Lagoon fun run

A fun run and walk at the Wairau Lagoon near Blenheim aims to encourage Marlburians to explore their backyard and raise money to revamp Grovetown School's outdoor area.

Participants can walk or run around the lagoon's six-kilometre trail once or twice during the event on September 19.

Organising committee member Mandy Macfarlane said several people at last year's inaugural fun run said they had never visited the lagoon before, despite having lived in Blenheim for years.

The event is being held during the Department of Conservation's Conservation Week.

The money raised will go toward a spruce-up of the school's outdoor area, Mrs Macfarlane said. The school hoped to double the size of their edible garden, and enlarge a multipurpose area used to hold classes outside.

The school was also working on establishing an orchard.

Principal Selena Tonks said it was important the students knew where their food came from and how to grow, cook and eat fruits and vegetables.

The first time the event was held, enough money was raised to buy laptops and sports gear.

The event will also include a treasure hunt for children, with a scooter and Interisland ferry passes among the prizes.

Entry forms can be picked up from Spokesman Cycles in Blenheim.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 26/08/2010

Grovetown School Fundraiser. From left: Mandy Macfarlane, Reuben Kirk, Clayton Dick, George Boyce, Emma Fuller, Molly Elliott, Hannah Macfarlan

Swimming stag surprises fishermen

Wellington doctor Hugh McCabe has seen dolphins and killer whales swimming in the Marlborough Sounds, but he never expected to see a stag treading water during a fishing trip a fortnight ago.

Mr McCabe was on a boat heading towards Waikawa Marina in the Queen Charlotte Sound when he spotted the deer about a kilometre from shore at the entrance to Curious Cove on Sunday, August 15.

"We couldn't believe it, we thought it was a pile of sticks," he said.

The boat, skippered by DeanBussell, followed the deer until it reached the shore.

"It was a good swimmer, it was making good speed," Mr McCabe said.

The deer was exhausted when it reached land and took about five minutes to recover before heading into the bush, he said.

Department of Conservation Sounds area biodiversity threats programme manager Phil Clerke said deer were known to swim to islands occasionally.

The animals "get there under their own steam" and were known to be on Blumine Island in Queen Charlotte Sound and Maud Island in Pelorus Sound, both pest-free conservation reserves.

They were not a predator on the islands because deer ate only plants, Mr Clerke said.

He did not know why deer choose to swim but said it could be because of pressure to get away from hunters. It was most likely not because of a shortage of food, he said.

"I don't think swimming is too foreign to deer. People just think about them [deer] keeping their feet dry," he said."It could happen way more than what people see because they [deer] are pretty active at night."

By BLAIR ENSOR and SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 25/08/2010

Supplied

A deer swims in the Queen Charlotte Sound.

Quarry wins approval for expansion

A Blenheim construction company has been given the go-ahead to significantly increase the amount of rock taken from the Omaka Quarry, despite strong objections by residents.

The Marlborough District Council has given consent for Simcox Construction to extract up to 90,000 tonnes of rock a year from its quarry, a kilometre from the end of Barracks Rd, Omaka Valley. The consent allows the company to run 34 truck movements from the quarry daily.

Thirty-seven submissions were made by nearby residents of the quarry. One supported the expansion, two were neutral and the rest opposed the plan.

A spokeswoman for Omaka Valley Group, representing residents opposed to the Simcox application, said members were disappointed. They were seeking legal advice to "clarify a number of inconsistencies and anomalies in the decision".

The decision was potentially disappointing for those who used the Omaka Valley daily, including school buses, drivers and cyclists, she said.

The group did not want to comment further until members had spoken to their lawyers and met to discuss the decision, she said.

The consent came with several conditions, including restricted operating hours between 7am and 5pm on weekdays and 7am and 1pm on Saturdays during daylight-saving periods, and 7.30am to 5.30pm weekdays and 7.30am to 1.30pm during standard time.

The maximum number of truck movements a day was set at 34.

The company is also required to widen Brookby Rd, north of the Falveys Rd intersection and Dog Point Rd, to a minimum of seven metres.

The road-widening must meet the standards of Marlborough Roads and must be done before annual extraction reached 90,000 tonnes.

Parts of Barracks Rd also needed to be sealed before the company could take more than 5000 tonnes of rock.

Simcox Construction owner Ian Simcox said he was satisfied with the consent approval and it had been a long process.

He did not want to comment further because he had not read the consent conditions in full and the date for appeals had yet to close.

In 2006, the company was granted consent to extract 3000 tonnes of rock a year.

That tonnage increased after four years of operation to 5000 tonnes a year until the consent expires in 2026.

All interested parties have 15 working days from when they received the decision to lodge an appeal.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 23/08/2010

Quarry worry: Simcox Construction has been given consent to increase the amount of rock extracted from the Omaka Quarry and residents are unhappy about it.

Graduates prove uni not only option

An industry-based training graduation ceremony in Blenheim at the weekend proved you are never too old to learn and that university is not the only option to continue studying.

Almost 90 people graduated at a ceremony at the Marlborough Civic Theatre on Saturday with national certificates through on-the-job training in industries such as building, community support and horticulture.

Mayor Alistair Sowman said although Marlborough did not have a university, the graduates showed there were other educational opportunities within the region.

People were the most under-used resource and the community needed those who continually strived to be the best, he said.

National Certificate in Support of the Older Person graduate Pamela Jones said her qualification would mean a pay rise and a degree of extra responsibility at Waterlea Rest Home where she worked.

The extra training made her a better carer and receiving the certificate gave her great a sense of achievement, Ms Jones said.

