Health warning escalated
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora have escalated the health risk for Lake Ngā Roto to “extreme” because of high cyanobacteria levels. No water based activities are to be undertaken while the warning is in place.
Water must be fluoridated
Director-General of Health, Dr Diana Sarfati has confirmed Cambridge’s water supply must still have fluoride added to it, confirming an original July 2022 directive. Her assessment is that the benefits of fluoridating the water in Cambridge outweigh the rights of individuals to refuse medical treatment. Waipā District Council is working now to finalise the design and costings for the fluoridation of the Cambridge water supply. It will take about nine months to install the equipment, the council said in a media release.
See: Council rejects fluoride plea
See: Board wants fluoride stalled
See: Fluoride: still not convinced
See: Fluoride call still a mystery
5 December 2024 9am
Road blocked near Cambridge
A car has collided with a power pole on Cambridge Road between Te Awamutu and Cambridge. Emergency services were called around 8.15am.
The driver is moderately injured and the road is expected to be blocked for several hours while the power pole is repaired.
Traffic to Te Awamutu is being diverted along McLarnon Rd and to Cambridge via Cox Rd.
4 December 8pm
Waste tops website
Proof the waste to energy plant is still top news in Te Awamutu came with confirmation the best read post on teawamutunews.nz last month was Chris Gardner’s piece on the Don’t Burn Waipā lobby group asking the dairy industry to stand up against it.
Second was our story on Waipā District Council taking a $57 million budget hit with news of blow out costs for wastewater treatment plants in Te Awamutu and Cambridge.
Cuts at Wintec came in third, news of a two hour parking trial in the CBD was fourth and orange cones being kept in cupboards by the council in fifth.
Home was the top page with the link to the full online version of the newspaper followed by the contact details tab.
Line to open
Damage to the rail track at Telephone and Holland roads on SH1B.
The Telephone Road crossing on SH1B at Holland Rd, Eureka, closed because vehicles were damaging the railway track two and a half years ago is to reopen in the middle of next year after remedial work is done on the road.
Containing clams
Golden clams
Biosecurity New Zealand is moving to a “long term management” strategy to deal with golden clams in the Waikato River. The freshwater clams, introduced from Asia, are voracious breeders and pose a threat to native wildlife. The plan will be to contain the tiny clams to the river system downstream of Maraetai and exclude it from all other catchments
Cyber award
Waipā District Council won the Best in Cyber Security award at the Association of Local Government Information Management annual awards last week.
New career
Karen Rutherford
Newshub reporter Karen Rutherford has joined Bayleys Cambridge as a salesperson and auctioneer.
Rutherford worked for TVNZ, Sky News and served as chief of staff for Newshub for 10 years and as a news presenter for Sky.
She won a Voyager Media award for her work on the sinking of the fishing charter vessel Enchanter where Te Awamutu and Cambridge anglers lost their lives.
Tryathlon event
The Woodward kids are ready for the tryathlon. From left: Jack, Kylie, Charlie and John. Photo: Supplied.
More than 1600 children will participate in the Weet-Bix Kids tryathlon at St Peter’s School in Cambridge on Sunday. The series has been going since 1992 for children aged 6-15 years. Participants get to swim, cycle and run. It will be the first time the event has been in Cambridge. In the past it has been at Waikato University in Hamilton.
Kylie, 14, who goes to Ōtorohanga College and her siblings, Ōtewā School students John, 12, Jack, 10 and Charlie 7 will cycle, run and swim their hearts out at St Peter’s School
