Wet 'n' wild Waitangi Day in the north

[MotherBear]

Wild weather for Waitangi
NZPA | Monday, 5 February 2007

Waitangi Day celebrations in the Far North tomorrow are set to be marred by thunderstorms, heavy rain and possible flooding.

The MetService today issued a severe weather watch for Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula.

Forecaster Allister Gorman said rain should develop in Northland this afternoon, with the heaviest falls coming in pulses associated with thunderstorms.

Rainfall could reach more than 25mm per hour in localised spots, causing surface flooding and hazardous driving conditions, he said.

In the Coromandel heavy downpours associated with thunderstorms were expected to set in tomorrow morning.

The weather was due to a moist easterly flow covering the top half of the north Island with a front moving north, Mr Gorman said.

The rain was expected to continue until Wednesday.

From here .

[Glenda]

Well, the water tank is overflowing, there is a pond under the deck, and on a little drive out this morning found very little traffic on the roads.

The kids' school camp tomorrow has just been cancelled - thank goodness. Guess they would have got pretty wet putting up tents in the pouring rain and gusty winds.

:)

[MotherBear]

55pc of Kiwis indifferent to Waitangi Day
NZPA | Wednesday, 7 February 2007

More than half of New Zealanders consider Waitangi Day insignificant to them, a new poll shows.

The poll, undertaken by Research New Zealand and broadcast on Radio New Zealand today, showed that 55 per cent of people surveyed did not consider Waitangi day significant.

Forty three per cent of people said the day was significant for them.

In the 15-29 age group, 49 per cent considered Waitangi Day significant to them and the same percentage thought it insignificant.

In the over-50 age group only 38 per cent of people considered it significant.
The study, which included 503 people and had a margin of error of 4.4 per cent, showed 73 per cent of Maori thought the day significant.

From here .

[MotherBear]

Bill renaming Waitangi Day stopped in tracks
NZPA | Friday, 23 February 2007

United Future leader Peter Dunne says he will draft new legislation after learning his bill that proposed renaming Waitangi Day as New Zealand Day was being stopped in its tracks.

A parliamentary committee has examined Mr Dunne's New Zealand Day Bill which proposes renaming Waitangi Day and creating a new public holiday to be observed on the Monday of the week in which February 6 occurred.

His bill also proposes repealing the Waitangi Day Act 1976 which would remove any separate celebration of Waitangi Day.

Parliament's justice and electoral select committee received 22 submissions on the bill, most of which opposed it.

More here .