Guru Back, But With 5 New Reforming Councillors

Progress results in the Kapiti local election show sitting Mayor K Gurunathan is back.

Kapiti’s sitting Mayor K Gurunathan wants to keep the job

And the youngest-ever Councillor, climate campaigner Sophie Handford, of Paekakariki, has been elected — with four other new and progressive councillors.

Two of the new guard — Gwynn Compton and Martin Halliday — opposed Gurunathan for the Mayoralty.

Robb McCann is a Labour candidate ( the first on the Council) and a former contender for the Otaki seat in Parliament.

Former Otaki Labour candidate, Rob McCann, in now on the KCDC

Thre results are bad news for the sitting councillors who voted for massive cuts in the libraries’ book budget.

McCann, Handford, Compton, Halliday and Randall all promised to move to immediately to restore the libraries’ book budget.

The detailed progress results are:

Mayor: K Gurunathan

Angela Buswell (District wide)
Gywnn Compton (District wide)
Jackie Elliott (District wide)
Janet Holborow (District wide)
Rob McCann (District wide)
James Cootes (OtakI)
Jocelyn Prvarov (Waikanae)
Martin Halliday (Paraparaumu)
Bernie Randall (Paraparaumu)
Sophie Hanford (Paekākāriki)

Sophie will shake things up

Sophie Handford (18) is a national leader of the School Strike 4 Climate campaign.

She says: ‘Our overarching demand is that the New Zealand Government does everything in its power to limit warming to no more than 1.5 degrees because that’s the known threshold for livable future on this planet.

We then have five demands that sit under that:

Parliament declare a climate emergency
All parties support and pass an ambitious Zero Carbon Act
The Government ceases all exploration and extradition of fossil fuels
The Government invests in building a renewable and regenerative economy now
The Government gives practical effect to its responsibilities throughout the Pacific

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STORY OF THE WEEK

The reinstatement of $411,000 for new library books in the proposed annual plan has been welcomed by Councillor Bernie Randall and Deputy Community Board Chair Guy Burns.

Board deputy chair Guy Burns

Cr Bernie Randall

They say the Covid-19 lockdown has shown the community the value of books and reading.

Communmity Board helped lead the way

In December the Paraparaumu/Raumati Community Board passed a resolution urging the Council to restore the total library book budget in the annual plan.

THIS MONTH 123 Years Ago

Margaret Cruickshank became the first woman to be registered as a doctor in New Zealand in this month in 1897..

From 1897 to 1918 she served the small South Canterbury community of Waimate. She worked tirelessly during the 1918 influenza pandemic but eventually caught the disease herself and died on 28 November 1918.

Margaret Barnet Cruickshank and her twin Christina were born at Palmerston, Otago, in January 1873. After their mother's death in 1883 the twins attended school on alternate days so one could stay home to care for the five younger children in the family. In the evening the other taught her twin what she had learnt that day.

After attending Palmerston District High School, Margaret went to Otago Girls' High School, where she was joint dux with her sister. Christina Cruickshank gained an MA and MSc at the University of Otago and became principal of Wanganui Girls' College. Margaret attended the University of Otago Medical School. In 1897 she became the second woman in New Zealand to complete a medical course - a year after her friend Emily Siedeberg.

Margaret then accepted a position as assistant to Dr H. C. Barclay of Waimate, and on 3 May 1897 became New Zealand's first registered woman doctor. Apart from a year's study in Britain in 1913, she worked in the town for the rest of her life, eventually becoming a partner in the practice. Her dedication to her work made her immensely popular in the small South Canterbury community.

In 1914, with Barclay away on active service, Margaret carried the full burden of the practice and shared the role as hospital superintendent. She also organised the local work of the Waimate Red Cross Fund. When the 1918 influenza pandemic struck she began working day and night, in many cases providing services well beyond those expected of a doctor. The son of her housekeeper recalled:

Where the mother was laid low, she fed the baby, prepared a meal, and in many cases where whole families were laid low she would milk the family cow to obtain milk for their sustenance.

Margaret caught influenza herself and died of pneumonia at Waimate on 28 November 1918. She was one of 14 New Zealand doctors who lost their lives during the pandemic. In 1923 the people of Waimate unveiled a 3-m-high memorial statue to her in Seddon Square, inscribed 'The Beloved Physician/Faithful unto Death'.

The maternity ward at Waimate Hospital was named in her honour in 1948. And in 2007 the Ministry of Health named a pandemic preparedness exercise 'Exercise Cruickshank' in recognition of her work during the 1918 influenza pandemic.

No doubt Sophie will have closing the airport foremost in her agenda.It seems we have a climate emergency and flying anywhere contributes to this.

Well, well, well. I love how Sophie Handford has been devoted most of this article. As only a single person in Council, I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds it hard to push through her agenda. Time will tell if Council is a young person’s world too.

Kāpiti and Coast Independent

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