News in brief

Family fun day at Natureland

Nurture@Home held their annual family fun day at Natureland last week. Visitors not only got to get up close with the animals, but also enjoyed face painting, activities and displays from local businesses.

Country music awards

About 60 country singers from across New Zealand  took their vocals to that old town road at Club Waimea for the Sun City Country Music Awards over Labour Weekend. Treasurer Paula Connor says the event was a rope-in for future Johnny Cash’s and Dolly Parton’s. “We think this is part of their journey of going onto bigger things and laying down their roots and performing live with amazing backing bands,” she says. Paula says the event was also about reuniting the country music folk. “Everyone gets together and catches up with friends and share their passion for singing and at the end of the day if you win, that’s a bonus, otherwise just taking part is awesome for everybody.”

Undies repeatedly block pump

From time to time over the past few years Tasman District Council has had problems in the Aranui-Higgs Rd Māpua wastewater pump station catchment with blockages caused by someone flushing clothing down the sewer system. The latest spate of incidents started at the beginning of August and, since then, contractors have had to attend to eight pump blockages caused by four t-shirts/singlets and five pairs of underpants. Pump blockages can take several hours to clear and are costly, which affects all ratepayers. The pumps must be craned out, pulled apart, cleared, reassembled and reinstalled. These are new pumps and TDC are concerned that blockages caused by these bulky items of clothing could permanently damage them. If you suspect this may be a member of your family, please speak to them and point out the problem they are causing. If you suspect it may be a neighbour, please contact the council. In the meantime, please remember the sewage system is for wastewater only, clothes and rags should be disposed of by other means.

Motueka Garden Trail

Motueka District Toy Library Committee will host its annual garden trail on 4 and 5 November between 10am and 4pm. Tickets for the event, which come with a programme and map, are available for purchase from local venues for $30, cash only. Go here for a list of ticket venues or call 021 892 320.