Upper Hutt: Major Fire accident

According to the NZ Police site:

“At approximately 12.45 pm Police and Fire emergency services attended an explosion in a garage at an address in Upper Hutt.”

We retweeted earlier about this incident in Te Marua courtesy @esquirescoffee

“A 20 year old male, an 18 year old female and a young baby were present in the garage at the time.

The 20 year old male is in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital suffering extensive burns to his body.

The female and young baby escaped with minor burns and are to remain in Hutt Hospital over night.

It appears that the explosion was the result of a welding accident.

Fire Service and Police are still investigating”

No further details will be released until Sunday

Wingate: Firearm charges result from Wednesday night Checkpoint

Two people are due to appear in the Lower Hutt District court next Friday following an assault on Wednesday night at an alcohol checkpoint at Wingate Crescent Taita.

Police say the car was stopped for a routine breath test at Wingate overpass about 7pm. They say the driver 22 was arrested on a fines warrant and his passenger 17 was detained after punching one of the arresting officers several times. Firearms & ammunation were also found in the vehicle. Both men were remanded and will appear on a variety of charges relating to assault, drugs and offensive weapons.

Several other related incidents occurred as the result of the strong Police present, including drink driving evasion resulting in cars being pulled over at NaeNae Shopping Centre. (see below)

Hutt Valley: Russel Norman has a look at Hutt River water quality

Catch this interview with Russel Norman Green Party from beside the Hutt River yesterday (courtesy of KiwiFM and host Wammo) as he looks into the issue of Hutt River water quality and the Hull Creek Restoration project, one of its aims to improve access for native fish to spawning grounds.

Podcast here

(The first 4 minutes are directly concerned with the Hutt River and the weir, the rest Green Party politics)

The weirs location is marked below

Hutt Radio – Inaugral Public Meeting

You might ask what is Hutt Radio, it is the effort of a number of key players who have been trying for a number of years to establish a community based non commercial radio network in the Hutt Valley.

To gain a greater insight visit their website, but some background info is posted below along with details as to the meeting.

Eddie O’Strange is one of the key proponents and as part of the charter of the licence has called a public meeting to gauge public support as well as answer any questions.

If you are curious, can contribute, or just wish to attend, it would be greatly appreciated.

But in brief, what is Hutt Radio all about:-

HUTT RADIO:

A terrestrial FM station for the Hutt Region, New Zealand.

Our focus is the Hutt Region. Our coverage: Greater Wellington.

Station site: Lower Hutt. Transmitter site: Mt KauKau.

Demographics Target:

The middle-aged and elderly. [This makes us unique among the 30-plus radio stations in this airspace.]

Hutt Radio is a community station. A “non-commercial” licence. The second “access” station in Greater Wellington’s airspace.

In industry jargon, here’s WHAT HUTT RADIO IS:

“Hutt Radio is a mature market, Hutt-centric, interactive, subscriber-based, non-commercial, heritage station, serving as the hub for flow-on components.”

The meeting:-

HUTT COMMUNITY RADIO – PUBLIC MEETING

Sunday 30th August, TAITA RSA, 14 Tocker Street
2 pm start-time — hopefully wrapped by about 3.15 pm
(There will be time after this to meet, to mix and mingle.)

A strong show of support is needed to get this valuable Hutt Region asset underway. A well-attended gathering
will help with funding issues, and will satisfy some of the licensing requirements of various Government agencies.

At the same time, YOU will find out whatever you want to know about Hutt Radio. Questions will be welcome!

You can just turn up, but we’d prefer you to “RSVP”.
Eddie: blue.smoke@actrix.co.nz Phone 565-3164

Website: http://www.huttcity.com/huttradio/
*Join the Trustees, the Patrons, and Local Dignitaries*

Petone: Dead fish on beach warning to public

The Dominion Post has reported that a woman walking on Petone beach yesterday with her dog found several dead fish. this caused here concern in light of recent press. The fish found were Porcupine fish and a Te Papa expert explains the fish variety here

This together with recent issues in Auckland over dead fish finds and the death of four dogs, and the possible explaination shows it would pay to err on caution around the area.

Equally it is timely reminder to be aware of restrictions and advice from the Greater Wellington Regional Council of known areas of concern around waterways. Recently 1080 posion has been dropped in Kaitoke Regional Park area with warnings for dogs and along the Hutt River if flooding should occur.

No doubt the test result will show the cause of the problem and whether it is connected to the Auckland issue of tetrodotoxin.

