New commuter train from Rangiora to Rolleston proposed
environment transport 37 minutes ago
Environment Canterbury is proposing a new commuter train from Rangiora to Rolleston, which it says the region's booming population needs. Councillor Joe Davies spoke to Charlotte Cook.
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Mt Messenger contractors making strides underground and overhead
Contractors have offered a sneak-peak at two of the main features of Te Ara o Te Ata - the Mt Messenger Bypass on State Highway 3 in Taranaki. A huge road-heading machine is excavating a 235m-long tunnel under the highest point of the maunga and construction of a 125m-long bridge toward the southern end of the project is underway. The six-kilometre $360 million bypass aims to deliver a safer more resilient route north out of Taranaki, avoiding an existing steep and windy stretch of highway which includes a narrow tunnel. NZTA project manager Caleb Perry. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Waka Kotahi project manager Caleb Perry said the tunnel, which was 65m below the summit, was a key component of the project. "The tunnel is 235m-long or will be once we've broken through and it's excavated in two headings. So, what we're standing in now is the top heading and the final road level will be about 3m below our feet here. "So, we break through with this top heading out the other side probably in about October/November time this year. Then we bring all the team back to the start, drop down about 3m and carry on and remove what we call the bench." Perry said two-lane bridge would be 13m wide by 9m high, giving an over-dimensional traffic envelope of 10m wide and 6m high when an emergency exit passage was installed one side and the lighting and fire safety equipment installed the roof. Inside the tunnel. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Tunnel supervisor Steve Wiley. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin A Tūrangi local, tunnel supervisor Steve Wiley learned his trade in Australia. "A typical day underground is pretty much excavation, shotcrete, curing time and excavating again." He loved life underground. "It's just a challenge. You have challenging days, good days. And it's the people, you know, you run into some really good characters working underground." Roadheader operator Carlos Cooper. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Carlos Cooper pilots the 110-tonne road-header given the name 'Hinetūparimaunga' - the atua of mountains and cliffs - by project partners Ngāti Tama. "She's one of the nicest machines you can drive in underground tunnelling. She's pretty good and particularly with this ground it's pretty soft, so she's easy cutting on this particular project." The 110 tonne roadheader machine in the Mt Messenger tunnel. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin He also earned his stripes across the ditch. "In Australia is where I started. I had a few mates who got into the underground game and I haven't looked back since." The Whanganui local outlined his day. "Arrive for a briefing at about 6.30am and come up here about 7am. Get into cutting mode and then it will take approximately two, two and a half hours to cut 1.2m and then we'll much the face out and shot crete will come in and do their bit and we'll bolt after that and shotcrete again." Cooper was looking forward to emerging at the other end. "It's quite a relief one of those special days you can look back on and tell your grandkids yeah you were on that project and it was one to remember. He hoped to take a spin on the new highway once it was finished. "Absolutely, yeah, hopefully I'll be one of the first." Bridge building boss Nick Myers-Kay. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Senior project engineer Nick Myers-Kay was in charge of constructing the project's longest bridge - which actually involved building two bridges. "Currently we're standing on the 110m of temporary staging that needs to be constructed ahead of building the permanent bridge which is going to be located out to the right of us here. "In the background here that's the first lot of permanent earthworks that the bridge is started on. That's pretty much where the abutment is going to start. The bridge had raking piers. That keeps the pier foundations out of the wetland." The view from a service road down to the tunnel head. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin He said the temporary bridge - on which a 28 tonne crane was operating - helped minimised damage to the wetland below. "The immediate challenge is the environment. I'm new to this area I've never worked in this region before, so I'm quite amazed at the ruggedness and steepness of the terrain around us. "It's obviously very beautiful country here too the bush is just spectacular, so that is obviously a major challenge for us to navigate our way around that." It was a point project manager Caleb Perry reinforced. "This is a really important part of the natural environment here at the headwaters of the Mimi Stream and you can see off to the side the kahikatea swamp forest which is one of the last inland wetlands that we are working as hard as we can to protect." A digger operating in the tunnel. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin That went as far as bending trees out of the way. "You can see around me there are few trees with tie-downs, ropes around them. We basically put a team of ecologists in a basket hang them from a crane and the try and bend some of those trees out of the way, so the temporary bridge can go through. "After we've built the main structure this temporary bridge won't be needed anymore and the team will come back and let the trees bounce back into their natural position." A 28 tonne crane preparing to place a pile from the staging bridge at the construction site of the 125m steel girder bridge. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin The permanent bridge was due to be completed by September 2026. New Zealand Transport Agency was still embroiled in a Public Works Act wrangle for land required for the project at its northern end. If that was successful, it would take about four years to complete the bypass. A surveyor working at the tunnel face. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
