Kudos for Warkworth garden crew
 Warkworth’s Hill Street intersection is a nightmare for motorists, but it holds a prize for garden lovers.
The team behind the beautiful blooms at the end of Elizabeth Street has been recognised in this year’s Warkworth and Districts Rose and Flower Show.
The circular bed of roses and brightly coloured bedding plants, the garden beside the information centre, and the maintenance of other public spaces are the work of City Care, which won the Warkworth Garden Club’s Wilkinson Salver for an aesthetic contribution to the town.
Flower show convenor Joy Cherrie says the award went to City Care because “we all drive into Warkworth and know it’s pretty and well kept, but don’t think about who’s responsible”.
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One ward, one local board
Under the new City of Auckland council structure, Rodney’s Local Board is likely to have greater responsibilities and powers because of its rural nature and its large geographic area, according to Rodney MP Lockwood Smith.
He says however, its effectiveness and relationship with the City Council will depend on the calibre of its members.
“The calibre of the people we elect to both the Council and the Local Board will determine how much notice Auckland takes of us,” he told a forum at Omaha.
Rodney residents are being encouraged to have their say on the new ward and subdivision boundaries drafted by the Local Government Commission, which are currently out for submissions.
The commission is proposing a Rodney ward, based on the current Rodney District minus Hibiscus Coast and an area south of Muriwai Beach, represented by one councillor. Additionally, the ward will include one seven-member Local Board made-up of three subdivisions – Warkworth Wellsford with three representatives, Central with one, and Helensville with three.
Mayor Penny Webster says she fears that the west/north divide which has plagued the present Council will continue under the proposed arrangement for Rodney.
“It’s a particular issue in Rodney and somehow needs to be recognised in the new boundaries,” she said. “Expenditure in the north suffered as a result.”
Rodney’s one councillor will present 53,590 voters – the lowest Councillor/voter ratio in Auckland, outside Waiheke and Great Barrier.
The commission believes that its configuration of 19 Local Boards, in total, best recognises existing communities of interest in Auckland. It says the arrangements provide the board areas with sufficient capacity to generate resources for local decision-making, which will allow them to effectively represent and act in the best interests of their respective communities.
The public has until December 11 to make submissions on the commission’s proposals.
The commission has until March 1 to complete the boundaries for local body elections in October.
Details of what’s proposed can be found at www.lgc.govt.nz
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Supermarket company takes Council to court
Progressive Enterprises is taking Rodney District Council to court over rules that restrict the size of retail stores in Warkworth.
The company, which wants to build a Countdown store next to the Warkworth RSA, has asked the High Court for a judicial review of Council’s decision to implement plan changes that mean it now needs a notified consent for a supermarket on its site.
Progressive claims the plan change process was rushed through and has asked for documents relating to meetings between Council, Warkworth Liaison Group and Perrendale Holdings, which is developing a large-footprint retail centre in Woodcocks Road.
When Progressive bought the land on Neville Street in early 2008, a supermarket was a permitted activity and while the company would have needed resource consent for car parking, the application would not necessarily have been publicly notified. Council notified plan changes 125 and 110 in May 2008 “to ensure the fine grained and small scale character and amenity values of the town centre retail area are retained”.
At the Warkworth Liaison Group’s November meeting chairman Peter Thompson said Progressive claimed that the liaison group was only set up to accommodate the wishes of Perrendale developer Neil Barr, and that it had also been influenced by New World owner John Smith.
Mayor Penny Webster says all the councillors have been subpoenaed for the judicial review hearing but she is not losing any sleep over it.
“They (Progressive) want a review of the process we went through. People have taken us to court on that before and it usually doesn’t hold water. It’s a waste of ratepayers’ money.”
The judicial review is due to be heard on March 3 and 4 next year.
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Matakana sewage upgrade
Work on upgrading the Omaha Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jones Road, to take effluent from Matakana, is expected to be finished in February.
This will allow Rodney District Council to start on a $1.2 million project to replace Matakana’s septic tank gravity system with a pressure wastewater collection system. The first house connections in Stage I are expected in 2010/11.
Wastewater engineer Anita Yahya says the present system was built in the late 1980s and comprises septic tanks at each property discharging to a municipal small bore gravity network, into a wetland treatment system.
“Population growth, along with inflow and infiltration, has resulted in the failure of the wetlands to treat wastewater effectively,” she says.
Under the new system, wastewater from Matakana will be pumped from a proposed Matakana main pump station, on the intersection of Leigh Road and Tongue Farm Road, to the Omaha plant via a 3.6km rising main on Tongue Farm Road.
A pressure system consists of a grinder pump inside a plastic tank, buried in the ground in each connected house. The pump grinds down the waste and forces it under pressure through small diameter pipes to the wastewater treatment plant.
The new system at Pt Wells is pressure collection system.
“Overall, it’s probably a better all-round system than the conventional gravity-feed network option and certainly kinder on the environment in most cases.”
The upgrade of the Omaha treatment plant includes installing new aerators and baffles in the pond.
