Taranaki Daily News

Otago, one pedal at a time

‘So you guys cycle a lot in Auckland?” asks the lovely Mandy from Schist Rock Lodge, where we are resting our delicate backsides on night two of the Otago Central Rail Trail. I feel quite proud that we must look the part in our borrowed cycle gear....

Campaigner: Police letting victims down

A man campaigning for tougher sentences for coward punch killers believes police are continuing to fail victims through poor investigations. Former detective TeUraura Nganeko, who lost his son Daniel to a coward punch in July, believed the latest case...

March against moveon orders planned

An advocate for New Plymouth’s rough sleepers is organising a protest against proposed police powers that would give them the authority to move on rough sleepers in public spaces. Lani Hunt, who was once homeless, and now regularly provides meals to...

AB pioneer to get headstone

A team looking for the graves of All Blacks with service records has discovered the final resting place of New Zealand’s first All Black James Allan. Known as the “Taieri Giant”, Allan died in 1934 and was buried in an unmarked grave at Hāwera...

Americarna set to take over Taranaki’s roads

You probably wouldn’t need many clues to know why Christine Jujnovich was in New Plymouth yesterday. Decked out in red, white and blue from head to toe, and down to her fingertips, the Whangārei woman certainly stood out, even in a car park dedicated...

No tears, just lots of courage

Taranaki film-maker Lisa Burd’s latest documentary No Tears on the Field celebrates sisterhood and courageous women, using rugby as the backdrop, not the headline act.

$40m boost for aged care

A plan to invest in the redevelopment of a Hāwera rest home is motivated by a charitable legacy of taking care of the community. Trinity Home and Hospital Charitable Trust runs the Pūriri St facility, where an expansion project with an estimated...

Pukekura Park faces uncertain future

For decades, Pukekura Park was the beating heart of cricket in Taranaki. The small, picturesque ground, framed by steep terraces and native bush, was a place where the roar of the crowd matched the intensity on the field, whether it was an...

Prized shield returns

History will come alive in Inglewood today when the high school’s head boy and girl, Carter Lucinsky and Teegan Leake, open the school’s athletic day carrying a historical shield atop a replica Roman chariot.

How Mike changed the weather

At the end of last year, Mike Brooke noticed the temperature for New Plymouth shown on TVNZ was colder than would be expected on what had been a notably hot day. He immediately wondered if TVNZ had reverted to taking the temperature from New Plymouth...

For the love of leather

Two decades ago, Layla Cann began a love affair with leather. Now her Citizen Leather shop in Ōpunake is busier than ever turning old things into new treasures.

Vintage restoration revs up

For more than half a lifetime, Phil Brown has been working off and on to restore his dead brother’s car – but it’s taken an appearance on TV to get it cracking into top gear. The 85-year-old, who lives in Ōpunake, is rebuilding a rare 1935 Chrysler...

Gate closing, new life opens

An artistic coastal couple have shifted from cows to creativity, and launched a whole new way of life. Shawn and Rhonda Crawford recently opened Back Door Distillery in a historical building on Ōpunake’s main street, where Shawn creates artisan gins...

Iwi has ‘no comment’ on lodge

If and when a multimillion-dollar lodge on Taranaki Maunga is completed remains a tightly guarded secret as its iwi owners refuse to comment about its future. Work on Te Rere o Kapuni Lodge, owned by South Taranaki iwi Ngāruahine and with an estimated...

Speed cut approved at last

A years-long campaign to get the speed limit reduced at a notorious New Plymouth intersection has finally paid off. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) announced yesterday it was reducing the 80kph speed limit to 60kph on a 900-metre stretch of...

Girl’s death spurs safety calls

Tilly Mae Cambie is remembered by her parents as a “sparkly” girl with a cheeky grin. “If mandatory safety regulations had been in place, Tilly would still be with us today,” her mother Courtney Cambie said. On the early morning of New Year’s Day...

Biggest project in decades

Details about a new liquefied natural gas terminal soon to be built in Taranaki remain uncertain, but it could become one of New Zealand’s largest energy projects in decades. On Monday, Energy Minister Simon Watts announced a new liquefied natural gas...

LNG terminal for Taranaki

Taranaki local government leaders have welcomed news a multimillion-dollar liquefied natural gas import facility is to be built in the region. Yesterday, Energy Minister Simon Watts announced a contract was expected to be signed by the middle of the...

Congestion worsening

Little more than a decade after the bridge over the Waiwhakaiho River was widened to ease congestion between New Plymouth and Bell Block, traffic is once again banking up – and community leaders are warning it will only get worse. Puketapu-bell Block...

