Ōtaki residents see the pending expressway in largely abstract form as construction continues, so Ōtaki Today is often asked about how the two main interchanges will work. The diagrams show how locals and visitors can get on and off the expressway. The top diagram is the interchange just north of the BP roundabout. It shows that drivers... Keep Reading

Raukawa ki te Tonga AHC Limited (AHC) has appointed Richard O’Hara to a newly created role of finance manager, effective immediately. The AHC is a wholly owned subsidiary and the commercial and investment arm of the Raukawa ki te Tonga Trust. It is responsible for managing and growing the trust’s fisheries settlement assets and investment... Keep Reading

Ten of the 11 bridges on the Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway project – including the big Ōtaki River bridge – are expected to be substantially completed by Christmas. Bridge 9 over the rail corridor near Makahuri (Mary Crest) is the odd one out, with more work required. Fletchers has told Ōtaki Today that the east-west bridges, such as... Keep Reading

The Manukura GPS boys of Ōtaki College unofficially hold the world record for the number of hours playing 4-square non-stop. Just after 2pm on Sunday, October 4, the team called it quits after playing in the college hall continuously since Saturday morning.  They had beaten the previous mark in the Guinness Book of World Records by an hour... Keep Reading

Ōtaki carver Bill Doyle is chuffed to know that the Super Rugby trophy he created early in the year – and was damaged after the final in early August – is in pride of place at the New Zealand Rugby Union headquarters in Wellington. “I’ve been told it’s right there in the foyer as you come in,” Bill says. “That’s pretty... Keep Reading

News of leaked emails and dissention among National MPs before the election is a clear sign at least some in the party thought they had a dog’s show of winning. Leader Judith Collins was apparently making policy up on the hoof and not sharing internal polling data with her MPs. That suggests a lack of trust in her own whānau, based on the... Keep Reading

The man whose heroics have led to the naming of a new scholarship was a Kiwi Spitfire fighter pilot in the Second World War. Carlyle Gray Everiss was born in Gisborne on December 3, 1914. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and after gaining his wings in Canada was posted to No 58 Operational Training Unit in central Scotland. He was... Keep Reading

Work is under way to ensure the permanence of Ōtaki College’s Sander Scholarship. Shelley Macrae of Sander Ties has committed her company to supporting the award as it stands, as long as Sander is still operating. The company was established in 1921. However, college principal Andy Fraser says that with Shelley’s support, he wanted to... Keep Reading

A decision by the Kāpiti Coast District Licensing Committee to grant an off licence to Super Liquor in Arthur Street has been described as “negligent”. The committee approved the application by Kiw-E Ōtaki Ltd on September 8 after it heard submissions in Ōtaki on July 22. That decision is being appealed by Te Wānanga o Raukawa, which... Keep Reading

The sun shone brightly on September 30 as Tanira Cooper of Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki led dignitaries and blessed New Zealand’s first community-based solar farm on Riverbank Road.  Named Rua Kūmara, the farm honours the site’s pre-European use of harvesting sweet potato from the land and sun. The project has been four years in the making and... Keep Reading

A big part of Ōtaki’s past will remain only in the history books with the demise of the trust that represented the old Ōtaki District Commercial Gardeners’ Society. With few market gardeners left in the district, an ageing membership and a stagnant bank account , the trust is winding up. However the community is benefiting with large... Keep Reading

It doesn’t seem too long ago that “mental health” was not part of our lexicon. Certainly, when I was a schoolboy it never entered the conversation. That’s not to say it didn’t exist; it was simply that if anyone was feeling “a bit down”, it would be assumed they’d get over it or just needed to harden up. These days, for... Keep Reading