HOW VILLAGE RADIO SAVED A LISTENERS SANITY

A caller to George Stewart's programme this week described how listening to nostalgic songs and music on Village Radio helped immensely, and especially helped keep his sanity, while he was recovering from a nasty Gastro bug in Tauranga Hospital, NZ..   The listener asked George if he was able to find a recording about Steam Trains that he remembered hearing some years ago. He did and was able to play the recording made by Reginald Gardiner, who describes the delightful sounds and difference between British Steam trains and those in France, especially when travelling through tunnels.  Our recordings of course are on 78rpm.    

NEIGHBOURHOOD SUPPORT CHAIR - KATHY WEBB

George Stewart’s Studio Guest on Monday 8 September was the Chair of Neighbourhood Support in the Western Bay of Plenty, Kathy Webb. Kathy told our listeners that what motivated her to get involved in NHS was a murder that happened quite close to her street. She also explained what is involved in setting up a Neighbourhood Support group in your street, what to be aware of if you have not seen your neighbour for a while, and what you can do to keep yourself safe at all times.     And if you are going away on holiday arranging for a neighbour to park their car in your drive, getting a timer to switch on some lights in one room, installing a CTV camera and of course telling your neighbours and leaving a contact number. 

APOLOGIES FOR DISRUPTION

This item refers to an earlier announcement we made in June, that Tauranga City Council are undertaking an earthquake strengthening and fire egress progamme for the building we occupy in The Historic Village (17th Avenue, Tauranga). This work will commence in August 2025 and will likely take 4-6 months to complete.     The works will not impact the sound of the music we broadcast.  However, our listeners will likely hear some construction noise when our announcers are talking on air.  We may play longer sequences of music without talking so please bear with us.    Our museum will be closed and visitors of course are not allowed to visit our studios at this time, but we look forward to welcoming visitors to our studios when the works are complete.

AGE CONCERN'S ANNA BONES

George Stewart’s Studio Guest this week was Anna Bones, who is the Chairperson of Age Concern, Tauranga. Anna told our listeners that Age Concern offers a wide range of community services that are available to retired residents, that are designed to keep them active and safe in their homes.These include : A Home Visitor Service for the lonely or socially isolated : Staying Safe Refresher Driver courses : Steady as you Go exercise classes: Walking groups in different suburbs: And for those without cars or driving licences there are subsidised Taxi fares, if you are assessed as needing these.Anna said they were presently looking for more people who could drive their 12 seater van to take the men on their Mini Bus Adventure outings. 

TAURANGA MAYOR INTERVIEWED

George Stewart’s Studio Guest this week was the Mayor of Tauranga, Mahe Drysdale.  In an extended recorded interview the mayor revealed that almost 100 council staff and consultants would be losing their jobs, as a result of cost savings of $38 million dollars, to bring down rating increases to around 10%   He agreed that heavy traffic was clogging many streets, especially around the port on Hewletts Road and Totara Street....and was still hopeful that funding could be found to get work started on strengthening the Hairini bridge, for the planned dual lanes Tidal Flow.   The interview also covered a planned 5 to 10 thousand section subdivision at the far end of Papamoa; joining with the Western Bay of Plenty District Council for the new Waters Done Well legislation, and how he hopes Te Manawataki- O - Te Papa.. the all timber construction under way in the Civic Precinct, that includes the library and Museum, will bring people back to the Central Business District and shops.

A FEW TEMPORARY CHANGES COMING UP

Tauranga City Council (TCC) are undertaking an earthquake strengthening and fire egress progamme for the building we occupy in The Historic Village (17th Avenue, Tauranga). This work will commence in August 2025 and will likely take 4-6 months to complete.   TCC are making arrangements so Village Radio can continue to occupy this building for the duration of the building works. We will not need to temporarily relocate to another building in The Historic Village as previously planned.   The works will not impact the sound of the music we broadcast. However, our listeners will likely hear some construction noise when our announcers are talking on air.   We may need to make a few minor changes to our broadcast during this time. We may play longer sequences of music without talking, and/or we may need to shorten the shifts our announcers are filling. We will advise our regular listeners of what is changing in advance through updates on-air.   During the period of construction, visitors will not be able to access the studios. TCC are providing temporary scaffold stairs for volunteers to access the studios which are not suitable for visitors. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our studios when the works are complete.   We have closed our museum so that we can safely store items that may be impacted by the odd vibration. This will re-open when the building work is finished.   If you have any questions please email info@villageradio.co.nz.