Mahurangi Matters_Issue 455_22 May 2023

Further delays in delivering on-demand buses

A decision to pause spending $2.55 million on a three-year on-demand bus trial for Warkworth, Leigh and Sandspit was approved unanimously by Rodney Local Board last week.

Warkworth members want to investigate whether at least some of that transport targeted rate money could be spent on improving unsealed roads, and if the bus trial could be provided or funded by

alternative means.

The move to reconsider how the money might be spent was prompted by the exceptional floods and storms from January onwards, which left many rural roads wrecked and some communities isolated.

Warkworth board members Ivan Wagstaff and Michelle Carmichael and Kumeu member Geoff Upson led the initial charge to see if targeted rate money not yet

spent could be reallocated to benefit more residents over a wider area.

Bureaucratic procedural issues saw two separate attempts to discuss the issue at meetings straight after the storms thwarted (MM, Mar 13 and 27), but following a workshop in March, a report was compiled and presented by Auckland Transport (AT) at the board meeting last week.

AT programme director Jeremy Pellow

said there was a $50 million flood recovery budget for Rodney being sought from Waka Kotahi, but AT would certainly consider using board funding for unsealed road improvement, although details and process would need to be considered –members couldn’t just “pick favourites”. Originally, board members were recommended simply either to cancel

Auckland Transport disputes slip responsibility

A Warkworth couple is at their wit’s end trying to motivate Auckland Transport (AT) to fix an eroding bank on their boundary, which they say is owned by AT. However, AT says it is not their problem. During heavy rain earlier this month, part of the bank in front of Jo and Matt Wildermoth’s home collapsed, taking their gardening shed and equipment with it, and blocking one lane of Whitaker Road for several hours.

Jo says the slip was no surprise.

“We first brought the instability of the bank to AT’s attention seven years ago and a similar slip happened three years ago,” she says. The couple is asking AT to continue the gabion wall that already protects neighbouring properties.

“Plenty of council people have been to inspect it, but they go away and nothing is done.

“We spent thousands of dollars putting

road. continued page 3

It is not the first time the bank in Whitaker Road has slipped onto the

Contact us

17 Neville Street, Warkworth, 0941 ph 09 425 9068

Board votes to revisit bus trial funding targets

funding the on-demand bus service trial or continue with it. However, Wagstaff said they were not trying to cancel the bus trial, just take a closer look at what was best for the community, and he put forward the alternative recommendation of pausing the trial to investigate further options for improving road surfaces and alternative on-demand buses.

local projects.

However, in the end, all members said that if Warkworth members wanted to revisit how their targeted rate money could be spent, they would support them, and Wagstaff’s amended recommendations were passed unanimously.

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Carmichael said the original decision to fund the trial last year seemed rushed and this was an attempt to remedy that and make the best-informed decision on how best to spend the money. She also hoped there could be flexibility for AT to use local contractors to improve local roads and drains, as well as providing good, flexible public transport options that were equitable with the rest of Auckland.

“I’m kind of getting sick and tired of Rodney being the low-class citizen in our city,” she said.

Several board members expressed concern at the extra delay this process was creating to get any work underway, and warned that whatever was decided, it would all take time. Others wanted reassurance that if money went to AT, it would be spent on

Sue Brodziak and Glyn Williams spoke in favour of on-demand buses.

When Ivan Wagstaff first proposed taking another look at the on-demand bus trial, Rodney Local Board chair Brent Bailey contacted several

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community groups who supported it and encouraged them to make a deputation in support of the project.

One of those who responded was the Summerset Falls residents’ group, and members Glyn Williams and Sue Brodziak appeared at last week’s board meeting. They said an on-demand bus would be a lifeline for the 360 residents, many of whom felt trapped because they couldn’t drive.

“Reluctantly, they have to rely on friends, family and expensive taxis, and even those who drive hesitate because of the speed of traffic on Mansel Drive and parking difficulties in town,” Williams said.

The meeting heard that although there was a Summerset shuttle bus, it could only carry 10 people at a time, and other retirement villages, local businesses and One Mahurangi also supported ondemand buses.

Williams said the service would be good for mental and physical health, road safety and the environment, and urged members to continue with the trial.

Funding request for anniversary festival

A military re-enactment like no other, including bands, vehicles and even a flypast, will be on the cards for Warkworth’s 170th anniversary heritage festival week in November, Rodney Local Board heard last week.

Heritage Mahurangi founder Dave Parker said that as the main celebrations started on Armistice Day, November 11, organisers were working with Warkworth RSA and Major Mark Blythen to plan “the greatest military parade in Warkworth since 1944”, when 5000 US servicemen left town after spending two years in the area.

Parker said other events being planned for the week-long celebration would hopefully include an ecumenical church service, concerts, visits from representatives of sister towns around the

world, and a Mahurangi River pageant, led by a Ngati Manuhiri waka and featuring the Jane Gifford, steamboats and many other craft. Board members heard that closing streets for the parade and other traffic management could cost $4000, which Parker hoped the local board could help support.

“It all needs funding,” he said. “$40,000 would have been ideal for what we want, but we’ve trimmed that to $25,000 and we’ve raised $5000 so far. Any discretionary funds you could find to support us we would really appreciate.”

Parker added that signage, brochures and advertising the various events throughout the anniversary year and festival week would take up much of their spend.

Heritage Mahurangi’s Dave Parker reporting for Local Board duty.

in a retaining wall near our letterbox and planting native trees, and just want a conversation with AT on how we can manage the rest of the bank collaboratively. The latest slip is undermining our driveway and if that goes, we will have no access to our house.

“AT keeps saying it’s not their problem, but we know where our boundary line is and it is their land that is slipping. It is so frustrating that no-one will listen.”

An AT spokesperson says contractors investigated the site and found the slip was caused by a natural event and came from the property onto the road.

“Our road was not damaged, except for the material that came down, so our contractors removed the material to make the road safe,” they said.

“AT has no responsibility to retain this bank or the property. AT will monitor the situation and remove slip material from the road as needed.”

When asked why AT had not responded to approaches from the Wildermoths, AT said it was a private matter.

“AT is responsible for the road and not

private property. They could build one [a retaining wall] themselves if they believe it is necessary.”

