Backyard bust
A man has been arrested after he was busted with cannabis in a Renall St backyard. Masterton Police found the man at 5am yesterday with a “quantity of cannabis and drug utensils”. A 33-year-old man is due to appear in Masterton District Court on February 23, facing drug charges and a charge for being unlawfully in a yard.
Dog poo
hullabaloo
Masterton District Council [MDC] staff have commended residents for not blowing up dog poo bins this past Guy Fawkes season. “Previously bins would be blown up, leaving a very unpleasant mess for staff to clean up,” a report to MDC’s Infrastructure and Services Committee said. “Unfortunately, one bin has been ripped out of the ground by offenders using a car and rope, but luckily no damage was done to the bin.” The installation of new dog poo bins in the urban area has now been completed. “All the old plastic bins have been removed and replaced with new galvanised bins that limit the type of rubbish being put into them.” Registered dog owners are paying for the service to be provided through their registration fees, and animal and bylaws staff empty the bins. “The previous bins were often filled with general rubbish,” the report said. “Staff are already noticing that instead of having to empty bins every week, some bins are only full every two weeks and this is resulting in a saving of staff time, plastic bags, and transfer station charges. Staff safety has also been improved too, with less weight from overfilled bins and no glass in the bags.”
Cyclone repair
The costs of repairs to Tararua District’s roads after ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale and continued bad weather in January could be around $2.8 million, the Infrastructure, Climate Change and Emergency Management Committee was told. There were 131 faults across the district’s roading networks, according to the report by Tararua District Council infrastructure manager Chris Chapman. The full cost of repairs was still to be finalised so an emergency works application could be submitted to Waka Kotahi NZTA.
