Announced late today two Lower Hutt firms, laundry powder manufacturer Unilever will make 33 people redundant, while furniture maker Formway will shed 50 staff.
Formway chief executive Alan Buckner says the company, which opened in the 1950s, and recently won design award has decided to outsource its manufacturing and focus on design, sales and marketing.
Formway hopes 15 to 20 people will be offered jobs with the company it is outsourcing to but does see overall job losses.
The 84-year-old man missing in the Upper Hutt suburb of Trentham has returned home safe and well.
Police had just begun widening the search for the man who went for a walk Sunday night at 9 o’clock thinking it was morning and failed to return. There were concerns he may have become confused.
Searchers scoured the area overnight on foot, bicycle and by car. The man was fairly fit and had carried out a 10 kilometre walk last week, so rescuers believed he could have wandered quite a distance.
The man returned home this morning.
This weekends fine weather has enabled KiwiRail to complete the recovery of the Train Engine derailed on Thursday night following the atrocious weather and the resulting landslip that caused the derailing.
The complete story from the Sunday Times who today released the story that the Rarimu massacre gunman Stephen Anderson 37 is now living in Upper Hutt, in the suburb of Clouston Park. The Rarimu massacre cost the lives of six people. Anderson was found not guilty due to insanity. His earlier limited releases away from care also caused concern in 2008.
The issue is around his public release, Anderson’s continuing treatment and getting him back into the community under strict release conditions which should rehabilitate him according to Mental Health officials concerns both local residents and those effected by his original actions.
Cannabis plants with a street value of half a million dollars were confiscated from a residential property in Wainuiomata recently.
Police Response Manager Inspector Geoff Gwyn says more than 60 mature plants were found in a two-storey home that police allege was painstakingly set up as a cultivation operation.
“The guy had divided the bottom part of the house into seven sections dedicated to various stages of cultivation. There was a sophisticated watering system, ventilation, a charcoal air filteration system to stop the cannabis smell and a large lighting set up.”
A 48-year-old male, Patrick O’Donnell, appeared in court on three charges, including possession of cannabis for supply and cultivation of cannabis.
Mr Gwyn allege O’Donnell had also set up an electrical system so that none of the power consumed to keep the 24-hour cultivation area going was measured on the meter.
“It’s estimated he was using 15 times the power a normal household uses in one day, each day.”
Police say apart from the 60 plants, $25,000 cash was also found on the premises along with five-and-a-half kilos of “head” worth about $55,000 ready to go out on the streets.
The premises were watched over by security guards on night after the arrest warrant was executed and the confiscated marijuana will be disposed of after samples have been taken.
Mr Gwyn says the major drugs bust is a result of strong efforts by the Crime and Crash Team, led by Sergeant Mike Sarten.
O’Donnell was remanded on bail until 6 August, with conditions that include reporting to the Wainuiomata police station and not consuming any alcohol or drugs.
Police in the Lower Hutt suburb of Eastbourne have unveiled a free bike scheme to reduce the number of bicycle thefts in the region.
Eastbourne Community Constable Anthony Harmer says the seaside community has been plagued with thefts, especially during summer. But he says rather than disappearing for good, the bikes have been used by opportunists to get from A to B, then dumped.
Mr Harmer says that has prompted him to introduce a new scheme where bikes are available to pick up and drop off at several points around the bays, free of charge. He says he will have to wait until summer to gauge the true impact, but he has noticed a definite drop in the number of bikes being handed into the police station.
A 15 metre high wind turbine to be installed on private land (situated next to the trig station) at Emerald Hill owned by Adam Blackwell has past its first hurdle after being accepted by the Upper Hutt City Council.
It will provide power to the owners Main Road North property with its generated net power fully used by the house.
The decision by the council is the first stage in the planning process and sees the council acting as the “requiring authority” only. It will be subject to normal resource consent requirements.
Emerald Hill is a dominant landscape feature for residents of Maoribank, Brown Owl, Emerald Hill, Parkdale, Birchville and for users of State Highway 2.
An earlier report commissioned with regard to recent cellphone tower installation at the Emerald Hill site says
“Although the ridgeline has been comprised by power lines running across its northern face, the presence of a cluster of cellphone towers close to the summit will increase the visual encroachment into the skyline.”
The cellphone towers are regarded as utilities and as such have dispensation within the Councils District plan, this private installation of a wind tower will now facing normal Resource Consent processes which call for public input.
The question is will the public dispute its installation.
Inland Revenue staff in Upper Hutt had to be decontaminated after an envelope containing white powder was opened by a mailroom employee this morning.
The building, in Jepsen Grove, was evacuated about 7.20am, police said. Cordons were put outside the building to stop members of the public entering.
Sergeant Steve Dearns said staff were allowed to return about 9am after the package was removed and taken to ESR for forensic analysis.
Upper Hutt area commander Inspector Michael Hill said preliminary analysis suggested the powder was not a dangerous substance. But Inland Revenue staff who had contact with the package went through a Fire Service “decontamination process” as a precaution.
Police were investigating.
A man who tried to smuggle a dozen fertile chicken eggs into New Zealand has been fined $5000 and sentenced to community work.
In Lower Hutt District Court yesterday, John Jakeman was convicted for violating the Biosecurity Act after sourcing eggs from an overseas chicken breeder and suggested the supplier falsify the packaging description.
The self-confessed poultry fancier had gone to lengths to try and bypass New Zealand’s border biosecurity screening programmes, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said today.
MAF investigations manager Greg Reid said Jakeman was aware what he was doing was illegal and it was disappointing that someone was willing to risk bringing potential disease into the country.
”It is frustrating responding to incidents where people selfishly put the wellbeing of our country at risk,” Mr Reid said.
Along with the fine, Jakeman was ordered to complete 200 hours of community work.
A regional initiative announced back in April to increase the police presence on trains is gaining momentum, with Lower Hutt police riding trains almost every day.
Each day, two to three constables from the police community engagement team usually jump on a train, check out the carriages and chat to passengers. Constable Paula Harris says the initiative started about six to eight weeks ago, with a training session from KiwiRail.
“We got taught basic safety stuff like how to move through carriages safely, holding onto the handrails,” she says.
Rail staff appreciate seeing police on trains, she says.
“They say sometimes they have problems on the Friday or Saturday night services with disorderly behaviour so we try and get onto those. For us, it’s an opportunity to raise our profile and be more visible. Public transport takes a lot of people everyday so it’s about getting used to seeing us, where people usually don’t.”
Though curious looks and questions of “Is something wrong?” were the most frequent reactions, Ms Harris and the team were hoping people would get used to the police presence and approach them if anything was needed.
In a recent survey conducted by Hutt City Council, 58 per cent of people said they felt at risk of being a victim of crime or sustaining an injury at train stations. And 51 per cent felt they were at risk on all public transport. A police presence, while rated below security wardens and better lighting, was listed as one of the top requirements for people to feel safer. Ms Harris was hoping to address that by having police on trains.
“It’s a chance to check out problems like tagging around stations.
“We get off at a station, have a look around, check for anti-social behaviour and get on the next train.”
Wellington Community Policing Manager Inspector Karen Smith says having police patrol the trains and platforms was a natural extension of the work they already do in the community.
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