Education Minister Erica Stanford joins six-year-old April Brewer (left) in a reading lesson during her visit to Goodwood School last year.
CEO appointed
25 June 12.50
Waikato Waters has appointed Marcos Pelenur as its chief executive. Dr Pelenur is currently the chief executive of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and will join the organisation in October. He holds a PhD and Masters degree in engineering for sustainable development from the University of Cambridge.
Marcos Pelenur
Interim chief executive Neil Brennan will continue in the role until Pelenur starts. Board chair Elena Trout said Brennan had done an outstanding job leading the organisation through the establishment phase. “We’re thrilled that he’s agreed to stay on in an advisory role until July 2027, when the final councils will transfer their water and wastewater services to us.”
Waikato Waters begins operations on 1 July, when Waitomo, South Waikato and Waipā district councils transition their water and wastewater services. It is a council-controlled organisation jointly owned by Hauraki, Matamata Piako, Ōtorohanga, South Waikato, Waipā and Waitomo district councils.
When all district councils have transitioned, the organisation will provide water and wastewater services to more than 170,000 people across communities stretching from coast to coast, from Marokopa to Whiritoa.
25 June 6am
Goodwood School wins
Education Minister Erica Stanford joined April Brewer (left) and her year 2 classmates Ella Forsman, Riley Bunting and Koda Jacklin-Cox in a reading lesson during her visit to Goodwood School last year.
Cambridge’s Goodwood School won the Excellence in Educational Leadership award for excellence in leading change for student success at the New Zealand Education Excellence Awards in Wellington last night. The new awards recognise and celebrate outstanding performance in primary and secondary schooling. They highlight the work of schools and kura making an exceptional difference for their learners, educators and communities. The school received $20,000 from Education Minister Erica Stanford.
24 June 2pm
A good yarn …
The yarn bombing around town says it all… Cambridge Creative Fibre is back, filling the Town Hall with a showcase of skills across a raft of fibre arts disciplines. The exhibition runs through to Sunday and items on show include delicate lace knitting, warm knitwear and intricate weaving. Some items will be for sale.
Crash investigated
Police investigating a fatal crash on Te Pahu Road, south of Whatawhata late last year want to speak with motorists who were on that section of road prior to the incident. The single-vehicle crash happened about 5:10pm on October 31 and resulted in the death of the sole occupant, Detective Deb Ngatai says.
Paying by the litre
The Board of Iawai, a council-owned waters company serving Hamilton city and Waikato district will install water meters over the next four years. Chief executive Peter Winder said the costs for households “if we don’t start metering” would be far greater than the costs to introduce them. Meanwhile, the Waikato Regional Council has approved a plan “to improve drought management and water reliability across the region”.
Church celebrates
St Peter’s Catholic Church in 1926
The St Peter’s Catholic brick church in Cambridge will mark 100 years on Sunday. Sunday is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the parish’s patronal feast day when the community will celebrate the centenary. The parish also has an ongoing fundraising campaign to raise $4 million to build a new church.
See: Get them to the church on time
St Peter’s Catholic Church today.
Opshop birthday
Cambridge will host a first birthday which blends an opshop with the adoption of pound puppies on Saturday. Rescued Op Shop in Wordsworth St will open at 9.30am with adoption from 11am. Rachel Haakma who opened the opshop uses funds it raises with the help of volunteers to run Pound Hounds Rescue care.
Correction
A United Kingdom doctor and a photographer who became New Zealand citizens this month were James and Holly Fulforth. Our edition of June 18 misspelt their surname. We apologise for the error.
The Fulforth family were among those who affirmed their status as New Zealand citizens at Friday’s ceremony in Cambridge. They are, from left, James and Holly Fulforth flanking their youngsters, Freddie, 13, and Eliza, 10. Photo: Viv Posselt
On the road to repairs
The now bent, and formerly underground, pipe work at Mangauika Stream that fed from the demolished weir to the settlement pond. Photo: Jesse Wood
Waipā district councillors have determined how road repairs will be carried out – and taken the view that delaying the work would result in it costing more. Road damage costs following February storms are estimated at $1.72 to $1.8 million
Waipā District Council’s Service Delivery Committee last week considered the cost of storms since last October which damaged roads and bridges. Some repairs have already been completed.