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Slow start to Rodney land sales
Rodney’s chief executive office Rodger Kerr Newell remains confident that Council will reach its target of $50 million worth of land sales by next June, despite currently being well behind schedule.
So far, only $1.5 million worth of sales from four properties have been recorded – all on the Hibiscus Coast. Council had hoped to have had at least $20 million worth of sales concluded by now.
When the Annual Plan was released earlier this year, Mr Kerr Newell said Council needed to sell $20 million worth of land by the end of June this year, $30 million by the end of March 2010 and $50 million in the 2010/11 financial year.
“We have no reason to believe that our property company won’t achieve its target of $50 million worth of property sales by June 30 next year,” a spokesperson for Mr Kerr-Newell said.
When Cr Zane Taylor, at a Council meeting on November 5, asked if the property sales were on target, Mr Kerr Newell replied that about $34 million in sales had been “nailed”.
“We are making announcements about sales of individual properties at settlement and anybody can accumulate/calculate total figures from those,” the spokesperson said. “There could be a few coming up early this month but I don’t know the total amount. Rodney, like the majority of councils, does not have a credit rating so there is no impact (from the lack of sales to date).”
The sales were part of a debt reduction strategy. At a meeting in Orewa in April, Mr Kerr-Newell said a series of profligate councils had left ratepayers with $390 million of debt. He added that “selling the silverware is a good way to get this debt down”.
Land on the market in the north is as follows:
21 Neville Street, Warkworth • 9 Queen Street and 12 Neville Street, Warkworth (hotel/retail) • 80 Great North Road, Warkworth (ex Atlas Site) • 20 Hillside Cres, Matheson Bay • Albert Street, Leigh (ex Leigh Depot) • 28 Matheson Road, Wellsford • 19 Worker Road, Wellsford • Harrison Street, Wellsford • 30 Worker Road, Wellsford • 37 Station Road, Wellsford • 1580 State Highway 1, Wellsford (ex Corry Property) • Wellsford Valley Road, Port Albert (Mt Brame Quarry) • Ti Point Rd, Leigh (Whangateau Forest) • State Highway 16, Wellsford (McRaes Hill Forest) • Lawrie Road, Snells Beach (Lawrie Road Forest).
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Intelligent dummy boosts emergency skills
 A dummy that can breathe, talk, choke and vomit might be more realistic than most of us would like, but Warkworth’s emergency workers love it.
‘Archie’ is the latest training tool in Warkworth St John’s arsenal and has been bought with help from some other human imitations. The Sheepworld Scarecrow Festival raised $2075 toward the resuscitation dummy’s $11,000 purchase price. Sheepworld owner John Collyer says he had hoped to raise more, but the unusually wet October reduced visitor numbers.
Local ambulance, fire and medical teams will use Archie to practise and update their first aid skills. Warkworth St John operations team leader Michelle Stevenson says he can be intubated, injected and resuscitated. A computer readout tells trainees whether they are performing CPR correctly, and different lung sounds can be programmed to indicate asthma, heart failure, pneumonia or airway obstruction.
Archie’s pupils can be changed to simulate head trauma, shock or drug overdose, and he can even ‘talk’ in recorded messages.
“You can get them even more complex than this, but he is as real-life as we need; the only thing we can’t do on him is chest decompression and cricothyroid (tube in the airway),” Michelle says. “He caters to every level, from basic first aider to advanced life support.”
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NAG calls for Auckland city boundary poll
Minister for Local Government Rodney Hide is expected to meet with Northern Action Group (NAG) representatives in the next few weeks.
The group hopes to convince the Minister to poll electors north of Puhoi to determine how much support there is for opting out of the supercity.
NAG chairman Bill Townson is confident a poll would show that the majority of residents would prefer to form a new council with Kaipara. More than 3500 signatures have so far been collected on a petition supporting a boundary change.
“The democratic process was over-ridden by the meeting at Ascension and Mr Key listened to the opinions of just a few,” Mr Townson says. “The recommendation of the Select Committee to set the northern boundary south of Puhoi should have been retained.
“In creating the supercity, the Government has sidestepped the normal democratic process, leaving many people feeling that they have had no say in their future.
“In addition, very little in the way of hard facts have been made available for public consumption, but speculation and misinformation are rife.”
Mr Townson says NAG fears northern rates will rise with little of the money spent in the north. Northern ratepayers will have to contribute to the leaky homes bill, city traffic congestion problems, three waters infrastructure, and Auckland’s demands for recreational and cultural facilities.
He says NAG will ask the Minister to conduct a poll before March 1 next year.
Rodney MP Lockwood Smith says the likelihood of any significant northern boundary change before next October’s local government election is unlikely.
However, he emphasised that although north Rodney would probably go to the polls as part of the supercity, nothing was set in stone.
“At the moment the Government is solely focused on the huge job of settling in the new Auckland governance arrangements,” he said. “But if we find after October that there is a problem with the boundary, then it can be addressed. The (NAG) petition is certainly not a wasted exercise.”
