Road works ahead
Waipā District Council has unveiled a list of 50 roads which will be part of the summer season’s resealing programme. The longest project is Cambridge Rd in Te Awamutu at 8.225km and the shortest 15 metres of sealing in Orchardist Way, Ngāhinapōuri.
Christmas parades
It wouldn’t be a Cambridge Christmas Parade without the Cambridge & Districts Pipe Band; its number boosted by Te Awamutu colleagues. Cambridge Christmas Parade 2024
Te Awamutu will run with the theme of Christmas Movies at its annual festive season parade on December 6. In Cambridge the following day the theme will be a sporty Christmas.
Flamenco flavour
Cambridge will host a Flamenco Feria on Saturday as a party with dance and music comes to town. Cambridge based organiser Pepa Torre, who grew up dancing flamenco and looking forward to the feria season in Andalucía, Spain, is bringing a version to the town hall. “Flamenco is a street art, it’s like whānau art,” she said. “You find the little kids dancing with the grandparents, everybody’s included… that’s exactly what I want to bring, that philosophy.”
Return of the Datsuns
Cambridge’s own garage rock legends The Datsuns will tour Aotearoa New Zealand in March 2026, their first full NZ tour since 2018.
The tour includes stops in Gisborne, Auckland, Lyttelton, and Hamilton’s Homegrown Festival. The band will perform career-spanning sets and debut material from their upcoming eighth studio album, including the single Ugly Leather.
Reserve transfer
A 30ha scenic reserve south of Maungatautari is changing hands. Ngāti Koroki Kahukura has gifted Te Reti reserve – one of four reserves in Waipā vested in Ngāti Koroki Kahukura as part of a 2014 claims settlement – to Parawera Marae.
Kaimai closure
State Highway 29 over the Kaimai Range will close for five nights from Sunday, between 7.30pm and 3.00am as maintenance work including clearing drains, sign maintenance, road marking and surface repairs is carried out.
Tributes paid
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan has paid tribute to the work two outgoing colleagues – Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate and Ōtorohanga’s Max Baxter, who are not seeking re-election.
Sue signs off
Sue Crowe pictured receiving a bouquet from Cambridge Resthaven chief executive David Hall.
Cambridge Resthaven’s longest-serving staff member, nurse Sue Crowe, retired recently after 34 years. She began work at Resthaven in April 1991 as senior staff nurse, then registered nurse, and at one stage was the quality co-ordinator. More recently, she has been the facility’s village nurse. At a farewell held in her honour, Resthaven chief executive David Hall said Sue had “touched the lives of many residents and their families” during that time. Sue said she had seen many changes to the facility during her tenure, but said it hadn’t been about bricks and mortar. “It’s the people that mean the most.”
New plan
Waikato Regional Council has approved notification of a decisions version of a new coastal plan, which will have implications for the region’s 1150 kilometre-plus coastline including west coast harbours like Kāwhia, Aotea and Whāingaroa. The new coastal plan aims to protect the region’s coastlines, marine ecosystems and community values while enabling sustainable development.
Band on tour
Hamilton’s Big Band is doing a mini tour this month – and it will include a performance in Te Awamutu on October 11. The “Back to Basie” programme also includes Hamilton and Morrinsville.
Award winners
At the 2025 Dairy Industry Awards last weekend in Mount Maunganui, Putāruru’s Thomas and Fiona Langford were named the 2025 New Zealand Share Farmers of the Year, Martin Keegan from Taranaki the dairy manager and Pieter Van Beek from Hawke’s Bay-Wairarapa dairy trainer of the year.
Book signing
Author Roimata Small will return to her marae, Te Koropatū Pa just north of Te Kūiti on Saturday to launch her book Hauoroa, and for a workshop based her first book, Understanding Te Tiriti.
Cancer appeal
The Breast Cancer Foundation is calling of people to volunteer for the charity’s Pink Ribbon Appeal which will be held on October 17 and 18.
Charity football event
A charity football event, Kick for a Cause, will be staged at Cambridge’s John Kerkhof Park in November.
The event will see more than 50 people from across Waikato step out of their comfort zones and onto the pitch to battle it out in a couple of friendly football matches and raising funds and awareness for the Cambridge Salvation Army.
Organisers have just revealed the first 21 players confirmed for the exhibition-style games – just over a quarter of the full line-up – with more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Confirmed for the 1pm women’s game are the first female CEO of Waikato Rugby, Dr Amy Marfell, Cambridge Ward Council candidate Karla Lugatiman, lawyer Charlotte Muggeridge and local business owner Tracy Hemingway.
“I’m choosing to kick for a cause to help the Kiwis who need help from the Salvation Army get the necessities they need,” says Hemingway, who will be hoping for redemption after playing in the 2023 edition of Kick for a Cause in Hamilton.
The men’s match follows at 2:30pm, with BMX athlete Rico D’Anvers, learning assistant and rugby player Micah Fale, U23 Canoe Slalom and Kayak Cross World Champion Nick Collier, and turf manager Karl Johnson among the first players confirmed to be lacing up their boots in the name of a good cause.
While most have never played football before, they’ve all embraced the challenge in the spirit of giving back. Each team will field 13 players, with support from three experienced footballers from Cambridge,