Jo says AT is not responding to her calls or emails

“My husband took it upon himself to build a temporary frame and attach some windbreaker mesh to it, for safety and privacy, but this is AT’s responsibility.”

The Wildermoths have contacted MP Marja Lubeck and Auckland Councillor Greg Sayers asking for advice.

“We just don’t know where to go from here.

“At some point we need to make an insurance claim for the loss of the sheds and everything in them, lodge our loss of land with the EQC, and stabilise our driveway and section where the slip occurred. We need to have communication with AT first though, as we have no idea if they even realise that we have lost land and possessions, or if that’s even what we need to do.

“The bank is still very unstable, and not just where the slip occurred, and it’s very likely that it will happen again.”

Urgent help needed to save deteriorating cement works

Vandals are trying to knock down a chimney and walls at the old cement works in Warkworth, a Rodney Local Board meeting heard last week.

Cement works conservation trust founder Tina Earl made a heartfelt plea for urgent help to get the fence surrounding the site fixed, before someone was hurt or the landmark ruins deteriorated even further.

“We’re getting kids going in there,” she said. “Instead of just graffiti, now they’re getting up on the structure and hacking away at a chimney. The metal reinforcing inside it is all rusty and very weak now, and it’s going to fall very soon.

“They’re also going up where the brickwork is very weak and they’re pushing on it, so we’re getting a lot of vandalism. We can’t stop them, but we could at least deter them.”

Earl said it was two years since she’d last spoken to board members and, although she’d had plenty of communication with council heritage and facilities departments, nothing had happened.

Earl said one of the most frustrating aspects was that the trust had volunteers ready to do work to remove rubbish, clear gorse, remove graffiti and fix fencing, but they needed council approval to get on with it.

“It’s Warkworth’s 170th anniversary this year and we’ve been approached by a number of people to offer tours, but we’re not willing to because it’s a tip. It’s horrible down there,” Earl said.

“We’ve had many people come and visit us and make lists of what needs to be done, but nothing has actually happened. We can’t even get council to sign off on a skip for us.

“I know it can’t be preserved and renovated, but it can be stabilised. It requires maintenance and strategic planning. Can we get a commitment to do something?”

Warkworth member Tim Holdgate said council staff had indicated there was a need for work to be done there and that was already underway, so he was surprised to hear nothing had yet happened.

“The health and safety issues are a real concern, for youngsters and anyone else getting onto the site,” he said. Board chair Brent Bailey said the fence was

a community facilities issue and he would contact the department to ask staff about it and have them contact the conservation trust. Later on in the meeting, while works programme funding reallocation was being discussed, members heard from board staff that the cement works were on the work schedule for the next financial year and the year after that.

The slip took out the landowner’s water pipe and exposed the gas pipe at the front of the property.

The garden shed and its contents ended up on the road.

The board meeting heard that vandals were trying to destroy one of the cement works’ chimneys.

Further budget blow-out frustrates Rodney Local Board

Frustrated and grumpy – that was how Rodney Local Board chair Brent Bailey said he felt after Auckland Council announced on May 10 that its budget deficit had plummeted further, from $295 million to $325 million.

In unfortunate timing, the news came out the same day that the Board was voting on its annual budget feedback and workshopping how changes would affect its long-term plan, all of which had been based on the previous deficit figure. Bailey said it was frustrating that months of work by board members and staff to work out where spending could be maintained or cut back would almost certainly need to be carried out again.

“All the work we’ve done in the last few months will probably have to be reviewed,” he said.

“Something has got to change and Rodney Local Board may have to revisit our feedback and we may end up with reductions in key service levels, and I’m not sure if that even will get us back in front of the deficit.”

He said while everyone had known there would be a “storm-related hangover” from the cost of dealing with floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, there were more basic issues stymieing council and its ability to function efficiently.

“Part of the fundamental problem council faces is because of central government

legislative changes that give us additional responsibilities, to do with things like urban development, freshwater standards and biosecurity,” he said.

“We’re having to provide feedback to central government all the time, which means no one at council is doing any work for us while they’re dealing with central government issues.”

He cited the revised Resource Management Act as a prime example of something diverting money and resources away from core council business.

“The RMA has taken us 20 years to implement and produce an effective planning framework and now they want to move the goalposts, and ratepayers end up paying for that,” Bailey said. “Central government doesn’t want voters saying you’re not dealing with things like climate change, or diversity, so they hand it over to council and ratepayers have to pay.”

Bailey said all the Board could do for now was wait to hear what needed to happen next.

“We’ll be waiting for the Mayor and governing body to direct us, we’re still working through the process and still in the workflow we started months ago,” he said.

Feedback from Rodney and all Local Boards was presented to the governing body last Wednesday, May 17.

Key budget feedback voted on by Rodney Local Board members included:

Did not support:

• maintaining the currently reduced number of public transport services

• reducing regional services such as community, education, arts and culture programmes, regional events and other social service activities

• reducing local board-funded activities to save $16 million

• reducing regional contestable grants

• increasing council debt by $75 million

• reducing the Natural Environment and Water Quality Targeted Rates

• changing which bus services were funded by the Climate Action Targeted Rate

• the proposed amendment to Community Occupancy Guidelines and charges

Did support:

• the sale of council’s shares in Auckland Airport

• a 1% rate increase (above the proposed 4.66%), which would remove the need to cut local board funding

• a further 1% rate increase for a storm response fund to increase the resilience of rural and vulnerable communities

• the introduction of a one-off fee for residents wishing to change bin sizes

• extending the food scraps targeted rate to new urban areas

• an increase to fees for the pool fencing compliance targeted rate

• the review of fees for councilmanaged pool and leisure facilities

• the significant increases in road maintenance and renewals in Auckland Transport’s (AT) draft annual budget

Board members expressed concern that Waka Kotahi may remove subsidies for AT road maintenance and renewals in favour of greater investments in state highways, and requested that local contractors be used for council work.

They also requested increased regional civil defence budgets to improve local community emergency resilience and advocated for the funding of flood mitigation work in areas where homes and main transport routes were continuously being flooded.

Nature-based solutions for flood mitigation

By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter. Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

Auckland Council has been urged to change its approach to planning for the effects of climate change.

At a Planning, Environment and Parks committee on May 4, Forest and Bird freshwater representative Tom Kay advocated for a nature-based planning approach.