Waitangi Day commemorated around Taranaki

A chance for people to come together to connect was the theme of Waitangi Day commemorations in Taranaki this year. Hundreds of people flocked to Waitangi ki Whaitara yesterday for the day-long programme packed full of live entertainment and...

▮ Heckles and boos greet politicians,

“Did you bring the KFC?” Prime Minister Christoper Luxon faced heckles as he spoke yesterday at Waitangi’s Treaty Grounds, where he said the nation could “manage our differences without tearing the house down”. Luxon, using cue cards, said the...

Familiar beat for new boss

After more than three decades policing some of New Zealand’s busiest and most high-risk environments, Inspector Mark Miller is returning to his roots as Taranaki’s new area commander. Miller started on Monday and replaced previous commander Belinda...

Rubber dividers to be tested

Plans to replace controversial cycle lane separators along a busy inner-city corridor have been revealed by New Plymouth mayor Max Brough. Details of a trial, approved by the New Plymouth District Council in December, came to light when Brough...

Katsu and karaage, with side of waves

When Kenji Hiyama decided on the menu for his food truck, he had to change the dishes slightly to appeal to Kiwi taste buds. Hiyama – along with his wife Mayami and daughter Cocone, 13 – takes his food truck Cocozo to markets around the maunga. His...

Sale marks end of long ride

Derek Hosking shut the doors of his business for the last time on Friday and packed 10 boxes into his car. The cardboard boxes were full of the treasures he is keeping after owning the New Plymouth Motorcycle Centre for a whopping 56 years. He has...

When Pātea was the big cheese

Pātea was once the largest cheeseexporting port on Earth. The South Taranaki Shipping Company handled around 200,000 crates of cheese a year in the 1920s with three ships working full-time to transport it all. This image shows horse-drawn carts...

Councillors reject Chong

An attempt by a rookie councillor to get New Plymouth deputy mayor Murray Chong promoted onto a senior council committee has fallen spectacularly short. First-term councillor Damon Fox grabbed an opportunity during yesterday’s council meeting to...

A field fit for Fidos

When Jane Leak opened her dog park near Lepperton last year, she had visions of a handful of customers each week. But business has boomed – with dogs coming from as far as Whanganui for a visit and a frolic.

One plant’s plentiful tomatoes

Assessments to be carried out at local campgrounds

Inspections are being carried out at Taranaki’s seaside campgrounds, with engineers checking slopes and cliff faces following the Mount Maunganui landslide. A number of campgrounds in Taranaki, including those in New Plymouth, Ōakura and Ōpunake are...

Long-term gas supply crucial

Long-term gas supply will be needed for decades to keep New Zealand’s energy system running despite supplies tightening, the chief executive of a well-established energy company says. Todd Energy boss Mark Macfarlane made the comments in a Taranaki...

Post-section rounds men’s open fours bowls games

TOURNAMENT The wretched run of weather this week forced players competing in this year’s Devon Hotel Taranaki men’s open fours into abridged, 18 end games on the first day of post section play yesterday. After 94 sides secured the revised three wins...

Mayor calls for interim CEO

New Plymouth District Council could have an interim boss for up to a year after the sudden resignation of chief executive Gareth Green just before Christmas. That scenario will be put before the council on Thursday at its first meeting of the year and...

Veteran coach back for more

Veteran Taranaki rugby coach Neil Barnes has some unfinished business. At a time when provincial rugby unions are screaming out for experienced coaches to help develop the next crop of players, Taranaki have agreed terms with Barnes, who will rack up...

Couple must pay $488,219 after losing court battle

A Taranaki couple have been told to pay $488,219 in rates they have refused to pay for five years. Warren and Claire Bolton owned a 24-hectare block of farmland at Bell Block, near New Plymouth. The land was part of a 32.5ha block they bought in...

More than one trick

Best known for their performances in the diverse fantasy worlds of Westeros and The White Lotus, Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson have combined for a project set somewhere far less glamorous or dragon-filled. Yes, mid-1970s Moscow (replicated in...

Helping others one step at a time HEALTH

A New Plymouth man is set to walk nearly 800 kilometres to Cape Reinga to raise awareness for mental health. Oli Berndt, 36, will begin his journey on Friday, aiming to complete the trek in under 14 days, averaging around 70km a day, while hoping to...

Hanging up the pumps after 75 years

A long-standing landmark of Ōakura’s main street will close this month, marking the end of 75 years of a family-run business. BP Ōakura – which operates as Heydon Priest Limited and was founded during the late 1940s by Ashley “Ash” Heydon and his wife...

