A special banger is being made to celebrate this Saturday’s (June 7) opening of the second bridge being built over the Waitaki River on State Highway 82 by the NZ Transport Agency.
Oamaru-based On Farm Meats is this week making the Twin Bridge Banger sausage, using a special recipe created to capture the character of the Kurow area.
Sausage maker, second-generation butcher Shane Buchan is not giving away too many details about the sausage but says the recipe does include such ingredients as merino and venison meat farmed in the area.
“There will be two types of sausage to reflect that there are two bridges; one will be coarser in its texture and the other a little finer than the sausages that are a signature for On Farm Meats.”
Shane’s sausages are legendary in the Kurow area and a big seller up the Waitaki Valley
He says it was “awesome” to be asked to make a special sausage to celebrate the opening of the second bridge and he hoped good numbers of locals would turn out on Saturday to share in the opening and enjoy a Twin Bridge Banger.
The NZ Transport Agency’s Highway Manager Colin Knaggs says the sausages will sell for $2 each, all funds raised being donated to Whalan Lodge, a community-owned rest home.
“A large crowd is expected at the opening on Saturday, the community having been involved in planning the event which celebrates a significant milestone for the community.”
He says the completion of the two replacement bridges provides the Kurow and Hakataramea communities with a secure road link, one which has existed for more than 133 years.
The Transport Agency has built two new two-lane bridges at a cost of $20.1 million to replace two ageing single-lane timber bridges which were opened in 1881. The bridges are part of the Transport Agency’s $1 billion programme of investment in Canterbury’s transport network from 2012 to 2015.
The bridge will be opened at 12.30pm this Saturday by Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean.
For more information please contact:
Jan McCarthy
Media Manager - Christchurch
NZ Transport Agency
T: 03 964 2885
M: 021 427 442
E: jan.mccarthy@nzta.govt.nz