In the meantime it would pay to avoid the Petone foreshore with your young children and pets until the all clear is given.

Lower Hutt: Local firm Resene Paints wins $1million business grant

What with all the negative business news around at present in the Hutt Valley it is good to hear that local company Resene Paints has won a $1 million grant from Industrial Research Ltd. In the interview below from TVNZ Business this morning Managing Director Nick Nightingale explains the purpose of their research in finding a renewable resin for use in paints and how this came around after having a “bloody good look”.

More on the background of this story here

Lower Hutt: More redundancies from Mountain Buggy plant

Further evidence that the economy is not as strong as the media is portraying, in fact in the surrounding weeks there have been mixed signs as to where NZ economy is currently at. This announcement comes on top of Unilever another local Petone based manufacturing business making 50 redundancies last week, again unable to compete with offshore wage rates offered by China.

“Mountain Buggy” a baby buggy manufacturer will shift manufacturing to China with about 45 jobs to go at its Seaview Lower Hutt plant.

Mountain Buggy was picked up by its rival phil&teds after previous owners Tritec went into receivership in January (debts of about $22 million).

Phil&teds buggies are designed in Wellington but has them made in China to be sold around the world, hence the move.

Phil&teds owner Campbell Gower told the Dominion Post it was not possible to keep making Mountain Buggy products in New Zealand and production would shift to China at the beginning of next quarter.

“It was hard for the former owners to deal with the economic equation and it hasn’t been any easier for us,” he said.

The number of staff at the Lower Hutt factory had dropped from 100 in December to 61.

The shift will result in about 45 redundancies as some staff will be shifted to roles at phil&teds or Mountain Buggy’s seat-making business.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little is understandable upset that these workers will not be receiving any redundancy compensation

Petone: Railway Platform partial closure for upgrade

Petone rail platform is getting ready for the arrival of the new ‘Matangi’ trains in 2010.

From 30 August to mid October, half of each platform will be closed. So if you’re travelling to or from Petone Station make sure you travel in the front 4 carriages of the train, or if you’re on the Wairarapa service use the front 3 carriages.

This change will affect some morning and evening peak Taita services and services operating after Stadium events at Westpac Stadium which have 6 or 8 carriages.

Upper Hutt: Akatarawa Road Bridges to be replaced

The Upper Hutt City Council has programmed the replacement of the three wooden bridges on Akatarawa Road (situated a short distance either side of Staglands) over the next five years. Just yesterday one of our readers witnessed and accident at this very bridge.

Those that use this road regularly are well aware that these bridges pose traffic problems on what is already a dangerous road to travel. The first bridge will be replaced in mid to late 2010.

The bridges are believed to have been constructed in the 1920’s. During a routine inspection two years ago they all showed signs of deterioration within the wood work. While a considerable amount of structural repair work has been undertaken on the bridges all three have reached the end of their economical life and need to be replaced.
The new bridges will be built to a more durable design and have two lanes, providing some width for pedestrians, cyclists etc. Disruptions may occur, but wherever possible the City Council will try to to minimise the impact on residents and motorists. Retaining one of the bridges as a heritage structure will also be investigated.

The bridge for replacement in the 2009/10 financial year is the first one from Upper Hutt, just before the Wellesley Country Club, and is the most critical for access to residents and businesses past this point.

The middle (weight restricted) bridge and the bridge at the foot of the summit will follow in 2011/12 and 2013/14 respectively.
The Council is very aware that these bridges provide essential access to the residents and businesses along Akatarawa Road and whilst every endeavour will be made to keep disruptions to a minimum during the construction there may be times when it is not possible to maintain full vehicle access. If this should happen contingency plans will be discussed with residents/businesses affected.

Lower Hutt: Liquor outlets targeted by Police

Half the on-licensed Lower Hutt premises visited in a recent police operation were caught selling alcohol to minors.

Ten premises were visited in Operation Vespa, with five caught breaking the law by selling to under-age patrons.

Sergeant Andrew Smith of Lower Hutt police said the results of the operation were disappointing.

“Only 50 per cent of those tested demonstrated they are conscientious about their obligations under the (Sale of Liquor) Act and serious about protecting our young people from liquor abuse.”

He said some of the breaches carried fines of up to $10,000.

The operation was part of an overall campaign to reduce the incidents of alcohol-related harm in the Hutt Valley, and Mr Smith said there would be more operations in the near future. Earlier operations had resulted in convictions at Eastbourne and NaeNae. Earlier operations show the local police take this facet of liquor licencing seriously.