Bus stop plans spark confusion

New Plymouth residents are being asked for feedback on the proposed placement of new bus stops despite new bus routes not being released until March. The new bus routes start on April 1 along with the region’s new public transport brand, Te Pahi, and...

Taranaki surfer wins titles

Taranaki surfer Izaro Williamson Sasia left the National Surfing Championships almost lost for words after pulling off an historic double victory. At just 14, the Sacred Heart Girls’ College student won both the under-18 and open women’s longboard...

Going north - head south

Holidaymakers, music lovers and anyone else planning to travel north from New Plymouth face a lengthy detour when a significant part of State Highway 3 closes for five days starting on Friday. New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) will close...

Ups and downs of sunniest spot?

When Taranaki was first named the sunniest region in New Zealand, the reaction from many residents was disbelief or mirth. Or both. It’s not for nothing that visitors to our lush green province are traditionally told: “If you can see the mountain,...

Sun shines on in Taranaki

For the third time in the last five years Taranaki has had more sunshine hours than anywhere else in New Zealand. Leading from the start of the year, 2743 hours of sunshine were recorded in Taranaki in the 12 months to 31 December. This was 71 hours...

Veterans’ service highlighted

Volunteers for an organisation committed to ensuring New Zealanders who served in the military are remembered have added poppies to 160 headstones of veterans at New Plymouth’s Awanui Cemetery. Between Christmas and the New Year holiday, each grave...

Hidden rips surface at Fitzroy

Fitzroy Beach is one of New Plymouth’s favourite beaches but shifting sand has made swimming there more dangerous this summer. Todd Velvin, of the Fitzroy Surf Lifesaving Club, said the beach he patrols has had a massive buildup of sand this...

Decades of care, kindness

When Robert Campbell started work at Barrett St Hospital, Sir Robert Muldoon was prime minister and Mcdonald’s was still six months away from opening its first restaurant in New Zealand. And when it did, in June 1976, a Big Mac cost 75 cents – the...

The enchanting lure of baby ruru

Jenny Oakley cancelled a holiday to the Chatham Islands in December so she could stay home to watch a ruru chick fly for the first time. The self-taught ruru paparazza was reluctant to leave her possie in a stand of bush where the bird family she’s...

Lower rates rise is in reach

Despite the financial figures not being tested or put before council, New Plymouth mayor Max Brough believes realistic savings are being found behind the scenes to reduce this year’s rates increase for the district. The introduction of a rates cap for...

Person of the Year 2025 Sarah and Roland Devine

Roland Devine likes to quote Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. In The Fellowship of the Ring, the wizard tells Frodo: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.“ And Roland and his wife, Sarah, have decided to “follow the...

‘Bike Dude’ gets children on their own two wheels

Gary Sarten can’t explain why he’s compelled to collect bikes but there’s something in him that drives him to amass as many as he can. From the number of bikes lined up along the outside wall of his shed in Lepperton, an average person might think he...

Ovation for Operatic Society

It would be hard to quantify how many people in Taranaki have interacted with the New Plymouth Operatic Society since 1952. Each year there are the 350 or so volunteers who, in the roles of cast and crew, put on the society’s main annual production,...

Gabby’s legacy of kindness grows stronger every year

In the past 10 years, Roland and Sarah Devine have given away $1 million through acts of kindness. And along the way they’ve kept their daughter Gabby’s legacy alive. Gabby died 10 years ago aged 13. She had Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, and...

A mistake as sweet as honey

James Annabell fell into making honey by mistake. Since then, the mistake has turned into a multimillion-dollar business that exports to more than 30 countries. The company, Egmont Honey, employs about 100 people, all of whom bar one are based in...

Person found dead after house fire

One person has died in a fire at a Kāinga Ora property in the New Plymouth suburb of Westown. Fire and Emergency New Zealand received reports about the house fire on Trelawney Cres about 2.30am on Wednesday, shift manager Chris Dalton said. Three fire...

Garden festival figures grow TARANAKI

A stunning sunny fortnight gave Taranaki’s three spring garden festivals a huge boost this year, visitor data gathered by organisers shows. The Centuria Taranaki Garden Festival had the annual event’s highest number of visitors in seven years,...

Council boss resigns NPDC

The New Plymouth District Council is on the lookout for a new chief executive after Gareth Green’s resignation was announced yesterday. Green, who is just three years into his five-year contract, said the decision was family driven. His wife, Kylie...

Healthcare is in the whānau

When Charlise Graham decided to drop out of high school in year 13, she was too scared to tell her dad. So she enlisted the help of the team from Why Ora, who came to her home and chatted to her father, Joe Graham. They also got her a cadetship at...

