Latest news with #Whanganui-based
NZ Herald
30-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Horizons regional councillor David Cotton signing off after four terms
'That's what I'm quite proud of, really knowing our numbers, whether that was with sustainable land use or public transport.' Cotton opposed an additional $400,000 for Whanganui's public transport in 2025/26, saying last November that while the city's high-frequency bus service Te Ngaru The Tide had been a success, it was still running below capacity. Councillors voted 10-4 to keep the funding in Horizons' budget, with the annual plan signed off on June 24. Cotton said he had been out of step with other councillors this term on rates rises. In Whanganui, the average rates rise from the regional council was 12.8% for 2025/26. 'Thirty per cent of that was because we put a new bus system in,' Cotton said. 'I'd say that was a nice to have. Central Government would not fund 50% like they normally do.' Cotton said it was time to consider whether regional councils were needed or if there should be a unitary authority. 'Particularly here in Whanganui, with the ownership structure around the Whanganui River,' he said. 'With the changes in the RMA [Resource Management Act], and the amount of work regional councils won't be required to do, I think it's the opportune time to have that conversation. 'Personally, I'd like to see it go to referendum in the election of 2028.' Whanganui district councillors Jenny Duncan and Charlie Anderson, Whanganui Deputy Mayor Helen Craig, and Horizons chair Rachel Keedwell are also standing down at the end of the term. Cotton said anyone thinking of running for council needed to know standing orders and how meetings and systems worked. 'It's very different than a private business,' he said. 'You can come up with a great idea but find you don't have the funding in place because you haven't had it added to an annual or long-term plan.' He had thoroughly enjoyed working alongside fellow Whanganui-based councillor Alan Taylor, Cotton said. The pair disagreed on a few issues, including additional public transport funding, but that 'represented the view of the community'. 'Then, the members of council made a decision. That's good process. 'Tongue in cheek, I have to say I lost more than I won.' Cotton said being a councillor meant he was able to go to places he never would have otherwise. 'And I've met people from all walks of life. 'Being a councillor can be hugely satisfying and hugely frustrating, but it's really been a great journey.' Nominations for the 2025 local government elections close at noon on Friday, August 1. Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
NZ Herald
28-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Whanganui's Playground Centre builds international clients
Whanganui-based Playground Centre general manager Glenn Neal (right) with the Toddler 6 installation team as they installed a new playground for a school in Kuwait. Whanganui-based Playground Centre, off the back of winning Playspace of the Year, has provided a new facility for preschoolers in Kuwait. Recently, general manager Glenn Neal travelled to Kuwait to oversee the installation and help assemble the Adventure Run 170 playground at Al Bayan Bilingual School. Playground Centre has partnered
NZ Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
River City to the City of Love: Whanganui AI initiative presented in Paris
AI BizHub founders Stephen Lee (front left) and Lisa Lightband (back left), pictured with fellow WriteFund Collective directors Tanya Harnett (back right) and Sonja Davenport Petersen, were invited to the Unesco Creative Cities conference in Paris in June. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown Whanganui-based artificial intelligence service AI Bizhub has captured international attention. AI BizHub founders Lisa Lightband and Stephen Lee were invited to the Unesco Creative Cities Network annual conference in Paris on June 23-24. The conference aims to promote co-operation between cities that recognise creativity and cultural industries as drivers for
NZ Herald
20-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
What Jim Rohn taught me about new beginnings
It's new beginnings for Nicky Rennie. Photo / 123rf Opinion by Nicky Rennie Whanganui-based Nicky Rennie returned to her home town in 2018 while celebrating three decades in broadcasting. She has written a column for the Whanganui Chronicle since 2021. Learn more There was a bloke called Jim Rohn. He was an entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. I think I would have liked Jim. Jim struck me as a cup-half-full kind of guy. He also had one of the most brilliantly simple quotes I've ever heard. 'If you don't like where
Otago Daily Times
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Printmaker's poignant homecoming
Te Atamira exhibitor Vanessa Edwards. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A prominent Māori printmaker has dedicated an exhibition at Queenstown's Te Atamira to her mother, who died in a Kingston Rd car crash when her family lived in the resort. Whanganui-based Vanessa Edwards, who helped found Toi Whakaata Māori Print Collective in 2006, says she moved from Perth to Queenstown with her Māori father Neil Edwards, 'southern' mother Debra Louise, from Wyndham, and older brother in the early 1980s, when she was 3. She recalls attending Queenstown Primary — "I thoroughly enjoyed school, the outdoor education was amazing" — and she was also into art. Her parents managed the Pinewood backpackers lodge and her mum started Queenstown's first nail salon, Elegant Nails. In March 1992 her mother died in that car crash, aged 35, and is buried in the Frankton cemetery — "it was really sad for us," Vanessa says. After year 7 at Wakatipu High she left with her dad and brother for Taumaranui in the North Island. "It was a massive cultural shock for me and my brother because we realised what being Māori was as we moved in with our Māori grandparents." Vanessa later trained at art school in Whanganui, majoring in printmaking — she later completed a masters in Māori visual arts at Massey University. She says she decided to exhibit in Queenstown because she's noticed Te Atamira's "already had some powerful print shows, and there's not many places that advocate for printmaking". "I've returned to honour my mother with this beautiful exhibition" — 'karanga atu, karanga mai', or 'calling outward, calling inward'. Also exhibiting are three other collective members, Alexis Neal, Jasmine Horton and Tessa Russell. Officially opened last Saturday, the exhibition runs till September 22.