“Having big stop banks with concrete walls puts communities at risk behind those stop banks or next to those streams,” he said.

“We know that giving rivers more space means more space for habitat, lower flood waters and communities at lower risk of flooding.”

Kay said reports going back to 1988 suggested deforestation and wetland draining had intensified flooding events.

“We have lost 90 percent of our wetlands across the country – we have done the same thing to forests. Forests, like wetlands, absorb rainfall and slow down water in the landscape.

“International studies show that allowing a river to self-adjust is cheaper and more effective than active interventions that

force a river into a particular place.” Cr John Watson said the cost of land was a major barrier to nature-based solutions.

“North Shore City Council, and some of the old borough councils, had that kind of green infrastructure because, in some respects, it was not worthwhile building on that land,” Watson said.

“What would you advise Auckland Council do in terms of that green infrastructure acquisition in light of very high land prices?”

Kay acknowledged the difficult economic and cultural situation in Auckland Council.

“Private property rights and inflated land

values make this kind of thing very difficult for councils that have historically had relatively low rates and, therefore, limited funds,” Kay said.

“You should be looking to central government for support in your flood protection infrastructure so you can do things differently over a longer period.”

Kay said Wellington City Council had spent $100 million to acquire properties in a flood-prone area because the cost of a flood would be over $1 billion.

“There will be situations where the cost benefit would probably work for Auckland Council.”

Park masterplan signed off

The long-awaited masterplan for Wellsford’s Centennial Park has been formally approved and signed off by Rodney Local Board.

The plan puts in place a 10-year plus programme of improvements ranging from new multi-use courts, car parking and signage to the development of a new indoor multi-use facility.

There have been attempts by several local sports clubs and organisations to get improved facilities at Centennial Park over many years, none of which have ever come to much.

This latest iteration of improvements was set in motion with a needs assessment in 2020, which confirmed what clubs had been saying for years – that many of the courts and other facilities were in poor condition.

The board approved the development of a new masterplan in February 2021 and the draft went out for community engagement in September last year and public feedback in November.

The top three priorities were relocating the netball courts to the tennis courts and

having courts marked out for different sports; having a new community use building with shared facilities and improving accessibility; and safety around the park.

Other improvements could include upgrading the dog park, new toilets and improving the playground.

In a report to the local board, Auckland Council service and asset planner Sheryne Lok said the masterplan set the vision for the park to be a key community sports and recreational hub for the Wellsford community and aimed to guide development of the park over the next decade and beyond.

Deputy board chair Louise Johnston said it was an awesome plan and great news for Wellsford, though conceded it was only the first step and funding still had to be sourced.

“But you’ve got to have a plan to get funding,” she said.

Now the plan has been approved, council will work with the local board to recommend masterplan projects to include in current and future work programmes.

Cheese Stuffed Pull-Apart Rolls

2 1/4 Cups Flour, Plus More as Needed

1 1/2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar, Divided

1 1/2 Teaspoons (5g) Active Dry Yeast

3/4 Teaspoons Salt

1 Large Egg at Room Temperature, Whisked

1/2 Cup Milk,

3 Tablespoons Butter, Melted, Room Temperature

2 Heaped Cups Mozzarella Cheese grated.

Garlic Butter Topping

2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted, Room Temperature

1 Large Garlic Clove, Grated

1 Teaspoon Fresh Parsley, Finely Chopped

Salt to Taste

Whisk together the warmed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a large bowl. Next whisk in the yeast and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture has a foamy, bubbly appearance with a fermented

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and remaining sugar. Set aside. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook mix the egg and butter into the activated yeast at medium speed to combine.

Reduce speed to low and mix all of the dry ingredients into the liquid mixture until a shaggylooking dough forms. Increase speed to mediumhigh and knead the dough for 6 minutes.

The dough should be soft and tacky to the touch. If the dough is too soft and overly sticky, mix in additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it is more manageable to work with. For soft and fluffy bread, take care to not add too much flour. Transfer the dough into a large greased mixing bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm part of the kitchen and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes. Generously grease a 20cm Springform Pan. Set aside. Gently deflate the dough with a fisted hand, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten into a disk about 3.5-4 inches and fill the centre with 2 heaping tablespoons (1 oz) of cheese. Enclose the filling with the outer dough and pinch shut to form a ball. Transfer the filled dough to the prepared baking pan pinched side down and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and cheese.

Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap, place the pan in a warm part of the kitchen to rise for 25-30 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of the second rise, preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown in colour. Make the garlic butter coating by whisking together the melted butter, parsley, garlic, and salt. Use a pastry brush to coat the warm rolls in the garlic butter before serving.

YouSay

Group responds to weather strandings … again

The Warkworth Community Resilience Group (WCRG), which was set up in 2015, has been active behind the scenes preparing for a local emergency event throughout that period. After eight thankfully emergency-free years, 2023 has in a matter of months, put all our systems and planning to the test.

Of the many local emergency scenarios that WCRG has identified and planned for over time, none had fully recognised that the closure of SH1 and the stranding of large numbers of travellers trapped between slips and floods, would be the event which ultimately tested us – not just once, but five times (so far!). While plans and procedures can be written

and practised, ultimately when emergencies occur, it is the collective effort and support of the whole community that really ensures a good outcome.

So it was on Tuesday, May 9, when the Civil Defence alarms sounded that the Warkworth community swung into action once more. Bedding and food was provided at short notice to those manning the Emergency Centre (EC) at the Warkworth Town Hall, for those stranded and unsure when they might reach home.

Due to the uncertainty of the road conditions, the EC team prepared overnight sleeping arrangements for 35 adults, three toddlers, one baby and two dogs. Ultimately, the majority of beds

were unnecessary as the Dome Valley Road reopened around 7.30pm and the bulk of those stranded headed north. The remaining three individuals (all headed beyond the Brynderwyns), were found billeted accommodation locally, and proceeded homeward the following day.

The WCRG would really like to thank Warkworth Countdown Supermarket, our local Scout Group, the Lions Club, and all those who brought bedding and food to the town hall. Also thanks to the Warkworth Community Shop for their kind donation in recognition of the work we do.

