Viewpoint – Turning plans into progress

There has been plenty happening at Council over the last few months, and it is good to see a number of projects we have been talking about for some time completed and being used by the community.

Probably the most noticeable locally is the full reopening of Mangawhai Road following major slip repairs. This has been a long-running issue since Cyclone Gabrielle, and I know the closure and detours were frustrating for a lot of people.

What perhaps wasn’t as obvious was the scale of the engineering required. The ground was continuing to move and the final solution involved anchored piles and a reinforced wall and slope rather than simply rebuilding the road. Mangawhai Road was the largest of more than 70 significant slip repairs Council has dealt with across Kaipara following the major weather events of recent years.

It is great to have the road properly repaired rather than relying on another temporary fix, and I want to acknowledge the patience of everyone who had to deal with the disruption while the work was underway.

Another very visible improvement is the completion of the Mangawhai Heads Surf Beach carpark upgrade. This has added 67 parking spaces, including four additional accessible spaces, along with a dedicated bus drop-off area and a larger bus parking area.

Anyone who has tried to get a park at the surf beach over summer knows the pressure that area comes under. It won’t solve every parking issue on a busy January day, but it is a practical improvement that should make a real difference. It is also good to see a local contractor, Wharehine, delivering the work.

A significant amount of my time recently has been spent on Northland Waters. I was appointed as one of Kaipara District Council’s representatives on the Northland Waters shareholder representative group, alongside Mayor Jonathan Larsen.

Northland Waters is jointly and equally owned by Kaipara, Whangārei and Far North District Councils and is due to take over delivery of drinking water and wastewater services from July next year.

The shareholder representative group sits between the three councils as owners and the independent Northland Waters board. Our job isn’t to run the organisation day to day, but to make sure the board understands what its shareholders expect and to monitor performance and risk. For me, it is also important to ensure Kaipara’s interests remain well represented as this new organisation is established.

There is a huge amount of work involved in transferring three councils’ water operations into one organisation. Northland Waters now has its board in place and Kate Simmonds has recently started as chief executive. My focus throughout this process remains pretty straightforward — reliable services, sensible investment and making sure the new structure ultimately delivers value for Kaipara ratepayers.

More broadly, Council is now beginning work on the next Long Term Plan, which will set our direction for 2027–2037. We have adopted a new vision of “Kaipara – grow and thrive here”, with better roading, affordable living, a stronger local economy, vibrant communities and a healthy environment as the key outcomes.

There will be plenty more discussion around that over the coming months. As always, my focus will be on practical outcomes, affordability and making sure Mangawhai and the wider Kaipara district continue to get a fair return from the rates we all pay.