New $6 million Hutt Park Stadium has opened

Maarten Holl

Hutt Indoor Sports Centre, Hutt Park, Seaview, has been developed on a shoestring to give Hutt residents easy access to sports facilities.

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Where Wellington City Council has spent nearly $47 million on its new Kilbirnie Sports Centre, Hutt Valley residents have got a new indoor sports centre at no cost to ratepayers.


The new seven court stadium at Hutt Park, which has just opened without fanfare, is over half the size of the Kilbirnie but it has only cost $6m says developer Mukesh Dayal.

Mr Dayal, director of Wellington Indoor Sports and Hutt Indoor Sports, said it was built at a cost so that it could pay its way as a private venture.

Where the Kilbirnie centre had sprung wooden floors for basketball, netball and volleyball the Hutt Park stadium had artificial turf flooring and was set up for indoor netball, cricket and soccer.

"The comparison is not a true reflection. Where the $47m [spent at Kilbirnie] was probably overkill at lot of that was down to its design and they've gone for top of the line, we've had to make a return and make it work for us."

The Hutt Park stadium, built to be self-funding with costs covered by those who hire its courts, includes a large specially-designed Junglerama children's play area, a cafe and bar.

Construction started in January and the complex opened for business last week - an official opening is scheduled to take place once the carpark is complete.

Mr Dayal praised Hutt City Council for its encouragement and assistance. It had offered leased land on the former Hutt Park Raceway and it been very helpful by putting in a carpark.

The developer said he was now looking at the possibility of putting in a rink in a second stage development at Hutt Park where he plans to build another 2500sqm multi-purpose sports stadium next to the new centre.


Architect Geoffrey Meyer said the Hutt centre had taken just eight months to build and incorporated natural ventilation and lighting to reduce running costs. The building was insulated so it did not get too cold in winter or too hot in summer.


He said the centre was designed to meet local needs, providing sports and recreation facilities for schools and businesses in the area.

Lower Hutt mayor Ray Wallace said the new complex was a real asset for the city with its quality courts, a fantastic children's area and cafe.

Acknowledgements: - The Dominion Post

Sick of a child molester and the Judge who claimed he was talented..

I have to write about the following, even if it did happen down in my neck of the woods.

A Judge has cited a well-known comedians talent as one of the reasons she discharged him without conviction despite him pleading guilty to a sex act on a child - his four year old daughter.

In weighing the offence against the effect of a conviction the Judge said the comedian and entertainer had already paid a high price with the loss of his family and career, and the case was unusual,"And his talent - he's a talented New Zealander. he makes people laugh, and laughter's an incredible medicine that we all need a lot of."

I'm not laughing, New Zealand is not laughing, and I bet most of the world will not be laughing at an adult man who drank too much and interfered with his four year old daughter. He thought his daughter was his wife. What? He got into bed, and suddenly his wife said what are you doing? He had taken the girls pyjamas and pull-up nappies off and kissed her.
The Judge has imposed permanent name suppression. The Judge is a joke!

Now there is doubt cast on the industry, comedians and entertainers. Who is it, people are asking?

A Justice campaigner,Garth McVicar said there is one law for them and one law for us. He also said, "We're talking about a child. I can't think of a much worse act. This sets a precedent. Its disgraceful."

He said he had no time for the "excuse mentality" and saying, "I was drunk at the time.
A doctors report said the man had "odd" incidents in the past after drinking, and waking up without knowledge of what he had done.

If he had been just a poorly educated rubbish collector without any talent, I imagine the Judge would have jailed him. This makes me bloody sick! Sick of him and that excuse for a Judge!!

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Labour's youth policy will dip into dole money...

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  Labour leader Phil Goff - Source: Q + A

• Related

  • National welfare reform plan sparks criticism watch
  • Key's 'radical policy' to target teen beneficiaries watch

Labour youth skills and employment package unveiled today will cut spending on the dole and redirect millions to fund apprenticeships.

Labour will reprioritise $80 million from existing schemes, with $58 million going to the apprenticeship subsidy instead of dole payments.

It will be funded out of revenue from Labour's tax plan.

The party proposes converting dole payments into a $8700 subsidy to fund 9000 additional apprenticeship places. Dole payments would be converted into incentives for employers to take on additional apprentices.
The package will cost $251 million over four years, starting before young people leave school and Labour claims it will see teens earning or learning within three years.

Leader Phil Goff said youth unemployment is too high.

"Our young people represent more of our total unemployment numbers than in any other OECD country," he said.

"This is a ticking time-bomb and has to be fixed. These kids are our future but at the moment they are being left on the scrapheap."

He said if something is not done now the New Zealand Institute estimates the cost of disengaged youth is $900 million a year.

