On The Up: Whanganui buildings shine at Western Architecture Awards
Four diverse Whanganui buildings, across civic, residential and cultural categories, are among the winners at the 2025 Western Architecture Awards.
Whanganui-based Dalgleish Architects won two awards for Te Ruamātatoru – He Whata Kai, and The Mantles.
The Mantles is an 'unusual' house on Durie Hill, made with concrete, timber,
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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
'Devastating': Hundreds of birds caught by trawler
A single fishing vessel hauled in 207 seabirds in one "devastating" go while trawling off Southland's coast earlier this year, Forest & Bird revealed yesterday. Forest & Bird Otago-Southland regional conservation manager Chelsea McGaw said 207 adult sooty shearwaters (tītī) were captured near Te Waewae Bay between January 1 and March 31 — right in the middle of the bird's breeding season. While the birds did number in the millions, their numbers were declining and their nesting sites were considered a "critically endangered ecosystem" on mainland New Zealand. There were four colonies of the birds on the mainland — one near Sandfly Bay, at Otago Peninsula (where 72 chicks fledged this year), one at St Clair, one at Long Point (Irahuka) in the Catlins and one in Bluff. It was possible some of the birds caught were from a mainland site and a "high majority" of the birds caught by the fishing vessel would have had chicks in their nests at the time that now would have died as a result, Ms McGaw said. The capture would have had "cascading effects" on colonies and captures such as this one needed to be avoided. "When you're fishing, you're there to catch fish, right? "And dragging out 207 seabirds, that's just insane to me. "Just the fact that one single trawl has hauled up 207 seabirds in one go is pretty devastating." It was "sobering" catches such as this were not illegal, as long as they were reported. She called on the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to urgently review and strengthen seabird bycatch mitigation in trawl fisheries. "Unlike in surface longline fisheries, where international best practice (three out of three mitigation measures) is now in place, trawl fisheries still rely on inconsistent voluntary measures." Fisheries New Zealand fisheries management director Emma Taylor said the bycatch had been included in MPI's quarterly bycatch data. A New Zealand-based commercial fishing vessel operating off the south coast of the South Island had reported the accidental catch of 207 sooty shearwaters in February. The vessel was operating an onboard camera, and footage of the capture was reviewed by Fisheries New Zealand. "The vessel was also using mitigation measures, including batch waste disposal during towing," she said. "For your information, the total population of sooty shearwaters has been estimated to be about 21million birds. "No fisher wants to catch seabirds, but it is not illegal to accidentally catch them." The fisher took the steps required following the capture, reported the incident to Fisheries New Zealand and notified a Department of Conservation protected species liaison officer. Fisheries New Zealand staff also met commercial fishers in the region to discuss the incident. "We provided information about operational measures they could take to reduce the likelihood of further bycatch events in the area, including avoiding the area of the capture, and ensuring appropriate mitigation measures were being used." Seafood New Zealand inshore general manager Tiff Bock said the industry body was concerned about the loss of birdlife. "It is no exaggeration to say it has a serious impact on the fisher, who is really upset about what happened. "We find ourselves agreeing with Forest & Bird that a one-off capture event like this is devastating. "We hate to see birds harmed. "In this case, we can reassure you that the fisher was doing everything he was supposed to be doing in terms of location and procedures to avoid bird interactions. "The muttonbirds [tītī] congregated around the vessel en masse after the fishing gear was in the water, leaving him with nothing he could practically do." Since the incident, Seafood New Zealand had organised an event to get all the local fishers together to discuss protecting seabirds and mammals "and they agreed to a range of measures including avoiding some areas", Ms Bock said. The latest data from MPI showed 98% of the time a commercial net or line or other device was put in the water there was "no interaction with a protected marine mammal or bird".
