Cancelling the Great New Zealand Muster due to the loss of its main drawcard – the running of the sheep – has come as a blow to many people at Te Kūiti.
Waitomo District Council has made the decision to no longer hold The Great New Zealand Muster, with Mayor John Robertson explaining on the council’s Facebook pages the decision came down to, “a number of factors including the cancellation of the running of the sheep event.”
“It is a real shame, but times have changed and sometimes we just need to make a call and roll with the punches. It will be the end of an era for the event, which has been an annual fixture in some form for more than 20 years,” John said.
“WDC has valued working alongside the shearing committee and will continue to do so by supporting the New Zealand Shearing Championships, which will be held at the Les Munro Centre from March 30 to April 1.
“WDC will be looking for a new signature event that can be planned thoroughly for future years, and which captures the identity and culture of Te Kūiti and the Waitomo District.”
But some of the comments that followed John’s statement were incredulous:
“Very disappointing … was a good day out for families, and for the community to get together, and for business,” Kylee Charteris said.
“I’m so tired of a small group of people making decisions on behalf of us without any consultation,” Vicki Hamilton said.
“That sucks,” Airys Mason said. “The muster brought in a lot of out-of-towners and was good for business down the Main Street. It was something the town could look forward to. Be interesting to see what you guys come up with now.”
Fiona Vaughan: “That’s a real shame. Not much free fun for families nowadays.”
Dawn Visser: “Sorry to hear that. My family came from as far as Warkworth with their kids to this yearly event.”
Meanwhile, a walk around town brought a similar chorus of disappointed.
King Street Café staff Latoya Mills and Stella Sanders said the muster had brought thousands of tourists and visitors to town over the years; they were disappointed that the council had decided to call it quits due to animal welfare concerns.
Stella said she had always enjoyed the sight of hundreds of sheep running through the main street and it was something no other town in New Zealand could offer.
“To me it was just right for our town, because we’re the ‘Shearing Capital of the World.’ I hope they revive it.”
Latoya said if the decision had come down to concerns over the welfare of the sheep, rather than cancelling it altogether, organisers could surely have worked a way to improve supervision and control of the animals to make the event safe for them.
“The Great New Zealand Muster always brought us together and it gave Te Kūiti a sense of identity. It’s been great for business and I think we still need an event like this in town,” Latoya said.
Annely Moyes, of DM Jewellery Design, found it ironic that the tiny town of Whangamomona had managed to run a sheep race, as part of its Republic Day celebrations on January 21, while Te Kūiti couldn’t manage to hang onto its muster.
She and her colleagues had been looking forward to an enjoyable event that would celebrate Te Kūiti’s unique flavor as the Sheep Shearing Capital of the World.
The muster was the perfect way of doing this in her view, and it always attracted visitors from far and wide.
“It’s pretty sad that it’s been cancelled. It brought us all together as a community; the market day was a buzz and the kids had as much fun as the adults did.
“It’s been going for years and we were all looked forward to it, but it seems like everything (good) is being cancelled these days.”
Annely said if the council really thought the Running of the Sheep was going to be such a great big problem health and safety wise, they could possibly have looked at ways of organising an event with fewer sheep.
“Surely they could have adjusted it instead of just cancelling it?”
A visitor to the King Country, retired firefighter Geoff May, said small towns needed events that helped them assert their identity and he was dismayed to hear that Te Kūiti had lost the one it valued most.
“It’s the same [in small towns] all over the country,” Geoff said.
“I come from Russell where we had a successful trolley derby for the kids, right up to the year government bureaucracy killed it.
“It was safe as houses, being planned and organised each year by the fire brigade and St John.
“But in about 2012, the authorities demanded we put up $10,000 for a safety plan. That killed the event for good.”
As for submitting ideas to replace The Great New Zealand Muster, Waitomo District Council communications manager Jenelle Burnell said there was no specific internet link for people to make submissions
“At this stage we have asked people to email their thoughts and ideas to our email address: info@waitomo.govt.nz”
