Kia Ora team.

Welcome to the holidays and all the joy that goes with having the kids on hand each and every day to assist with the smooth running of our households.

Great to see the net population of the town rapidly increase even with the exodus of many locals jumping the ditch looking for warmer temperatures.

Plenty going on for all our emergency services of late and at this time of year it really emphasises the benefits of the good working relationships between the various groups in the district.

Some common themes…

Shoplifting continues to raise its ugly head in town. While it's well noted the difficulties the current financial environment places on people/households, we have added beef with thieves whose culinary tastes include only prime cuts of fillet and a need to wash it down with five-star alcohol. We are continuing to have some good wins in holding those criminals to account.

The roads continue to be a challenge for some of our motorists. If the ice and grit didn’t make it hard enough we still have people making the poor decision to drive under the influence of alcohol. A mix of those just under the limit for a court appearance and disappointingly a number that will be standing in the dock before a judge.

Again, we have attended a number of vehicle crashes where alcohol has been a factor and it is only a matter of time before someone, possibly an innocent bystander, is impacted by a driver under the influence.

Anti-social driving behaviour has also been prevalent. The legislation gives police the ability to take strong action against those offenders including impounding or pink stickering vehicles on the spot. If you are witness to such activities, then please don’t hesitate to a call 111.

Some young folk caused damage to letterboxes around Kirimoko. They were caught up with and spoken to regarding their behaviour.

The good vibe going around town paused briefly late on Saturday night when an individual threw a coward’s punch at a person on the side of the street. Thankfully the injury to the other party wasn’t serious as there are multiple instances where there have been tragic outcomes to those occurrences.

There are still a number of people in the community struggling with mental health. If you know friends or family who doesn’t seem to be their normal selves, be the one who makes the difference and perhaps get them heading in a better direction.

Stay toastie and safe.