Category: KB

Source: Radio New Zealand

A leading search and rescue operator says he told police he could hear a noise so the search for a dead firefighter could continue.

A coronial inquest is exploring the desperate search and rescue operation after volunteer firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens were buried by a slip at Muriwai on Auckland’s west coast during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Urban Search and Rescue operations officer Glenn Hudson described the chaotic scene as he arrived in Muriwai on the night of 13 February 2023.

He explained that fellow volunteers and members of the public were digging through the dirt.

“It was natural that they wanted to help their fellow brigade members, but they were not trained in search and rescue incidents of this nature,” he said.

“There was no real command or control of the other staff apart from the USAR staff, so we had to take control and bring order to what was a very chaotic situation.”

Hudson gave the order to remove everyone but trained search and rescue staff from the site.

But while the scene was under control, the conditions were chaotic.

“I recall the conditions at Muriwai were horrendous. It was difficult to see more than a metre in front of you,” he said.

“I had been involved in numerous USAR operations around the world, and the conditions at Muriwai were the worst I have encountered.”

Stevens was freed from the pile at about 3am, but he was hypothermic. He died in the hospital later that day.

Staff had been digging for hours, but saw no sign of van Zwanenberg.

In that time, two more slips had fallen from the cliff, and fearing for the safety of his team, Hudson made an impossible decision.

“At 0305, I made the difficult decision to terminate the rescue operation,” he recounted through tears.

When search and rescue staff returned the next day, police had taken control of the scene.

The operation had moved from rescue to recovery, and progress had slowed to a crawl.

After hours of waiting, Hudson took matters into his own hands.

“I was extremely frustrated. After going back up to the slip site, I decided we needed to get on with the recovery, as it was safe to do so, and the delays now mean a family has no answers for possibly another night,” he said.

“So, I said that I had heard a tapping, which I thought was coming from Dave. By raising the possibility of Dave being alive, I was able to make the case for reopening a rescue operation.”

Hudson explained that at this point, geotechnical staff had assessed the site and determined it was safe to keep digging.

“In my view, the safety of all rescue personnel was at its best since the beginning of the incident. I knew that we would soon run out of daylight, and apart from the safety of my staff, which is my paramount concern, my other concern was to return Dave to his family in a timely manner.”

He remarked that after explaining his decision to other leadership staff, they smiled in recognition.

“Although they did not say anything to suggest this, I believe [they] were aware that I was using this as a pretext to get things moving. They both smiled at me and said, good work.”

But Hudson acknowledged that his actions had gone against protocol.

“I know that what I did is not protocol, but one of FENZ’s values is to do the right thing,” he said.

“Everything I did was very measured. I was not putting my guys at risk, but I felt that we could have and should have done more to recover Dave earlier.”

Van Zwanenberg’s body was recovered the following morning.

“A group of USAR personnel carried Dave to the waiting undertaker’s vehicle. After placing Dave into the van, we set up a guard of honour as the van left the slip site to head to the Muriwai fire station.”

Van Zwanenberg’s family thanked Hudson through their lawyer, Jane Glover.

“The family would like to formally thank you and your team for going above and beyond to bring Dave home to his family and for carrying out the operation with the utmost respect and dignity,” Glover said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/cyclone-gabrielle-inquest-fenz-leader-admits-going-against-protocol-to-restart-search-for-dead-firefighter/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The lawyers involved in a scrap between dog owners and the Auckland Council have been urged to settle their issues out of court.

Last year, the Puketāpapa Local Board voted four to two to ban dogs from running free in part of Hillsborough’s Monte Cecilia Park.

Locals set up a formal group, the Monte Cecilia Dog Lovers Incorporated Society, to the decision with a judicial review, which began at the High Court in Auckland on Tuesday.

Lawyer George Barton has taken on their case pro bono.

About 15 dog owners packed into the public gallery of a small courtroom on Tuesday morning. Auckland Council staff and the former chair and now deputy chair of the local board, Ella Kumar, also attended.

