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Wednesday 22 February 2023
‘I won’t do it again’ Drunk driver walks away with clean slate
TRACY NEAL
Open Justice Reporter
The sparkling future held by the young woman in the dock was left almost in tatters after just one night out drinking. As she stood before the judge, waiting to hear her fate for driving drunk, not even the crisp corporate outfit could hide her crumbling pride. “I just felt so embarrassed and nervous about what was going to happen. I’ve never felt that much anxiety,” the woman, who is in her 20s, told Open Justice outside court. Sonia* escaped conviction for offences she had earlier admitted, including driving while more than four times the legal limit, resisting police and assaulting an officer. The relief was evident in her quick step from the courtroom in Nelson last week. She has agreed to share her experience in the hope it prevents others from drinking and driving, and also to explain how easy it can happen when you’re not thinking straight. “I do think about what would have happened if I’d hit someone, and I can’t describe how it
makes me feel. “I’ve learned a lot from this, and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone else.” A mix of shock, upset and alcohol was behind her impulsive decision to leave the bar where she’d been having fun with colleagues at an industry get-together on a night out last October. Unwanted attention described as an assault by a man she didn’t know, left her sobbing in the bathroom, trying desperately to reach her partner who was at the time out of town. “I tried to call him but all I was thinking was that I had to get out of the situation I was in. “I could have got a taxi, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. “It was so silly, but I was distressed.” Sonia drove off; vaguely aware she was drunk, and having forgotten to switch on her headlights. The police soon pulled her over. Things went smoothly at first – the police let her phone her family when they claimed the breathalyser wasn’t working and she’d need
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Pine harvest closes Kingsland Forest tracks MAX FRETHEY
Local Democracy Reporter
Closures are coming to the Kingsland Forest Park as work begins to harvest a section of pine trees near Lodestone Gully. The park, located behind Richmond, has many forest tracks popular with walkers and cyclists that will be closed during the three-month harvest. Some short-term closures began
on Monday for initial engineering earthworks and tree-felling, and a higher level of harvesting will begin in two weeks on Monday 6 March until about June, which will result in more track closures. An informal survey conducted by Tasman District Council in 2019 showed that about 700 people used the park’s tracks at least once a week. Given the popularity of the forest park and its trails,
the harvest plan has offered some alternatives to total closures for some tracks. Logs are expected to be carted out through Silvan Forest and an agreement around access is being entered into with the landowner, council confirmed. Environmental risk will also be managed throughout the harvest period. Slash will be removed from skid sites to be used for biofuel or landscape material,
and a fixed head felling machine will be employed to minimise tree-breakage and debris deposits. Fallen trees in Lodestone Gully caused by slips from the August 2022 weather event will also be extracted. Grass seed will be distributed by air after the harvest to help stabilise the empty slopes. This harvest will be one of the last commercial harvests of pine from
the Kingsland Forest Park as council works towards planting a mix of exotic and native species to create a permanent recreational forest park behind Richmond. This year will see the planting of about 35,000 native and 15,000 exotic trees in the Lodestone Gully area which will eventually see about 75 per cent of trees will be native and 25 per cent will be
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