Spill hazard
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) advises road users to drive with caution over the Kaimai Range due to a spill hazard on the Waikato side of State Highway 29 (SH29). Beef tallow has spilled from a truck onto the road 3km from the intersection of State Highway 28 and SH29, making the surface very slippery. A traffic management crew and sucker truck are enroute to clean up the area.
Toilets demolished
Hally Rd toilets getting demolished. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
A new public toilet block is coming to Cambridge’s Hallys Lane to replace the one that has served the community for about 30 years. Demolition started this week and to allow for safe construction and provide sufficient safe space for a temporary toilet trailer, 12 to 16 car parks will be unavailable for up to a month.
The upgraded toilet block will include three unisex cubicles and one fully accessible unit with a changing table. A new accessible carpark will also be added, along with safer pedestrian access.
It will be constructed off-site and craned into position to minimise disruption. The project includes demolition of the old toilet block, placement of the new unit, and connection to essential services. Additional improvements will include new kerbing, concrete paving, channelling, and updated road markings.
Demolition of Hally’s Lane toilets underway. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Honours for our people
Sarah Walker
One knight, three officers and two members of the New Zealand Order of Merit and a couple who both get King’s Service medals. These are the people from the Good Local Media circulation area to receive gongs in the King’s Birthday honours.
Brendan Lindsay (Knight’s Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit) – for services to business and philanthropy, Peter Arnold Nation – for services to the agricultural industry and governance, Timothy Grant Southee – for services to cricket, Sarah Louise Walker – for services to BMX and sports governance (all Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Ellesse Mote Andrews – for services to cycling, Marilyn Yeoman – for services to education and the community (both Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit), Anthony William Norman Enderby and Jennifer Fay Enderby – for services to conservation (both The King’s Service Medal).
See: From BMX to global leader
See: Conservation couple honoured
See: From hangers to King’s honour
See: Peter Nation – led by example
Delighted King’s Service Medal recipients, Jenny and Tony Enderby, with the painted ceramic vase given to them in 2023 by DOC for their many years of work in conservation. Photo: Viv Posselt
Olympic gold medallist Ellesse Andrews was one of the medal winners from Paris – the others were Rebecca Petch, Ally Wollaston and Shaane Fulton – and posed for plenty of selfies at Lake Karapiro. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Crime writers gather
Authors knitting together fact and fiction at a ‘Culprits in Cambridge’ event at Cambridge Library last month are, from left, Cambridge’s David ‘Chook’ Henwood and Nikki Crutchley, Rotorua’s Zoe Rankin and Pukekohe’s Angus McLean. Photo: Viv Posselt
A ‘Culprits in Cambridge’ night at Cambridge Library last month brought together authors known for their fiction and non-fiction works around criminal behaviour. The event was part of Waipā’s Mystery in the Library series, run in association with the Ngaio Marsh Awards. Pictured are, from left, Cambridge’s David ‘Chook’ Henwood and Nikki Crutchley, Rotorua’s Zoe Rankin and Pukekohe’s Angus McLean. The panel was chaired by two-time Ngaio’s finalist Nikki Crutchley.
Sahara’s scholarship
Sahara Stanton has been awarded the 2025 Ritchie Pickett Music Scholarship at Cambridge High School. The award, in memory of the Morrinsville born country music singer songwriter, goes to the student at the school who has contributed the most to music within the school.
School update
Ray and Maxine Nelson
An application by Cambridge couple Ray and Maxine Nelson of Ignite Arts Academy for a charter school could be under consideration. Deputy prime minister and associate education minister David Seymour told The News on Thursday a batch of applications were being decided. “I would love to see more charter schools in the Waikato, and I just have a funny feeling that I have heard that there might be some in the pipeline.”
Rockquest
Cambridge High School duo Sahara have progressed to the video submissions round of the Smokefree Rockquest while Cambridge High band Versailles and Te Awamutu College’s No Point will play in the regional finals on June 14.
New book
Suzanne Miller
Author Suzanne Miller will launch her e-book What If? What If? In Hamilton on June 20. The book is a novel about a person living with obsessive compulsive disorder and in part draws on the diary and experiences of her grandparents, including one who spent time at Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital in the 1940s.
Wet and warmer
Temperatures are expected to be above average across the country from now through to August – but NIWA’s Seasonal Climate Outlook for has more rain than usual in Waipā.
Chain reaction
Hallys Lane toilet block to be replaced.
Work was due to start this week on a public toilet block to replace the aging 30-year-old block in Hally’s Lane, Cambridge.
