Latest news with #SouthWaikato

RNZ News
16-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Closure of Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus will 'condemn another generation to poverty', mayor says
The Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is currently in Tokoroa. Photo: South Waikato Investment Fund Trust / SUPPLIED The mayor of South Waikato says the district will be "condemned to another generation of poverty" if Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus closes. The polytechnic provider is to exit Te Pūkenga and re-enter regional governance from the beginning of next year, but said to meet the government's financial expectations the Tokoroa campus may have to go. Mayor Gary Petley said South Waikato already ranked among the five-most deprived communities in New Zealand. "We don't have the luxury of skipping a generation, what do we do with that?" he said. South Waikato's recent long term plan shows 23 percent of 15-24 year-olds were not currently employed or in the education or training system, one of the highest levels in the country. "There is no shortage of research and evidence that tells us a critical factor in efforts to lift people out of those statistical categories, and out of deprivation, is to invest in education," Petley said. Mayor of South Waikato Gary Petley said Tokoroa was a community in need. Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod / RNZ Toi Ohomai executive director Kieran Hewitson said the organisation acknowledged the deep concern surrounding the proposed closure of its Tokoroa campus. "This decision has not been made lightly. The proposal reflects a need to ensure the organisation remains financially viable and sustainable, as expected by the Government. "Declining student numbers, rising operational costs, and reduced income have made it increasingly difficult to maintain multiple campuses, including Tokoroa." Petley said if a government-funded education provider could not afford to operate in an area such as South Waikato then it needed more money, not to retreat from a community in need. "This is a short-sighted and lazy decision driven by Te Pūkenga's (the national network for all the country's 25 polytechnics) need to find $9m in savings. "They are taking the easy way out, rather than finding other ways to achieve operational savings and to become sustainable, and it's come at the detriment of the people of South Waikato." Te Hautū Kahurangi Tertiary Education Union branch co-leaders for Rotorua, Santana Ammunson and Ashton Ledger, said in a statement that not having a Tokoroa campus would be devastating for communities within the South Waikato district, undermining years of hard work to establish the South Waikato Trades Training Centre. "It would erect new barriers to learning where progress had been made under Te Pūkenga (e.g. transport, technology-enabled learning, internet connectivity), and significantly reduce locally accessible opportunities for public vocational education and training which provide strong pathways to secure employment." The news of the proposed closure came just weeks after the district lost 150 jobs when the Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill ceased paper production. The Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill. (File photo) Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod "We're just smashed again," Petley said. Ammunson and Ledger agreed the decision to close the campus would cause significant detriment to a community already reeling from the closure of the Kinleith Mill. Hewitson said Toi Ohomai recognised Tokoroa's unique challenges, including its high proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training. "However, the decision is not a reflection of the community's value or potential. Rather, it is a response to the urgent need to focus limited resources where they can have the greatest impact," she said. Hewitson said Toi Ohomai would continue to support learners in the region, but it might not be through a traditional campus setting. This was unwelcome news to the mayor who said it was only two years ago that the council, government, Trust Waikato, and the South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT) invested heavily in a building to house Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus. "You can understand how disappointed we were to find that out after contributing money into that space to help develop that facility that was purposely built for that, and it only just got past two years," said Petley. SWIFT owns the Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is currently a tenant. Chief Executive Clive Somerville said the goal of the building was to be a community facility for equipping young people and older residents with valuable skills that support workforce development. "SWIFT's relationship, and our wider community's relationship, with Toi Ohomai is pivotal in delivering on our outcomes." He said as Pūkenga Rau owner and landlord, SWIFT's next steps were to work closely with the Crown, as leaseholder for Toi Ohomai, to understand its intentions for the South Waikato. Ammunson and Ledger from the Tertiary Education Union said the government had generated a lot of 'fuss' around the financial viability of institutions and pushed all of them into a rush to right-size. "The closure of regional campuses was not what we anticipated under a government that claims to be returning decision-making to the regions and shaping a regionally-responsive and sustainable vocational education and training system. It's all dollars and no sense." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
16-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Closurse of Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus will 'condemn another generation to poverty', mayor says
The Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is currently in Tokoroa. Photo: South Waikato Investment Fund Trust / SUPPLIED The mayor of South Waikato says the district will be "condemned to another generation of poverty" if Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus closes. The polytechnic provider is to exit Te Pūkenga and re-enter regional governance from the beginning of next year, but said to meet the government's financial expectations the Tokoroa campus may have to go. Mayor Gary Petley said South Waikato already ranked among the five-most deprived communities in New Zealand. "We don't have the luxury of skipping a generation, what do we do with that?" he said. South Waikato's recent long term plan shows 23 percent of 15-24 year-olds were not currently employed or in the education or training system, one of the highest levels in the country. "There is no shortage of research and evidence that tells us a critical factor in efforts to lift people out of those statistical categories, and out of deprivation, is to invest in education," Petley said. Mayor of South Waikato Gary Petley said Tokoroa was a community in need. Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod / RNZ Toi Ohomai executive director Kieran Hewitson said the organisation acknowledged the deep concern surrounding the proposed closure of its Tokoroa campus. "This decision has not been made lightly. The proposal reflects a need to ensure the organisation remains financially viable and sustainable, as expected by the Government. "Declining student numbers, rising operational costs, and reduced income have made it increasingly difficult to maintain multiple campuses, including Tokoroa." Petley said if a government-funded education provider could not afford to operate in an area such as South Waikato then it needed more money, not to retreat from a community in need. "This is a short-sighted and lazy decision driven by Te Pūkenga's (the national network for all the country's 25 polytechnics) need to find $9m in savings. "They are taking the easy way out, rather than finding other ways to achieve operational savings and to become sustainable, and it's come at the detriment of the people of South Waikato." Te Hautū Kahurangi Tertiary Education Union branch co-leaders for Rotorua, Santana Ammunson and Ashton Ledger, said in a statement that not having a Tokoroa campus would be devastating for communities within the South Waikato district, undermining years of hard work to establish the South Waikato Trades Training Centre. "It would erect new barriers to learning where progress had been made under Te Pūkenga (e.g. transport, technology-enabled learning, internet connectivity), and significantly reduce locally accessible opportunities for public vocational education and training which provide strong pathways to secure employment." The news of the proposed closure came just weeks after the district lost 150 jobs when the Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill ceased paper production. The Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill. (File photo) Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod "We're just smashed again," Petley said. Ammunson and Ledger agreed the decision to close the campus would cause significant detriment to a community already reeling from the closure of the Kinleith Mill. Hewitson said Toi Ohomai recognised Tokoroa's unique challenges, including its high proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training. "However, the decision is not a reflection of the community's value or potential. Rather, it is a response to the urgent need to focus limited resources where they can have the greatest impact," she said. Hewitson said Toi Ohomai would continue to support learners in the region, but it might not be through a traditional campus setting. This was unwelcome news to the mayor who said it was only two years ago that the council, government, Trust Waikato, and the South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT) invested heavily in a building to house Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus. "You can understand how disappointed we were to find that out after contributing money into that space to help develop that facility that was purposely built for that, and it only just got past two years," said Petley. SWIFT owns the Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is currently a tenant. Chief Executive Clive Somerville said the goal of the building was to be a community facility for equipping young people and older residents with valuable skills that support workforce development. "SWIFT's relationship, and our wider community's relationship, with Toi Ohomai is pivotal in delivering on our outcomes." He said as Pūkenga Rau owner and landlord, SWIFT's next steps were to work closely with the Crown, as leaseholder for Toi Ohomai, to understand its intentions for the South Waikato. Ammunson and Ledger from the Tertiary Education Union said the government had generated a lot of 'fuss' around the financial viability of institutions and pushed all of them into a rush to right-size. "The closure of regional campuses was not what we anticipated under a government that claims to be returning decision-making to the regions and shaping a regionally-responsive and sustainable vocational education and training system. It's all dollars and no sense." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

RNZ News
29-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Kinleith pulp and paper mill falls silent
Kinleith pulp and paper mill was opened 71 years ago by Prime Minister Sidney Holland. Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod The Kinleith pulp and paper mill in South Waikato was opened by Prime Minister Sidney Holland in 1954. On Monday, 71 years later, the last functional paper-making machine falls silent , with the loss of about 150 jobs. A RNZ documentary about the mill shortly after it opened captured the mood of a booming town, a valuable export industry and cutting-edge technology. Seven decades later, and after many cuts and retrenchments, South Waikato Mayor Gary Petley described the mood in town. "A fair amount of uncertainty, a little bit of angst, because of what has happened, and I think more of a realisation there's not a lot they can do about it," he said. Petley once worked at the mill and he still had two sons employed there. He described the mill in its heyday as a local industry that enabled intergenerational wealth and opportunity. "If your grandfather worked there or your father worked there, there was every probability that the sons or daughters would follow." It led to a vibrant community in Tokoroa. "One of the biggest things for me is the richness of the culture side of things, with all the different races of people, who came here to build Tokoroa and make Tokoroa what it is." You heard this even in the RNZ documentary from the 1950s - there were interviews with mill staff from Canada and Poland. Not that Tokoroa ever wanted to be known just as a mill town. Erica Rowe worked at the South Waikato News in the 1950s and told Rex Sayers that, although locals knew the mill was responsible for most of its growth, they did not want to feel that, without the mill, the town would be non-existent. Tokoroa Mayor Gary Petley once worked in at the mill and still has two sons working there. Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod / RNZ That sentiment was echoed today by the owner of local station Cruise Radio, Johnny Dryden. "You need to be mindful now that the mill's not the only large employer in Tokoroa or in the nearby vicinity of Tokoroa," he said. For his part, Dryden felt positive about the town's future. "It's a great area to bring a family up, where you can go and pick your kids up from school, and go and do things in the community." There was no doubt that the end of paper manufacturing would hit some hard. E Tu mill union delegate Ian Farall said everyone was disappointed paper production was finishing. "The fact is this is the last bastion for making paper in New Zealand," he said. "There is no other producer of what we do in New Zealand, so it's not like I can go down the road and get a job." He said working at the mill had enabled him to live a good life and he worried for younger workers who had lost their jobs, knowing several who had given up on New Zealand and moved to Australia. "[It's] not good for those people who have young families and have got no job, and have a mortgage locally and everything like that - that will be a tough time for people." South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT) chief executive Clive Somerville said the end of paper production at Kinleith marked the close of an era, one that shaped the South Waikato's identity for generations. Ian Farall: "It's not like I can go down the road and get a job." Photo: Libby Kirkby-McLeod "There's definitely a sense of loss and uncertainty around town, but also deep pride in who we are." However, he said the community was built on primary industry and hard work, and that heart was still strong. "Despite global and national headwinds, there's real momentum here - residential and commercial development is underway. "Project Phoenix is backing displaced workers, and agencies like MSD are stepping up alongside community groups and employers." OJI Fibre Solutions chief executive Jon Ryder said the mill continued with pulp-only production. "Our priority has always been to minimise job losses through redeployments, and to run a thorough and fair process," he said. "Through these efforts and a voluntary redundancy programme, we managed to redeploy more than 30 people within the business and keep the number of compulsory redundancies to less than half of the total." The mill was still in a transition phase for some operations staff and currently reviewing support role requirements, so the final number of job losses was not yet known. "However, we can confirm around 150 employees will depart OjiFS on 30 June." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.