Family calls for Coroner’s inquest

Former police detective TeUraura Nganeko should be grieving the loss of his bright, intelligent and muchloved son Daniel. Instead, almost five months after the brutal and senseless coward punch that ended Daniel’s life, his father continues to trawl...

‘Tim Tams’ to stay for now

New Plymouth’s controversial cycle separators are to stay while a trial period is undertaken on an alternative separator expected to cause less damage to vehicles that cross them. The decision was made at yesterday’s New Plymouth District Council...

Christmas trimmings for all

After a successful trial run last year, The Bach on Breakwater is again offering a free community Christmas lunch. Manager Victor Higgins said he and owner Rahul Radhakrishnan hoped to make it an annual tradition at the New Plymouth cafe.

The farm shop stop

When Waverley’s Mcaree family set up the Rabbit Hut farm shop on State Highway 3, they planned to just sell their homegrown fruit and vegetables. But they soon realised they needed more. So they built a playground, a cafe and perfected the art of...

Solve scalp issues

An itchy-feeling, flaky scalp can be a real confidence killer. It’s the kind of persistent annoyance that makes you think twice about wearing your favourite black top, or might even hold you back from hitting the gym. More than 50 per cent of the...

Trust steps up as need for kaumātua housing grows

Creating a community which celebrates kaumātua will also help make a dent in an increasingly urgent issue - meeting the housing needs of older New Zealanders. One of the latest projects in Taranaki, led by Ngā Pekanga Catholic Māori Charitable Trust,...

A heartfelt story of gratitude

When I interviewed cardiologist Ian Ternouth in 2015 about the need for a new angiography machine, I never imagined the doctor and the high-tech equipment would save my life. At that time, I was writing stories for the Taranaki Health Foundation as...

Towns vie for Christmas crown

Stratford’s claim of being the most Christmassy town in Taranaki could be under threat, as Hāwera makes a play for the crown. While the town is famous for its glockenspiel clock tower had a special Christmas committee and popular lights trail,...

Lake Rotomanu to be drained in fight against gold clams

Lake Rotomanu will be drained this week and remain empty over summer to allow scientists to get a full picture of the extent of the freshwater gold clam infestation. The invasive clam Corbicula fluminea was found in the New Plymouth lake on November...

Security allowances planned

The country’s Remuneration Authority has recommended district councillors be allowed to claim a reimbursement allowance to cover the installation and monitoring of home security systems. The recommendation will go before an extraordinary meeting of...

Final school bell rings for 4

When a young Martin Dravitzki walked into his first classroom at Francis Douglas Memorial College he said it felt like being thrown to the lions. Fresh out of Palmerston North Teachers’ College, he stepped into a suddenly vacant geography role just...

Downtown car park a fizzer

A multimillion-dollar repair to New Plymouth’s largest council-owned car park has failed to find favour with shoppers who continue to drive past the complex. It has been more than a year since the 270-space Downtown car park was reopened following a...

Mayor vows to cap rates early

True to his pre-election word, New Plymouth mayor Max Brough has vowed to implement a rates cap for the district a full year before the Government plans to impose the policy in 2027. While two of the region’s mayors – South Taranaki’s Phil Nixon and...

Xmas dinner budgets tighten

Despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, many Taranaki families are still planning to spend big on their Christmas feasts, though plenty are adapting their menus to suit tighter budgets. At New Plymouth’s award-winning The Kiwi Butcher, owner...

Rural practice under pressure

An acute care clinic run by a Stratford medical practice has been scaled back after struggling to manage overwhelming demand. On Monday, Coastal Medical Ltd, which owns the Avon Medical Centre, ceased offering its same-day, walk-in service to...

Man guilty of manslaughter

A jury has found a Waitara man not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter following his week-long trial in the High Court at New Plymouth. The jury deliberated for a full day before returning their verdict against Rakai Jacob Thompson. The...

Memorial for murdered man

A memorial service was held yesterday for New Plymouth man Martin James Mooney, who was killed near the Wind Wand last month. Around 50 people, including a dozen or so police, attended the vigil for the 68-yearold, who died following a fight at the...

Transfer will double coffers

A longstanding agricultural education trust worth $14.5 million is poised to more than double the Taranaki Foundation’s investment resources. Funds of the Bashford-nicholls Trust have been transferred from the 20-year-old Bishop’s Action Foundation...

Sweet dreams are made of this

Sean Bevan doesn’t have to look too far for a critic of his home-made ice cream. The man behind the South Seas Ice Cream Company jokingly described his Italian wife Paola as the “gelato police”. And of all the flavours he conjures up in his tiny...