Jim Flewitt, on behalf of the Warkworth Community Resilience Group

National recognition for northern rescue copters

A crew from the Northland Rescue Helicopter won the top award at the 2022 NZ Search and Rescue (NZSAR) awards held at Parliament last week. Pictured after receiving their Gold – Operational Award are, from left, critical care paramedic Paul Davis, pilot Lance Donnelly, co-pilot Alex Hunt and critical care paramedic Josh Raravula. The crew, together with a number of other emergency and rescue agencies and individuals, were recognised for their outstanding efforts when the charter fishing vessel Enchanter capsized off the North Cape on the night of March 22 last year. The NZSAR also acknowledged the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter team who were actively involved in recovery efforts in the days following the incident.

Concert fundraiser

A variety concert in Warkworth has raised $2150 for flood victims in the Rodney area. An organiser, Peter Henderson, of Warkworth Lions, said the moderate turnout was pleasing given the weather and the concert coincided with the king’s coronation.

“The audience was treated to a variety of acts and Rodney Local Board member Guy Wishart, from Huapai Kumeu Lions, spoke about the situation in the west,” Henderson said. The programme included bands, singers, magicians and a Warkworth Theatre group presentation.

Disappointing decision

The Rodney Local Board discussed at its meeting last week whether to continue the funding allocation of $2,550,000 ($850,000 per year), from the Warkworth subdivision portion of the Rodney Local Board Transport Targeted Rate, for an ondemand bus service.

The proposed service would link Warkworth, Leigh and Sandspit and would run for three years.

The Board discussed whether to support the bus service or reallocate the project budget to road asset maintenance and renewals in the Warkworth subdivision.

The Summerset Falls Residents’ Committee contacted other retirement villages in Warkworth, its business neighbours in Mansel Drive and the wider Warkworth community through the One Mahurangi Business Association.

There was widespread community support for the proposed service. However, the Rodney Local Board resolved to pause the bus trial while it investigated alternative uses for the board’s transport targeted rate, such as road maintenance in rural Rodney. The on-demand ride-share service would have benefited the wider Warkworth community so the decision of the Rodney Local Board is disappointing.

Glyn Williams, Residents’ Committee, Summerset Falls Retirement Village

Winter dip

The annual Leigh Mid-Winter Swim will be held at Matheson Bay on June 25, starting at 10.30am. Leigh School and Leigh Preschool will be selling soup, home baking and drinks, and Leigh Community Patrol, Leigh Waste Free Minimisation and Pest Free Leigh will have a presence. Everyone welcome.

Viewpoint

Tim Holdgate, Rodney Local Board tim.holdgate@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Up for the challenges

Since mid-2022, a series of events have impacted to create the current and forecast Auckland Council financial position. Cyclone Gabrielle followed on from a series of unseasonal weather events, with major implications for most of our Rodney community with road closures, destruction of infrastructure, homes and businesses alike. How did we the community respond? It is fair to say with great credit, but not so Auckland Council and Auckland Transport (AT), whose combined response was very much found “left wanting!”. Much of the recovery work is still yet to be completed, some yet to be started, particularly in regards to roading, with many lessons learnt regarding storm response. The many communities affected could well have expected a far greater proactive support response from both council and AT. We talk a lot about the council but in this case AT has a major role to play in restoring existing roading and pedestrian infrastructure. There is particular concern about the local service roads that have been hammered, and left unrepaired, by contractors associated with the new motorway, who are now preparing to leave the site.

The council’s current financial position is precarious. The 2023/24 budget forecast is now a $325 million deficit. Various financial options have been proposed by council, canvassed for support via a recent akhaveyoursay.nz/budget poll, which resulted in a record community response. Among proposed council budget expenditure cuts is to close the Warkworth Service Centre, with potential experienced

staff losses and the present service roles to be integrated within the existing library structure. A typical council response when the rural sector is involved, not really knowing how vital such a facility is to our local rural community. Particularly when a relatively modest saving is involved, compared to the forecast budget deficit. Despite the recent climatic events and council’s current financial position, the medium-term outlook for northern Rodney is bright. Key features being our location relative to Auckland city, access to regional parks and beaches, together with progressive residential subdivision underway, forecast to provide some 3500 sections. An associated population growth to some 30,000 residents, with expansive commercial developments currently underway to provide for the employment required over the next 10 years. The challenge for council and AT, however, is to provide the necessary infrastructure. Opening of the new motorway and associated Matakana link road will provide the emphasis, together with the recent more fruitful discussions between AT, experienced roading engineers, members of One Mahurangi and Councillor Greg Sayers regarding the Hill Street intersection. The challenges ahead are many so how will those in power respond? The scale of the environmental disaster will require the involvement of individual property owners, Auckland Council and government alike. The financial implications are major with critical decisions to be made by those involved over the coming weeks.

Maps cause consternation

Auckland Councillors got their Nexus in a knot while trying to discuss the city’s future development strategy at a Planning, Environment and Parks committee meeting on May 4.

Cr Wayne Walker claimed the maps in the document were unreadable. He asked council staff to describe the areas because he was unable to see it on council’s digital platform, Nexus. Chair Richard Hills said that the maps were sent in a pdf document a week prior and were legible. Cr Maurice Williamson said the pdf was 60 pages.

“It bore no resemblance to the document. I did finally find the maps on page 54, down the very bottom,” Williamson said. He said he did not understand why Nexus

was unable to show quality maps.

“Why do we have a system where councillors can’t see documents of quality?”

Chair Richard Hills explained the maps had been sent to councillors over email twice, with one email being titled ‘copy of maps only’.

“It is not my job to point to which emails councillors should read. I don’t have time to do that, but maybe next time I will,” Hills said.

Hills said Nexus was probably a very expensive programme and to get it to the level needed would probably be expensive. “Meanwhile, everyone is asking for spending cuts all the time.”

Monitor helps firefighters at medical callouts

Anyone on the Mahurangi East peninsula who suffers a cardiac emergency could be the beneficiary of a state-of-the-art defibrillator, thanks to the generosity of the Rodney Health Trust.

The Mahurangi East Volunteer Fire Brigade averages between 250 and 300 callouts annually, of which about 70 per cent are medical-related. Many of the volunteers have received special training to respond to these emergencies.

