Waimea Weekly
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Wednesday 14 August 2024
Page 21
Hold On Mazzy
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Swimming siblings go for gold ANNE HARDIE
Sibling rivalry was nowhere in sight when William and Maddie Seymour scooped the gold medal in the pool for the fastest mixed duo at the National Secondary School Championships. The pair won the 2x50m freestyle mixed event, which was the icing on the cake for the duo who brought home a host of medals from the championships in Auckland recently. For 18-year-old William, the championships resulted in personal best times across the board and six medals including four golds in 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Maddie, who had to return home early for a ballet competition, backstroked her way to a gold medal in the
Maddi and William Seymour are the fastest swimming siblings in the country at secondary school level. Photo: Anne Hardie.
SEE PAGE 23
A year of eBus – a look in the rearview MAX FRETHEY
Local Democracy Reporter
The wheels on the eBus have rolled round and round on Nelson Tasman roads for over a year now. People took more than 931,000 journeys on the new service during its first 12 months, a 101 per cent jump compared to the year of its predecessor NBus. Despite the strong growth, trips
by children aged five–12 suffered an “immediate” 60 per cent drop from 1 May when they lost the ability to ride the bus for free, following the end of the Government’s fare subsidy. Tasman councillor Barry Dowler suggested at a Friday meeting of the region’s joint transport committee that, from his own observations, the drop could be attributed to children who caught the bus just to travel a few hun-
dred metres down the road to avoid walking. However, patronage still increased from April to May despite the subsidy being lost in between. Patronage numbers weren’t also significantly impacted when Bee Card fares were raised by 5 per cent from 1 July, with passenger numbers climbing by about 5000 between June and July. The bus network’s expansion to
the Tasman towns of Motueka and Wakefield have been well-received, with those two routes cumulatively accounting for about 70,000 journeys. Tasman Mayor Tim King said in a statement that the eBus had a “massive” impact on the district and the patronage numbers were a “testament” to its importance for residents. “You can see a real appetite for public transport in Tasman.”
Despite its successes, it’s been a bumpy road – both literally and metaphorically – for the eBus. Stoke OnDemand was scrapped in April after low uptake made the service too costly to run. The heavy electric buses also destroyed sections of road resulting in $400,000 in damages for Nelson streets, with Jenner Rd perhaps being the most badly affected.
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