NEWS
manawatustandard.co.nz
A public forum will be held in Palmerston North next week to discuss
the Government’s Green Paper for
Vulnerable Children. The Community Services Council has invited
anyone with an opinion on the paper
to voice their thoughts at Community House in King St at 10.30am next
Monday. Organiser Sophie McCashin
said the aim was to create a
submission that encapsulated the
concerns of the public.
Injured youth rescued
A 17-year-old man was airlifted to
Palmerston North Hospital last night
after a motorcycle crash on farm
land north of Sanson. He was
seriously injured in the crash, which
occurred after a jump went wrong.
Man on chase charge
A man accused of leading police on
a car chase between Feilding and
Ashhurst made a brief appearance
in Palmerston North District Court
yesterday. Palmerston North
labourer James Wiki Henry, 40,
faces 13 charges over several
incidents, including the January 19
chase. He was remanded in custody
until next week.
Community work ordered
An unemployed Palmerston North
man found with half a gram of
methamphetamine and half a tab of
LSD has been sentenced to 125
hours of community work. In
Palmerston North District Court
yesterday, Garry James Teal, 45,
was also ordered to do nine months’
supervision. He was found on
January 7 with the drugs and a light
bulb used to smoke P.
Cook on book launch
MasterChef runner-up Jax Hamilton
will be in Palmerston North next
week as part of a nationwide book
tour. Ms Hamilton, who featured in
the second season of TVNZ’s
MasterChef, will launch her book,
Jax Cooks, at Marbecks on The
Square on March 2 at 5pm.
Seminar for builders
Bringing Manawatu builders up to
speed with new laws will be part of
a seminar being held in Palmerston
North next week. Practical seminars
are being held for builders throughout New Zealand to inform them of
the new licensed building practitioners legislation that will be
brought in on March 1. The seminars
will be staged by Certified Builders,
the Department of Building and
Housing, and Winstone Wallboards.
The Palmerston North event will be
at UCOL at 5.30pm on Monday.
WHAT’SON
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Tell us about it:
Jimmy Ellingham
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One of the men accused of playing a
part in the violent Nomad gang
power struggle after the death of
their leader has been discharged
without conviction.
Eric Anthony Brown, 45, of Levin,
was facing one charge of recklessly
discharging a firearm.
But Judge Barbara Morris ruled
in Palmerston North District Court
yesterday that there was no evidence of this and Brown was released from the trial, although he is
in custody on other matters.
He had been accused of firing a
gun while a group of people visited
his house on June 7, 2009, shortly
after the death of Nomads leader
and founder, career criminal Dennis
‘‘Mossie’’ Hines.
Hines died in prison while serving
a prison sentence for conspiring to
supply methamphetamine.
Also on trial is Jason Damian
Smith, 32, of Porirua, although a
charge of receiving a stolen car has
been dropped.
He is still accused of injuring with
intent to injure Michael Robert
Taueki, of Levin, on June 7, 2009, as
well as charges of assault with intent to injure and kidnapping.
These relate to an attack on Hines’
nephew Phillip ‘‘Filthy’’ Stevens at
Hines’ tangi on June 10, 2009, at the
Motuiti Marae near Foxton.
Crown prosecutor Esme Killeen
has said the Nomads were rocked by
a ‘‘power struggle’’ after Hines’
death.
Yesterday, Stevens, who now lives
in Taupo, told Ms Killeen he could
not remember who had assaulted
him at the marae, or who bundled
him into the boot of a car.
‘‘I seen Brown but I don’t know
that fulla there,’’ he said, referring
to Smith.
‘‘Two prospects came out. I ended
up f***ing fighting with them, then I
was attacked from behind.
‘‘I remember being on the ground,
covering my head [and] being
kicked or punched or whatever. I
didn’t look around.
‘‘I just remember being thrown in
the boot of the car and being pulled
out,’’ Stevens said.
‘‘ I don’t want to remember it any
more. It’s something I don’t want to
experience.’’
Later Stevens said Nomads
members must have ‘‘turned’’ on
him, but he didn’t know who they
were, because gang members from
throughout New Zealand were at the
tangi.