Chief fire officer Jason Connolly says that there are sometimes delays in getting an ambulance to a patient, depending where it has to come from, which means local

firefighters are often the first ones on the scene.

Last year, the brigade’s medical support officer Carey Dobbs approached the health trust with a request to purchase a $30,000 cardiac monitor and defibrillator.

“The machine means we can better monitor a patient’s condition and pass that information on to the ambulance,” Dobbs says. “The machine monitors vital signs including blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels and breathing, as well as how CPR is being administered.”

This means that decisions can be made

quickly to get the appropriate emergency response, which could mean calling for the rescue helicopter or making sure an intensive care paramedic is on the ambulance.

Dobbs understands that Mahurangi East is the first brigade in NZ to have this latest cardiac monitor on base.

The brigade currently has 22 firefighters but is always on the lookout for new recruits. Anyone interested is welcome to turn up to a training night, held at the station on Mahurangi East Road on Tuesdays at 7pm, or email Jason at Jason. connolly@fireandemergency.nz

Wood Street works on back-burner

The long-running saga of upgrading Wood Street in Mangawhai is not over yet, with final construction now shunted back for another year at least.

Kaipara District Council (KDC) had been planning to finalise its Wood Street revitalisation project in 2023/24, as well as upgrading the stormwater network in the area at the same time.

However, as a result of recent floods and extreme weather events, emergency works are being prioritised over planned projects by council.

General manager for infrastructure services

Anin Nama said delaying both projects could actually be a good thing for the Heads, since with both projects happening simultaneously, some inconvenience would be inevitable.

“We know businesses have had a tough time recently. Some of our conversations with businesses suggest that deferring construction for another year may give everyone a little more breathing space while Mangawhai Central settles in,” he said. KDC project manager Tim Manning said he wanted to stay in touch with local businesses and the wider community despite the latest construction delay.

“We want to spend this extra time between now and mid-next year finalising a work schedule that gets both projects completed with the least impact for the businesses in the area,” he said. “We’ll be working closely with the Mangawhai Business Association and local businesses.

The long-running project has been going on since 2019, with numerous new layouts, designs and installations tried out in a bid to ease congestion and improve pedestrian safety. The biggest changes have been making Wood Street one-way and the introduction of new parking and traffic calming measures, some of which have not always proved popular with local residents and drivers.

Medical support officer Carey Dodds demonstrates on chief fire officer Jason Connolly how the new cardiac monitor works.

Strategy ‘impedes growth’

By Laura Kvigstad, Auckland Council reporter. Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.

Auckland Councillors have supported a draft Future Development Strategy for consultation despite concerns that it will impede the development of growth in rural areas.

Council estimates that by 2053, Auckland’s population will grow to more than 2.2 million, requiring an additional 200,000 dwellings and 282,600 jobs.

The strategy will guide this growth over the next 30 years and it also addresses protecting and restoring the natural environment, building resilience to natural hazards and climate change, and how to make the best use of limited funding for infrastructure.

Growth and spatial strategy principal advisor Claire Gray told a Planning, Environment and Parks committee on May 4 that the strategy takes a quality, compact approach.

“Thinking about employment closer to homes, reducing the need to travel and creating really strong centres in those subregions,” Gray said.

It recommends that most growth occurs in existing urban areas and proposes delaying or stopping development in specific greenfield areas (undeveloped land) that have previously been identified for future urban development, due to natural hazard risk, impacts on our ability to halve emissions and the high infrastructure costs associated with this development.

Cr Andy Baker said the strategy “slams the door” on development for rural settlements, preventing them from being able to become sustainable.

“Previous planning decisions have created these remote urban settlements, which contribute intensely [to emissions] because people have to travel,” Baker said. He asked how rural settlements, which

were becoming more urban, had been factored into the strategy.

Auckland Plan strategy and research general manager Jacques Victor said the strategic direction was to not have development in “far flung” areas because of emissions.

“The approach is that we should not continue to expand small rural settlements with further development, which then requires additional infrastructure,” Victor said.

“To make them sustainable means you will have to add significant urban expansion, which has to be funded.”

Baker said he would not support the strategy for consultation while it failed to allow existing rural settlements to grow.

“The only way we can mitigate those issues – the climate, the environment –is by actually allowing growth to create scale,” Baker said. “We shouldn’t deny those settlements the ability to create employment and become sustainable.”

He said Beachlands had doubled in size and without further growth, the area would not be allowed a secondary school by the Ministry of Education.

“Every day, 12 buses line up to take secondary school age children to schools in Howick and in Pakuranga and elsewhere in Auckland because there is no secondary school.”

Baker said while he did not want to see rural areas growing houses rather than food, where appropriate, development needed to be enabled.

Consultation for the draft strategy was passed with 10 councillors voting against, including Greg Sayers, Wayne Walker and John Watson.

The draft strategy is expected to be released for public comment early next month.

It will then go to the Governing Body for adoption later in the year, replacing the 2018 Development Strategy and the 2017 Future Urban Land Supply Strategy.

The Botanic is the Hibiscus Coast’s newest, resort-style retirement village, designed to offer a great lifestyle surrounded by nature and world class facilities.

Homebuilder courses help build community resilience

When life doesn’t quite go according to plan, Homebuilders Family Services in Hexham Street, Warkworth is telling people their door is always open to listen, support and assist where they can.

Over the 2022/23 year, the service expects to work alongside about 450 families and individuals in the district, through its family support service, courses, youth counselling and one-to-one children’s programme.

A further 800 to 1000 people will access their Helpdesk service, seeking information and support with issues such as dealing with Work and Income and the IRD, being homeless, needing food, tenancy issues and so on.

Coordinator Quentin Jukes says people seek assistance from Homebuilders Family Services for many reasons, but some of the main concerns are around parenting and relationships, financial worries and mental wellbeing.

Around half of the people they work alongside are seen in their own homes. Funding is a constant pressure for the organisation. About half its income is through Government department contracts, with the remaining income coming from donations from individuals, local businesses and Op Shops, and philanthropic trusts.

“It is clear from the feedback we get from families that our assistance makes a real difference,” Jukes says. “When we finish working with a family, we ask them to fill in a short form, evaluating the assistance they received.

“Last year, on average, families rated their situation as 8.9 out of 10 for difficulty at the outset (where 10 is very difficult and one is not difficult) and then 3.5 out of 10 when they had finished working with us.”

