It's been called "Marmageddon" in the media (both social and print) but the Marmite shortage in New Zealand is no joke. It even seriously threatened research into NZ Whitebait. Earthquake damage at Sanitarium's Christchurch factory forced the shutdown of the Marmite manufacturing facility and left Kiwis scrambling to grab some of their favourite spread after news of the shutdown spread on 18th March. This was such a big deal it even made international news, with sites such as The Guardian and  Daily Mail reporting on the Marmite crisis. 

Those of us living outside of the main centres were already aware that Marmite was missing from the shelves. We just didn't know why. My father, visiting from Australia in February, stocked up with Marmite to take home because he hadn't been able to find any available there since Christmas. I should have bought some in Auckland too, but at the time I didn't know that Marmite production is not expected to resume until July. 

The problem with the provinces is that supermarket stocking decisions are made by their respective head offices. Even where supermarkets are locally-owned, they don't make their own stock decisions. Products are allocated to the stores that have the highest sales in those product lines and when shortages hit the provinces miss out. On the day the Marmite shortage was announced I visited or phoned every supermarket, dairy and service station in Palmerston North and within 30 minutes drive of the city. Almost all reported that they had not stocked Marmite for weeks. People in Auckland, however, were still buying Marmite days after the news broke. 

Naturally, social media was active with discussions about the relative merits of Marmite versus the Australian Vegemite, and discussions about the differences between New Zealand Marmite and the UK version. Those were non-issues for me - I grew up with NZ Marmite and loathe the other black, yeast spreads. End of story. However, since I use Marmite in cooking, on toast, and under eggs, and only had enough left for one thin scraping on toast after weeks of rationing it, this shortage threatened to leave me unable to cook or eat some of my favourites. Quelle horreur! What to do? 

I did what thousands of others also seemed to be doing - I went to TradeMe, an auction site where people were offering everything from opened jars to scrapings for sale. The media reported on these auctions but seeing people actually bidding at huge prices was astonishing. The prices were too high for me. 

After seeing a message I made on Twitter, one kind Twitter user responded that he had managed to stock up on Marmite supplies in Auckland. 

Today, a courier parcel arrived from Richard (@richms).  Inside, two jars of Marmite tempted my tastebuds. I've been skipping breakfast but now I could eat again and, consequently, made myself some brunch. 

This isn't the usual kind of food tweet. This post is an homage to the kindness and generosity of Kiwis, and one Kiwi in particular - Richard. It is also an homage to the power of social networking and a reminder that, at its essence, it's all about people being people. 

The New Zealand government's scheme to bring Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) involves laying thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cable and ducting to more than 830,000 homes, schools, and businesses across the country. Living in an area that is poorly served with the current ADSL offerings (and where VDSL ends at a neighbouring property and is not available to me), I was excited to receive a letter from the Crown's partner in this venture, Chorus, saying that fibre would be laid in my street, commencing January this year and ending mid-March.

January came around and digging up of the footpaths commenced.  An Internet Service Provider checked with Chorus and confirmed that they would be able to offer UFB service to me on 1st April (depending, of course, on my home being correctly connected to the new fibre network). On 27th January, after a week's work in the street, a large hole was fenced off outside my property with a quantity of ducting rolled up beside it. Work stopped at this end of the street on 28th January. February came and went with no further activity. The mid-March completion date went past. 

My street is not an easy street for contractors. From the end of the street, one can look at Mid-Central District Health's hospital. Hospital overflow parking has been an increasing issue over the last fifteen years. In 2000, residents were so annoyed with vehicles using this street as an all-day car park that we presented a petition to Palmerston North City Council requesting something be done to mitigate the problems the hospital was causing us. Council responded by painting parking bays along the top end of the street. This was not popular with residents who, rightly, feared it would encourage parking rather than discourage it. (It took several attempts for the road crews to do this. On the first attempt, residents painted the markings out. Then they started standing in the way, refusing to move. Our little bit of civil insurrection ended when council sent a road marking team out at 3am.) The council solution was no mitigation at all and was very far from the remedies residents suggested. We asked for the top end of the street to be 2-hour parking only with exemptions for residents. Council responded that such a move would incur costs due to the need for monitoring and cost of providing vehicle stickers to residents. Since then, the hospital has introduced parking fees and the entire street fills with parked cars. At my end of the street, all parking spaces are filled before 8am and are usually still full at 6pm. 