In his opening argument, Barton told Justice Andrew Becroft that as chair, Kumar did not approach the task of evaluating dog access rules with an open mind.

“She sent emails to that effect, saying the best way, the only way, to make this park safe for all of the community to use was to make it on-leash,” Barton said.

“I don’t in making that allegation suggest that there is any bad faith whatsoever. But she was always of the view that this park needed to be on-leash.”

Out of 900 responses from Aucklanders during the local board’s consultation, almost 90 percent were against removing the park’s off-leash bowl area.

Barton said that the board’s decision and concerns about safety at the park were not supported by evidence.

“That concern about safety, which was not corroborated by council staff, not supported by those who would actually know what the issues were, not supported by the actual data and statistics, effectively led her to be unable to genuinely consider practicable alternative solutions.”

Animal Management data shows that between 2019 and 2024, three people were attacked by an off-leash dog, all in on-leash areas of the park.

Barton added that the four board members who voted to make the park on-leash only were members of the same local government political party, Communities and Residents.

“The reason why that’s significant here is because the other three members, my submission, is that they essentially surrendered their discretion to dictation. Dictation, in this instance being to just go along with what Ms Kumar wanted.”

But the council’s lawyer, Katherine Anderson KC, told Justice Becroft that the local board members rightfully exercised their decision-making power.

“The passion and the emotion that the dog lovers group is putting before you in its evidence and submissions, we say, are not relevant to the core legal issues that you must decide.”

She said local boards had to balance safety considerations against the exercise and recreation needs of dogs.

“All of the evidence my friend points to relates to Chair Kumar only in terms of statements, emails, and things which he sees indicates an actual closed mind. We say that predisposition is entirely permitted.

“And my friend relies on a conspiracy theory that because they’re all part of a political party that actually has no policy on this point, that somehow they conspired together to support Ms Kumar.

“Fundamentally, it would be absolutely extraordinary in my view, if there was a finding of predetermination in this case.”

She said while the board’s chair favoured leashing, she was open to fencing off an area in a different part of the park for off-leash dogs.

That was to be considered during the board’s long-term planning for Monte Cecilia Park, which was expected to be completed in 2027.

After hearing both sides’ opening arguments, Justice Andrew Becroft described the case as incredibly unorthodox.

He said he understood the need for the Auckland Council to support and uphold the decisions of its elected bodies.

But he said he had not yet seen evidence of consistent and serious injury from dogs at the park.

He urged the two sides to come to a compromise outside of the courtroom.

He suggested the decision on the off-leash area could be put on hold until the park was reviewed again 2027.

“For what is an area the size of a running track, there is vast resources being sunk into this by the Council, and there’s a huge amount of work going into this.

“I don’t want to diminish anybody’s emotional connection to the area or to their dogs. But you’d think for what is a reasonably small area, that there might be a way of resolving it short of both sides throwing the legal kitchen sink at the decision-making.

“Clearly, there’s a significant group who are aggrieved. Is there some sort of halfway house where everyone retains dignity and honour?”

But despite this, the lawyers chose to proceed.

The judicial review is expected to conclude on Wednesday.

Auckland Council and the Puketāpapa Local Board have told RNZ they do not want to comment while the case is before the court.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/auckland-dog-owners-take-fight-against-off-leash-ban-to-court/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Taranaki cyclist is on crutches with several “bone deep” puncture wounds after a roaming dog latched onto her leg.

The attack sent the New Plymouth woman crashing off her bike while she was out on a country road.

A spate of serious dogs attacks has [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/587406/what-dog-control-laws-say-about-fatal-attacks-and-what-people-want-to-change

sparked fierce debate] about reforming the 30-year-old dog control law.

A dog attack in Christchurch over the weekend put a father and his teenage son in hospital, while Mihiata Te Rore, 62, died after she was attacked by three dogs while visiting a property in Kaihu, north of Dargaville last week.

New Plymouth resident Amelia was cycling a popular loop outside the city on Saturday morning when she was rushed by an uncontrolled dog on Tikorangi East Road.

