My family extends our best wishes to you and your family for a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Pictured: Mayor Michael with Lucy, Zoe and Theo.

The 11 members of the Council’s reconstruction team arrived back in Wanganui last week, after an exhausting but rewarding 10 days in Satitoa, Samoa.

The team travelled to the Samoan village, which had been devastated in September’s tsunami, to construct a new community building. Before the tsunami the village had around 100 buildings, but now there are just three.

Cr Danny Jonas, who headed up the team, describes his first impression of Satitoa.

"Driving from Apia it was like seeing the landscape unravel before our eyes as we got closer to Satitoa. We started to see villages that had been affected but arriving in Satitoa the total devastation was hard to believe.

"We had seen a DVD and photographs of the area before we left Wanganui, but until we arrived we just could not realise how bad it was. It's one of those things you have to see first hand to really understand.

"Right from the start we were made to feel very welcome by the local people. They were expecting us and Allan MacGibbon had done a fantastic job in preparing the way for us. When we arrived children appeared from nowhere to help us unload the container. There were young boys carrying 40kg bags of cement and girls lifting heavy pieces of timber – all keen to get involved.

"We were staying on the ground floor of the Matamatagi Motel, one of the few buildings left standing. We had power and running water – but it was intermittent. There were two other families living in the village including the village Chief. Although his house was still standing, the wave had swept through the whole house and back out to sea, taking nearly everything they had in its wake. There were two family photos left on his wall.

"After the tsunami most of the villagers moved inland and many are living in the plantation area – close to where the new building is. They are too terrified to move back to the village at the moment – I don’t know if they ever will."

Cr Danny and the team set to work to create the new communal building, which will be used as a pre-school and a church for the people of Satitoa. Their working day started at 6am and it was hard going in the heat. The new building took four and half days to complete. Cr Danny reflected, "we could probably have done it in four days if we hadn’t been interrupted by the rain – but then again the rain gave us the opportunity to take a break."

"We had an opening celebration for the building on the Saturday and it was packed out, with around 70 adults and 30 kids. The kids' eyes lit up when we gave them toys – they appreciated whatever we gave them as they had lost everything in the tsunami.

"On Sunday the first church service was held in the building and again it was packed out including a group of 90 Sunday school kids. It was a great day for everyone."

The team spent their last night in Apia before flying home. After 10 days in Satitoa, Cr Danny was struck by how many things we take for granted. "When I jumped in the shower I wondered for a moment why I needed two taps – hot water was a luxury!"

The trip to Satitoa was funded through the Wanganui Samoan Tsunami Appeal, which raised over $40,000. Cr Danny and the other members of the team are grateful to the Wanganui community for their generosity and outstanding efforts to make this trip possible. They are also full of praise for their partners and families who supported their decision to undertake the project.

"It was an amazing experience and we have been able to make a start to help the people in Satitoa. But it really is just a start. There is so much devastation and so much to do to help them rebuild their lives. We now need to focus on the next step in what will no doubt need to be a long term project."

Local people and visitors to Wanganui will be treated to three days of exciting and action packed races, as part of the newly launched Raceweek concept.

Raceweek brings together four events, starting with the annual Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day, December 26. 2009 is the 58th year of this famous street circuit race.

On Sunday, December 27, the action shifts to Upokongaro, for a day of high speed thrills and spills on the water in the first round of NZ’s Jet Sprint championships.

On Monday, December 28 it’s the turn of the hydroplanes, thundering under the City Bridge. There will be 14 hydroplanes chasing the fastest lap.  The final event of Raceweek takes place on the evening of December 28 at Cooks Gardens, with the spectacular sport of Freestyle Motocross.

Raceweek has received funding from the Council’s Impact Fund, which supports projects which will generate significant economic benefits to the Wanganui city and district.

Click here for full details about Raceweek.

A liquor ban will be in force this New Year’s Eve at Mowhanau Beach. The ban will be in place between 3.00pm on 31 December 2009 and 3.00am on 1 January 2010.

The general ban area includes roads, domain, foreshore and public areas within the Mowhanau Village/Domain starting outside the Mowhanau Community Hall.

More specifically it is the area bounded by the low water mark to the south-west; the Kai Iwi Stream to the north-west; the Mowhanau Stream to the south-east, including SO14957, SO18911, and Sec 71 of the Mowhanau Domain, including roadways and public thoroughfares of Sunset Parade, Waitangi Parade, Broadview Heights, Tangi Street and Mowhanau Drive up to a point adjacent the entrance to the Mowhanau Hall.

Section 158 of the Local Government Act 2002 requires Wanganui District Council to review its Bylaws. In accordance with this requirement Council proposes to revoke and replace Part 4 – Animal Control - Wanganui District Council Consolidated Bylaw 1997 with a new Bylaw.

Submissions are now invited on the Proposed Wanganui District Council Animal Control Bylaw (2009).

Copies of the Proposed Bylaw, Summary of Information, Statement of Proposal and submission forms are available here.

Submissions should be addressed to:

The Chief Executive
Wanganui District Council
PO Box 637
101 Guyton Street
Wanganui

Submissions close at 5.00pm on Monday, 8 February 2010.

Herbicide spraying will take place at Lake Wiritoa on Monday, 18 January or Tuesday, 19 January 2010 on the area designated for public swimming and waterskiing.

The spraying is required to control the water weed Hornwort which is present in the lake. The use of the lake for swimming is prohibited for 24 hours after the application of the herbicide.

Persons within 1km who may draw water from the lake should not bathe in it, use it for human consumption, fish farming or livestock watering for 24 hours after application. Water should not be used for overhead irrigation for 10 days after treatment.

Nominations are being sought for the Wanganui Sports Hall of Fame. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognise sporting achievements by athletes and coaches who have made a significant impact on Wanganui's sporting heritage.

The current inductees into the Wanganui Sports Hall of Fame are:

Gary Anderson (cycling), Philippa Baker-Hogan (rowing), Ernest (Moke) Belliss (rugby), Peter Belliss (lawn bowls), Harry Cave (cricket), Ron Cheatley (cycling coach), Trevor Coker (rowing), Coleman Family - Percy, Rod and Bob (motorcycling), Arthur Holder (athletics), Alan McIntyre (hockey), Bill Osborne (rugby), Arthur Porritt (athletics), Billy Webb (rowing), Les Wilson (hockey).

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, nominees must be from the Wanganui District, by birth or adoption, have been retired at least five years from top competition, represented New Zealand at 'senior' level and/or contributed positively to, and brought credit to, sport in the District.

Nomination forms are available at the Customer Services Counter, Municipal Office Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui and on this page.

Nominations close on 8 January 2010.

Wanganui District Council's Municipal Building in Guyton Street and Infrastructure offices in St Hill Street will be closed from 3pm on Thursday, December 24, until 8am on Tuesday, 5 January 2010.

For urgent matters, you can still contact us at any time by phoning 349 0001 during this period.

Payments to the Council can be made at the i-SITE Visitor Centre in Guyton Street while the main office is closed.

A full list of opening hours for Council and Queens Park services over the holiday period is available here (PDF, 11KB).