Omaha Beach Community president Graham Painter described the NAG petition as “simplistic”.
“Unfortunately, the issues are not as simple as ‘do we or don’t we want to be in the supercity’,” he told an OBC forum last month. “You could just as easily ask ‘do we want to become a cash cow for Kaipara?’ I also have major concerns about the sort of coastal governance we would get under Northland Regional Council.”
Info: NAGWW@clear.net.nz or phone Bill Townson on 425 6121.
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Missed opportunity to go north
If Rodney District Council had not tried to keep the whole district out of Auckland, the Northern Action Group would have got what it wanted, according to the chairman of the NZ Community Boards executive.
Mike Cohen spoke at a recent meeting of the Snells Beach Ratepayer Group and responded to a comment by Bill Townson of NAG, which is petitioning Government to align the northern part of Rodney with Kaipara district and form a new council. If Rodney had asked for that in the first place, instead of pushing for a unitary authority, the Auckland governance select committee would likely have gone along with it, Mr Cohen said.
“You were saying the whole of Rodney shouldn’t be in with Auckland and that was never going to fly.”
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Fisheries drags anchor on cockles
Minister of Fisheries Phil Heatley has confirmed that any cockle harvesting ban in Whangateau Harbour will not be implemented until the New Year at the earliest.
The Ministry of Fisheries is being roundly criticised for its lack of action over the estimated death of more than 60 percent of the cockles at Whangateau, despite overwhelming community support for a ban. Mr Heatley said he won’t be formally asked to make a decision on management options until formal consultation has been concluded and a final advice paper provided by the Ministry.
“If I decide to implement a management option, this will most likely be implemented through a Gazette notice, which usually comes into force 28 days after notification. Accordingly, any response will not be implemented until the New Year,” he says.
Inshore fisheries manager Leigh Mitchell says a consultation paper on management options is due to be released early this month.
“Initial consultation has been informal and the Fisheries Act requires that the Ministry formally seeks public submissions to any such proposal,” he says.
“The minimum acceptable time for a submission period is three weeks. To assist a speedy outcome, minimum statutory consultation and notification timeframes are being used. This has been made possible because of the time taken to seek the input upfront from locals and fishery users.”
Meetings have already been held in Leigh, Whangateau and Omaha, and with tangata whenua.
Omaha Beach Community president Graham Painter described the Ministry’s reaction as “absurd”.
“It’s like an episode from Yes Minister,” he said. “It’ll be another six months before the ban is in place. We don’t need consultation after consultation, we just want to see it happen.”
Similar frustration was voiced at the Whangateau Forum meeting, held at Pt Wells, last month. The forum will ask Auckland Regional Council Cr Christine Rose to write to the Minister requesting that a ban be introduced before Christmas.
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Help sought for fairy tern watch at Pakiri
 A chance to observe the country’s rarest bird at close hand is available to those willing to volunteer for the Conservation Department this summer.
People are needed to help with the New Zealand fairy tern protection programme at the Pakiri River Mouth, which is one of four breeding sites for the endangered birds. One pair nests there each summer, and successfully hatched and fledged two chicks in 2008-09. Volunteers are needed to monitor the birds in the current breeding season on the warden’s days off, which are Wednesday and Thursday of each week between now and February.
Back-up will be available with a phone call to the DOC Warkworth office. Full training will be provided. Info: David Wilson on 425 7195.
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Rare dotterels in danger at Omaha spit
Dotterels on the northern spit of Omaha Beach face extinction if efforts to protect their habitat from pests, including the human variety, are not contained.
This was the message delivered to the Omaha Beach Community forum held on November 21.
The spit is a nationally significant breeding site for the endangered NZ dotterel. Oyster catchers also nest at the site, and the area is visited by godwits, pied stilts, wrybills and occasionally, NZ’s rarest bird, the fairy tern. The dotterels are breeding now and several chicks have hatched.
Omaha Shorebird Protection Group spokesperson Joanne McPhee told the meeting that three fires were deliberately lit in the area recently, signs were smashed, and quad bikes and trail bikes were being driven over the spit.
“Dotterel chicks take six weeks to fledge so they are terribly vulnerable during this period,” she said. “Human disturbance in the area is getting worse.”
Cats brought up by holidaymakers were also cited as an increasing problem. The Protection Group is fundraising for a predator proof fence and an increased trapping programme. Further info: Joanne McPhee
at jomcphee@hotmail.com
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Community group funds distributed in Rodney
Almost $160,000 was allocated to more than 100 groups under the Rodney Community Grants Scheme last month.
The grants scheme is available each year to groups for activities that promote social, recreational or community development. Groups that operate district-wide shared $15,700 and the rest of the funding was allocated to the district’s four wards in proportion to the size of the population.
District-wide grants included $3000 to Sands Rodney for supporting parents in the event of a baby’s death, $3000 to Hestia Rodney Women’s Refuge for restructuring the agency and developing a website, and $3000 to Parents Inc for presentations to secondary students.
