 residents – about four times the national average.
The next closest district was Thames-Coromandel, issuing 18.9 per 1000 residents.
If successful, the Oak Shores claim would be one of the largest single claims in New Zealand.
“This would increase rates by an average of 9.6% and would cost $305 per property every year for 30 years,” the council’s submission says.
That could result in a loss in borrowing capacity for the council and would mean less investment in community assets such as parks, libraries, performing arts and recreation facilities.
The submissions also urge MBIE to consider funding support for the council.
“It is council’s position that requiring ratepayers to pay compensation where defendants are missing is unjust,” it says.
Kruger said the interest of ratepayers needed to be protected.
“It’s unfortunate that around the country the last party standing is the council or building authority.”
Want your garden to be the talk of your neighbourhood?
NZ Gardener has all the step-by-step DIY projects you’ll need to achieve just that. As well as incredible photography, spectacular garden stories, recipes and more. Subscribe before 26 September and you’ll receive a $25 gift voucher to … View moreWant your garden to be the talk of your neighbourhood?
NZ Gardener has all the step-by-step DIY projects you’ll need to achieve just that. As well as incredible photography, spectacular garden stories, recipes and more. Subscribe before 26 September and you’ll receive a $25 gift voucher to spend online at Awapuni.
Just visit Mags4Gifts to purchase your subscription, or if you’d rather talk to one of our friendly staff members, call 0800 624 744. Offer valid for 1 and 2 year subscriptions at the normal rate.
T&Cs apply.
The team at NZ Gardener
Hey Neighbours, add a touch of luxury to your home and lose yourself in the pages of NZ's favourite home & lifestyle magazine. Between now and 2 October, we have your chance to win 1 of 10 NZ House & Garden subscriptions worth $101.
Simply enter your details online and you're … View moreHey Neighbours, add a touch of luxury to your home and lose yourself in the pages of NZ's favourite home & lifestyle magazine. Between now and 2 October, we have your chance to win 1 of 10 NZ House & Garden subscriptions worth $101.
Simply enter your details online and you're in the draw.
For delicious grass-raised beef New Zealand is the perfect combo.
An ideal climate, lush pastures and innovative farming produces enough beef for Macca’s in New Zealand and around the world. Our patties are 100% quality beef, and all that’s added is a dash of salt and pepper when cooked.
… View moreFor delicious grass-raised beef New Zealand is the perfect combo.
An ideal climate, lush pastures and innovative farming produces enough beef for Macca’s in New Zealand and around the world. Our patties are 100% quality beef, and all that’s added is a dash of salt and pepper when cooked.
We partner with many Kiwi farmers who produce our beef, including those at the world-class Whangara Farms.
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