Goff said Labour will also adopt ideas from the old Maori Trade training programme and apply them to Maori and Pasifika communities. The party also aims to build on proven programmes such as Gateway, the youth transition service, tertiary high schools and trades academies, and the Conservation Corps.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister John Key unveiled welfare reforms which take a hard line on unemployed youth and solo parents who do nothing to find a job.

National's policy would involve cash bonuses paid to private organisations and putting controls on teenage beneficiaries in terms of how they can spend their welfare money, while also offer them more mentoring and support to get back into work.

Labour MP Jacinda Ardern said Key is targeting a small group of unemployed and ignoring the majority.
She said he has targeted 1600 young people rather the other 58,000 people who are not in jobs, education or training.

Key responded by saying New Zealand has a welfare system that is not sustainable. National doesn't know how to manage or administer a social welfare system.

National doesn't have a youth policy or an employment creation policy - just inane and poorly worked  anti- welfare policies. National doesn't have a clue to be fair!

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  Victoria signals coming of age...

  
  

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  VICTORIA has sent a statement to Australian Secondary School Rugby League (ASSRL) organisers — we’re ready to compete against the powerhouses of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in the Junior National Championships.
  Hallam Senior College's Victorian Representatives:
  Hayden Butler, Brandon Manase, James Desaxe, Pride Petterson-Robati, Tala Titi & Philip Salue
  
  The Vics demolished their Pool B opposition in last month’s ASSRL Combined Affiliated States Championships Adelaide scoring an amazing 184 points across their three fi xtures, keeping two teams scoreless, and letting just a solitary try through against Western Australia.
  
  “We just came to play I guess and just wanted to show everyone that we were capable of playing in Pool A,” Player of the Tournament Pride Petterson-Robati says.
  
  “We were expecting to go well because Victoria has sort of dominated Pool B in the past and I reckon we should move up and play Australia’s best next year because we’ve got the team to do it.”
  The boys in navy blue dominated the carnival from the outset with a crushing 86-0 win against South Australia, before inflicting a 46-4 defeat upon WA and fi nishing with a 52-0 thumping of the Northern Territory.
  
  Petterson-Robati was instrumental throughout the tournament but was at his best against WA when he crossed the try line on four occasions.
  
  “I thought I played well but I definitely didn’t expect to be named Player of the Tournament, but was stoked that I was,” the humble teen says.
  
  The Hallam Senior College Year 11 student is a rising star on the junior rugby scene and has continued to fl ourish after being plucked from New Zealand to join the prestigious Melbourne Storm Academy.
  
  The Storm coaches including Craig Bellamy came across and attended a scholarship camp where they picked players to join the Academy.
  
  “I wasn’t actually expecting to get picked because I was about three years younger than everyone trying out but I was over the moon to be chosen.”
  
  And while admitting it was a difficult decision to leave home, the powerfully built youngster says he was eager to start playing against Australia’s best juniors.
  
  “They (Melbourne Storm) said it was up to me when I wanted to move over and when I felt old enough and ready.
  It was tough to leave but it was what I really wanted, because I wanted to start playing footy over here as soon as possible.”
  
  Petterson-Robati was one of six Hallam students to turn out for Victoria at the Championships and along with another 11 Victorians has been chosen to represent the Combined Affiliated States (CAS) team in the ASSRL Pool A Championships to be held this month in Sydney.
  
  “As long as we (CAS) work together as well as we (Victoria) did in the Affiliated States tournament then we should do all right.”
  
  Footnote: The CAS team performed creditably at the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby league tournament. Pride Petterson-Robati carried an injury into the tournament, and still played at a high level. He was awarded the "Player of the Year" trophy at the CAS awards this week in his absence; he was back home in NZ spending time with his mother who had been seriously ill in Hutt Hospital in the Hutt Valley. Pride will be returning to Australia in a week or so to resume his education at Hallum Senior College.
  
  Pride on the right
  This article was sourced from Spress: www.spress.com.au
  http://blogging-along-with-pete.wallinside.com
  

Suncorp stadium to host two rugby games this week...

Suncorp Stadium to host two rugby games this week...

Suncorp Stadium to host two top-level rugby games this week...

Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia is to host two top level rugby games this week.



On Wednesday Queensland's Maroons and New South Wale's Blues fight out the rugby league State of Origin decider - one each with one to go. Will it be the Maroons winning Series 6, or the Blues winning Series 1 for the first time in six years? My pick: Queensland by 12 and Under



So to Suncorp in the weekend: The minor Super 15 premiers, the Queensland Reds up against every Cantabrian and Christchurchite living. Earthquake ravaged Christchurch needs something to feel good about after the worst few months in the history of the South Island. The Crusaders have a habit of getting to top form at the right time. If they win this week, it will be their eighth title. The Queensland Reds have yet to win a title in any Super rugby competition. After what the did to the Stormers last week in Capetown, the Crusaders could win by 13 and over. But it is the grand final and all sorts of strange things can happen in finals. The Crusaders will win this game for their hometown.

