Welcome to a new week everyone.

Although it’s been slightly warmer over the weekend winter is definitely in the air. Like many of you, we too are very much looking to the arrival of winter and the

ski fields being open.

This week has kept us busy with a number of crashes all of which were lucky to see no one seriously injured. Black ice and slippery roads were a factor for one driver while another was found nearly three times over the legal breath alcohol limit after crashing mid-afternoon. Thankfully no one else was involved but that was more by good luck that good management.

Thanks to those of you who navigated through the cold slippery mornings safely and carefully.

You will see a repeated theme in our crimeline reporting around road safety and what you can do to keep yourself safe while driving. The reason for that is our roads are the place where you are most at risk from harm in our area. Small things can have a big impact on the road at 100km/h or over and people’s lives can be changed in a moment in time. It’s our aim to keep our roads safe but we can’t do it without everyone playing their part.

Also, during this week, the traffic signals at Makarora mysteriously disappeared. Thankfully they were recovered nearby in the bushes. I realise it’s a bit inconvenient for people, but while there are road works going on around the wider Wanaka area, we ask that you be patient and comply with the traffic signals.

In recent weeks we’ve had a report of firewood going missing from people’s property. I have no doubt that this happens more frequently than is reported. If this has happened to you, please report this to us by calling 105 or coming into the police station so we can hold those responsible for doing so.

Mental health made several appearances for us this week. We work hard to engage anyone that needs help with our local mental health team and services. Please reach out to someone if you need help.

This week has started off with some of our team helping with the two Prime Ministers visiting Queenstown. We are glad about what the visit signifies, a trans-Tasman bubble (albeit that Victoria is off limits this week). We are truly hopeful that this will see an increase of visitors to our great town and provide some much-needed support to our local economy.

Until next week, please keep safe out there and have a good week.