CAMBRIDGE NEWS | 1
THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2025
Selling Your Home in 2025? Expert real estate made easy. Contact Tony today.
021 35 34 34 Each office is independently owned and operated. NZSIR Waikato Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.
FREE
It’s a real local newspaper
JUNE 26, 2025
Asbestos spill concerns By Mary Anne Gill
A crash involving a truck and trailer carrying asbestoscontaminated material on the Waikato Expressway at Tamahere last week has raised safety concerns from Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid. The expressway was closed for 11 hours after the truck jack-knifed, and spilled concrete material containing asbestos onto the road. The clean up involved Waikato Regional Council and Cambridge Volunteer Fire Brigade. Bouzaid, whose property backs onto a $6.4 million concrete recycling facility on the western outskirts of Leamington, expressed concern about the frequency of asbestos transport through Cambridge. The facility, a converted quarry, processes construction waste, including asbestos. “I’m watching asbestos marked trucks going in and out of there on a regular basis,” she said. “It’s all (happening) under the radar.” Her primary concern is that trucks using the expressway must pass through Cambridge, raising potential health and safety risks for residents. The truck involved in the incident was carrying a 24-tonne trailer of contaminated concrete
from Taupō District Council’s Broadlands Road Landfill. The material was bagged and secured before departure. Waikato Regional Council senior incident response officer Paul George said its role after the crash on the expressway last week was to
monitor the environmental issues caused by the spill. “There should be no residual risk,” he said. Waikato Demolition, a licensed asbestos contractor, handled the clean-up. An independent assessor confirmed the site was properly decontaminated.
The material was dampened with water, and all precautions were taken based on a worst-case scenario. Bouzaid also criticised what she described as “ad hoc” decisions around trucking and waste management in the area. The
Leamington recycling plant was approved by Waipā District Council staff without public notification, she said. Representatives from the chamber, including Bouzaid, are scheduled to meet Taupō MP Louise Upston and council officials next month to discuss the need for
expressway on-off ramps in Cambridge. Mayor Susan O’Regan recently emphasised to Transport minister Chris Bishop how important it was to the town to have the ramps included in the Cambridge to Piarere fourlaning project.
A gateway to the future
On a misty Matariki morning, years of fundraising and hard work paid off for Cambridge’s Community Marae ‘Ngā Hau e Whā’ with the opening of its long awaited waharoa (main entranceway). The morning began cloaked in fog, a good omen for the day according to Waipā Māori ward councillor Dale-Maree Morgan. And so it proved as 200 guests mingled with marae committee members to watch as marae founding member and trustee Kiri Gray – wearing a korowai made by her daughter - and Rowena Maxwell first unveiled a plaque and then cut a ribbon to “officially” open the waharoa. The gathering then moved to the wharenui (meeting house) for the speeches of reflection and celebration. From left, Rowena Maxwell, marae chair Tania Simpson, Kiri Gray, Dale-Maree Morgan, and mayor Susan O’Regan with son Jack Hayward alongside her. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill was there to capture the moment. Read her full story and view her photos on pages 6 and 7.
Cambridge, your stories are in safe hands. 2 Albert Street, Cambridge. 07 827 7649 | www.legacyfunerals.co.nz