Groups in the Northern ward received a total of $32,500, distributed as follows: Albertland Pony Club $999.40 for cross country jumps • Homebuilders Family Services $2000 to run ‘Living well on your income’ courses • Jane Gifford Restoration Trust $1500 for safety equipment • Kowhai Festival Society $1500 towards sound system at Huge Day Out • Lifeway Youth Trust $1500 towards staging Skyfawkes in November 2010 • Mahurangi Christian Community Trust $1500 towards purchase of recreational room equipment • Mahurangi East Bowling Club $5000 for water storage tanks • Mahurangi East Tennis Club $5000 towards hot mix surface for three new tennis courts • Mahurangi Kindergarten $1200 towards new family play equipment • North Rodney Blue Light $2500 towards salary, training and travel costs for full-time community youth co-ordinator • Special Olympics Warkworth $2000 for uniforms and golf coaching • Te Hana Community Development Charitable Trust $500 for photocopying • Tiny Tumblers (Mahurangi Gymnastics Club) $500 for equipment • Warkworth Aikido Kyu Shin Do $225 for training mats • Warkworth and Districts Push Play Collective $634 towards training workshops, Activity Directory and development of free website and social sport competition • Wellsford District Sport & Recreation Collective $1000 towards Have-a-go day • Women’s Centre Rodney $2000 towards Young Mothers’ Educational Programme and library service • SK8 Snells Club $3000
for construction of manual pad and fun box.
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Banks bids for Mahu mayoralty
Auckland Mayor John Banks began with tales of his dubious beginnings in business and ended with politics when he spoke at Orewa last month.
Mr Banks was invited to speak at the new head office of Bayleys North of Auckland, and the real estate firm’s co-owner Mark Macky introduced him to colleagues and clients as “the leading candidate to be Mayor of the super city”. ‘Banksie’ had his feet squarely on the campaign trail.
“I want to be Mayor for Rodney – for Mahurangi, Woodhill, Stillwater,” he said. “I recognise that all these communities are very different and special, but all will be part of the super city.”
Rodney had suffered from underinvestment, especially in roading, with 600km of unsealed roads in the district. He said they needed to be tarsealed, and quickly added “I’m not promising that tonight” when his audience stood to attention and someone called out, “you’ve got my vote!”
Auckland would be home to 45 percent of New Zealand’s population within 50 years and Rodney would contribute a large part of that growth.
“Rodney’s governance needs to be led by someone who is commercial and gets on with core business. The culture of the next Auckland Council must be very pro-business, pro-growth, pro-jobs, as opposed to saying ‘these are the rules and we are here to enforce them’.”
He was unable to reassure his audience that rates would not rise, saying that meshing the six existing rating methods would be a complex and controversial task. But he added that under his five years of leadership, Auckland rates had not increased beyond inflation, even though this year the city will spend more on capital works than Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin combined.
“Everything we do in the context of Rodney coming into the city must be fair and equitable and represent good value for money,” he said.
Although the city needed massive infrastructure investment, he said it would not be fair to spend all the money in one place and Rodney must be better off with a bigger rating base.
“You can never win an argument that you’re better off when you’re funded by fewer people.”
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Mayor digs science at Goat Island marine lab
 Leigh Marine Laboratory’s plans to introduce schoolchildren to ‘real science’ moved a step closer last month with a sod-turning ceremony for stage two of its $14 million building project.
Rodney Mayor Penny Webster put spade to earth to mark the beginning of construction on a new science block. The stage one accommodation block is complete and the former bunkrooms were being demolished to make way for the research building, which is expected to open by the end of May 2010.
At that stage the existing science block will be pulled down to make way for stage three, an interpretive centre designed to give visitors – and children in particular – a close-up experience of marine life. Leigh Marine Laboratory director John Montgomery says the centre will run a joint programme with Otago University’s Portobello Marine Laboratory and include features such as ‘touch tanks’ into which visitors can reach to feel flora and fauna found on the rocky shore.
Snorkelers will be invited to climb from the beach to the centre via a ‘snorkel trail’, which will allow them to identify and name the species they have seen in the water. The trail will be of equal interest to landlubbers, with maps detailing the area’s history and geology and its connection to the Poor Knights, Kermadecs and wider Oceania. The landward side of the centre will focus on the science being pursued in the laboratory.
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon says too few children in New Zealand are interested in science.
“We’ll turn them on to real science and get them hands-on,” he says. “It’s good when they can learn science without realising that’s what they’re doing.”
In recognition of its largest donor, the centre will be called the Edith Winstone Blackwell Trust Interpretive Centre.Leigh Marine Laboratory’s plans to introduce schoolchildren to ‘real science’ moved a step closer last month with a sod-turning ceremony for stage two of its $14 million building project.
Rodney Mayor Penny Webster put spade to earth to mark the beginning of construction on a new science block. The stage one accommodation block is complete and the former bunkrooms were being demolished to make way for the research building, which is expected to open by the end of May 2010.
