Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 12 April 2023
LIFTOUT
Page 20
Premier off with a bang
Wakefield hoons Page 4
Less for food as costs bite ANNE HARDIE
More Nelsonians are trying to access Kiwisaver to get themselves out of debt as the cost of living continues to rise, while many families are spending less on food so they can pay their bills.
Nelson Budgeting Services’ coordinator Tessa Bell says food is the one cost each week that people can reduce and some single adults seeking the service’s help are spending as little as $38 a week on food, while couples are usually less than $100 a week.
Though the minimum wage has just increased to $22.70 per hour, the independently-calculated living wage which is paid on a voluntary basis by employers is moving up to $26 per hour. The living wage is voluntary for employers who want to make sure
their workers get enough money to thrive and not just survive. However, Tessa says the costs just keep going up to counter any higher wages and the service is now getting people seeking budgeting advice pre-emptively because they see looming financial
problems. One of those problems is refixing interest rates on mortgages which she says can double their mortgage payments each week or more. “We’re seeing more and more
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Woodsmen reunite SARA HOLLYMAN Denis Wastney thinks back fondly to his time in the forestry service – an industry he dedicated much of his life to. He was just 15 years old in 1957 when he left home to go to the Golden Downs Woodsman Training School. “I can’t imagine a 15-yearold being taken 40-odd miles out of Nelson now, by 15 they’ve probably got motorbikes and cars and are probably going out every night, but in those days, we were taken way out into the bush and dropped off.” He was one of 45 young men to begin the training that year, but four years later was one of only 16 who qualified as a skilled woodsman.
Entrants were usually just 15 or 16 years old, and spent the next three years learning forestry skills, two at Golden Downs before heading to Totara Flats on the West Coast to learn more about native species. Over Easter weekend Denis had the chance to reconnect with some of those men at the reunion of the woodsman training school. Reunion organiser Sally Quickfall says more than 150 people attended the dinner on Saturday night, spending time reconnecting and reminiscing of days gone by. The weekend was packed with activities including heading back to where the Woodsman school once stood in the
Denis Wastney reconnected with his fellow the Golden Downs Woodsman Training School at a reunion over Easter. Photo: Sara Hollyman.
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