Over the past 18 months, Homebuilders has taken on four new counsellors – Jazz Bishop, Penelope Arthur, Colleen Julian and Gareth Pring – to help meet demand. Penelope says that what drew her to

Homebuilders was the idea that she could help people before issues escalated.

“I have a mental health background and have tended to work in fields where we always felt like the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” she says.

“Homebuilders provides an opportunity to work with people in a more positive and optimistic way. I also like working in my own community.”

Jazz grew up on the Hibiscus Coast and, as one of the younger members of the team, has a natural interest in working with youth.

“There’s a lot of diversity in the issues we deal with which keeps the work challenging. I enjoy that,” she says.

Colleen Julian is well-known in the Warkworth area for her work, over 18 years, with the Women’s Centre Rodney. She says the shift to Homebuilders has given her the opportunity to work face-toface with the community again.

“My previous role had a heavy emphasis on administration. Whereas now I am totally people-focused and working in a range of areas from relationships and parenting to advocacy and financial counselling. I am

also working with migrant communities.”

The fourth new recruit is former police officer and teacher Gareth Pring. He was working at Horizon School last year and has been involved with music therapy classes at Springboard. He says he is keen to develop the music therapy classes through Homebuilders.

Homebuilders has a number of free courses planned, and in the pipeline, starting with a Cooking on a Budget class on May 31. It will cover how to cook nutritious and affordable meals and will be followed by a second workshop on June 1, which will cover how to make natural cleaning products. Both classes will run from 9.30am to midday.

Penelope would like to hear from anyone interested in being involved in a gettogether for people from the LGBTQI+ community, particularly young people.

“I’d like to provide a safe space for members of the local rainbow community to talk about their issues.” Penelope can be contacted on 021 068 1109.

As well as running music therapy sessions, Gareth would like to regularly offer a discussion group for parents who may be

struggling with their teenagers’ behaviour, often amplified by an addiction to digital devices. He says today’s parents are the first to have to deal with the financially strong and clever tech giants who are competing for their children’s attention, and it is not easy. Gareth can be contacted on 022 621 1496. Teen anxiety will be the subject of a group session being organised by Jazz. She says the focus will be on sharing experiences and learning practical tools to deal with anxiety. “It will be about looking at the barriers these teens feel, which may be preventing them from participating fully in school and socially.”

Homebuilders will also offer an hour-long talk on the Accommodation Supplement available from Work and Income on June 6 and a five-part Mindfulness course starting on June 2.

Quentin says Homebuilders welcomes enquiries, by phone or email.

“If we can’t help, we will probably know who can.”

Homebuilders can be contacted at www. homebuildersfs.org. Alternatively, call 0800 100 037 or 09 425 7048.

Four new councillors have joined the Homebuilders team over the past 18 months. From left, Jazz Bishop, Penelope Arthur, Colleen Julian and Gareth Pring.

Police highlight need for better crime reporting

Police gave a public meeting in Silverdale on May 8 a clear message: “If you see or hear anything that may be related to a crime or a possible crime, report it.”

About 100 people attended the meeting at the Silverdale School, convened by Whangaparaoa MP Mark Mitchell, to discuss law and order.

Whangaparaoa police officer Sgt Brett Hanly said resources were deployed where there was a problem.

He said if members of the public did not report what they were seeing and hearing, then police could not build patterns of behaviour and this would impact what was prioritised.

A member of the audience said he was afraid to report the bullying and threats his son had encountered because of the threat of further violence.

Sgt Hanly said police were aware of this sort of intimidation and there were ways to give police information that did not identify the source.

Youth crime was the focus of much of the discussion, with members of the audience concerned about the fact that some of the perpetrators were as young as 13.

Mitchell said there needed to be a fundamental change in the way sentences were being handed out to youth offenders. He said if National was elected, it would reintroduce the mandatory sentencing law (three strikes) and establish a compulsory 12-month long military-type camp for youth offenders, aged 17 to 25 years. Police acknowledged that many youth were

Toll rise

Sgt Brett Hanly

“lost” with no parental control or guidance. “What we are seeing is an inter-generational problem – many of the parents of today were equally neglected by their parents and grewup in dysfunctional family environments,” Sgt Hanly said. “It’s complex and needs a carrot and stick approach.”

See it, report it

Call 111 – If it’s an emergency or if it is happening now Call 105 – For non-emergency events that have already happened and don’t need urgent Police assistance.

Call 0800 555 111 – Call Crime Stoppers anonymously when you know about a crime that has been committed, you suspect a crime is being planned, or any other activity you think is illegal.  Go online to: 105.police.govt.nz for non-emergency events that have already happened and don’t need urgent Police assistance.

In person: Warkworth Police Station, 6 Falls Street; open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

The price of using the 7.5km Northern Gateway toll road, between Orewa and Puhoi, will rise on July 1. For cars and motorcycles it will go from $2.40 to $2.60 and for trucks and buses, it will increase from $4.80 to $5.20. The toll rate was last increased in March 2019.

Auto Services Wellsford

Let

HEAT

Environment

Christine Rose christine.rose25@gmail.com

Feeding the beast

Rubbish production is big business. Coca Cola is the world’s worst plastic polluter, and global corporations like it are all responsible for a scourge of single use plastic and other rubbish that pollutes our land and seas.

When I was a kid, plastic was a valued commodity, and milk and soft drinks came in glass bottles that you could take back to the shop for cash and make some pocket money while cleaning up the environment. After the initial container return scheme was cancelled years ago, and the plastic pandemic hit, campaigners have worked to get a new scheme implemented here. But inexplicably, the Government recently delayed (abandoned?) the proposed and ready-to-go scheme. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins cited ‘cost of living’, even though kids and ‘rubbish pickers’ could actually supplement their incomes through collecting and returning bottles, while also doing good for the planet.

But rubbish disposal is big business in NZ, led by Waste Management, now owned by a global investment company Igneo Infrastructure Partners. We all know the company wants to set up a new landfill in the Dome Valley, to the consternation of many. Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson said that because his council strongly opposed the Dome Valley landfill, they should come up with a viable alternative. So now there’s a new waste-as-money earner proposal on the table. Jepson just happens to be a former employee of Olivine, a company which makes waste to energy (WTE) factories. So, Kaipara and other local councils are investigating the viability

Considering online study?

