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THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2025
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kingcountrynews.nz MARCH 6, 2025
Boy racers get stick By Chris Gardner
Te Kūiti residents have taken to hurling sticks and stones at youth performing late night and early morning burnouts and roping streets off. Esplanade Road resident Rozel Coffin led a delegation to Waitomo District Council to ask for speed bumps or traffic islands to be installed to slow traffic and prevent a fatality. “Our priority is protecting the neighbourhood, the people and the properties of that area,” Coffin said. “We really want to prevent death, we want to prevent property damage, and we want our families to be safe.” The delegation could not identify the perpetrators thanks to all of the smoke. “We are here to say that we will no longer put up with the events that are occurring. We have elderly residents who are going out onto the street at all times of the night trying to intervene and they now have sticks, and rocks in their hands.” Police had been called on several occasions, but the perpetrators left before officers arrived. New resident Krystal Pompey said the burnouts had frightened her young children who were playing ball in the front yard. “My husband didn’t know what to do except to run out and start throwing things at them because our babies were right there, inhaling that.” They wouldn’t have moved in if they had known about the burnouts, she said.
Tim “Boy” King said it had come to putting a rope across the road. “The old ways work. I feel sorry for my neighbour. He’s just moved in. He’s moving out because of all this kerfuffle.” Erina Barton-Wehi said she understood a lack of funding could prevent the installation of speed bumps. “We’re willing to sell sausage sizzles, or do whatever we’ve got to do, but I don’t want us to be a headline because we didn’t act.” Shannon Manawaiti said he had lived in Te Kūiti his whole life and always considered it safe. “Latterly I don’t feel like that anymore. I have a real concern that there is a lot of things going on in this town that need to be sorted immediately before something serious happens. “The rangatahi of the town are quite disrespectful, they actually don’t listen to the elders anymore and that’s a big concern for me.” Urban councillor Dan Tasker who lives on the opposite side of town said burnouts were also happening near him. “I was up until 2.30am listening to them,” he said. “I had the same thoughts as some of the people you said about bringing the old sticks and stones out onto the street because they were making a hell of a racket. It’s the noise keeping people up but it’s also the noise making people feel unsafe.” Rural councillor Janette Osborne thanked the delegation for bringing the issue to council attention. “I saw the marks up the end of Rora Street as well and at
Centennial Park School, and I was horrified. It’s not OK.” Waitomo mayor John Robertson said the council had heard similar complaints two years ago, but the situation had improved following community meetings. “Behaviour like this is totally unacceptable,” Robertson said. “No one should live in fear of their rangatahi being injured. No one should feel intimidated in our communities. Our elderly deserve respect, not abuse. The police have
a duty to protect us. We need to help them by reporting incidents occurring. I ask those causing such fear and disruption to consider others. We love and are proud of our town. Let’s live together and enjoy what we have. Let’s show respect.” He said he would follow up with Western Waikato Police area commander Will Loughrin. Loughrin declined an interview but said in a statement: “The actions of a few can cause damage
to our roads, distress to our communities, and can put people in danger. While police work hard to address and reduce the prevalence of this behaviour, we cannot do this alone.” He urged the community to report concerns as it was happening by calling 111 and asked people to photograph the vehicles involved. “We remind people not to take matters into their own hands, as this is likely to place you in harm’s way,” he said.
Keryn handles the pressure It was like winning an Olympic medal, and Keryn Herbert couldn’t hide the emotion. The Te Kūiti mum was among the big winners at last weekend’s Golden Shears in Masterton, finishing first in the North Island Woolhandling Circuit final. She was the first recipient of the Ronnie Goss Memorial Trophy – named in honour of Veronica Goss, who died in 2021 – and used to compete against Herbert. Herbert also watched her daughter, Ngahuia Salmond, half of an Otiwhiti Station Land Based Training School duo, compete in the Student Shearing Challenge. The 23rd Golden Shears International Shearing and Woolhandling Championships featured some surprises, and King Country successes – see story page 9.
An emotional Keryn Herbert receives the Ronnie Goss Memorial Trophy from her son Simon Goss after winning the North Island Woolhandling Circuit. Photo: Pete Nikolaison
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