David Bruce

Suitably qualified people are being asked to express an interest in the soon-to-be-created Waitaki District Licensing Committee as either commissioners or list members.

Three rural water schemes' committees are looking at whether they should privatise them in a bid to take greater control over their supplies from the Waitaki District Council.

Six submissions give unanimous support to changes proposed by the Waitaki Power Trust as to how it reviews ownership of the North Otago power lines company Network Waitaki.

The state of some rural roads in the Waitaki district has come under fire, but Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton lays some of the blame for the situation on government spending in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

A Civil Defence debriefing may indicate if any changes are needed in the way roads are cleared after snow or floods, but Waitaki District Council roading manager Michael Voss is ''pretty satisfied we got it right'' in two major events in the past two weeks.

Only four prospective candidates for Waitaki local body elections turned up for a workshop to inform them of what to expect if they stand and are then elected.

The former head chef-restaurant manager of the Ladybird Hill vineyard restaurant in Omarama has won $4500 compensation after the Employment Relations Authority found she was unjustifiably dismissed in February last year.

A contingency plan is in place in the hope of making sure the first offshore powerboat race Oamaru has hosted in 30 years, scheduled for today, will go ahead this year.

Fifty years ago, the first Weston Church Fair raised the equivalent of $610. Last year it raised $8000 and has become a major fund-raiser for the church.