The storm damage late last year – including washouts and slips in Te Reti Road and Oliver Road, and a culvert collapse in Cambridge Road – cost around $644,600. The reinstatement of the Mangauika Stream Bridge and Whatauri Road culvert is estimated at a further $3.7 million.
Subsidies from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi are covering a significant share of the repairs to date, some funds have been allocated from existing budgets. At the meeting, councillors approved additional funding for the culvert washout on Te Reti Road near Parawera ($138,500) and a collapsed culvert outfall on French Pass Road ($380,000). They also approved $350,000 for a retaining wall on Limeworks Loop Road.
The team working on the new connection for Pirongia’s at Te Awamutu’s Frontier Road
Depot stays
A Leamington works depot that’s been the subject of a 50-signature petition to Waipā District Council will stay open.
Aidhean Camson
The council’s Service Delivery Committee considered a petition from Arnold Street residents, concerned about heavy truck movements through the neighbourhood, asking council to close the depot,
The depot is in a former landfill site has been used to store council roading materials for more than 50 years just outside the town belt.
A report from the council’s transportation team said closing it now would result in a cost of around $80,000 a year to store materials elsewhere.
Arnold Street has the only secure roading materials storage site near Cambridge. Councillors were told have having materials stored nearby resulted in road sealing wok being carried out more quickly and cheaper.
Councillors resolved to look for a better long-term option as part of the 2027-37 Long Term Plan process. That includes developing part of the former wastewater treatment plant land in Matos Segedin Drive.
Committee chair Aidhean Camson said the decision balanced the concerns of Arnold Street residents with the need to spend ratepayers’ money wisely.
“We hear what residents are saying and we take it seriously. But closing the depot right now would cost ratepayers significantly more with no guarantee of a better outcome. Giving ourselves time to find the right alternative site is the responsible call.”
Staff were asked to work with the residents who raised the petition on possible alternative short-term solutions, while also working with Council’s roading contractors on remedies to minimise impacts pending a long-term option.
Community led planting
Rotopiko community gather for planting day 2026.
More than 18,000 natives have been planted across two key Waipā restoration sites, Lake Rotopiko and Sainsbury Road Reserve, as community-led restoration efforts gather pace across the district.
A planting day at Lake Rotopiko last week brought together more than 60 participants from four local Waipā Enviroschools, alongside partners Go Eco, the National Wetland Trust and DOC. Across the week, 8000 natives went into the ground as part of three-year programme.
And at Pirongia’s Sainsbury Road Reserve earlier this month, more than 40 people planted 2500 natives, bringing together mana whenua, Pirongia residents and Waipā District Council staff.
Community services manager Brad Ward said the projects reflect strong community ownership. “It is fantastic to see so many people getting stuck in – especially the mix of generations involved,” he said. “This is a real full-circle moment – from community feedback helping shape the reserve management plan, to people now getting their hands dirty and bringing it to life.”
For mana whenua Ngāti Hikairo, the Pirongia planting day carried deep cultural significance. “It is a tradition of kaitiakitanga (guardianship), of rangatiratanga (autonomy), and manaakitanga (generosity),” says Ngāti Hikairo representative Frank Thorne. “And we are continuing that tradition as we collectively attempt to return the land to its original forested state.”
Pūniu River Care prepared the Sainsbury Road site, supplied plants, and completed additional planting.
The restoration is part of the Taiea te Taiao Project, which is reconnecting ecological corridors between Maungatautari and Pirongia maunga, with Sainsbury Road Reserve forming an important entry point into the corridor on the Pirongia side.
Project co-ordinator Bexie Towle said the planting reflects a shared commitment to long-term restoration. “Ecological restoration isn’t the work of one organisation or one generation – it belongs to all of us,” she said. “These efforts mean we will see more birds and biodiversity spilling off Pirongia maunga over the coming years.”
Together, the two projects highlight the scale of community collaboration underway across Waipā to restore biodiversity and strengthen ecological connections across the landscape.
Team Sainsbury Reserve on planting day 2026.