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Most importantly, it offers you a lot of flexibility when it comes to your learning journey. With online learning, you can study anywhere in the world, as long as you have a stable internet connection and access to a device. This means that you can fit your learning in around work, whānau, activities, and all your commitments.

This also means you can have more control over the pace of year learning, giving you the ability to review challenging content, rewatch recorded lectures, and focus on assignments when it works for you. As long as you’re meeting your deadlines, you can progress at your own pace with some courses even being offered paper by paper.

Another benefit of online study is the transferable skills you learn along the way. Due to the solo nature of online learning and the lack of in-class time, online students develop a lot of skills they can use in their life, such as self-discipline, time management, and effective communication. These are skills the employers’ value and can help you be successful in any career.

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of a WTE scheme near the railway line, in a ‘gully or valley somewhere’. Jepson said, “You only have to go on Google to see that there are remote locations in Rodney and Kaipara where everything can be contained.” Look out if these industrial furnaces are proposed near you.

The viable – and best – alternative, is to turn off the tap on plastic pollution. WTE plants support a pollute-waste-burn linear process which undermines both renewable energy and waste minimisation goals. They are an inefficient way to create energy, especially compared with renewable alternatives like household solar. WTE plants require a specified, guaranteed and continual volume of waste over decades, driving waste production – the ‘feed the beast’ effect. The burning of rubbish can pollute the air and land with cancercausing toxins called furans, concentrates persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury into toxic waste, which also still need to go to landfill. WTE plants cause traffic impacts both with construction and operation, even when located near rail lines.

The alternative to the Dome Valley landfill is not a WTE plant. It is government regulation to control the production of plastic and other waste to start with. Government and councils need to make it harder for waste production businesses and easier for the public to reuse, reduce, re-purpose and recycle. With the rejection of the container return scheme and the support for WTE investigations, the powers that be are feeding the beast when it should be starved.

Kaitaia Kerikeri

Conservation practises explored through wider viewfinder

By Sarah Churchouse Restore Rodney East Inc facilitator

Restore Rodney East (RRE) held a hui at the Warkworth Town Hall on April 30 for environmental community groups across Rodney.

The theme was Connect and Inspire, which around 130 people attended.

The RRE team wanted to encourage local groups to look up from the diligent day-today work that takes place across the rohe and think about the future of conservation, review where we are currently at with tackling predator control, and consider the tools and resources that might be available in the future.

It was especially meant to help us all to challenge our current thinking around how or if we might reach a predator free Aotearoa New Zealand by 2050.

Connect and Inspire was part of RRE’s ongoing programme of education and information events. Attendees discussed the reality of achieving a predator free NZ by 2050, and even the most experienced attendees walked away with food for thought.

Supported by funding from Auckland Council, the event fielded five keynote

speakers covering a range of topics, including the behaviour of introduced predators, new technologies in environmental management, and how to engage with communities over limiting the impact of cats on native biodiversity.

First up was Emeritus Professor Kim King, who is a world authority on mustelid behaviour. She provided an overview of how difficult it would be to achieve a pest free NZ if we continue our “kill ’em all” approach to pest eradication and fail to invest sufficiently in the science needed to disrupt the fertility of pests such as stoats and weasels.

Dr Stuart Ryan, of the Cacophony Project and managing director of 2040, outlined how artificial intelligence, such as that being developed within the ongoing Cacophony Project, will make a significant contribution to helping NZ meet its goals. A key segment of the day was devoted to the issue of how cats, as NZ’s apex predators, would need to be better managed if we are to protect and restore our bird life.

Auckland Council biosecurity principal officer Dr Imogen Bassett and Predator Free NZ chief executive Jessi Morgan took the audience through some of the unique issues we face with cats here, noting that

Australia had already moved well ahead of us in their introduction of controls. It was noted that, increasingly, society was beginning to recognise the need to take more responsibility for the behaviour of our favourite pets, especially the need to keep them home at night, while also taking a stronger stance on the removal of feral and wild cats from the environment. Dr Bassett also gave an overview of how bio-controls were being explored that might have the potential to help control the worst of our weeds, such as privet, tradescantia, tobacco weed, ginger and so on. A range of bugs, beetles and moulds have been carefully evaluated over many years for their ability to impact on the health of these plants, particularly keeping in mind the need to avoid risk to local species.

Participants were then treated to a glimpse of how the evaluation of our waterways and harbour ecosystems could benefit from the use of artificial intelligence when it came to assessing the state of our environment.

Dr Stefano Schenone, from Auckland University and based at the Leigh Marine Research Laboratory, provided an overview of how new technologies such as those that can be deployed on drones and remote-

controlled water vehicles, when combined with AI, can undertake large scale and complex surveys of areas such as Sandspit and Whangateau harbours in a fraction of the time taken by traditional methods.

The day was rounded off by Delma O’Kane, from Ngati Manuhiri, with an overview of the role of mana whenua in helping us to understand the cultural significance of our local area and how we can all engage together better to help each other in our drive to restore the mana of our environment.

Professor King then gave generously of her time and expertise, staying on for the next day to run a two-hour workshop on mustelid and rat behaviour for local trappers, followed by an afternoon with park rangers at the Tāwharanui sanctuary. Restore Rodney East supports and empowers local community initiatives by providing skills, experience, leverage and resources to local environmental groups and their respective conservation projects. Its aim is to make a major contribution in helping ‘lift the tide’ for all groups, organisations and volunteers, assisting them to realise their potential for biodiversity across Rodney East, from Puhoi to Te Arai.

Info: https://www.restorerodneyeast.org.nz

Northern region parks team, and representatives of the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary Inc and Restore Rodney East with Professor Carolyn (Kim) King on day two, visiting Tāwharanui Regional Park. Photographed alongside tipuna Manuhiri pou.

Shaun Ryan, of the Cacophony Project, covering the impacts of using technology and artificial intelligence for pest control.

A Q&A session.

History

Hardy settlers

On Thursday, 29 May, 1862, the Matilda Wattenbach was towed by powerful steam tugs from the London Docks to Gravesend. The 352 passengers on board bid farewell to family and friends knowing that they might never see them again. In charge of this expedition was William Rawson Brame, the founder and leader of the nonconformist settlement of Albertland.

