100 issues and growing strong

The Rangitoto Observer newspaper you are reading this week is our 100th edition. We thank you for spending your time with us and helping our publication cement its place in the local community.

Our first issue (pictured right) was published on 15 March 2019. It now seems aeons ago since co-owners Rob Drent and Peter Wilson took a punt that readers would respond to local news and advertisers appreicate a targeted market.

So it has proved. Despite testing times through the Covid pandemic and climatic challenges we haven’t missed a deadline.

We’re not having a party to celebrate our 100th – somehow it doesn’t seem the right time for that with so many people, including in our own area, dealing with stressful circumstances – but we are treating the milestone as one to quietly note and build on.

It is a chance for our small team to reconfirm our commitment to telling the stories that matter in our area and to listen to what our readers would like more of.

Here’s to the next 100 issues.

– Janetta Mackay, Editor

Tonnes of waste cleared, but big bill looms for marina

Over 100 tonnes of waste was cleared from the mouth of the Wairau Creek and Milford Beach last week in the clean-up following Cyclone Gabrielle and earlier flooding.

But it is believed restoring the Milford Marina to its previous condition could cost up to $500,000 due to “islands” left by floodwaters. Waste on the creek banks and beach after successive bouts of heavy rain and the cyclone’s high winds included silt, mud, tree branches, shopping trolleys and fences.

Milford Mariners, the society that manages the marina, began the clean-up with a primary focus of clearing the creek bed so boats could get in and out of the marina.

A further 50 to 80 tonnes of waste is expected to be cleared from the beach and creek banks.

Work can only be undertaken at the marina for fours a day around low tide, so the group spent the rest of its time clearing the waste and debris from the beach close to the creek mouth.

Mariners president Glenn Cupit said the clean-up started with clearing the channel so boats could get out of the marina but grew with community support.

“Something needed to be done, because all the plastic, branches and seaweed mixed together, once it’s been sitting there, it reeks and it’s not that healthy to be around.”

Auckland Council granted permission for the use of excavators on the waste piles, provided trucks to take away the waste, and isn’t charging dumping fees.

The society has to pay expensive dumping fees for their regular marina dredging, due to the toxic substances that wash downstream from the Wairau catchment area. It has been fighting the cost of dumping fees for years.

It is paying equipment costs of around $20,000 for the clean-up. The Milford Cruising Club and others are taking donations and providing volunteer time to the effort.

Cupit said efforts had been focused mainly around the creek mouth but “acres of waste” would need to be cleared from the rest of the estuary.

The marina itself would need dredging as some boats couldn’t be moved due to rubbish and waste piling up beneath them.

Cupit said in some places the water depth has gone from 2m to 20cm due to the “islands of sand and gravel” that have formed.

The society is holding off dredging due to the cost of equipment required.

The co-chair of the Milford Residents Association, Norma Bott, said it was also planning community clean-up days to clear the estuary of waste.

“We’ll start with one clean-up and see how long it’ll take and how many clean-ups we’ll have to do to clear it all.”

It would be a major undertaking, she said., with dates to be decided soon.

Discussions had to be held with council, Healthy Waters and local boards to find out why the damage happened and how it can be prevented in the future.