Women's indignation protest and river walk focus of Heritage weekend in Gisborne
Heritage is to the fore this weekend with another free Taruheru River-focused walking tour on Saturday morning and a talk about Nora Walker and the 1915 Women's Indignation Protest on Sunday afternoon.
The free guided tour, led by Heritage Tairāwhiti member Coralie Campbell-Whitehead, is the second in a series running
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RNZ News
10-08-2025
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Heritage-listed library's future threatened by funding cut
The rimu-panelled library is open for two hours, three times per week, as well as monthly Sunday afternoons. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The future of Tai Tapu's heritage-listed library is in jeopardy because of a council funding cut. The distinctive red stone library was built next to St Paul's Anglican Church in Canterbury's Selwyn district in 1932 on land donated by politician and philanthropist Sir Heaton Rhodes, largely funded by the sale of daffodil bulbs by Otahuna Lodge's head gardener. Library committee members said they were hit by a "bombshell" Selwyn District Council letter last October, outlining plans to stop funding building and grounds maintenance and repairs from 30 June because it was "endeavouring to apply a more consistent approach across the externally owned facilities it supports". The letter left volunteers facing an annual bill of more than $13,000 to keep the library open. 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The committee said a 2019 memorandum of understanding expired without explanation in 2022 despite repeated requests for its renewal, with members instead assured existing arrangements would continue. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Sir Heaton and his wife Jessie donated money from bulb sales and flower show prize winnings to help fund the library after establishing the country's pre-eminent daffodil collection in the 1920s. According to Heritage New Zealand, then-Governor-General Charles Bathurst remarked at the library's opening: "I have never before heard of flowers being converted by realisation into a home for the flowers of literature - it is a most ingenious and delightful idea." In last October's "letter of intent", the council said it intended to transfer the library's special funds to the society so committee members could make their own financial decisions. "Going forward, we appreciate the heritage status of the building and its importance to the community and we will provide information to assist you with exploring alternative funding," the letter said. Otahuna Lodge. Photo: Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-Selwyn-P4231583 In correspondence that followed, the committee expressed scepticism about the council's approach and said any notion the library was owned by the people of Tai Tapu had no legal validity. "We see this as a 'one size fits all' policy which conveniently ignores the value of Tai Tapu library to the council," the letter said. "In our constitution, the council is named as the future owner should the incorporated society status come to an end. The home page for Selwyn Libraries lists Tai Tapu as a community library which may be accessed by all members of Selwyn Libraries. "With due respect, we request the opportunity for consultation on a policy which places the future of Tai Tapu library in jeopardy." In April the council offered to provide building and grounds maintenance, window cleaning, internet access and insurance until June 2027, although the money would come from the library's special funds - money the committee estimated would run out a year earlier. Springs ward councillor Grant Miller said it would be exceptionally sad if the library closed and urged the council to be pragmatic. "The community is ratepayers, that's who we are, so whether it's the Selwyn District Council's name on the title or whether it's the library [society], that's semantics. The reality is, it's a community asset. The council should be looking after it," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
04-08-2025
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Historic Ophir office's postmistress retires after 26 years
Ophir Post Office is the longest continuously operated in New Zealand. Photo: After 26 years as the postmistress at the historic Ophir Post Office, Val Butcher has retired. The post office is the longest continuously operated in New Zealand, and the historic building, which was built in 1886, is also one of the most photographed in the South Island, but for Butcher it is the people that made the job so special. Butcher told Morning Report she moved to Ophir from Australia to retire. "When I first moved here there was only 25 people. The town was shrinking and I didn't expect to get a job," Butcher said. The post office was run by a woman who was in ill health, and she asked Butcher if she could fill in on days she wasn't feeling well, and when she left, Butcher applied for the job and got it. "I was in the right place at the right time," Butcher said. "I'd never been a postmistress before, so it was all new to me. It was great and it was good for me, and it was only four doors from where I live." The towns population now numbers about 70 and Butcher has got to to know them all, and also enjoys the tourists from the nearby rail trail who flock to the historic building which is owned by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. "It's been a really, really interesting job, and I've had good bosses all the way through, so I can't complain," she said. Butcher also enjoyed learning about the heritage of the Central Otago town, which is an old gold mining town. Butcher is staying in Ophir, and described her decision to retire as "a little sad, but glad I've made the decision now, it was a very hard decision to make". She said she will still visit the post office to see her friends and helps to run a local community newsletter. "I write what's called 'The Tatler', which is part of the newsletter," she said. "I was writing the whole lot, and that got too much." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
