In Taranaki, the regional council’s monthly regional weather round-up recorded an average air temperature of 15.8C, or 0.6C cooler than normal for the month, with Stratford recording the hottest day with 27.6C, and Duffy’s Farm, Whareroa, the coldest day with 2.8C. Eight sites recorded new minimum temperatures for the month ranging from 2.6C at Whareroa to 7.2C at Okato, Taranaki Regional Council hydrology data analyst Fiona Jansma reported. It was wet in Taranaki in December, with rainfall at 42 per cent above average throughout the region. Only Stratford and North Egmont sites had below-average rainfall, Jansma reported. The highest rainfall was recorded at Omahine, near Waverley, at 215.5mm, 30mm more than its previous highest recording of 185.5mm in 2011, Jansma said.
Energy activist group Climate Justice Taranaki criticised Todd Energy’s drilling programme. In a media release, group spokeswoman Catherine Cheung claimed the company planned to drill 24 wells at two sites. However a Todd spokeswoman confirmed only two wells will be drilled. However the company was in the early planning stages to drill up to 24 wells over the next 10 years or more at the Mangahewa C and D sites. Cheung said the drilling programme was a “slap in the face” to reducing carbon footprint. “What’s the point of declaring a climate emergency if a company can keep drilling and burning more climate wrecking fossil fuels?” she said in a statement.
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State Highway 3 at Urutī will remain down to one lane for more than a week into the new year.
Three weeks after a slip closed one lane of State Highway 3 in North Taranaki, roading authorities say it will be another two weeks before workers attempt to reopen both lanes. On December 9, tonnes of mud and rocks came crashing down across State Highway 3, near the intersection of Urutī Rd, closing the route from 2.30pm that afternoon until 11.30 the next morning, when one lane reopened. In a statement on Tuesday, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency said the road will remain down to a single lane until at least January 11, when maintenance and repair crews are back on duty full-time.
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Police and the Urenui Liaison Committee have decided not to hold an official New Year’s Eve event at the Urenui Domain in 2020 to keep the area safe for all holiday markers. (file photo)
Changes have been made for New Year’s Eve at a popular North Taranaki beach hotspot. To make Urenui Domain safer for all holidaymakers, police and the Urenui Liaison Committee have decided no formal celebrations will be held at the seaside venue, Sergeant Ross Wright said. There will be a 24-hour liquor ban in place at the Domain starting at 6am on December 31 and a manned road closure at the entrance.
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Police are investigating after a gang of teenagers went of a burglary spree around New Plymouth last week. (file photo)
Two teenagers have been arrested after a gang of youths went on a mini crime spree around North Taranaki last week. In the early hours of Monday, December 21, it is understood that four youths broke into or attempted to burgle six business premises in New Plymouth and another in Egmont Village, a police spokeswoman confirmed. The businesses included a service station, a supermarket, a bottle store and a dairy and it is believed the gang were targeting cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol.