River Queen premiere - January 24
Get your tickets now for the Gala screening

All eyes will be on Wanganui for the premiere of the River Queen movie on January 24.

The Vincent Ward-directed film, starring Samantha Morton, Kiefer Sutherland, Temuera Morrison and Cliff Curtis, was shot on the Whanganui River. The River Queen will showcase the stunning Whanganui River and the district's unique cultural heritage.

The premiere will kick off with the stars being brought down the river in the waka from the film. The waka will then be handed over to local iwi at a riverside ceremony. A parade will follow, featuring Maori and colonial characters from the film, with the director Vincent Ward and stars Temuera Morrison, Rawiri Pene, Wi Kuki Kaa, Brandon Lakshman, and others yet to be confirmed.

All the action will be projected onto a big screen in Victoria Avenue so everyone can see it. The official invitation-only premiere screening at the Embassy Cinema at 6.30pm will be followed by the Gala screening at 9.00pm. We invite you to purchase tickets to the Gala screening, walk the red carpet and take part in the champagne celebration of this ground-breaking movie.

Or just come along, celebrate on the riverbank, in the streets or the cafes and help create a world premiere atmosphere here in Wanganui. Let's show the rest of New Zealand and the world the pride we have in our wonderful city and region.

Tickets for the Gala screening are limited and can be purchased for $45 each from i-SITE Wanganui Visitor Centre or from Verve Consulting on 0800 499 690.

You're invited to attend a neighbourhood meeting to discuss Referendum '06 with Mayor Michael Laws.

Polling day for the referendum is 11 February 2006. The referendum includes five issues:

Spelling of Wanganui
Water softening
Water fluoridation
Size of Council
Abolition of urban and rural wards

The meetings will be held:

The referendum will ask voters to select from the following options:

Spelling of Wanganui
I vote for Wanganui to be spelt with an 'h', and therefore read Whanganui.
I vote against Wanganui being spelt with an 'h'.

Water softening
I vote for Council to investigate the softening of Wanganui's water supply.
I vote against Council investigating the softening of Wanganui's water supply.

Water fluoridation
I vote for Wanganui's urban water supply, including Westmere, to be fluoridated.
I vote against Wanganui urban water supply being fluoridated.

Size of Council
I vote for the number of Wanganui District councillors to be reduced.
I vote against the number of Wanganui District councillors being reduced.

Abolition of urban and rural wards
I vote for the rural and urban wards to be abolished in favour of one district-wide ward.
I vote against the rural and urban wards being abolished in favour of one district-wide ward.

A brochure providing some background on the referendum issues was distributed to households in December. You can read more information here.

Voting papers will be posted between January 20-25. Voting papers for the urban ward and Wanganui Rural Community Board by-elections will be distributed at the same time. Wanganui District residents who are on the electoral roll will be eligible to vote in the referendum and in the by-election for their ward (urban or rural).

Lake Wiritoa will be closed to the public from Monday, 9 January 2006, to Sunday, 15 January 2006 inclusive, for the NZTWSA national coaching week and the Wanganui Water Ski Club's Goldstar Tournament.

The beach area will remain open for passive recreation.

The Council apologises for any inconvenience this may cause the public.

Vacancy

Roading Manager
Applications close 28 February 2006

Opening hours for the Royal Wanganui Opera House Booking Office are:

Royal Wanganui Opera House Booking Office

Normal hours of 9.30am - 5.30pm resume from Tuesday, 24 January 2006.

We welcome members of the public to attend our meetings

Hearings - Wednesday, 25 January 2006
Wanganui Rural Community Board - Thursday, 26 January 2006
Heritage - Monday, 30 January 2006
Finance and Administration - Tuesday, 31 January 2006

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held at 4.00pm in Committee Room 2, 1st Floor, Municipal Office Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui.

Agendas are available at the Customer Services Counter, Municipal Office Building, 101 Guyton Street, Wanganui, and the Wanganui District Library two working days prior to the meeting.