“Ninety percent of people who shift to a lifestyle block do it because they don’t want any neighbours.”

Such was the frank observation of a real estate agent in the audience of a Fieldays presentation looking at the loss of productive land to small rural blocks.

His comment struck a chord with me. After close encounters in the city, my wife, Sandy, and I longed for more space and bit of peace and quiet.

Nearly 700 metres of freshly laid concrete kerb on Birchwood Lane has been ripped up at a cost to ratepayers of around $40,000 after it was put in at the wrong height.

Locals were aghast to see the new kerb being ripped up last week within days of it being completed on the 340m stretch of road linking Birchwood Lane to Devine Rd.

The error will add at least another 11% to the cost of the project.

Tamahere’s representatives have slammed the NZ Transport Agency for deceiving it over promises to deliver safe pedestrian and cycle ways across a community severed by the Waikato Expressway.

The Tamahere Community Committee believes NZTA and its expressway contractors have been stringing it along with insincere consultation for more than a decade.

Ten months after Waikato district book lovers were outraged at losing access to the Hamilton libraries the city council has welcomed rural readers back.

From Monday, July 1, 23,000 people in the Waikato district, including those in Tamahere and Matangi, can once again borrow books freely from their closest city libraries.

Hamilton City Council re-approved shared library services with the Waikato District Council at a meeting this week.

Tamahere’s central playground and skatepark shone under blue skies and bright sunshine as it was officially opened today.

In a ceremony led by Ngati Haua kaumatua Sonny Karena the park on Wiremu Tamihana Dr was blessed, ribbons were cut and then the area circumnavigated by a happy crowd of children, adults and community leaders.

The group then gathered in front of an assembly of Tamahere School students whose kapa haka roopu impressed.

Would you consider standing for a seat in local government?

The Waikato District Council will host two candidate information evenings in mid-July to give those who are considering putting their hands up at the October elections the chance to see what would be involved.

“If you are thinking about standing as Mayor, a Councillor or Community Board member we encourage you to come along.”

Sanderson Group, which is developing a new retirement village in Tamahere, has sold the bulk of its villages to major operator Arvida for $180 million.

Group chairman Fraser Sanderson told the NZ Herald that his son, Nathan, 30, who was starting out on his own, would continue to develop the Tamahere Country Club.

Four students from Tamahere’s Montessori School have represented New Zealand at a United Nations meeting in Italy.

The 10- and 11-year-old students, Avera Ngawaka, Aengus Moore, Aidan Smith and Husain Mehdi, took part in the Montessori Model United Nations – an international conference hosted at the UN Rome headquarters in May.

The four Kiwi primary school pupils were called on to represent UN member, Turkey, at the event.

New Zealand’s education watchdog has hailed the success of a Tamahere School reading programme to educators nationwide.

The Education Review Office (ERO) has featured the school’s innovative library-based programme for Year 5 to 8 students as a top example of effectiveness in keeping children engaged and achieving in reading.

This week the school said it was proud to see the ERO celebrate its reading success “and our wonderful librarian, Mrs Theresa Kewish.”

Recently Apple made a bit of stir by releasing a $US5000 computer screen, then charging an extra $US1000 for the stand that the monitor required to stay upright.

The cynic in me thinks this is probably just a marketing stunt – they wanted to charge $6000, but knew they’d get more publicity if they got everybody riled up about how ridiculous this is, and keep themselves in the headlines for a lot longer than if they’d just, you know, sold the thing.