At that stage the existing science block will be pulled down to make way for stage three, an interpretive centre designed to give visitors – and children in particular – a close-up experience of marine life. Leigh Marine Laboratory director John Montgomery says the centre will run a joint programme with Otago University’s Portobello Marine Laboratory and include features such as ‘touch tanks’ into which visitors can reach to feel flora and fauna found on the rocky shore.
Snorkelers will be invited to climb from the beach to the centre via a ‘snorkel trail’, which will allow them to identify and name the species they have seen in the water. The trail will be of equal interest to landlubbers, with maps detailing the area’s history and geology and its connection to the Poor Knights, Kermadecs and wider Oceania. The landward side of the centre will focus on the science being pursued in the laboratory.
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon says too few children in New Zealand are interested in science.
“We’ll turn them on to real science and get them hands-on,” he says. “It’s good when they can learn science without realising that’s what they’re doing.”
In recognition of its largest donor, the centre will be called the Edith Winstone Blackwell Trust Interpretive Centre.
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Fight for Rodney’s rural character heading for court
Opponents of the proposed Omaha Park development are marshalling their forces for a February showdown in the Environment Court.
Omaha Beach Community Inc (OBC), Auckland Regional Council and Rodney District Council are jointly opposing a multi-million dollar development that would irreversibly compromise the rural landscape of Tawharanui Peninsula.
Omaha Park Inc barrister Richard Brabant told an Omaha Planning Forum on November 21 that despite suggestions that the development might be revised prior to the court hearing, pre-hearing evidence showed little change.
“The 200-bed proposal for Tiki Point, above Pink Beach, has been dropped, but a 120-bed accommodation facility has now been proposed for the commercial centre,” he said.
Omaha Park Ltd hopes to develop 650 hectares on Tawharanui Peninsula, between Omaha Beach, Takatu Road and the Tawharanui Regional Park, with residential and commercial development. In late 2006, Council rejected the re-zoning application, which sought a private plan change. The applicant, Porter and Sons, appealed the decision and the Environment Court hearing will start on February 15.
OBC, ARC and Council will together call 19 expert witnesses including Boffa Miskell landscape planner John Goodwin, traffic engineer John Parlane and planner David Meade, of Phil Young Cooper.
OBC president Graham Painter told the meeting the fighting fund was “trucking along well” with donations ranging from $100 to $5000. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the hearing in Auckland. Info: www.omahabeach.co.nz
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Warkworth gives Mayor message on Atlas site
The Atlas site was back on the agenda of a well-attended Warkworth Liaison Group last month and the message to Mayor Penny Webster could not have been clearer – the community wants to keep the land.
The meeting of about 45 people passed a resolution similar to one made a month earlier, that the group categorically opposes the sale of the site and wants it removed from the list of Council-owned properties to be sold. Cr June Turner has been fighting to retain the site on State Highway 1 north of Warkworth to help address a shortage of recreational land in northern Rodney.
Cr Webster told the meeting that Rodney District Council bought the site to provide a pedestrian link between the showgrounds and the township. That strategic purpose could still be achieved by making it a condition of any sale, she said.
Omaha resident Margaret Simpson pointed out that there were two other reasons for buying the Atlas site. She quoted from the Warkworth Show Grounds Reserve Management Plan, which states that Council bought the site in February 2004 for “enabling improved pedestrian access from the town to the reserve, providing an opportunity to enhance the northern entrance to Warkworth, and to provide additional land for the Warkworth Show Grounds Reserve”.
Cr Webster said it was best for Rodney to go into the Auckland super city with as little debt as possible.
“We haven’t got the money to finish developing the showgrounds. Is it better to sell some pieces of land so we can finish some things or hang on to land that we can’t afford to do anything with?”
When businessman Dennis Brown asked if that meant the sale proceeds might be used to finish the showgrounds, she said, “No, I didn’t say that”.
“That property has to be sold to balance the budget and if it is not sold we will have to change the LTCCP, which means we have to go out and consult with the community again.”
That could potentially lead to a rate increase, she said.
Resident and planning consultant Bruce Manson said he did not recall that piece of land being specifically named in the Long Term Council Community Plan and, in any case, the plan was not cast in concrete and could be changed as part of the annual plan process.
• At a recent Council workshop Councillors discussed the results of a Warkworth recreational needs survey. Cr June Turner says the agenda was confidential but the community will be pleased with
the proposed provision of recreational land.
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Staff stand out in pink
 School support staff are accustomed to working in the background but the team at Warkworth Primary School made sure they were visible on November 27.
Along with support staff at other schools throughout the country, they wore pink and black for a day to draw attention to the lack of progress in ongoing pay negotiations.
The 14 support staff at Warkworth School, including secretaries, reception and administration workers, teacher aides and librarian, recently attended a one-hour paid union meeting to discuss the zero percent wage rise offered by the Government, and agreed to take part in the day of action.
The union, NZ Educational Institute, says support staff are essential in supporting children’s learning but they are among the lowest paid workforces in the country – many earning as little as $12.94 an hour – and have been fighting for years to have their skills acknowledged and valued.
