Latest news with #LowerHutt
Scoop
11 hours ago
- General
- Scoop
Forest & Bird Honours Six Outstanding Volunteers
Forest & Bird has honoured six long-serving members with the Tī Kōuka award for their exceptional service over a long period to the organisation and to conservation in their regions. New Zealand's largest independent conservation organisation has thousands of dedicated volunteers throughout Aotearoa and is celebrating these six for their passion and hard work over many years. The recipients say they are honoured to be recognised but add they would not have achieved anything without the teams of dedicated Forest & Bird volunteers they work with. David Cornick is the longest serving member of the Lower Hutt branch committee, joining it in 1991. He has been involved in some of the most significant restorations in the region, including Mātiu Somes and Mana islands, and Pāuatahanui Wildlife Reserve. He has also been a member of teams reintroducing rare native birds into these areas. 'David is a knowledgeable and passionate conservationist, a handy photographer, and a humble, hardworking contributor to so many of Forest & Bird's projects,' says Andy Mitchell, Lower Hutt branch chair. Another long-serving Lower Hutt member John Groombridge has been branch treasurer for a quarter of a century. John is also a long-time volunteer and organiser of restoration work on Mātiu Somes Island and a regular volunteer and organiser for other branch projects. 'John has been a solid contributor to the branch for almost 30 years, and our committee recognises his long service and the tremendous amount of mahi he has undertaken,' Andy Mitchell says. Christine Major has been running the North Shore branch-led Tuff Crater restoration's predator control programme since 2010. Christine has been central to the success of the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland project's predator control. She has been responsible for recruiting and training the baiting and trapping teams and liaising with the council, among many responsibilities. 'Tuff Crater requires a sustained coordinated predator control effort and Christine has been the main reason it has been a success,' Tuff Crater project lead Richard Hursthouse says. Another Tuff Crater volunteer, Paul Pyper, has been leading Thursday working bees at the project since 2016, a total of at least 280 events. Among his responsibilities, he liaises with and trains new volunteers, and works with adjoining landowners over access to control pest plants on their land. The North Shore branch has spent more than $300,000 on restoration efforts at the project and planted more than 28,000 native plants. 'Since Paul has been involved, we have planted 17,000 plants, much of which Paul has been part of,' Richard Hursthouse says. Peter Smith has been the Ashburton branch treasurer since 1996 and has also been a major contributor to other branch and community activities and projects. He played a key role in the establishment of the Ashburton Community Conservation Trust in 2007, which manages the Harris Scientific Reserve. He is still closely involved in management of the reserve, a significant Canterbury plains dryland vegetation site, and he is a strong advocate for conservation in the local media. Ashburton committee member Mary Ralston says the branch would probably not have been able to function without Peter's expertise and support, and that of his wife Edith, the branch chair for three decades. Eric van Essen of the Waitākere branch has been involved in the care of the Colin Kerr-Taylor Memorial Reserve in Waimauku since the early 1990s, where he is honorary ranger. He has created a halo project around the reserve to expand predator control with adjoining landowners. He has also been a regular volunteer at the branch's Matuku Reserve. 'Eric is the ultimate volunteer, willing and able but humble,' says founding chair of the Waitakere branch, John Staniland.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Construction begins on new $88 million mental health centre in Lower Hutt
Health Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Construction has begun on a new $88 million mental health unit in Lower Hutt, which the government says will improve mental health outcomes for New Zealanders. The Sir Mark Dunajtschik Mental Health Centre will provide 34 adult acute inpatient beds - ten more than the existing Te Whare Ahuru. The government was investing $38 million in the construction of the facility, while $50 million was being donated by Wellington philanthropist Sir Mark Dunajtschik. Sir Mark also donated $50 million towards the new Wellington Children's Hospital in 2017. This morning Health Minister Simeon Brown, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and Hutt South MP Chris Bishop all took part in a sod-turning ceremony to celebrate the start of a project. Doocey said Sir Mark's contribution would leave a legacy of hope and care that would benefit generations to come. He said the purpose-built centre would help ensure New Zealanders in distress receive timely, appropriate care. "This project is about more than bricks and mortar. It's about improving lives and delivering the mental health outcomes New Zealanders deserve," he said. Doocey said people experiencing severe distress deserved care in the right environment, at the right time. "It's not only better for them, but it also helps take pressure off our busy emergency departments," he said. "That's why mental health care must be underpinned by high-quality infrastructure that enables clinicians and support staff to deliver the safe, effective, compassionate care Kiwis deserve." Brown said it was an important milestone for Lower Hutt and the wider region. He said the new facility would be purpose-built to support modern models of care, which would help to deliver better outcomes for patients and their families. "It will also enhance the region's mental health infrastructure, offering safer, more therapeutic spaces for those in urgent need." The current Te Whare Ahuru acute inpatient unit was built in 1995. In 2021, it came under fire from the Chief Ombudsman for being not fit for purpose. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Car rolls in Lower Hutt, closes Woburn road
Police say emergency services were called to the scene at about 7:30am. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Drivers in Lower Hutt are being asked to be patient after a car rolled on Woburn Road. Police said emergency services were called to the scene at about 7:30am on Wednesday. They said it was not known if anyone was injured. The road is closed with diversions in the place using Myrtle Street.
