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There is a well circulated expression of opinions including demands, rejections and mostly avoidance from the political parties who are inclined to view this subject as related to votes and this appears to nullify their ability to provide sound and meaningful policy and meaningful policy with hesitancy of involvement. The New Zealand population have been active in the last decade of claiming their rights to hereditary considerations, but there…

Massive change lies ahead for voters in the Hunua electorate. Boundary alterations ahead of the 2020 and 2023 general elections will see the electorate’s name changed to Port Waikato, and its area shifted south and transformed from urban to rural. · Hunua MP Andrew Bayly’s seat will be severely impacted by the proposed changes – of all the electorates, his is probably the one changed to the greatest degree. · The population in every electorate…

This debut novel by local author Kirsty Powell is highly recommended. · The Strength of Eggshells is the story of Kate, a six-foot-tall rural girl with an uncertain heritage. It is firmly set in New Zealand, and the locations in the story (including Kingseat, Waikaretu and Clarks Beach) are instantly recognisable and vividly described. · Seeking answers to her past, Kate sets off on her motorbike to find out what happened to her grandmother…

If you are looking for something to do as the weather gets warmer that gets you and the family out and about then you can’t go past the new Five Summits Walk and Bike Trail and accompanying map that has recently been developed in Pukekohe. A gift to the community from the Pukekohe Tramping Club for its 50th anniversary year, the Five Summit’s trail is an amazing near half marathon loop (21km) covering a plethora of landscapes, that can be…

Regular readers of “elocal” will think I have a fixation about house prices. I’ve written on the subject twice already this year, most recently just two months ago. But several things have prompted me to write on the subject again. First, despite all the hand-wringing about the unaffordability of housing, and the political commitments to make housing more affordable, house prices continue to go up at a much faster rate than incomes. Just…

Right now, in New Zealand, a quiet revolution is taking place. It isn’t technological, or a change to the education system, or a new and widespread understanding of an holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Rather, it involves the steady, systematic, and stealthy overturning of more than eight centuries of established rights and freedoms that New Zealanders have inherited from their forebears, by way of the Mana Carta and the English Bill…

The Christmas season is a time to celebrate being with family and friends. It can however sometimes isolate members of our community, especially our senior members, who are without a strong network around them or who’s usual network of friends return to their own families outside of the area. For a number of years now, locals, Amanda Mitchell and Carole Inight in conjunction with Philip Coarse -Scott, from Southern Spit Roast BBQ .Catering Co.…

Edgar swiftly moved to Boston with a manuscript verse, an unrealistic quest to become a great poet and to find adventure. Although he needed work, he spent his first few weeks making last minute revisions to his poetry in preparation for publication and within the following month he was able to achieve the former when he met a young printer, Calvin F. S. Thomas who was eager to expand his printing business. It was a big risk to publish a…

Even though the pace of time is exactly the same every year, it certainly feels at times like it is speeding by far quicker than in previous years. · I do wonder if this is because of the sheer amount we try to pack in to our daily lives and the way we rank our priorities or something to do with our perceptions as we age. · As this year hurtles to a close, it seems to have been one of immense turmoil for many both locally, nationally and…

Cosplay. To some people it’s a foreign word and they have no clue what it is. To others, they might have heard of it, but know little else, and Cosplayers themselves? Well, to them it can be a pretty big deal. Cosplay is short for costume play, an anglicised version of the Japanese word, “Kospure” and it is exactly that. Adults dressing up as, but not limited to, characters from their favourite TV shows, movies, comics, anime (Japanese hand…