Their collective agreement expired in March and so far the Government has not tabled an offer that, with inflation taken into account, maintains the current value of their wages.
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Wharf fuel flows again
Leigh’s commercial fishermen have taken control of their fuel supply following the end of deliveries by Caltex.
With the help of Leigh Motors owner Steve Paddison, the fishermen have retained the existing 30,000-litre wharf tank and pump and found a new diesel supplier – CRT Fuel, which is based in Dunedin.
Leigh Fishermen’s Association member Ron Perry says the eftpos-only pump will benefit the whole community, and encourages all boaties – and even vehicle owners – to use it as much as possible to cover the considerable cost of maintaining the supply.
“We’re an incorporated society and are not doing this to make a profit,” Ron says. “We are really only covering costs and maintenance.”
Leigh Motors fills its diesel tank from the wharf supply and owner Steve Paddison installed a new double-skinned fibreglass tank at the wharf 10 years ago. He has now donated that tank to the fishermen’s group; without his generosity the project would not have been feasible, Ron says.
Rodney District Council has given the fishermen six months rent-free on the land the pump sits on.
“They were charging $3600 a year before,” Ron says. “We hope to renegotiate in six months to get as close to zero rent as we can.”
About 25 commercial fishermen operate in Leigh Harbour, and there is no other permanent fuel supply for boaties between Gulf Harbour and Tutukaka.
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Girls sailing champs launched in Algies Bay
 Red and blue sails billowed in Kawau Bay recently as 10 secondary school sailing teams, including one from Australia, competed in the Koru Knitwear Girls’ Championships.
Held in conjunction with the Teams Racing Association Spring Regatta, the sailing event brought teams from throughout New Zealand – including Hawke’s Bay and the South Island – to the first outing in the competitive teams sailing season. For the six sailors from Brisbane it was a rare chance to test their skills against nine other teams – secondary school sailing is a fledgling sport in Australia and competitions are hard to find.
With one day lost due to forecast high winds, two round robins of racing were completed. Napier Girls won the inaugural Girls Champs ahead of Moreton Bay Girls from Australia, and New Plymouth Girls third. Kerikeri High School teams showed good depth of ability, taking the first two places of the Spring Regatta ahead of Napier Girls and Lindisfarne College.
Ironically, the top sailors from Mahurangi College – David Hazard, Callum Jones, Grant Hamilton, Ian Paterson, Alice Noyer, Paul Hazard and Donna Hamilton – were unavailable for the championship as they were competing in the Interdominion Schools Team Racing Championships in Brisbane at the time. New Zealand retained the trophy after three days of sailing, with Mahurangi coming third to Hutchins School (Tasmania) first and Tauranga Boys High (NZ) second overall. Mahurangi College is currently placed second in NZ.
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Mahurangi College awards outstanding scholars
It’s never too late to stop learning, and it’s never too early to start. That was the message delivered by two speakers at the Mahurangi College senior prizegiving on November 10.
Rodney Mayor Penny Webster told the assembled students that her father learnt to use a computer at the age of 90 and, with her help, wrote his autobiography at 91.
“So try everything and never stop learning,” she said.
The second part of the message came from Professor John Montgomery, director of the University of Auckland Marine Laboratory at Leigh. He stressed the importance of developing a skill base that would allow school leavers to contribute in their chosen area.
“Get inspired, get a skill, then get on with it; getting inspired is often the hardest of the three” he said. “Penny said it’s never too late to learn; I’m saying it’s never too early to start.”
Dux – Melody Freeth; Proxime Accessit – Gabrielle Holdgate.
Sport and Cultural Awards
Keith Edmonds Memorial Cup for Sportsman of the Year, James Holder; Frost Plate for Sportswoman of the Year, Stacey Martin; Moira Atkinson Trophy for the Cultural Person of the Year, Alice Mitchell.
Awards for Academic Excellence
Academic Achievement in Level 1 (Highest Grade Point Average in top 100 credits) – Gray Davies, Eloise Docking, Hannah Lee, Leon Wardenaar.
Year 12, Academic Achievement in Level 2 (Highest Grade Point Average in top 100 credits) – Stephanie Baddock, Manu Lange, Jimmy Scott, Emma Wrigglesworth.
Special Awards
Highest Grade Point Average in 2008 NCEA Level 3 – Sara Mills; Year 11 – Diligence in Adversity, Thomas Sharp-Riley; Diligence in Level 1, Jamie Flack, Hannah Lee; Year 12 – Award for Science, Samuel Clack; Diligence in Workshop Technology, Scott Ayers; Diligence in Year 12, Shanee Mabbett, Zachary Shilston; Prize for Technical Subjects, Wade Cornall; Art Award, Miki Pogoni.
