Horticulture love pays off for Goodman
Lydia Goodman has won the Central Otago young grower title. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Lydia Goodman has won the 2025 Central Otago young grower regional title.
The Cromwell woman is the assistant orchard manager at Central Orchard Management and packing manager at CentralPac.
To take the title, she pitched her skills against four fellow contestants to win the regional event in Cromwell late last week.
She will now go on to compete against six other regional winners in the young grower of the year final in Christchurch in September.
The 26-year-old was raised on a beef and dairy farm in England and developed a passion for agriculture early. After moving to New Zealand, she transitioned from cattle and crops to cherries, discovering a love for horticulture.
"I literally fell into it when I was a backpacker in Wānaka.
"My working visa was about to expire, it was post-Covid and the industry was crying out for workers."
She snapped up the government's offer of supplementary seasonal employer visas and started work in a cherry orchard in Tarras.
"I just loved it, the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry. I have been here ever since."
Lydia now has five years of experience managing teams in both orchard and packhouse operations and holds level 3 and 4 certificates in fruit production.
She entered the competition to develop her technical skills, build connections with like-minded professionals, and challenge herself.
"It was a great experience completing seven modules across the day along with two practical components, and a speech in the evening.
"The big one for me was pruning a tree in front of two big names in the field."
She manages a team of 12 recognised seasonal employer workers as well as being a manager in the pack house. She loves the outdoor work and the passion and leadership in the industry.
"One of the best things is teaching the team how to do their job and seeing the passion develop as they learn and understand things like the physiology of a tree. That really fuels me."
Her ambition is to become a Central Otago cherry grower.
The runners-up were Jared Loewen, from Stone House Gardens at Roxburgh, who is redeveloping his family's orchard to improve productivity and sustainability, and Mackenzie Maaka, of Cromwell, who is studying level 4 horticultural fruit production at polytechnic. — APL
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Scoop
Cameron Road Changes To Remain At Seventh And Twelfth Avenues
Roading improvements at Seventh Avenue and Twelfth Avenue made as part of the 2021-2024 upgrade of Cameron Road will remain in place it was decided yesterday. Tauranga City Council's City Delivery Committee was presented with options for the future of the two city centre intersections following concerns raised by local businesses about the improvements limiting their customers' ability to reach them. For Seventh Avenue, there was also concern that reduced access was affecting leasing opportunities. Councillors acknowledged that the feedback received from the community did not give this outcome unanimous support but they were making decisions for the future. They recognised that businesses had already suffered from long delays on Cameron Road Stage 1, and they felt that the roading improvements already made were the best option. A vote was carried to maintain the status quo of the Seventh Avenue cul de sac because reopening the intersection with Cameron Road would result in a loss of parking on Cameron Road which a recent survey identified was of high value to local businesses and had implications for the future form and function of Cameron Road. Parking concerns raised by both residents and businesses as part of the survey also identified the need to provide more parking in the area, so a vote was also carried to add additional on-street parking on Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Avenues. While there was real concern expressed for the challenges experienced by the businesses on Twelfth Avenue, a decision was made to keep the 'no right turn' from Cameron Road into Twelfth Avenue in place due to safety concerns with vehicles having to cross two traffic lanes, a bus lane and a cycleway when making a right turn into Twelve Avenue. Head of Transport Mike Seabourne told the committee that because the Cameron Road improvements had been designed to accommodate future growth in the city, particularly in Te Papa and Tauriko West, it was a very 'future-like' design which he acknowledged was 'awkward' for the community to understand and get behind. Councillor Kevin Schuler said it was important to address the parking issues identified in the Seventh Avenue area so he believed that should be done now and if there was still ongoing disquiet about the cul de sac that a decision about reopening it could be revisited later. Councillor Marten Rozeboom said reinstating a right turn into Twelfth Avenue from Cameron Road would affect the flow of traffic between Fifteenth Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and while some people were always disaffected or disadvantaged by change, it was working well for most of Tauranga. Councillor Rod Taylor said while the rush of the Cameron Road project and the impact of COVID-19 meant that consultation at the time 'wasn't 100%' there has now been an opportunity for the community to be heard. 'The result isn't going to be what everyone is wanting but the fact we've looked at it again is good for the community and a lot of people now understand the design of the road and long-term intention.'
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Scoop
Southland Woman Sentenced On Tax Charges
Press Release – Inland Revenue No PAYE returns were filed until 2020 when returns for seven PAYE periods were returned all at once with $82,894.86 (excluding penalties and interest) immediately due and payable. A Southland woman, whose company was involved in a programme providing school lunches, was sentenced to home detention on tax charges. Debra Lee Monteith was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court on June 3rd to 11 months home detention on a single representative charge of aiding and abetting her company in failing to account for PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024. Monteith's company, Lee 19, was primarily involved in food catering including the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School lunches and catering at the Alliance Lorneville meat processing plant. In 2019, Lee 19 registered as an employer and began paying its workers. The next year several employees phoned Inland Revenue stating their KiwiSaver deductions were not being paid. No PAYE returns were filed until 2020 when returns for seven PAYE periods were returned all at once with $82,894.86 (excluding penalties and interest) immediately due and payable. Monteith entered into an instalment arrangement in 2020 for the debt, but this was cancelled in 2022 because of missed payments. Then the company stopped paying PAYE entirely from March 2021 until February 2024. The PAYE not accounted for over this period totalled $801,928.79. Monteith told Inland Revenue the PAYE was used to keep the company afloat and pay for food costs. Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry. Monteith benefitted by just over $300,000 between 2020 and 2024, although she wasn't otherwise taking a salary from the company. Lee 19 also applied for and received more than $780,000 in COVID-19 support money from various schemes. The company, at Monteith's direction, was receiving significant taxpayer support while at the same time not meeting its own tax obligations. In March 2024, Lee 19 was placed into liquidation. Monteith, who ran four other companies since the late 1980s, was made bankrupt in 2013.
Otago Daily Times
14 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Southland woman's $800k tax evasion
Debra Monteith. Photo: ODT Files A Southland woman providing school lunches has been sentenced to home detention after failing to pay more than $800,000 in tax through her catering company. Debra Lee Monteith was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court to 11 months home detention for failing to account for PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024, Inland Revenue said in a statement. Monteith's company, Lee 19, was primarily involved in food catering including the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School lunches and catering at the Alliance Lorneville meat processing plant. In 2019, Lee 19 registered as an employer and began paying its workers. The next year several employees phoned Inland Revenue stating their KiwiSaver deductions were not being paid. No PAYE returns were filed until 2020 when returns for seven periods were returned all at once with $82,894.86 immediately due and payable. Monteith entered into an instalment arrangement in 2020 for the debt, but this was cancelled in 2022 because of missed payments. Then the company stopped paying PAYE entirely from March 2021 until February 2024. The PAYE not accounted for over this period totalled $801,928.79. Monteith told Inland Revenue the PAYE was used to keep the company afloat and pay for food costs. Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry. Monteith benefitted by just over $300,000 between 2020 and 2024, although she wasn't otherwise taking a salary from the company. Lee 19 also applied for and received more than $780,000 in COVID-19 support money from various schemes. The company, at Monteith's direction, was receiving significant taxpayer support while at the same time not meeting its own tax obligations. In March 2024, Lee 19 was placed into liquidation. Monteith, who ran four other companies since the late 1980s, was made bankrupt in 2013. - APL