Stevens said he might have been
attacked because he was allowed to
drive Hines’ cars, and because of a
rift between the leader’s ‘‘family’’
and other members.
‘‘If he was alive I know they
wouldn’t have burned down my
house. None of this should have
happened.’’
Smith’s lawyer, Greg Gimblett,
asked Stevens about a plan to ‘‘tax’’
members of the Nomads to try to
raise $5000 for a lawyer to try to free
Hines, so he could die at home.
The plan failed, which angered
Stevens, and might have led to some
of the ill-feeling after Hines died.
Stevens said many people had
their ‘‘own little f***ing plans’’ after
Hines’ death.
He also admitted to Brown’s lawyer, Paul Surridge, that he was a
‘‘known Nomad’’ with a criminal record, and that he used methamphetamine.
The afternoon session in court
was again lost yesterday, because of
legal reasons.
The trial is continuing.
Out in the cold: From left, Talia Noffke-Hanlon, 9, Dantaye Simpson, 10 and Molly Gray, 9 have been told that, for them, Girl Guides is not happening this
year after their Feilding unit was closed without notice.
Photo: LEILANI HATCH/FAIRFAX NZ
Anger over axing of Guide unit
Emma Goodwin
[email protected]
Feilding Girl Guides won’t be selling
biscuits this year as their unit has
been closed down without notice.
More than a dozen young girls
have been left with nowhere to go
after an emailed letter that shocked
parents arrived on the day the new
term was to start.
‘‘We received an email in the
afternoon and were called to a meeting that night to be told that there
was no Guide leader and so no
Guides,’’ said Donna Simpson,
whose daughter is a Girl Guide.
‘‘[She] is devastated and I’m really
angry.’’
Ms Simpson said that the girls
had only just attended a jamboree in
Rotorua that had cost parents
almost $700 each and there had been
no inkling the unit was about to
close.
‘‘We did so much fundraising and
went to the Feilding community for
the money to send the girls and it
feels like a smack in the face that
they have no unit to go to,’’ Ms
Simpson said.
In the letter sent last Thursday no
reason for the closure was given and
instead parents were advised that if
they wanted their child to continue
at Guides they should look to other
units in Kimbolton, Ashhurst or
Palmerston North.
‘‘I don’t think these people understand just how far away those places
are from Feilding,’’ Ms Simpson
said.
‘‘There’s no way we can do that
sort of mileage to get the kids there.
Especially when we have other children to look after.
‘‘I just think they can’t be
bothered with Feilding Guides, to be
honest.’’
It’s a 40-kilometre round trip to
Palmerston North and Ms Simpson
said that, with the current cost of
petrol, she couldn’t afford it.
Rosemarie Thomas, acting chief
executive of Girl Guiding New Zealand, said in a statement to the
Manawatu Standard that the decision not to reopen the unit was not
made lightly.
However, Mrs Thomas would not
elaborate on what the decision was
based on.
‘‘We are aware of how important
units are to the girls and will work
to ensure that we can provide qual-
Voters slow to send back their papers
Jessica Sutton and Emma Goodwin
Manawatu voters are taking their time to
decide who will be their next mayor, with
about 15 per cent of by-election voting
papers counted so far.
By yesterday afternoon, Elections New
Zealand had received 14.5 per cent of
voting papers sent out to people in Manawatu District.
The mayoralty was vacated by Ian
McKelvie last year after he was elected
MP for Rangitikei, sparking the mayoral
by-election.
Barbara Cameron, Steve Gibson, Margaret Kouvelis and Russell Johnson are
contesting the position.
The council sent out 21,405 voting
papers last week.
Deputy electoral officer Janine Hawthorn said she hoped that more than half
would be returned.
‘‘It would be good to get over 50 per
cent.’’
The return rate is so far down on the
election race in 2010 when 17.1 per cent of
voting papers had been received at the
equivalent time in that campaign.
Ms Hawthorn said the bulk of votes
were normally received in the first and
last weeks of the campaign.
Postal voting closes at noon on March 7.
Voters who did not receive voting papers
can contact Manawatu District Council
on (06) 323 0000.