Amelia estimated she was going about 40 km/h at the time down a country road she did not usually use.

She told Checkpoint she slowed down when she heard barking, and then saw a German pointer staffy cross dart out of a farm property into the middle of the road.

“As I slowed past it, it just came up next to me and chomped its jaws around my right leg while I was on my bike.”

Amelia said she came off her bike, and then the dog went to the other side of the street and continued barking at them.

She was left with “multiple” puncture wounds on her leg.

“They are bone deep so there’s probably three quite deep punctures, which I’m managing at the moment. I can’t walk on it properly yet, but I should be able to soon.”

Amelia is now on crutches, and said it was frustrating because she was training for a race in March.

She said residents in the area had helped her after the crash, and one of them told her the dog bitten his foot the week before.

Amelia said the animal control officers were “fast and efficient” and quickly took the dog away.

“I didn’t even see them come, I was already in the ambulance by then.”

New Plymouth District Council has confirmed one of its Animal Control Officers attended the dog-bite incident on Tikorangi Road in the weekend.

A spokesperson said a dog had been impounded and an investigation into what happened was underway.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/taranaki-cyclist-crashes-off-bike-after-loose-dog-bites-her-leg/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Canterbury Museum is pleading for councils and central government to stump up an extra $64 million for its cost-plagued redevelopment following another budget blow-out.

The project had an original budget of $205 million, which rose to $247m last year, but escalating construction costs and funding delays had now pushed it to almost $262m.

Museum trust board chair David Ayers said the board needed help plugging a shortfall of almost $92m to keep the museum on track to open in mid-2029.

“Throughout the redevelopment project, we’ve continued to undertake value engineering and make compromises to reduce costs. We’ve now exhausted all feasible options for reducing costs without undermining the building’s functionality or asset life,” he said.

The board was calling for $26.9m from Christchurch ratepayers over four years, in addition to $2.4m from the Selwyn district, $2.1m from Waimakariri and $300,000 from Hurunui.

It had made a request to the central government through Minister for the South Island James Meager for $32m over four years to match the local government contribution.

This year’s bid follows a failed attempt last year to secure funding.

The museum trust board made its case to the Christchurch City Council on Tuesday morning.

Deputy director Sarah Murray told councillors there would be an economic benefit to the city.

“When the museum reopens, it’s estimated there will be 800,000 visitors a year to the museum. We’re forecast then to generate around $83 million in regional and economic activity in that year alone. That will benefit local accommodation providers, businesses, retail and transport services,” she said.

The museum was also proposing an entry fee for overseas visitors.

Ayers said a cost review had found the museum needed a higher contingency allowance to complete the final two construction stages – the new basement and building and their fit-out – to give greater confidence that the project cost or schedule would not be exceeded.

The contingency allowance had been increased to $9.8m and a six-month delay in securing additional funding has added $5.1m to the project’s cost.

Ayers said the museum had hoped to secure additional capital last year so the final two stages of construction could be completed simultaneously, which would have saved money.

“Further delays in securing the extra capital will just keep adding to the cost – $7.2 million a year – and will push the opening date to 2030,” Ayers said.

Canterbury Museum was a significant heritage building and one of the last major public buildings to be fully upgraded and reopened since the Canterbury earthquakes, he said.

“It’s also much more than a public attraction and shouldn’t be viewed solely through the heritage buildings we occupy. The services we deliver define our public value,” Ayers said.

“We care for a collection of 2.3 million objects which tell the stories and history of Canterbury and the people who live here. We look after an internationally significant Antarctic collection and a quarter of Aotearoa New Zealand’s nationally distributed collection. Like libraries, museums are critical civic infrastructure, central to learning, identity, discovery and cultural life.”

Funding for the redevelopment had come from the museum’s own funds ($63.4m), private donations ($1.05m), grants and lotteries funding ($850,000), central government ($35m) and local government ($69.8m), including $24.5m from Christchurch City Council for strengthening the Robert McDougall Gallery.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/canterbury-museum-pleads-for-millions-of-dollars-after-another-budget-blow-out/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Waitaki District Council is rejoining the Southern Waters partnership it ditched last year.

