Southland A&P Society president Paula Bell is looking forward to another bumper show next year and refuses to let the office’s weekend ransacking be a cloud over what she has lauded as ‘‘the most successful show yet’’. Photo: TONI MCDONALDAn overnight break-in at the Southland A&P Showgrounds at Donovan Park on Saturday left a bitter aftertaste to an otherwise near-record show weekend. Southland A&P Society executive officer Georgie Day said the extremely successful weekend ended with a stomach-dropping discovery at the site office for organisers on Sunday morning. Society president Paula Bell said the break-in came hard on the heels of a hugely successful show, but she refused to let it rob credit from the small committee, which had worked extremely hard to organise the event. ‘‘We’ll definitely be looking at security, but honestly, the office was locked and everything was properly secured,’’ she said.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 09, 2026 23:02 UTC