Moy Estate under way
South Island’s Ngai Tahu Properties joins Wakefield Group Holdings in a 50:50 joint venture Moy Estate development, with unchanged plans. READ MORE.
LATEST EDITIONS
STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Ōtaki College Roll
A call-out by Ōtaki Today to discover which former students and staff have died in the past 60 years has revealed a list. READ MORE.
BRIEFS
Elite award for Pā Reo
Pā Reo – part of Te Wānanga o Raukawa – is a certified Living Building Challenge Full Living project. It means the Pā Reo complex is one of just 38 buildings in the world – and only the second commercial building in New Zealand – to achieve the qualification. The set of buildings was designed by Tennent Brown Architects.
Help with roof, salaries, events
Ōtaki Playcentre has received $3000 from NZ Community Trust for roof repairs. Ōtaki Golf Club also received $20,000 for salaries in the latest funding round. Meanwhile, the Kāpiti Run for Youth has donated $525 to Ōtaki College, which will help the student council run events.
Blanket check
Electra is joining Energise Ōtaki and Paul Pearce Electrical at the Ōtaki Repair Café on Sunday, June 7, offering to test electric blankets for free. Electric blankets can become damaged over time, causing short circuits, electric shocks, or even fires. The repair café is at the Memorial Hall, 10am-2pm.
Brigade out 15 times
There were 15 call-outs for Ōtaki Volunteer Fire Brigade during April. Four were for private fire alarms, and three “good intent”. Two each were for: rubbish, grass or scrub fires; property; and medical emergency. The brigade attended one vehicle crash and there was one “special service”
LETTERS
Clip-on safer than bridge
The article in your January 2026 paper describing the cycle-walkway clip-on as unsafe and unusable is totally off the mark. As a user of the clip-on multiple times a week (including crossings on my skinny-tyred, single-speed bike in wet conditions), negotiation of the metal joins requires a minimal amount of bike skill. I suggest anyone having trouble crossing those would be a danger to themselves on the road anywhere. Taking a 90 degree approach to each join at a comfortable speed should be safe for any competent cyclist. It is certainly safer than crossing the bridge in the traffic lane or using the narrow old footpath. I celebrate any efforts to provide cycling infrastructure and off-the-mark unnecessary criticism does not help the cause. If anyone wants to criticise unsafe cycling, try riding through central Ulaanbaatar, or London, or Addis Ababa, or Cairo. . . . Lindsay Gault, Ōtaki
Thanks for the clip-on
As an ex-pat in New Zealand for more than 20 years and a frequent user of the recently installed Otaki clip-on bridge both as a cyclist and runner, I would like to comment on the recent article regarding the dissatisfaction Mr Zwartjes finds with the design of the pathway. Considering how dangerous it was for pedestrians to cross the river in the past I find this construction very suitable, safe and pleasant compared to nothing. This path is a shared space with pedestrians with or without animals, scooters, women with babies in pushchairs, disabled people, etc, and not a velodrome. If necessary according to the weather conditions – rain, wind, etc – or number of users, cyclists have to be aware, consider dismounting and walk. At no time is the clip-on dangerous for cyclists as long as they control their speed, just as drivers have to on the road. Be positive and thank NZTA for providing this project. Jean-Louis, Ōtaki
Joiners are uncomfortable
I don’t often feel moved to comment on an article but will do this time, just in case it is worth taking the story a step (pedal) further. When I read about Gerard Zwartjes’ opinion of the clip-on (Ōtaki Today, January 2026), when he was cycling over it on a road bike, it reminded me that I had the same reaction a year ago when I first rode it. Those joiners are seriously uncomfortable on a non-suspension road bike. It seems all very well for NZTA to say it was subject to a safety audit and that this was signed off by a chartered engineer, but has that engineer ever ridden over those types of joiners on a non-suspension bike with narrow tyres? I imagine not. They also say a wide range of stakeholders were consulted, including cycling advocates, but were any of them presented with an example of these joiners and given the opportunity to hammer their butt while cycling over them without the cushioning of suspension, padded seats or padded pants? I suspect not. Could you invite Jetesh Bhula to come down to the bridge with a road bike and ask them to cycle over the joiners at a reasonable speed. Perhaps we could invite the chartered engineer down, too, and make a party of it. Most bruised bum gets an ice pack. Peter Davis, Ōtaki
Kites back March 6-7
The 2027 Ōtaki Kite Festival will be on the weekend of March 6-7.