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Nursing union members hold stop work meetings over stalled pay talks
File photo. The Nurses Organisation and Health NZ have been in bargaining since late last year. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Nurses are looking for better pay and higher staff-to-patient ratios after rejecting the latest Health NZ offer, a Nurses' Organisation delegate says. A series of stop-work meetings take place this week to discuss the next steps following a vote by members to turn down the offer. Wellington Hospital delegate Hilary Gardner said a commitment to improving staff-to-patient ratios was needed, and the pay increase was essentially a pay cut. "It's what's not in the offer that's the big concern for us. There's not a lot that commitment for health and safety and safe staffing." She said nothing was off the table, including strike action. Health NZ said it wanted nurses to return to the bargaining table to resolve the issue. Gardener said the rejected offer came after many days of bargaining already since their contract expired late last year. Health NZ regional deputy chief executive Dr Mike Shepherd said it believed the offer was fair. "The employment relations authority agrees with that view, we're really keen that our nursing colleagues return to the negotiation table, so we can continue this conversation, so we can continue delivering the care our community needs. "We really respect our nursing colleagues, we do need to be fiscally prudent, and we've made this offer. "We think nursing pay rates have had a number of uplifts over recent years and of course we're keen to continue to that conversation," he said. He said there was a system in place, set up in conjunction with the nursing union, that matches demand on the wards with the nurses available.
RNZ News
an hour ago
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Is it better to give someone who's homeless cash or food if they ask for help?
"I think many of the people on the street feel rejected, feel outsiders, that they're being looked down on." Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin People working in top jobs at charities responding to poverty say the choice of giving food or money to those asking for help is tough and they often feel conflicted. Many communities are seeing a spike in homelessness, with a steady rise in the number of people living in cars, parks or on the streets. That included Auckland, where there were more than 650 living rough on the streets according to the last count in January, and outreach workers expected that to rise over winter. Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson said giving is a personal decision. "For some people giving money is okay for some it isn't, for some it is giving money to an organisation, for some it's shouting someone a feed or offering to buy someone a pie or a drink while they're in the shop," she said. "For others it's really striking up that conversation and encouraging them to access services like the mission." Robinson said she often feels conflicted about what to give. "There are times when I have given them money and there are times when I haven't, which is ironic for me as the Auckland City Missioner that I say both of those things," she said. "I'm just conscious that sometimes $5 is the difference between someone having some food. It's a tangible expression of I actually genuinely care for what's going on for you in this moment." Hustling or begging at traffic lights was against the law and she urged people to consider theirs and others' safety in such situations. Robinson said a human response was needed and it's important not to ignore those living rough - she encouraged compassion. Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge agreed. "I have a belief that the best possible thing we can do is greet them as you would anybody else, so say hello, make eye contact, engage with them, ask them how their day is," he said. "I've been doing that for a number of years because I heard directly from one of them that one of the biggest challenges they faced is that people wouldn't make eye contact." Edridge said he takes that approach and prefers to buy someone lunch or something they need rather than give cash. He said the mission is seeing a rare level of poverty in its 120 year history. "We're facing some huge social issues and my encouragement to government, to decision makers, to policy setters, to local councils and to leaders in our community is that we need to pay attention to this because if we don't then we all lose." Edridge has been the city missioner for seven years and said he felt privileged to be in a position to help others. "There's no downside to helping people get on and have an improved life, in fact the benefit that accrues to each one of us is huge." Ian Hutson works as a mission officer for the Salvation Army and said the question of what to give people on the street is not straight-forward. "In my case I often don't give but refer to agencies that can help but occasion you get the feel that it's fine to give." He said people need to feel part of society, regardless of their circumstances. "People are often somewhat frightened or fearful of people on the street and sometimes I think a certain amount of engaging and acknowledging them but without necessarily giving anything is at least one thing," Hutson said. "I think many of the people on the street feel rejected, feel outsiders, that they're being looked down on." He said individuals, groups and churches all need to help those in need. The missioners and Hutson said people experiencing homelessness should not be blamed for their circumstances, which often include challenges such as addiction or illness. Robinson is urging people to write to their local MP. "Contact your local representative and say to them that enough affordable housing is really important to you as a citizen, to use your power to communicate to our politicians how important it is to you because your view then enables them to shape their view." She said a lack of affordable housing is driving up homelessness and that needs to change.
