Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Local Govt | National News Video | Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Search

 

Communities Band Together to Get through the Storm


Communities Band Together to Get through the Storm


With road access cut off and power out, Westland Milk Products shareholder suppliers banded together to ensure cows were milked and both human and animal welfare attended to during the severe wind storm that hit the West Coast during the last 36 hours.

General Manager Operations Bernard May says a tremendous community spirit got many farmers through the worst of the storm and helped to greatly reduce the impact of the event on some farms.

“We experienced access difficulty,” May said, “with roads out because of dangerously high winds, plus downed trees and live power lines, which meant tanker milk collection was delayed. Phones were out too, so we could not even reach some of our shareholders, especially in the Buller and South Westland.

“But as we were able to get staff through to our shareholders farms we started to hear some great stories of community support as neighbours banded together to help each other out. Shareholders were working with each other, taking generators from farm to farm to get the milking done. Some who had not lost power were able to arrange for their neighbours’ cows to be milked in their sheds. People also got together spontaneously to plan community support, make sure folk were OK and that animal welfare was also being maintained.”

May said that Westland’s shareholders were also generous in praise of staff who went the extra mile to get through in very trying conditions.

“In spite of the conditions we were able to collect milk from the vast majority of farms. In a few isolated cases farmers were forced to dispose of milk, but this was minimised due to farmers using spare on-farm storage capacity, aided by the time of the season when milk flows are naturally decreasing anyway.” May said it was not possible, at this time, to give an estimate of the amount of milk pumped through to farm effluent ponds but it was expected to be minimal.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Some reports of damage to on-farm plant were starting to come through, May said, but these still had to be collated and assessed. Fortunately, in spite of very high winds and spikes in power supply, there was no significant damage to the Hokitika plant, which continued to operate throughout the storm period. The milk train service that takes finished product to Westland’s warehouse in Canterbury was cancelled yesterday as a precaution but is back on schedule today.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.