The top story on Te Awamutu News website last year was the closure of Pirongia’s Five Stags Restaurant and Bar following the loss of its appeal to losing its liquor licence.
Support needed for farmers
A story about how Rural Support Trust is busier than ever as farmers struggled with mental health, stress, employment and financial issues came in at second in a year where website visits were up 133 per cent.
Columnist Janine Krippner was third with her column on move number 25 in 21 years. A career in volcanology did not translate into stability, she wrote.
Donna McCauley
The death of motorcyclist Donna Gaye McCauley, who days before had spoken to The News during International Female Ride Day about how much she enjoyed riding motorcycles, was poignant.
Rounding out the top five was Don’t Burn Waipā lobby group’s appeal to the dairy industry to speak out against plans for a waste-to-energy plant in Te Awamutu.
Other popular stories came from the council led by an unbudgeted $57 million on wastewater plants, mayor Susan O’Regan’s appeal to the Department of Conservation over funding for Maungatautari and replacing town signs.
The story about Pieta Bouma, who comes from a big Dutch, Catholic, farming immigrant family and who grew up on a lifestyle block in Ngāhinapōuri, and her call for a global revolution also made the top 10.
Good Local News editorial director Roy Pilott said the numbers showed residents were increasingly turning to the Te Awamutu News website in between the weekly publications to be kept informed of news.
The company’s other websites – cambridgenews.nz, waikatobusinessnews.nz and kingcountrynews.nz – had also shown healthy readership increases, he said.
