Sign In / Register
Students waiting for the school bus will keep safe and dry this winter, under new shelters installed thanks to Mangawhai Rotary Club.
Three bus shelters were constructed early last month on two corners along Mangawhai Heads Road, with a third on Kings Road next to the lane leading to the Tanekaha Walking Track. A fourth shelter was planned along Molesworth Drive, but has been put on hold due to ongoing development in the area.
Mangawhai Rotary chair Howard Jury says the club started the process of establishing the 1.5 x 2.3 metre bus shelters more than two years ago, following a Facebook post that invited the community to share project ideas based on local needs.
“Among a list of suggestions was that there were no bus stops for the kids, particularly over the winter, which led us to get in touch with Leabourn Buses to determine the best locations,” Jury said.
Constructed by Totalspan Rodney, the project was part of the company’s NZ’s Undercover Kids Bus Shelter Programme, which began in 2008 and involves suppliers, community groups, councils and government agencies providing safe shelters for rural and provincial schoolchildren.
“Rotary organised several necessary resource consents and a license-to-occupy the roadside areas, which all took a bit of time,” Jury says. “As the cost of the shelters had risen in the few years between quoting and ordering, Totalspan Rodney very kindly held the original price, which was great.”
The project received incredible community support, starting with Mangawhai Op Shop awarding Rotary a grant to buy the shelters and contractors generously donating their time and skills – BSG Civil dug the sites at no charge, Mangawhai’s Firth concrete provided concrete at no cost, and Waipu company Dancrete laid it for free.
“Whangarei-based T8 Traffic Control Ltd gave us a good deal on the traffic management and to their credit, Kaipara council came to the party and covered the resource consent costs.”
The shelters have been well-received by the community, with one local posting on social media that the shelters were “a total game changer for winter!”