MAKING THEIR VOTING DECISION
TODAY
Manawatu Saddle Up Twilight Rally, 4pm,
Manfeild
NZCT Women’s Tour of New Zealand,
The Square, 5am
TOMORROW
NZCT Women’s Tour of New Zealand,
The Square, 10am
Orienteering Summer Series, Waterloo
Park, 6.30pm
AT YOUR SERVICE
News Tips and photographs
Phone: 06 350 9838 Fax: 06 350 9836
email: [email protected]
Paper delivery & sales
Phone: 06 350 9555 or 0800 835 323
for payment and discount details or
delivery problems
Fax: 06 350 9556
email: [email protected]
The Manawatu
Standard took
to the streets of
Feilding to see if
the number of
voting papers
returned was a
true reflection
of the community’s motivation
to vote and if
people
had
made a decision
about who they
were voting for.
Advertising
For classified advertising/Tele Ads phone
06 356 5000 or 0800 835 323. For
display and advertising features - phone
06 356 9009.
Fax: 06 350 9541 email:
[email protected]
Pam Griffen:
‘‘I haven’t sent my
papers back yet, but I
have decided now who
to vote for. I made my
decision after talking
to a few people. I’ve
seen a bit of
information about the
candidates, but not
much.’’
Fiona Stephenson:
‘‘We haven’t been in
the area for long so
I’m not sure yet who
I’m going to vote for.
The papers are still
on the table, but I will
send them back. This
has reminded me. I’ll
read the information
in the pack.’’
Christine Hawkins:
‘‘I’ve sent my papers
back already. I didn’t
know who I was going
to vote for but
reading the
information in the
pack helped me make
my decision. That
information was
great.’’
David Burmeister:
‘‘Yes I’ve filled mine
in already and sent
them back. I knew
who I was going to
vote for before the
pack arrived, so it was
easy.’’
Peter Honeyman:
‘‘I haven’t filled them
in yet and I think I
know who I will vote
for. I’ve seen and
read a couple of fliers
and I’ll make my own
decision. I won’t ask
anyone else.’’
KIDS TRI
TRIATHLON
ATHLON
Hopping on bus
a growing trend
Janine Rankin
[email protected]
People in Palmerston North are continuing to use
buses more often; in the six months to the end of
December, 271,223 trips were made, up 8.6 per cent on
the 249,719 trips for the same six months a year ago.
The figures were reported to Horizons Regional
Council’s passenger transport committee yesterday.
Committee chairman Vern Chettleburgh said he was
thrilled with the result.
‘‘There have been major improvements to the
urban services since February 2010,’’ he said. ‘‘Weekday peak services now leave every 20 minutes, which
means people can get to work in the city on time by
jumping on a bus rather than paying for petrol every
day. We’ve also been able to keep fares low in the
face of GST and fuel-price rises, which has been
another factor in the increasing passenger numbers.
It’s just more economical to catch the bus.’’
The Massey University free bus service has also
grown – by 12 per cent in the six months to 311,224
trips. Since the scheme was launched in 2005, 3.8
million trips have been made. About 7500 enrolled
students and 2000 staff are entitled to use the service.
The UCOL unlimited access scheme also grew.
Passenger numbers are also increasing in Feilding, where a total of 45,290 trips have been recorded
for the first half of 2011-12, an increase from 42,485 on
the same period in 2010-11.
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RUN
ity Guiding in the community
again,’’ said Mrs Thomas.
Amanda
Gray
whose
two
daughters Molly and Isobella are
currently at Brownies and were due
to move up to Guides this year, said
there was now nothing socially for
them to do.
‘‘It was a safe environment and
my daughter Molly, who is special
needs, was really looking forward to
going to Guides, she is really upset
now that she can’t go.’’
Ms Simpson said parents deserved to know the reason behind
the closure.
‘‘I’d like to be given a reason why
the unit was closed and what they
intend to do. No-one has had the
guts to come and tell us face-to-face.
‘‘They have just taken something
really special away from the girls.’’
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Tony Annand:
‘‘I haven’t received
my papers yet, but
I’m rural so that takes
longer. I’m a bit
undecided at the
moment, but I’ll get
some info and go
from there.’’
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Nomad
released
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