Having a qualification was important when looking after the elderly, but things had changed since she first trained as a carer.

"It's not an easy occupation, but it's an enjoyable one, she said.

"There's nothing more interesting than listening to their stories."

Mr Sowman praised the graduates' employers for giving their staff the opportunity to further their qualifications.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:03 23/08/2010

Support for sentence

A Blenheim mother whose daughter was killed by a young driver 24 years ago has backed a judge's decision not to jail Frances Stubbs, who fled a police checkpoint and killed another driver in March.

Two days after the crash that killed her 15-year-old daughter, the woman told the 16-year-old driver of the car he should not waste his life.

The woman contacted The Marlborough Express after Stubbs was sentenced in the Blenheim District Court on Tuesday last week to eight months' home detention, 160 hours' community work and disqualified from driving for 3 1/2 years.

She was convicted of drink-driving causing death after fleeing a police alcohol checkpoint and crashing into Penelope Phillips' car.

The woman said she agreed with Judge Bruce Davidson's decision to keep Stubbs in the community, in contrast to many other Express readers who have commented online that Stubbs should have been jailed.

Speaking to the driver two days after her daughter's death in 1986, the woman said she told him to continue living his life.

"Your actions have taken my daughter's life, the only thing you can do now is to make sure your own life is not wasted," she said to him.

The driver, who was not drunk when the crash happened, drove so dangerously all his passengers were thrown from the vehicle when it overturned, she said.

He was disqualified from driving for a short period, she said.

The woman did not want to be named because she did not want to identify the man, who still lived in the Marlborough region.

She praised the "sensible and responsible" way the Stubbs and Phillips families had acted towards each other since the fatal crash and hoped they would find this made it easier to deal with in the future.

Meanwhile, Stubbs' sentencing ignited debate on the marlexpress.co.nz website over the appropriateness of her sentence.

More than 90 comments were posted following the sentencing and most were not satisfied Stubbs had avoided a jail term.

"That is no more than just a slap on the wrist ... She should consider herself very lucky, as, once again, the justice system has failed," one comment said.

Another reader had a different sentence in mind.

"Ban her from ever owning or driving a motor vehicle ever again. It's unfair on the family of the victim and the value of the lost life to basically tell Frances she's `grounded'."

But some agreed with the sentence and said prison was not the answer. "Prison is useless in this case, it would only serve as a way to please the public by taking `dangerous' people off the streets, she [Stubbs] is not dangerous," said one reader.

Rethinking Crime and Punishment director Kim Workman said communities had a false perception that victims and their relatives want the harshest penalties.

British studies have suggested 51 per cent of victims supported making offenders meet their victims to make amends personally, she said
The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:03 23/08/2010

Boost from trans-Tasman kayakers

A sense of adventure still exists inside the youth of today – it just needs a bit of coaxing, according to two Australian men who made history kayaking across the Tasman Sea.

Justin Jones and James Castrission were the first people to kayak from Australia to New Zealand and were in Blenheim last night to speak at a charity auction fundraiser for Project K, a leadership and life skills programme for secondary school students.

The pair entertained a full house at the Marlborough Convention Centre with a compelling presentation of their journey.

They talked of their mothers' anguish on learning of their plans and a long build-up with many setbacks before they even got on the water.

The first half of their paddling trip was quicker than they expected, but just as they were beginning to feel confident of success they found themselves caught up in a mid-Tasman whirlpool fighting the current. They decided to paddle back toward Australia to break free of the whirlpool's grip before heading south.

They talked of riding out massive waves, dealing with sea sickness and going to sleep with just centimetres of fibreglass between themselves and a couple of sharks rubbing against their boat. Lighter moments included a few too many details about sponge baths in close confinement.

And the best moment of all? When they saw Mt Taranaki on the horizon after two months at sea.

Mr Castrission said taking risks in life was important even though other people may not agree with your decisions.

"We live in such a risk-averse society that when people decide to take risks it's usually frowned upon," he said. "Our trip was about risk mitigation and all about doing it safely."

They had several back-up plans for things that could possible go wrong, which came in handy when their solar-powered desalination unit broke down and they were able to pull out a labour-intensive, but trip-saving, hand pump.

The pair came ashore in New Plymouth on January 13, 2008, after rowing 3318 kilometres from Australia in 62 days.

Mr Jones said he thought Taranaki had painted its foreshore weird colours when it first came into sight. Then he realised the colours were thousands and thousands of people who had come out to welcome them.

Mr Castrissian praised Project K because of its focus on the outdoors.

"The outdoors played a big part in who we are today.

"It lets kids discover themselves," he said.

Harcourts Marlborough staff ran an auction of items donated by mostly Marlborough businesses before the adventurers spoke raising about $17,000 for Project K.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 13:00 20/08/2010

Would-be robber gets supervision

A Blenheim man who tried to rob a couple in their home late at night, wearing a mask and carrying a firearm, has been released into the community.

Hector William Henry, 57, a sickness beneficiary, was sentenced to nine months' intensive supervision when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday .

Henry pleaded guilty in July to attempted aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of an airgun and having his face covered with intent to commit a crime after the incident in central Blenheim last year.

Judge David McKegg said he was appalled with Henry's list of about 100 previous convictions, including robbery and sexual offences. He sentenced Henry to 18 months' jail, but since he had already been remanded in police custody for a year, waiting for a trial, he was released on intensive supervision.

Henry was ordered to undergo drug and alcohol assessment and attend a rehabilitation programme.

His claims he found the airgun outside the house and was trying to return it were "nonsense", Judge McKegg said.

The Marlborough Express

Last updated 13:00 20/08/2010