Latest news with #Gisborne
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Environmentalists see forestry changes as dangerous step for Tai Rāwhiti
A Gisborne beach covered in wood debris after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: Supplied / Manu Caddie Tai Rāwhiti environmentalists have called changes for commercial forestry under proposed Resource Management Act reforms "a slap in the face" and a return to weaker forestry regulations. Local groups are preparing to make submissions on proposed changes to the way forestry is managed after consultation on the Resource Management Act opened on Thursday. The proposals would make it harder for councils to have their own discretion in setting stricter rules to control tree planting. Gisborne District Council (GDC) said the proposed changes grant both "real opportunities" and "some challenges". The Eastland Wood Council (EWC) is still considering its options around submitting. Mana Taiao Tai Rāwhiti (MTT), the group behind a 12,000-signature petition that triggered the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use (MILU) in Tai Rāwhiti and Wairoa, claimed the Government was relaxing "already permissive forestry rules". The inquiry, published in May 2023, followed the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and other major storms, when woody debris, forestry slash and sedimentation flooded the region's land, waterways and infrastructure. At the time of the inquiry's findings, the previous Government announced actions to reduce the risk of a Gabrielle repeat. MTT spokeswoman and Ruatōria resident Tui Warmenhoven said, "We were promised stronger protections - what we're getting is deregulation dressed as reform." The proposed changes were "a slap in the face to the hundreds of whānau who've already paid the price for poor forestry regulations", said Warmenhoven in a group statement. Another part of the proposed changes will require a Slash Mobilisation Risk Assessment as part of all harvest management plans. It would also consider refining requirements to remove all slash above a certain size from forest cutovers. MTT welcomed the proposed requirement for Slash Mobilisation Risk Assessments, however, it warned "this would be ineffective without enforceable planning requirements and local oversight". "A slash assessment without an afforestation plan is meaningless - it's a partial fix that ignores the root of the problem," said Warmenhoven. "We've already seen what happens when forestry is left to regulate itself and the problems with planting shallow-rooting pine on erosion-prone slopes. We are also concerned about the removal of references to woody debris, given that whole pine plantations collapsed during Cyclone Gabrielle and still line many waterways in the region." Last September, EWC chairman Julian Kohn said forestry firms were "bleeding money", with many companies finding Gisborne too costly to invest in. Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting, Kohn said EWC was still considering whether to submit its own response or work with other council members to make submissions. "We've been working closely with the minister and advocating for what we see needs to be real change in respect of some of the causes in the NES-CF [National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry]," said Kohn. "Our real concern is that the way the council is treating many of these consents and these enforcement orders are literally sending these forest companies to the wall." He said forestry companies would close if things continued the way they were, which would leave forests unmanaged and unharvested. "Next time we have a rain event, then some of those trees which have been locked up are going to come down the waterways, which is exactly what everybody wants to try to prevent." GDC's director of sustainable futures, Jocelyne Allen, said the consultation documents came "as no surprise" as they were broad and aligned with what the council had seen in the Cabinet paper and Expert Advisory Group report. "The packages cover infrastructure, the primary sector, freshwater, and urban growth, all areas that matter deeply to our region. "There are real opportunities here, but also some challenges, and we're taking the time to work through both carefully," she said. The council intends to submit a response and will be taking a strategic and collaborative approach to doing so, including engaging with tangata whenua, whānau, hapū and iwi across the region and working through its sector networks, particularly the Local Government Special Interest Groups and Te Uru Kahika, said Allen. Before the announcement of the proposed changes, in an email to Local Democracy Reporting on Monday, Primary Industries and Forestry Minister Todd McClay said forestry played an important role in the economy and provided many jobs on the East Coast. "The Government is working closely with the GDC and respected members of the forestry industry, farming and iwi to manage and reduce risk through better and more practical rules rather than blanket restrictions or bans." He said they are reviewing slash management practices and will amend the NES-CF so councils can focus on the most at-risk areas, lower costs and deliver better social and environmental outcomes. "We want them to focus on high-risk areas, which is what GDC is currently doing, rather than suggesting that there should no longer be any forestry in the Tai Rāwhiti region," he said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Gisborne badminton: Seasonal bugs test teams' resources
BADMINTON Winter bugs have tested the resources of teams to find replacement players in BIZminton 2025, Gisborne's business house badminton league. So far, they have been resourceful in filling the gaps. Riversun Racquets won on countback again, after drawing 3-3 on matches in the tie with Sweaty
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
High School bans Run It Straight games on grounds
sport health about 1 hour ago A high school has banned Run It Straight tackle games on its grounds, denouncing them as nothing more than Boys' High School told its 820 students about the ban on Monday, just hours before the life support was turned off for 19-year-old Ryan Satterthwaite, who died from a head injury suffered in a game in Palmerston North at the weekend. Ryan's family today called for top sports stars to step up and warn of the risks involved. But as Jimmy Ellingham reports, it's an invitation not all are taking up.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Retailers relieved at police commissioner's clarification on when to investigate crimes