The council has announced it will team up with Central Otago, Clutha and Gore district councils to deliver drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services after its in-house water services plan was rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The Mackenzie and Timaru District Councils are also expected to make a decision about joining the partnership on Tuesday afternoon.

Waitaki Mayor Mel Tavendale said a large organisation would deliver clear benefits in efficiency and cost savings.

Tavendale said she was hopeful the other two councils would also join.

“Choosing a larger entity will deliver the best outcome for Waitaki,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Rebecca Ryan said the decision to join Southern Waters was a leap of faith, “but not a blind leap”.

“It makes sense from an affordability and sustainability perspective, and ultimately that is the biggest issue our community is facing,” she said.

Councillor Frans Schlack said an in-house model was ultimately unsustainable.

“It would fail in the foreseeable future in terms of water services compliance and charges to Waitaki’s water customers. The establishment of a six-district CCO will be. .. the most economical long-term water service delivery option for our district,” he said.

Waitaki District Council said it was continuing a review of the condition of its water assets ordered by the Department of Internal Affairs.

It would submit its plan to be part of a joint water entity by the deadline of 30 June 2026, a council spokesperson said.

In a statement shared on the council website on Tuesday, councillor Sven Thelning warned ratepayers should still be aware of massive rates rises ahead.

“It wouldn’t have mattered even if we’d gone in-house, or whatever option we picked. It’s going to hurt,” Thelning said.

“There’s a lot of work needing done out there, and it’s going to cost – and your elected council no longer has the ability to kick the can down the road, which is how we’ve got here. We should have better asset management over time, to prevent this happening again.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/waitaki-council-rejoins-southern-waters-partnership/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Wellington mayor says the current blanket direction for people to stay off all south coast beaches is not sustainable when test results show little risk, and is hinting at a possible change of policy.

There was a major sewage spill earlier this month – the city’s southern coast has been off limits since the Moa Point treatment plant failed catastrophically, pumping millions of litres of untreated sewage into the sea.

There is currently a rāhui in place on the southern coast from Ōwhiro Bay to Breaker Bay, which covers anything the water touches or can touch with the high or low tides.

Public health advice has been that people should not swim, surf, dive, fish, collect kai moana, walk dogs along the shore until further notice.

Mayor Andrew Little said the city and regional councils, Wellington Water and public health officials were now getting a picture of the level of risk, with nearly three weeks of monitoring of the impact of the untreated sewage being discharged into the Cook Strait on south coast beaches.

“We wanted to see what happened with the storm last weekend. We’ve worked our way through that and we’re showing good results in terms of a little or no contamination.

“On that basis, what we are looking at being able to say to people is: ‘here are the results, this is what it shows, the risk is pretty low, you make your own decision about whether you want to go onto the beach and and have a swim in the sea’.”

Little said they would also look at having a place where people could go daily to get an update on the risk and factors that could affect it on any given day.

“We can’t keep telling people just to stay away from the beach, stay away from the sea and producing testing results that show little or no risk.”

Little said they had to be practical and realistic.

“It is summertime, this is a beautiful part of Wellington to go to and if there is little or no risk, then let people make the decision about whether they want to use the amenity.”

Little said some risk remained near the outfall pipe, which could be used again.

“But in terms of [places] like Lyall Bay, Princess Bay, Houghton Bay, Island Bay, Ōwhiro Bay the testing results are showing little or no risk.”

Little said they had also had “good discussions” with iwi representatives about the current rāhui.

“They will continue to maintain a position that the health of the sea is at risk.

“But they’re clear to me that that doesn’t affect the public health advice we give about going onto the beaches and having a swim in the in the on the beaches.”

Health New Zealand directed RNZ’s requests for comment to the Wellington City Council and Wellington Water.

RNZ has contacted Wellington Water, the regional council, and Wellington iwi Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/02/24/we-cant-keep-telling-people-just-to-stay-away-from-the-beach-wellington-mayor/