Special Awards Year 13
Student who has excelled in Manaaki tanga, Stacey Martin; Student Learning Centre pupil who is diligent and shows a caring and positive attitude, Melody MacKenzie, Jeremy Nasey; Initiative in Design Technology, Kelsie Steward; Award for Biology, Keryn Bell; Prize for Pure Science, Melody Freeth; Award for Science and Mathematics, Prize for Physics, Annaliese Basevi; Prize for Mathematics, Dominic Smith; Most deserving student in Information Management, Michelle Maclean; Award for Senior Art, Nicola Sandford, Jodie Heron; ARC Tawharanui Regional Park Conservation and Paper Plus Award, Callum Jones, Karl Bottema; Diligence in Year 13, Nicola Kelsey; Prize in Year 13 Chemistry, Rodney Masonic Lodge prize for the senior boy who shows the most initiative, self-reliance and consideration for others, Marshall Palmer; Granville Shield for Civic Responsibilities both in and outside of school, Lewis Wynne; Senior girl who shows the most initiative, self-reliance and consideration for others, Ariana Mirus; Best All-Rounder, Gabrielle Holdgate; Mahurangi College PTA prize for Head Boy, Jordan Endemann; Mahurangi College PTA prize for Head Girl, Imogen Edwards.
Academic and Scholarships
ASB Scholarships, (based on 2008 NCEA results) value $150 – Annelise Basevi, Tessa Davie-Martin, Melody Freeth, Ian Paterson; The Carmen Lees BPW Study Award (for student studying in the health industry) value $125 – India Evans, Kimberley Frost; Argyle Manufacturing Scholarship (for academic achievement in 2009) value $250 – Annelise Basevi, Kelsey Stewart; Dolly Wynyard Trust Scholarships (for art or music) value $1000 – Mia Bernard, Georgia Robertson, Mikayla Thomas, Kylie Vujcich; value 1250 – Nicola Sandford, Jodie Heron, Alice Mitchell, Erin Inglis. Value $3250 – Glen Downie; David Sheat Memorial Scholarship (Rotary) value $1000 – Gabrielle Holdgate; The Gladys Partridge Scholarship (inaugural award for student planning a career in health) value $1500 – Charlotte Baikie; Rodney District Council Scholarship (for academic achievement and contribution to the college) value $2000- Annelise Basevi, Imogen Edwards; Auckland University Of Technology Community Partnership Scholarships (for student of Ngati Whatua descent) value $15,700, Peta Jordan; (for student who has overcome a health issue) value $15,700, Callum Jones; AUT Significant Student Scholarship (for leadership and achievement) value $15,700, Donna Hamilton; AUT Vice Chancellor Scholarship (for academic excellence) value $15,700, Tessa Davie-Martin; University Of Auckland Jubilee Award (for academic merit), Kelsie Stewart; The University Of Auckland Scholarship value $35,000(includes $2500 annual allowance, and mentoring), Melody Freeth; Lincoln University Future Leaders Scholarship value $16,500, Jordan Endemann; Sir George Elliot Scholarship (three awards a year throughout New Zealand) value $25,000.
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New breastscreen unit to launch in Wellsford
Wellsford women will be the first in New Zealand to have the benefit of faster, fully digital breastscreening in a mobile clinic.
Breastscreen Aotearoa has just completed its first mobile digital unit and will launch it in Wellsford from January 11 to 15.
The advantage of the digital technology is that the operator can see the images immediately and check that they are clear enough, avoiding the need for women to return a second time if an image is blurred, as sometimes happens with the old, ‘film’ technology.
BreastScreen Waitemata/Northland programme manager Moira McLeod says digital screening is also faster, which means more women can be seen in the week the unit is in town. The new mobile unit can offer mammograms for up to 40 women a day and is nicer than its predecessor, with bigger changing rooms and a private waiting area.
“We hope to get it to Wellsford a few days early, about January 7, for a blessing and welcome, because this is its first outing,” Moira says.
“There is a fixed breastscreen site in Warkworth but this is really about taking the service to women in small rural towns.”
The unit will be parked outside the Wellsford Community Centre for a week and women can make appointments by calling 0800 270 200. After Wellsford, the unit will go on to Dargaville and then Kaiwaka.
Women aged 45 to 69 are entitled to a free mammogram every two years.
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Rodney considers new rules for rural land use
The days of securing additional land titles by setting aside areas of bush may be drawing to a close in Rodney.
A draft rural strategy that looks at how rural land is used, developed and protected will be released for public comment early next year.
Rodney District Council senior policy planner Ian Bayliss says the draft looks at issues such as subdivision in rural areas.
“Several aspects of the District Plan’s philosophy may have had their time,” he says. “For instance, it’s questionable whether there is any long-term cost/benefit of continuing the trade-off of subdivision in return for environmental conservation.”
Mr Bayliss says research, together with public consultation and stakeholder feedback, are being used to develop the strategy, which has a 25-year timeframe. He says a study of the rural economy, an analysis of rural landscapes and a study of the lifestyle preferences of rural landowners were used to establish some key issues.
The objectives of the District Plan were compared with the outcomes on the ground, including analysis of how much subdivision can be undertaken under the current rules and where this is likely to be located.
“Identification of environmental issues, development issues, land use change and Council’s experience with resource management issues helped identify a starting point for discussion.”
