The biggest story of 2016 has undoubtedly been the Kaikoura Earthquake.
Although Tasman escaped any major damage during the 7.8 magnitude quake that hit two minutes after midnight on November 14, the implications for the district were significant. Just about everyone in Tasman was woken by the long, rolling quake and some, like Brightwater’s Juanita and Lucy Ingham, were caught in the epicentre, but the biggest impact on the district resulted from the closure of State Highway 1 due to slips.
Tasman’s state highways became the main route for cars and trucks travelling from Christchurch to Picton, creating serious traffic issues and a sudden increase in demand for petrol, diesel, food and toilets in Murchison and St Arnaud. One St Arnaud shop reported pie sales increasing from 200 to 1000 a week.
On the political front, the triennial local body elections were the main event although the results went according to plan. Richard Kempthorne was predictably elected for a fourth term as mayor while the only real changes on council were the result of councillors like Judene Edgar, Trevor Norriss and Zane Mirfin standing down and creating vacancies.
Perhaps the election was overshadowed by two of the biggest political issues during the year, the continuing quest to find a suitable funding model for the Lee Valley Dam and the $471,000 budget blow-out in the council’s Mapua Shed 4 project. Council adopted a sensible and pragmatic approach to the dam funding but blotted its copy book with a cavalier approach to financing Shed 4.
Council’s decision to prioritise the recreational and cultural values of Rabbit Island over commercial forestry interests in the island’s management plan also made the headlines. It was a hugely popular decision that reflected how much Tasman residents love Rabbit Island.
Real estate was big news throughout the year as section and house prices continued to rise to record highs. The demand for residential properties was so high that a new subdivision, with 49 sections near Richmond, sold out in 24-hours even though the resource consent for the subdivision was still pending.
Tasman’s rapid growth was also manifested in escalating school rolls with Waimea College hitting a record 1555 students. Big businesses were intent on keeping up with Richmond’s growth with the two big supermarket companies moving ahead with plans for new supermarkets at Three Brothers Corner and Champion Rd.
The wild spring weather featured almost weekly with rain, hail, snow and even a tornado in Appleby wrecking havoc. Lightning also struck, killing a mob of sheep sheltering under a tree near Top House.
On the sporting front, the Waimea Weekly enjoyed sharing the success of our Olympians, Blacks Sticks women Kelsie Smith and Anita McLaren, cyclist George Bennett, 1500m runner Julian Matthews, equestrienne Jonelle Price and rower Brook Robertson. Paralympian Liam Malone’s courageous efforts were a highlight while the Tasman Makos once again punched well above their weight to make the Mitre 10 Premiership final.
On a sad note, Tasman lost one of its favourite sporting legends when free-ride mountainbiker Kelly McGarry, 33, died suddenly in February. The former Waimea College student became an internet super-star when he backflipped a 21m canyon gap in the Red Bull Rampage – the video of the flip went viral on YouTube, getting over 30 million views..
But the best stories we published in 2016, as always, were the ones about Tasman residents doing good things in our community. Leading the way was Eighty Eight Valley’s Robyn Reid who was admitted to the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce hall of Fame for a lifetime of service to the aviation industry.
Upper Moutere’s Dale Vercoe generously offered land he owned on Mapua Drive in September for a new community health centre and Ethan Bruce completed a fund-raising unicycle ride in the 106km Rainbow Rage in March despite crashing and breaking his leg.
Volunteers from Menzshed Waimea were busy helping an IHC group learn woodworking skills as well as getting out their paint brushes to clean up tagging around Richmond. And volunteer fire fighters throughout the district continued to give up their time to keep us safe with the Richmond Volunteer Fire Brigade attending 23 calls in the first 27 days of the year.
These are just some of the amazing people that made Tasman a great place to live in 2016.
