Disappointed, discouraged and attacked.
Those were just some of the feelings Waitaki deputy mayor Melanie Tavendale was left with, following an influx of social media comments tearing down the district’s youth after last Friday’s School Strike 4 Climate Waitaki protest.
More than 120 people – school pupils and members of the wider community -marched from Orana Park to Friendly Bay, holding banners and posters with different slogans demanding more urgent action on climate change in Waitaki and throughout the country.
The group stopped at the Waitaki District Council office in Thames St and handed over their demands to Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher.
Robert has set up a Givealittle page which had raised $490 as of Wednesday. “They’re supporting me because the last time we went there, Rob was a baby. “I’m looking forward to the trip.”
Joanne Holden/Stuff
Robert and Gaynor Parkes with 15-year-old Jayden Robinson. Parkes raised her son as a single mother, so he signed off the donation page with the words: “For a lady that has given me the world, please help me give back just a little to my mum.” The trip was originally planned for about the same time last year, but Covid-19 forced its postponement.
Action stations . . . Cushla Bridges and Fergus McMullan (both 16) are encouraging people to join them when they strike to raise awareness for climate change issues on April 9. PHOTO: ASHLEY SMYTH
Waitaki secondary school pupils will strike for the first time next Friday to raise awareness of the environmental issues relevant to this area.
St Kevin’s College year 12 pupils Fergus McMullan and Chloe Bridges (both 16) will make up part of the Students Strike 4 Climate contingent, which will involve all three Oamaru secondary schools.
The national Students Strike 4 Climate group presented Climate Change Minister James Shaw with a list of six areas requiring immediate attention at Parliament in January.
The community decides . . . An artist s interpretation of the proposed new St John Oamaru building at Awamoa Park. PHOTO: SUPPLIED/WAITAKI DISTRICT COUNCIL
Waitaki district councillors have made it clear – it’s up to the community to decide on Awamoa Park’s future.
Earlier this month, St John formally sought the opportunity to lease part of the park from the council to build a new emergency ambulance base, as its Coquet St premises are no long fit for purpose.
Councillors were asked at a full council meeting last week to agree in principle to make the council land available for a potential lease to St John.
Beaches around the region were busy as people tried to find reprieve from the heat and
Ashburton Art Gallery business and communications assistant Martine Tait said it was a hard day to go outside. It s incredibly hot out outside. It s just a stifling kind of heat. It feels like you re walking into a sauna when you go outside, Tait said. I had to do a couple of errands. We ended up doing them in the car so that we could only be out in the weather for a couple of minutes.
Near Timaru, Jo from Redwood Cherries & Berries said: People today have just been grabbing their ice-cream and going because they want to get back into their air-conditioned cars .