Leigh volunteers celebrate new fire rig

The long-awaited arrival of fire truck 941 in Leigh will be marked with an open day at the station on Saturday, April 29.

The new $400,000 Type 1 diesel appliance makes good a promise made to the station by Fire & Emergency a decade ago.

“It’s been a bit of a wait, but we’re just really pleased its finally here,” chief fire officer Kevin Lawton says. “It will give us a professional image and is a lot safer and more comfortable for the crews.”

Deputy chief Nick Torkington added that the new truck also has significantly more storage space for hoses and safety gear, portable pumps, first responder units and chainsaws, plus it can carry 2000 litres of water.

The brigade currently has 22 volunteer firefighters including three women, which is higher than the national average. The volunteers are aged from their late teens to early 70s and represent a variety of occupations, from tradies and farmers to landscapers and people who work at the marine laboratory at Goat Island.

“The station was renovated about five years ago, which lifted morale and the arrival of this new truck will, again, bring a new level of enthusiasm,” Lawton says. “It feels like a bit of a reward for the job the volunteers do and that our contribution is appreciated.”

Due to its relative isolation from an ambulance station, Leigh is a first response station with 16 of its team trained by St John. Lawton says about 60 per cent of its callouts are medical.

“If an ambulance is available to respond from Warkworth, it takes about 25 minutes to get to here, but often the ambulances have to come from much further afield so it’s pretty important that we have the medical training to respond.”

Last year, the brigade attended 111 incidents, but this year they have already recorded 65 callouts, mainly due to the weather events at the start of the year.

“We were full-on for about 12 hours during the storms, dealing mainly with fallen trees and downed power lines, as well as helping where houses had lost their roofs.”

When the phones and internet went down, Lawton and Torkington manned the station all night so people could knock on the door if they needed help.

“We’ve been working hard on upgrading our equipment and can thank the community for its support in this regard. Money donated locally has helped us buy

Open Day

The Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade will celebrate the arrival of its new truck with an open day on April 29. The day will feature demonstrations of the station’s breathing apparatus and line rescue gear, and visitors will have the opportunity to have a go at CPR. The kitchen fire demonstration unit will also be on site and there will be a sausage sizzle. It will also be an opportunity for anyone who might be interested in joining the team to have a chat about what’s involved in being a volunteer firefighter. The open day will run from 10am to 2pm.

things like the CPR mannequins. Our next goal is to get an all-terrain mule stretcher. It’s a rig with only one wheel, which makes it easier to transport people along tracks and up stairs.”

Assistant Commander Katie Pocock says that in recent times, the Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade has been responding to more calls and the Leigh community have been relying on it more.

“The Leigh brigade has a long history of supporting their community and it has been an absolute privilege to watch them receive this exciting new resource. I know that the brigade and community will benefit from this investment,” she says.

From Snells Beach café to Montessori classroom?

The former Bayside Bistro in Snells Beach could become a Montessori primary school if the Ministry of Education and Auckland Council give their consent.

Nikau School has acquired the beach front restaurant at the bottom of Kokihi Lane, following its closure as a café restaurant in December, and wants to provide Montessori and outdoor education for up to 20 five to nine year olds. School founder Joy Leigh has been working to set up an independent school

Kaipara fee rise

Fees and charges across Kaipara are set to rise by 7.2 per cent from July 1. This covers everything from dog registrations to venue hire and building consent fees. Kaipara District Council is asking the community for feedback on the proposed charges before May 12. The full schedule of fees and charges with the proposed increases can be read on the council website kaipara. govt.nz

Storm response thanks

Rodney Local Board members have taken a moment to thank Auckland Emergency Management for their work following the recent flood and cyclone events. Speaking at the beginning of their monthly meeting on April 19, chair Brent Bailey said everyone on the board wanted to acknowledge the “extremely valuable and greatly appreciated” efforts of all involved. “While we all have experiences to review and feedback to provide, this in no way diminishes our respect for the effort and service contributed by Auckland Emergency Management leadership and staff,” he said.

Country trek for Minister

Not surprisingly, roading and infrastructure issues dominated discussions when Auckland Minister Michael Wood visited Tapora on April 14 to see the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle and to meet with affected locals.. The meeting was organised by MP Marja Lubeck and included representatives from Ahuroa and Kaipara Hills. Lubeck felt the talks had been positive and she was hopeful of some good outcomes as a result.

Library celebrates

The Wellsford Memorial Library will celebrate its first decade with a fun day on July 1. The day will mark the building’s opening on June 14, 2013, as well as the central role the library plays in the district.

for more than a year, largely as a result of the changes and challenges in education brought about by the covid pandemic.

The news that a school could replace the former bistro has been met with disappointment by some local residents, with several opining on local social media pages that it is either the wrong place for a school or should remain as one of the few beach front cafes in the region. However, others say it is an ideal spot for primary aged children to learn. Leigh said last week she was reserving comment until the school was granted consents, a process which could take up to 10 weeks.

Bayside first opened as a restaurant in March 2019 but closed a year later just as covid started to hit. It was taken over in February 2021 by Susan and Desmond Vize, owners of Warkworth’s Chocolate Brown, and stayed open until their business went into voluntary administration in December.