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Hundreds of birds caught at once
A single fishing vessel hauled in 207 seabirds in one "devastating" go while trawling off Southland's coast earlier this year, Forest & Bird revealed yesterday. Forest & Bird Otago-Southland regional conservation manager Chelsea McGaw said 207 adult sooty shearwaters (tītī) were captured near Te Waewae Bay between January 1 and March 31 — right in the middle of the bird's breeding season. While the birds did number in the millions, their numbers were declining and their nesting sites were considered a "critically endangered ecosystem" on mainland New Zealand. There were four colonies of the birds on the mainland — one near Sandfly Bay, at Otago Peninsula (where 72 chicks fledged this year), one at St Clair, one at Long Point (Irahuka) in the Catlins and one in Bluff. It was possible some of the birds caught were from a mainland site and a "high majority" of the birds caught by the fishing vessel would have had chicks in their nests at the time that now would have died as a result, Ms McGaw said. The capture would have had "cascading effects" on colonies and captures such as this one needed to be avoided. "When you're fishing, you're there to catch fish, right? "And dragging out 207 seabirds, that's just insane to me. "Just the fact that one single trawl has hauled up 207 seabirds in one go is pretty devastating." It was "sobering" catches such as this were not illegal, as long as they were reported. She called on the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to urgently review and strengthen seabird bycatch mitigation in trawl fisheries. "Unlike in surface longline fisheries, where international best practice (three out of three mitigation measures) is now in place, trawl fisheries still rely on inconsistent voluntary measures." Fisheries New Zealand fisheries management director Emma Taylor said the bycatch had been included in MPI's quarterly bycatch data. A New Zealand-based commercial fishing vessel operating off the south coast of the South Island had reported the accidental catch of 207 sooty shearwaters in February. The vessel was operating an onboard camera, and footage of the capture was reviewed by Fisheries New Zealand. "The vessel was also using mitigation measures, including batch waste disposal during towing," she said. "For your information, the total population of sooty shearwaters has been estimated to be about 21million birds. "No fisher wants to catch seabirds, but it is not illegal to accidentally catch them." The fisher took the steps required following the capture, reported the incident to Fisheries New Zealand and notified a Department of Conservation protected species liaison officer. Fisheries New Zealand staff also met commercial fishers in the region to discuss the incident. "We provided information about operational measures they could take to reduce the likelihood of further bycatch events in the area, including avoiding the area of the capture, and ensuring appropriate mitigation measures were being used." Seafood New Zealand inshore general manager Tiff Bock said the industry body was concerned about the loss of birdlife. "It is no exaggeration to say it has a serious impact on the fisher, who is really upset about what happened. "We find ourselves agreeing with Forest & Bird that a one-off capture event like this is devastating. "We hate to see birds harmed. "In this case, we can reassure you that the fisher was doing everything he was supposed to be doing in terms of location and procedures to avoid bird interactions. "The muttonbirds [tītī] congregated around the vessel en masse after the fishing gear was in the water, leaving him with nothing he could practically do." Since the incident, Seafood New Zealand had organised an event to get all the local fishers together to discuss protecting seabirds and mammals "and they agreed to a range of measures including avoiding some areas", Ms Bock said. The latest data from MPI showed 98% of the time a commercial net or line or other device was put in the water there was "no interaction with a protected marine mammal or bird".
Scoop
14-06-2025
- Scoop
Christchurch Tsunami Sirens Face Axe After Failed Test, Communication Breakdowns
Article – RNZ The number of tsunami sirens along the Christchurch coast could be cut to as few as four, after an alert system review that found they cause confusion and delays during emergencies. The city has 45 sirens between Brooklands and Taylors Mistake, but next week, Christchurch city councillors will consider a recommendation that would see them only positioned in evacuation zones with limited cell phone coverage. The report recommended the council primarily uses emergency mobile alerts to raise the alarm, in accordance with national and international best practice, moving from a 'fragile, unreliable, over-complicated and inconsistent' alerting system to one that was 'straightforward and effective'. Fewer strategically positioned sirens – in the range of 4-6 – and emergency services, television, radio, website and social media messages would become the secondary alerting method. Christchurch's tsunami sirens failed to sound during a planned test in April, because the Auckland-based contractor responsible was dealing with a car crash outside their property at the time. The council initially blamed human error, then conceded having an emergency system so dependent on one person was unacceptable. The test was rescheduled for 13 July. The council said a 'local-source' tsunami could inundate Christchurch and Banks Peninsula evacuation zones in less than 60 minutes, so its top priority was preventing loss of life with an alert system that gave a clear message to evacuate. The review noted sirens caused confusion and delays because: Warnings could be mistaken for different hazards, because of multi-purpose sirens like rural fire alarms Sirens could create a false sense of security, with people waiting for official warnings that might not be issued in time Sirens could distract from public education messages about responding to natural tsunami warning signs Limited information was provided, requiring the public to seek further information before evacuating Sirens were prone to damage or failure in an earthquake Sirens could be inaudible in windy conditions Sirens were established on ageing technology and infrastructure, and the network trigger could not be operated locally Civil Defence and Emergency Management manager Brenden Winder said the emergency mobile alert method aimed to minimise confusion. 'In the rare event of a tsunami, our top priority is preventing loss of life,' he said. 'This relies on having a straightforward and effective alerting system, giving residents a clear message to evacuate. 'Sirens are no longer considered to be a suitable primary tsunami alerting method, as they cause confusion and delay communities responding effectively. 'Mobile alerts are used nationally as the main alerting method in an emergency. This sends a clear message straight to the user's phone on what action to take. 'We want people to act quickly and decisively in an emergency, and a text alert provides that direction.' Staff said another option to upgrade the existing 45 sirens and add 41 sirens for adequate coverage across a new national tsunami evacuation zone issued by the National Emergency Management Agency would come at a substantial cost to the council. Following the magnitude 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in 2016, a communication breakdown meant Christchurch's sirens did not sound until two hours afterwards at 2am – an hour after Civil Defence issued an alert.