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- RNZ News
Stolen car driven towards police before hitting school bus
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A stolen car has collided with a school bus in Lower Hutt on Wednesday morning after evading road spikes set up by police. Police said they received reports of a stolen vehicle being driven erratically in the Eastbourne area, heading towards Lower Hutt, at about 8.30am. "Police deployed and set up spikes in an attempt to stop the vehicle." A spokesperson said the driver then swerved towards officers standing on the street, avoiding the spikes, before colliding with a school bus which continued on. "No injuries were reported and police will be following up with the bus driver." Police said they have since recovered the stolen vehicle in Lower Hutt. It will undergo a forensic examination. However, the offenders fled on foot.
RNZ News
08-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Hospice funding crisis: Collapse of services could cost taxpayers millions
Hospice services are only available to one in three New Zealanders who are dying. File photo. Photo: 123RF Hospices are warning that critical services for the dying are under threat, with nothing for palliative care providers in the Budget. Hospice NZ says government funding only covers about half of what it costs to run New Zealand's 28 publicly funded hospices, but if services collapse, it will end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars more. Jen Nolan, whose younger brother Matt died at Te Omanga Hospice in Lower Hutt in 2019, said she dreaded to think how those final days would have gone without that "incredible, wrap-around care". The weeks following Matt Nolan's diagnosis with stage four melanoma were brutal: brain surgery, radiation, immunotherapy - nothing worked. It was a devastating blow when doctors said there was nothing more they could do - but Matt Nolan's admission to Te Omanga offered a different kind of healing. "When we walked in, I turned to one of my sisters and said 'God, it's like we've left Hell and we're in Heaven's waiting room'." Her brother's seizures and complex pain needs made it impossible for him to be at home, but Te Omanga became their home. "We could come and we could bring our dogs, he had a lovely room that opened out to the garden. His friends could come. "I walked in one day, and there he was, fast asleep, with two of his buddies also asleep in chairs. They were having a little nap together." Matt Nolan died in July 2019, three months after diagnosis. He had just turned 49. Six years on, Jen Nolan said it was heartbreaking that hospice services were only available to one in three New Zealanders who were dying. "If you face the death of a loved one, and you haven't got the option to go into hospice care, I think that would be a bloody grim place to be. "It was the most supportive and gentle place for us all to be with him. The care he received was outstanding. And I feel what we were shown as we navigated this incredibly difficult time was the best humans can be for each other." It cost $226 million to run the country's hospice services last year, with just half of that provided by the government. Hospice New Zealand chief executive Wayne Naylor said it was disappointing to not even rate a mention in the Budget - especially coming on top of the scuttling of the pay equity claim for hospice nurses. They are currently paid up to 35 percent less than Health NZ nurses. "That was a real out-of-the-blue sideswipe for hospices and hospice nurses in particular, to have our pay equity claim, which was almost completed, just stop." Indications that the government would not be covering future pay equity settlements for the funded sector were "very problematic". "That then falls back on community to provide more money to support their local hospice. "The alternative is that hospices have to make some staff redundant so that they can increase the salaries of other staff, and that leads to a reduction in services." Health Minister Simeon Brown told RNZ the government "values the work of hospices", but he said it was up to Health NZ to do its own negotiations with providers. "This Budget has provided $1.37b to Health NZ to not only deliver an increase in investment for those front-line hospital and specialist services, but also an uplift in investment to that funded sector, which includes primary care, which includes aged care, which includes palliative care." However, Naylor was not optimistic following meetings with Health NZ officials, the most recent one this week. "They told us they had no more funding, that they have no contingency that they can call upon, and the people with whom we met said they had no authority to allocate funding from anywhere else. "So essentially it's a no to funding from Health NZ right now." Assisted dying services receive about $11m a year from Health NZ, in order to ensure equitable access. "Which is fine for the fewer than 1 percent of people who seek it," Naylor said. "But for the 99 percent of people who die from an expected illness, only about a third can access hospice care. So there still remains that inequity that needs to be addressed." For dying children, access to specialist palliative care services were even worse . A recent MartinJenkins report found New Zealand's 28 publicly-funded hospices are returning at least $1.59 in health benefits for every dollar of taxpayer money received, including fewer ED and hospital admissions or rest home stays. Add to that the clinical services they directly fund themselves, the public benefit is even higher. Most patients under hospice care are able to stay in their own homes, with brief admissions to hospice for respite or to adjust pain medication. Nelson-Tasman Hospice nurse Donna Burnett loves her work, which is why she has stayed in the job for 36 years. However, the Nurses Organisation delegate said that good-will was being taken for granted by the government, and the end result for many was "burnout". "We can't keep giving the way we are. "Often we're short-staffed. We keep that patient centred care going, but it's coming at a cost. "We can't keep giving like we are and working understaffed because that has an impact on your wellbeing." In a written response to RNZ, Health NZ said it would shortly begin seeking feedback from the public and the sector on a model of care proposal for adult palliative care. It plans to finalise both the paediatric and adult models of care by the end of the year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
