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High (kick) achiever
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All about azalea
Highway hell PAGE 18
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PAGE 7
Seven weeks of closures planned for main Blenheim to Nelson route The main road between Blenheim and Nelson will shut for seven weeks for emergency repairs. Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency have revealed SH6 between Hira and Ronga Road near Rai Valley will be shut to all traffic between 1 November and 18 December. The detour on SH63 through to Kawatiri Junction will add more than an hour onto the journey time.
Road bosses ruled out night closures as it would have seen repairs carried out for up to 30 weeks. System Manager Top of the South Andrew James says five road sites were substantially damaged in the August floods. He warned a delay to repairs could potentially see the road shut for months. “Now that we have completed the repairs on State Highway 63, we need to get back onto State
Highway 6 to fix five substantially damaged sites where there have been underslips. “Three of these will require us to significantly cut back the road before it can be built back up again. “We realise this is a substantial amount of time, but the route is currently vulnerable, and another serious weather event could seriously damage it and see it closed for months. “We must get this work done as
quickly as possible.” Andrew says contractors will work as quickly as possible to get these sites repaired, but ongoing work will be needed after the closure ends. “When State Highway 6 reopens on 18 December, we plan to have two traffic lanes re-established for the holiday season. We will need to return to complete further minor repairs in the next year, but we are not expecting to close the
road for this work.” Andrew says Waka Kotahi understands the closure will cause inconvenience for people, particularly those living in or around Rai Valley. “This is the best option on the table, and we appreciate their patience while this crucial transport link is repaired. We are making every effort to get the route restored before the busy Christmas period.”
PAULA HULBURT
son as the winner for the seventh seat. But as the 200 plus special votes are being counted, would-be councillor Jonathan Rosene has just pulled ahead. Election officials say the results are very close, with the final declaration expected to be
announced on Wednesday or Thursday. Electoral Officer Dean Heiford says the special votes could go either way. “It really is too close to call at this point. The final declaration will come later in the week, on Wednesday or Thursday.”
Special votes are those that are not on the printed electoral roll or are not taken at a voting place. Cyril, who also stood last time, campaigned on putting people before luxuries and changing how council prioritises spending. Former police officer Jonathan
wants to see a community that attracts and retains skilled people and supports and encourages young people into jobs. Voter turnout across Marlborough reached a record low in this year’s local council elections.
Twist in fight for final council seat paula@topsouthmedia.co.nz
The fight for a final seat on council has taken a surprise twist as special votes make the result too close to call. Early indications had put Blenheim Ward candidate Cyril Daw-
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