Author: Press Room

An investigator is at the scene of a fire considered suspicious on the grounds of the former Queen Mary Hospital in Canterbury.Fire and Emergency said a crew responded to a call at 3.47am this morning to the Hanmer Springs property.”It has been extinguished and is deemed suspicious,” a spokesperson said.The fire was not part of the main building but in “a small 20m x 10m structure”.Police told 1News they were there to accompany a fire investigator.The site was a facility for the treatment of drug and alcohol dependencies until 2003. The property was passed to the Hurunui District Council as…

Hundreds of Smithfield employees have found themselves out of jobs after Alliance Group announced it would be closing the country’s oldest meatworks.The company confirmed the closure of the meat processing plant in Timaru, South Canterbury, yesterday morning, which meant about 600 staff have lost their jobs.Sam Sutherland has worked at Smithfield for 11 years and said the atmosphere before the meeting was ominous.He believed Alliance had been planning to close the meatworks at the end of the season for some time and did not think declining sheep processing numbers were behind the closure as had been cited by the company.”I…

A Gisborne forestry firm plans to install three steel debris nets to reduce the amount of woody debris clogging waterways after severe storms.Aratu chief executive Neil Woods says the region paid a high price for the devastation caused by cyclones Hale and Gabrielle and the firm was working on ways to limit the impact of their operations.The Swiss-designed nets will be the first of their kind for the Tairāwhiti region and will cost more than $500,000 each, says Woods.“We have learnt much from the cyclones and are determined to keep lifting our game.”Since Cyclone Gabrielle, Gisborne ratepayers have spent more…

Thousands of people have feasted their eyes on the visual delight of the Tom Parker Fountain in Napier since it was built in 1936.But four months ago, the lights went out after Napier City Council discovered deterioration in the storerooms beneath the fountain.Council says filling the void is a health and safety matter and is likely to cost $175,000 which includes a structural engineer, Geotech engineer, ground penetrating radar scanning and contractor remedial costs, including site security and fill material.“Other costs yet to be finalised are for the electrical upgrade, new water pump which is long overdue and resurfacing the…

Gisborne Yacht Club’s lease will be shortened by 16 years after local iwi Ngāti Oneone objected to its renewal application.The club had requested another 21-year lease to justify the upkeep of its building, but Gisborne district councillors voted to grant a five-year lease during a meeting on Thursday.The club’s previous 21-year lease expired in 2019, and since then it had been “held over” monthly.Ngāti Oneone hapū’s Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae (1852) and pā were originally established at the site, but were removed to develop the Gisborne harbour area, where the yacht club was before shifting further down Kaiti Beach Rd in 1974.The…

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy clarified that Ukraine is not pursuing nuclear weapons but stressed the need for NATO membership for security amidst Russian aggression. ADVERTISEMENTApart from joining NATO, Ukraine’s only option would be nuclear weapons, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the European Council earlier this week while discussing what needs to be done to protect the eastern European country still fending off Moscow’s invasion.“Who gave up nuclear weapons? All of them? … Ukraine. Who is fighting today? Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.As one can imagine, the statement had a ballistic impact. Later that day, in a meeting with NATO top chief Mark Rutte, Zelenskyy had to…

The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior was an event that led the news for weeks, with many saying it was a time that saw the country lose its innocence.Former Greenpeace chief executive Bunny McDiarmid was a deckhand aboard the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. The crew, based in the Pacific Ocean, campaigned against nuclear testing and relocated Marshall Islanders from an atoll polluted by radioactive fallout.”It was our home – it was all of our home,” McDiarmid said.Bunny McDiarmid on board the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. (Source: 1News)On the day of the bombing, McDiarmid remembered being awoken by a call from…

Family are desperately seeking information about a 28-year-old New Zealander who travelled to Spain and has been out of contact for five months. Kadin Drury went to Spain for a job earlier this year, last sending an email to a friend in May and has since dropped contact with everyone. Kadin’s sister Kirsty Jellyman has been pleading on social media for any information on her missing brother: “This is very unlike Kadin,” she posted.She said the family were working with international police, Red Cross and Spanish customs but felt as if they are stuck with no more information on his…

Imagine another 29,900 people living in Hastings and how it will impact local neighbourhoods.With the region’s population projected to grow from 91,900 in 2023 to as many as 121,800 by 2053, Hastings District Council is calling on residents to have their say on the new Local Area Plan (LAP) programme.Hastings District Council says one of the options is to build up rather than out.The council’s programme manager for local area plans, Rebecca Sutton, said it was impossible to know if there would be any quarter-acre sections in town in 20 years’ time.Sutton said this was what the consultation was for…

A man has been arrested following an alleged road rage incident which saw several items – including alcohol containers and a hockey stick – thrown at another motorist on Auckland’s North Shore.The man allegedly got into a verbal altercation with another driver in Glenfield just before 3pm on Thursday.He then “followed the victim’s vehicle in his own car, throwing several items out of his window at the vehicle, including alcohol containers and a hockey stick, which damaged the vehicle”, Acting Senior Sergeant Andy Godsalve said.“He continued to follow the victim’s vehicle for several kilometres, causing them much concern.”The man then…