Latest news with #OtagoDailyTimes
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Road cone hotline 'fuelling risk' of abuse
The government's war on road cones is "just fuel thrown on the fire" for road workers already suffering regular abuse, a Dunedin traffic management company boss says. Yesterday, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden launched a 12-month pilot of a road cone hotline to investigate "instances of over-compliance in temporary traffic management", as part of changes to government regulator WorkSafe. The owner of a Dunedin traffic management company, who the Otago Daily Times has agreed not to name, said the hotline was "pretty out of the gate". "I just think it's very much noise — a great one for the politicians to bang on about." Abuse towards road workers was "systemic" and in the most extreme cases, often further north, workers had been threatened with knives or guns. "The biggest thing we train on is de-escalating conflict," the owner said. "This has just trumped it ... ultimately, it's fuelling a risk that we've only just ever managed." Traffic management was needed when essential work such as water or power maintenance was being carried out — something people overlooked. "A new university building, a new hospital — it's just 'bloody road cones'. "If people don't know the bones of what [the hotline's] trying to achieve — and there are some good things of what it's trying to achieve — they don't look into that. "They just see, 'oh, these f ...... road cones'. "It's just fuel thrown on the fire." He wanted to know how the scheme's success would be measured and who was liable if, for example, a vehicle drove through a work site due to a lack of road cones. A traffic management plan signed off by key stakeholders was already required for work sites, which included details of the number and spacing of cones used, he said. If not adhered to, a company could be audited or shut down. The hotline could "balance" those who put out more cones than a traffic management plan required, but he thought it was uncommon, as operators wanted to make the best use of their resources. In a statement, WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the pilot aimed to reduce unnecessary cones on the road. "While cones are primarily there to manage the speed and flow of traffic and help keep everyone safe, there can be times when usage is excessive. "We will engage with those involved with temporary traffic management and provide information to influence them to take a more risk-based approach to the use of cones on the road." Ms van Velden did not respond to questions before yesterday's deadline.
Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
‘Intense storm' on sun prompting aurora activity
Another aurora is visible over Hoopers Inlet, on Otago Peninsula, on Sunday night. Photo: Brendon Williamson As Otago's skies light up with spectacular auroral displays again, the question has been asked — are we seeing more aurora activity than ever before? Dunedin Astronomical Society life member Ash Pennell said he had been watching the night skies above the city for about 60 years, and the answer was "yes, and no". The 74-year-old believed the aurora appearing at the moment were "right up there" in terms of brilliance, but in terms of frequency, they had not increased over the past 150 years. He said the sun was at the solar maximum of its 11-year activity sequence at the moment. "Last year, if you remember, we had a couple of magnificent nights, something terrifically brilliant. "What's happened on this occasion is there's been a massive area of sunspots, solar activity — basically, storms on the sun — and that sequence has continued." He said the sun rotated every 28 days and the sunspots had been around for about three rotations. "And they look like they're going to continue for a while I think, which is rare. "They normally fade out — they go around the back of the sun and they sort of disappear. "So there's been an intense storm up there, and the sun has ejected a lot of plasma out in our direction, hence what we've been looking at the last couple of nights." He said the coronal mass ejections sent charged particles toward Earth, which interacted with the atmosphere near the North and South poles, causing them to glow and create the beautiful light displays we were seeing. While the recent displays had been spectacular, they were not the most spectacular he had seen. "The last one in 2014 wasn't so good, but the one in 2003, we had some very fine auroras back then, and the 11 years before then, too. "So it's not new, this amount of activity." In October 1927, the Otago Daily Times reported an "entrancing" aurora off the coast of Dunedin, which had a major effect on technology of the time. "The effect of the phenomenon on local wireless sets on Saturday and Sunday evenings was very noticeable," the article said. "Various owners of sets reported that it was utterly impossible to get in contact with Australian stations, and even the strong station at Wellington could not be heard." Mr Pennell said there was a solar cycle back in the mid-1860s where the coronal mass ejections disintegrated telegraph wires in parts of the northern and southern hemispheres. "That's how strong it was. Back then, that would have been really spectacular. "If we got an event that strong now, a lot of our satellites would be toast." He believed the surge in aurora images had been created by a growing number of people using smartphones to take photos of the light shows, which were being posted on social media. Dunedin astronomer Dr Ian Griffin agreed. "People have got better camera phones and better cameras, so more people are going out and basically being able to photograph the aurora. "Ash is absolutely right — you could see auroras with the naked eye back in the day. "But I do think with websites like the Aurora Australis Facebook group, which has got nearly 120,000 members, social media is really playing a role, too." Mr Pennell said the meteorological weather had also played a major part. "We've had quite a run of clear nights, so people do see these things. "They're normally hidden by cloud."
Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Concern hotline will increase abuse
The government's war on road cones is "just fuel thrown on the fire" for road workers already suffering regular abuse, a Dunedin traffic management company boss says. Yesterday, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden launched a 12-month pilot of a road cone hotline to investigate "instances of over-compliance in temporary traffic management", as part of changes to government regulator WorkSafe. The owner of a Dunedin traffic management company, who the Otago Daily Times has agreed not to name, said the hotline was "pretty out of the gate". "I just think it's very much noise — a great one for the politicians to bang on about." Abuse towards road workers was "systemic" and in the most extreme cases, often further north, workers had been threatened with knives or guns. "The biggest thing we train on is de-escalating conflict," the owner said. "This has just trumped it ... ultimately, it's fuelling a risk that we've only just ever managed." Traffic management was needed when essential work such as water or power maintenance was being carried out — something people overlooked. "A new university building, a new hospital — it's just 'bloody road cones'. "If people don't know the bones of what [the hotline's] trying to achieve — and there are some good things of what it's trying to achieve — they don't look into that. "They just see, 'oh, these f ...... road cones'. "It's just fuel thrown on the fire." He wanted to know how the scheme's success would be measured and who was liable if, for example, a vehicle drove through a work site due to a lack of road cones. A traffic management plan signed off by key stakeholders was already required for work sites, which included details of the number and spacing of cones used, he said. If not adhered to, a company could be audited or shut down. The hotline could "balance" those who put out more cones than a traffic management plan required, but he thought it was uncommon, as operators wanted to make the best use of their resources. In a statement, WorkSafe chief executive Sharon Thompson said the pilot aimed to reduce unnecessary cones on the road. "While cones are primarily there to manage the speed and flow of traffic and help keep everyone safe, there can be times when usage is excessive. "We will engage with those involved with temporary traffic management and provide information to influence them to take a more risk-based approach to the use of cones on the road." Ms van Velden did not respond to questions before yesterday's deadline.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
A warmer winter is on its way, NIWA says
By John Lewis , Otago Daily Times Climate scientists are predicting winter 2025 could be warmer than usual. Photo: Tom Kitchin Electricity bills may deliver less of a hammering this winter if NIWA's outlook for the next few months comes to fruition. It shows temperatures from June to August are "very likely" to be warmer than average this winter, meaning fewer cold snaps and frosts than usual. NIWA National Climate Centre forecasting principal scientist Chris Brandolino said El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions in the tropical Pacific remained neutral at present, but there were "residual signals" that indicated weak La Nina conditions were persisting. Occasional La Nina-like atmospheric patterns might still emerge over the next three months, he said. "However, international guidance indicates about a 70 percent chance for the tropical Pacific to remain in an Enso-neutral state over the next three-month period." He said higher-than-normal atmospheric pressure was expected to the east of the country, leading to northeasterly flow anomalies that might shift to a more northwesterly direction towards the end of the three-month period. That means seasonal air temperatures are expected to be above average across all New Zealand regions for the winter season. "While cold snaps and frosts will occur, they are expected to be less frequent than usual." On the West Coast, Southern Alps and foothills, inland Otago, and Southland, temperatures were very likely to be above average, he said. Rainfall totals, soil moisture levels and river flows are about equally likely to be near normal or above normal. Temperatures were also very likely to be above average along coastal Otago, he said. "Rainfall totals are most likely to be in the near normal range, and soil moisture levels and river flows are about equally likely to be near normal or above normal." Brandolino said for the remainder of the calendar year, ENSO-neutral conditions were expected to persist. "The guidance available, however, suggests the possibility for La Nina conditions to return by summer 2025-2026." La Nina can bring more northeasterly winds to New Zealand, leading to drier conditions in the south and southwest of the South Island. - This story was first published by Otago Daily Times
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
NNZ finally confirms premiership will go ahead next year
After weeks of uncertainty, Netball New Zealand has confirmed the ANZ Premiership will return in 2026. NNZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the competition is locked in for next season and logistics were still being explored. But she did confirm all six franchises would return and the competition was likely to be during a similar time frame — from May to July — due to the Commonwealth Games. Wyllie was pleased to affirm the competition's status. "It's been really important for us to give that sort of certainty to our system," Wyllie said. NNZ was "still working through a whole bunch of things" but with the announcement was "able to at least give that comfort so that we can all move on and really focus on the product we're delivering this year" Signing a broadcast deal — which was scaled back for the 2025 season leading NNZ to produce the Saturday games in-house — was not far away either. "We're still working on what the optimum broadcast scenario is for the sport. There's lots of moving parts in that. "It's something that we are not too far off being able to finalise, but we've just got to make sure that we explore all of those options thoroughly." All options for the future of domestic netball, including returning to a three-round ANZ Premiership, moving the competition's timeframe to allow players to compete in Australia and joining Australia's Super Netball, are being considered. But they could not be put in action until 2027, Wyllie said. "We're considering all of the options of what our future product might look like. "But [2027] gives us enough time to plan it, [get] some really good insight from the market, engage with the players, and the fans, to make sure that whatever changes, or considerations, that we have on the table are well thought through." Several players have expressed their concerns for their future with the uncertainty of the ANZ Premiership. Asked if she felt there had been enough communication, Wyllie said NNZ worked closely with the New Zealand Players Association, which had been informed "the entire way through our discussions". "They will be sharing, as appropriate, with the athletes, and to be able to give them clarity around the future." Southern Steel coach Wendy Frew said it had been an unsettling time for players, but they were focused on the season ahead. "To be honest, we haven't talked about it a lot," Frew said. "It is unsettling, but at the moment we're just focusing on the opposition and what we can control. "Next year, at the moment, we can't control. We're just trying to put our best foot forward for the season. "This netball competition's the best one in the world. We need it to keep going, so we're grateful that we're playing in it and we're just hopeful that it continues." Having reduced games had made it tough this season. "You pretty much could lose six games and you're not in playoff contention. "It's been hard to fit everything in the preseason, but every team's in the same boat, so you've just got to adapt as well as you can and just try put it all out there." Frew said she did not mind whether New Zealand joined the Australia domestically again, but hoped "this league stays alive". "It's a fantastic competition. "Whether it be the New Zealand domestic comp or we join the Aussies — I mean, I loved playing the Aussies — but whatever's best for the game in New Zealand. "Whatever's going to keep growing the sport and keeping those young girls, and boys, coming through and playing the game."