Last year, in response to increasing complaints, the Palmerston North City Council held a series of public meetings in the areas affected by hospital parking. This created a perception that they would take measures to address the problem. Nothing has been done.

For contractors, this is a nightmare. Residents in this street are used to service companies calling to say they cannot gain access to our properties. So, when Chorus started it was obvious that they would have difficulty getting their vehicles and equipment into the street. 

On 29th March, with the UFB work still inactive, I lodged a complaint with the council about the parking in my street. The street is narrow. Cars regularly park overhanging the white lines and thereby blocking driveways. I had an appointment and could not drive out of my own driveway. Other residents had taken to parking on the grass verges and footpaths. Below is the photograph I took.

While I was in front of my house taking photos, other residents came out to talk. One of them, a doctor, said he was afraid the problem would soon get worse as the hospital intends to increase their parking fees. 

This, then, is a normal day on my street. Chorus came back to start work the very next day. 

On 30th March, this letter was left in my letterbox:

I had missed my appointment on Thursday because I had not been able to get out of my driveway in time. On Friday, 30th, I had an urgent appointment with the vet. My puppy injured her eye and getting out was essential. But, this is what I faced:

You can see from the photograph that any vehicle that overhangs the white parking line blocks my driveway. A Chorus contractor's vehicle just does it more impressively. You can also see in the photograph the yellow markings indicating the next hole to be dug up in front of my property - in the middle of my driveway. 

Driving down the footpath was not an option.  Those are UFB contractor's vehicles. 

At 2:45pm I told the contractors that I needed to be able to exit my driveway in 15 minutes. They responded that they would be leaving at 4:30pm.  I insisted. So did they. Eventually, with much cursing, the truck was moved and the white ute parked in its place. The truck, however, moved to the road and as this is a narrow street I was still unable to drive out. 

At 3:30pm, the truck moved and I left, 30 minutes late. My puppy's eye is now being treated and her sight looks to have been saved. 

When I returned, access to my property was blocked. I left my vehicle in the middle of the street and located a contractor. On explaining my problem, he suggested I park a few streets away where there were plenty of parking spaces. I pointed out that I am disabled, had a puppy and her crate in the vehicle, and it was not possible for me to do so. 

"Not my problem lady," he said. 

I went for a drive around the hospital car park, where there were a lot of empty spaces. On my return, I was able to get to my home. 

However, Friday's issues aside, just look at the letter. Downer, the Chorus contractor, can block our driveways. They can tow our cars away. If a car is towed from my street, the nearest available parking space it could be left in could be blocks away. This is an old, established street and not all houses have off-street parking. 

I have some sympathy for the contractors - this is a hellish street to find room in for parking at the best of times. In all the rah-rah-UFB-great promotions, there is no warning that road rules and parking regulations would not apply to the government's partner in this rollout. There was no warning that our vehicles could be towed away. The information was not given in the first letter Chorus provided to residents. This is the other side of the UFB rollout that 830,000 homes, schools, and businesses across the country might just have to live with. 

---

Note: Downer states in the letter, "If you have any particular concerns regarding your access requirements please contact us." A telephone number is given. I called and was told that someone should return my call on Wednesday but if I don't hear from them by 6th April (Good Friday) I should call them back. 

UPDATE 5th April:  For some reason, Posterous isn't letting me comment. Regards Janet's comment below, I emailed and Chorus was promptly in contact. I'm impressed with Chorus but remain unimpressed by Downer who have yet to return my call. I will update this post once I have heard from them (if I do, that is). 

I've left another message with Downer. Apparently, it is impossible for them to transfer me to anyone and can only take messages if you call about the UFB rollout.

Today, despite blocking parking areas off with cones last night, the Downer sub-contractors, are once again parking on the footpaths and grass verges. And blocking driveways. Amazingly, this is happening right next to parks that are empty except for a nice, orange cone.

Chorus is really being let down by their sub-contractors.