Retail crime group chair Sunny Kaushal. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The head of the government's retail crime advisory group is relieved police commissioner Richard Chambers has scrapped a controversial directive on shoplifting. A internal police memo obtained by RNZ told staff not to investigate crimes under a certain dollar value , prompting outrage from the retail sector before the directive was publicly scrapped on Tuesday. It included shoplifting under $500 , petrol drive-offs under $150 and online fraud under $1000. Retail crime group chair Sunny Kaushal said the clarity was very reassuring for victims around the country. "The clear comments from the police commissioner show police's commitment to responding to retail crime," he said. "And the clarity he provided on the thresholds for investigating shoplifting offences will greatly reassure victims of retail crime across the country." He said the confusion caused by the memo should not overshadow the great work of many police officers, particularly in Tauranga and Gisborne where Kaushal felt the response to retail crime was particularly strong. "There are pockets of outstanding practice across the country ... So the work that those police forces are doing should not be discounted by the confusion created by this directive," he said. But Kaushal was surprised to learn Chambers had not been made aware of the memo until its contents were published by RNZ. "That was a bit surprising, and I also understand the police commissioner is still new and he's still trying to settle [in]," he said. "This directive came like a bolt out of the blue, and the retailers I had been talking to were seriously concerned. I was getting so many calls." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Senior Gisborne Hospital doctors on 24-hour strike, say hospital 'on the brink of collapse'
Fifty senior doctors from Gisborne Hospital walked off the job at midnight for a 24-hour strike. Photo: Liam Clayton / The Gisborne Herald Fifty senior doctors from Gisborne Hospital walked off the job at midnight for a 24-hour strike in protest of their working conditions. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) told RNZ 45 percent of senior medical officer roles are currently vacant at the hospital, and it has written to the government twice to express concern about the hospital being "on the brink of collapse". Senior doctor Alex Raines said they did not make the decision to strike lightly, as it will impact patients. "There will be some delays in outpatient clinics and things, I was supposed to see a number of patients on Wednesday that I won't be able to see this week. "Honestly those delays are small compared to the delays we have every week just due to short staffing," he said. Raines worries about the impact on all hospital staff, and said senior doctors are severely understaffed. "We are all really struggling and quite exhausted trying to keep things afloat. In my department of general medicine we are reliant on locums to keep the department from closing. "It's really challenging and limits what we can do for planned care - we're basically just keeping our acute services running," he said. The doctors also went on strike on 1 May, to highlight the staffing crisis, but Raines said they are doing it again because there has been no response from Health NZ or the government. "So we're still waiting for some kind of plan or strategy on how to staff our hospital long term. "Looking ahead we have multiple staffing gaps and we have no idea how to fill them and how we are going to keep our services open," said Raines. Health NZ's chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan told RNZ it has been working hard with senior doctors in Tairāwhiti, as it has had challenges in recruiting senior staff into that region for many years. Dr Sullivan said locum doctors are supporting them, and permanent staff are on the way. "We have 11 permanent staff that have signed up to come over the coming months. But it does take time to recruit a senior doctor - particularly if they are coming from overseas by the time they go through the various steps," he said. Health NZ's chief clinical officer Dr Richard Sullivan. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel He said it was unfortunate the doctors are holding a second strike this month. "This will have an impact. We will have to reduce the number of operations we undertake and we will have to reduce the number of clinics - that's unfortuante for patients in that community," he said. "I just want to recognise the stress on the permanent staff at Gisborne Hospital - it's been tough for them as they've had unfilled shifts for many years. It is a challenge - I completey accept that," said Dr Sullivan. Gisborne Hospital's former chief medical officer Eric McClean told RNZ these challenges have been ongoing for years, and there are some complex reasons behind it. "The shortage of senior doctors has really put us in a bind. Considering the complexities of the patient demographic we get ... it's really a struggle to manage and demand keeps going up each year. "Patients are living longer and we're seeing them more. With the decrease of primary care and lack of preventative care we get huge demands coming into the hospital," he said. Dr McClean said that means the hospital becomes a default for a lot of patients who cannot see a GP. "So with that we're unable to maintain proper staffing levels for senior medical officers ... and it's all the other support services, things like administrative support. "It is extremely difficult to hire to new administrative positions - you'll have entire departments without a PA - meaning all that work, documentation and even copies of things have to be done by the clinicians themselves," he said. Which he worries is adding to their burden of work. "It takes us away from our core responsibility which is seeing patients and making sure they are getting better," he said. The message from Tairāwhiti's senior doctors to government is clear. "Invest in our hospital, invest in our community. We know our community deserves better," said Dr Raines. The senior doctors will be on strike until 11:59pm Wednesday, and are raising money for the Tairāwhiti Super Grans food bank while they are off the job. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