Travelling hasn't been a problem for this team without a home stadium this year. AMI Stadium (Lancaster Park is the grass) will be assessed in a few days and its future decided. Even with a thumbs - up, it would take a couple of years to repair the stadium and relay a new turf. If its thumbs down, a new stadium will be built somewhere else in the greater Christchurch area.

I was born and raised in Christchurch, and competed there as a secondary school athlete. Shirley Boys High, terribly damaged in the February earthquake, finished third in a 4 x 100 yard relay final back in 1958. I would be heartbroken along with 400,000 others in the greater Christchurch region, if the stadium had to be demolished. Cross-fingers for this week's decision! Now its in the hands of the rugby gods!

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Giant Kiwi rugby prop saves her life but cracks her rib in the process...

Giant Kiwi rugby prop saves her life but cracks her rib in the process...

Giant Kiwi rugby prop saves here life and cracks her rib in the process...



One Dunedin diner credits Highlanders skipper Jamie Mackintosh with saving her life, though he cracked her rib in the process.



Wendy Knight started choking on a piece of steak when she was having dinner with her family at the Dunedin Lone Star restaurant.



"I thought I was going to die ... I really did," the 44-year-old told the New Zealand Herald.



"It was totally my fault. It got caught in the back of throat and I couldn't get it to go down or bring it back up again."



Unable to breathe, she felt someone behind her perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, which dislodged the offending piece of meat.




It turned out to be Mackintosh, who was dining with fellow Highlanders Tony Brown, Jimmy Cowan, Aaron Smith and Jarrad Hoeata at the time.



She then vomited.



"I didn't know who it was. I didn't know where they came from ... I didn't even get a chance to say thanks."



Though she didn’t know who Mackintosh was before the incident, she said she was now "his number one fan".



"He probably saved my life."



Mackintosh told the Herald he had never had any medical training, but knew what to do in the event of someone choking.



"I obviously buggered it up if I cracked her rib," he said. Jamie Mackintosh is a former All Black, born and bred in the deep south of New Zealand's Southland Province, and a member of the Highlanders Super Rugby franchise for a number of years.



Acknowledgements. NZ Herald/ Msn Sports


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Vandalised St Matthews billboard accuses Anglican Church of discrimination...

Vandalised St Matthews  billboard accuses Anglican Church of discrimination...

A billboard designed to challenge the Anglican Church's view on gay and lesbian priests has already been vandalised.



Auckland Anglican Church has put up a billboard outside its church, displaying a "Gay-Dar" meter that shows "Straight" on one side and "Gay" on the other and suggests the Anglican Church uses this to assess potential priests.



The church, which offers same-sex blessings among its services, has courted controversy with previous billboards, including one that depicted Mary and Joseph in bed with the caption: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."



The latest "Gay-Dar" billboard had been vandalised by midday today with the cross ripped off it.



Reverend Clay Nelson said the damage appeared to be sabotage, which was frustrating.



The cross would probably be replaced, he told Radio New Zealand.



Vicar Glynn Cardy said St Matthew's had endured enough of New Zealand's Anglican bishops refusing to consider a candidate for ordination if they were gay or lesbian and in a committed relationship.



The congregation voted unanimously at a recent general meeting to send a letter to their bishop respectfully asking him to end this discrimination in their diocese.



"We see this as an issue of discrimination that harms not only the gay and lesbian community, but society and ultimately the church as well," Mr Cardy said.



The church had initiated a petition in the parish and online asking people to support their call for all the New Zealand bishops to end what they believed was an unjust practice, he said.



He invited people to sign the petition and follow the debate on its website and Facebook page.



The New Zealand Anglican Church had been debating the issue of ordaining gays and lesbians since the 1990s.



Mr Cardy said some bishops in New Zealand had in the past ordained gay and lesbian candidates.



``However, following the international furore around the 2004 consecration of Gene Robinson -- an American priest who is gay and in a committed relationship -- New Zealand's bishops have seemed more concerned to promote unity with the majority rather than uphold justice for a minority.''



Bishop Philip Richardson of Taranaki said the stumbling block was that the Anglican Church had not yet agreed as a whole to whether or not ``sexual orientation towards those of one's own gender is a consequence of wilful human sinfulness, or an expression of God-given diversity''.



Rev Nelson, priest associate of St Matthew's, said he was amazed that ``in this day and age, with all the information and science available to us that `the church' can still argue that sexual orientation is a matter of wilfulness''.



It appeared that justice was being held hostage by ignorance and the bishops must enlighten the church and end the discrimination, Rev Nelson said.


Acknowledgements: - with NZPA

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