Rates and regulations in rural areas will also come under scrutiny.
Assisting with the draft strategy is a reference group, comprising representatives of Federated Farmers, Forest & Bird, viticulturalists, horticulturalist, large farm owners and lifestyle block owners, as well as government departments.
Mr Bayliss says that as a result of the group’s input, the draft strategy will also look at a more tailored approach to zoning and local identity, an issue that has come into sharper focus with the looming super city amalgamation.
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Marine users call for marinas and dredging
Auckland Regional Council will be asked to review its mooring arrangements in Rodney following the results of a Mooring and Marine User Survey.
Rodney District Council distributed 1298 surveys in May to mooring holders, local boat clubs and other marine users, and received 266 responses. The survey requested feedback on moorings, navigational aids, holding tanks, marinas, breakwaters and dredging.
Council currently manages 987 licensed moorings on the eastern coastline, and there are 300 people on the waiting list. Despite this, less than half of those surveyed wanted additional moorings provided.
Senior parks and coastal planning engineer Cameron Walker told Council that this probably demonstrated that although there was a significant waiting list, there was unlikely to be additional room to accommodate more moorings.
He said some mooring sites, such as at Tindalls Bay and Wenderholm, were under-utilised, often because the mooring area was not practically useable.
“There may be space available for some expansion at Mahurangi West, Mahurangi East and Omaha,” Mr Walker said in his report.
Just over 70 percent of respondents wanted more marinas, particularly at Sandspit, and 65 percent wanted more dredging, particularly at Sandspit and in the Mahurangi River.
Council had started background work to consider dredging the Mahurangi River to make it more navigable. However, disposal of dredging soil was the main issue.
Cr Ross Craig said he was familiar with Mahurangi West and supportive of the idea of more boating facilities there, because boaties coming from the south could launch without putting more pressure on Warkworth traffic.
He suggested that the answer to the dredging spoil problem could be to dump it on an old oyster research facility in Pukapuka Road.
In response to a question from Cr Grahame Powell, regarding the mini tanker trial to meet refuelling demands at Sandspit, Mr Walker said the success of the trial would be evaluated.
“It is going well, apart from the fact boaties don’t have access to fuel 24/7,” Mr Walker said. “They seem happy with the arrangements and I imagine it will continue until something better can be figured out.”
Suggested locations for more breakwaters included Gulf Harbour, Leigh, Algies Bay and Sandspit.
A simplified version of the survey will be conducted within the South Kaipara Harbour via Coastguard, sports fishing club and user groups.
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Not a dry shirt in sight on Mahurangi rafts
 There was no shortage of water for the inaugural Barfoot and Thompson Raft Race in Warkworth last month.
Just in case some of the rafters failed to fall into the Mahurangi River, volunteers from the Warkworth Fire Brigade kept a hose trained on the action to ensure they all got wet. For the few entrants who pulled out at the last minute because of the weather, rain showers would have been the least of their worries.
The rafts, made mostly of polystyrene, bamboo and inflatable rings, had no trouble staying afloat – but some of the crews spent more time off them than on as they dodged flying porridge and pirate invaders. While the raft war raged on the river, spectators on the wharf were entertained by Auckland band ‘Austin Road’ and fed on barbecued sausages.
Pete Taylor of Barfoot and Thompson says he plans to make the raft race an annual event to get more people enjoying the river and just having fun. Every entrant and most spectators received a prize, including many donated by Mitre 10 and ‘raft race survivor’ t shirts printed by Barfoots.
The Barfoot and Thompson team won the race, but the best raft prize went to the Pink Dragons, made up of five Year 6 boys from Warkworth School.
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Briefs
All aboard for transport
Anyone with an interest in how Auckland’s public transport is managed and developed is invited to comment on the draft Auckland Regional Public Transport Plan. The Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy calls for a significant increase in investment in public transport over the next decade and beyond, and the draft plan sets out how this investment should be spent. It includes a set of priorities for developing the region’s public transport system which include an integrated and efficient network of services, and an integrated system of fares and ticketing. Consultation on the draft plan closes on December 24. Info: draftrptp@arta.co.nz or www.arta.co.nz
Bridging loan for wharf
Residents of Puhoi involved in the Puhoi Wharf Project have been given a six-month extension on their interest-free loan from Rodney District Council. They now have until June 30 to repay the $21,700 outstanding on the original loan of $30,000. The money is being used to build two wharves – a community facility on the reserve side of the river and a smaller wharf with historical significance on the township side. Wharf Project coordinator Larry Mitchell says he is confident that fundraising and other initiatives will cover the loan, as donations were continuing to be received.
Innovative stocktake
A stocktake of all the environmental monitoring being carried out in the Rodney District has identified where the gaps are and suggested ways to make information easier to access. One recommendation is that landscape assessments provided with resource consent applications be extracted and stored on a searchable database. The report is the first of its kind for Rodney District Council and Cr Zane Taylor says it is attracting interest from other councils that can see its potential in managing policy and infrastructure, and processing resource consents.
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