The settlers sailed for New Zealand with the promise of freehold land – 40 acres for every man, a further 40 acres for his wife and 20 acres for each of his children – for a fee of five shillings per adult and two shillings and sixpence per child, as long as they remained on the land for five years after their arrival. The prospect of owning their own land was exciting and something that would have been unachievable had they remained in England.

Taking a huge leap of faith, these brave souls began a mass exodus, not knowing what would lay ahead for them. Strength and courage would be needed in abundance, firstly for the 98-day sea voyage and then for the harsh reality of what they would find when reaching the Albertland settlement. Howling winds and squalls greeted them as they rounded the Cape of Good Hope, which caused the ship to roll heavily, snapping off two topmasts and sending a spar crashing down into the cabins below. The terrified passengers knew that the ship was in grave danger, but were ordered below deck while the sailors worked like giants to clear the wreckage. The next day, with carnage and destruction all around, the council decided to continue on to Auckland with a jury rig and not to make their way to Cape Town for repairs.

Many of the passengers formed strong friendship which would prove very useful in the months that lay ahead. John Becroft found a friend in Sarah Jerome, a widow who was travelling with her children, Elizabeth and Joseph. John was also a widower and was making the journey with nine of his children (six of whom were under 12 years). Tragedy struck when his daughter, Mary Ann, contracted an illness that proved fatal before the voyage ended. Sarah

Jerome, who had shown great kindness to the family, did everything she could to save young Mary’s life. Under the saddest of circumstances, John and Sarah found happiness together and married soon after they reached Auckland on 8 September. They then set off for Port Albert, where Sarah became a respected midwife and John planted the area’s first orchard, later to become Becroft Orchards, with several family members involved. Illness, accidents and complications during childbirth accounted for many deaths among the settlers, leaving many to cope alone with dependent families. For the men, it was almost impossible to look after their young family and remain the breadwinner, and for the women, it was often difficult to manage financially. However, statistics tell us that many young men and women, aged between 30 and 45 years of age, married again and had a second chance at finding love.

The 161st Albertland celebrations will be held from May 26 to 28. Go to https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/may/ albertlands-anniversary-celebration for details.

Albertland celebrated

The arrival of the Albertland settlers in 1860s will be remembered with a weekend of celebrations in and around Wellsford this weekend (May 26 to 28).

The programme, coordinated by the Albertland Museum, will include a light-hearted drama production and variety show, family research opportunities, a historical bus tour, car boot sale and anniversary dinner.

The Wellsford Drama Club will present Keep To Thy First Wife at the Wellsford Community Centre on Friday and Saturday nights, from 7pm, with a matinee on Sunday at 2pm. The Sunday performance will include high tea. It is the first time the club has collaborated with the museum for the annual celebration.

The one-act play follows the trials and tribulations of Herbert who advertises for a new wife on the premise that his current wife is soon to pass away, leaving him with a farm and family to care for on his own. The fun starts when the wife makes a surprising recovery.

It was written by Jane Wilson, whose husband’s forebears came to New Zealand on the Annie Wilson, bringing some of the first Albertlanders to the district.

The bus trip, with an on-board commentary, will leave from the Wellsford Railway Station on Saturday at 10.30am and visit places such as Minniesdale Chapel and the Druid’s Hall. The tour will stop for lunch at the Port Albert Hall where there will also be a car boot sale from 10.30am. The Anniversary Dinner will be held at the Wellsford RSA starting at 5pm. All welcome.

The Albertlanders sailed from England to New Zealand in the early 1860s aboard numerous ships including the Matilda Wattenbach, Hanover and William Miles. Their plan was to set up a nonconformist settlement at Port Albert, but isolation and difficulties of access hindered progress and the original plans for a township were thwarted. However, many descendants of the original Albertland families still live in the area.

Info & tickets: https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2023/may/ albertlands-anniversary-celebration

Rose Reid, Albertland Museum

The Matilda Wattenbach.

The cast of Keep to Thy First Wife, from left, Diane Greenwood (Charity Smith), Alan Bainbridge (Herbert Ashby), Zachary Skelling (postman Archie Button) and Ella Brunton (Hannah Corcoran). Seated, Kirsty King-Turner who plays Matilda Ashby.

Sarah Jerome

John Becroft

Sculpture gives voice to the wind

The latest architectural folly at the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail, unveiled this month, represents the imagination of four graduates from the School of Architecture at Victoria University in Wellington.

The imposing Te Reo o te Hau (Voice of the Kōkōhau) was inspired by Mangatāwhiri, the wind that sweeps across the bay at nearby Omaha.

It was built using 989 recycled kwila shingles and dedicated to the power and mystery of the wind.

This year’s judging panel was chaired by architect Pip Cheshire.

“This folly superbly fulfils the challenges laid down by Brick Bay,” he says. “It has a strong idea founded on the cultural history of the site, a complex logistical exercise involving a team strung out over the lower half of the country and a do-or-die goal of harnessing the wind.

“The folly project challenges teams to take their glossy competition renders and work through the big issues of supply, structural integrity and cost control – a process that invariably ends in the minutiae of counting screws and metres of rope before the graft of fabrication and assembly. All of that can amount to little unless the end result stirs our imagination.

“As mentors, we were worried about the detail that would allow the timber ‘feathers’ to move and clatter in the wind. The

fact that the team has achieved this and brought the folly to life is a testimony to their creativity, persistence and hard work.

It is a fine piece.”

Te Reo o te Hau is the eighth folly winner since the competition started in 2016 and it will be on site at Brick Bay for two years before being dismantled.

It can be viewed as part of the sculpture trail walk, which features more than 60 artworks.

A spokesperson says that the folly provides visitors with the opportunity to stand under the cloak of the folly and, on a windy day, surround themselves with the voice of the wind, “tuning in to the kōrero it has with its surroundings”.

Continuing to support our farmers through the generations

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Te Reo o te Hau – Voice of the Kōkōhau will be on site for two years before being dismantled.

Folly competition winners at the opening event, from left, William Creighton, Seth Trocio, Mathew Green and Chris Gandhi. Photos, Tom Klockseth.

Wellsford Saleyards

Veterans take to the sky

Veterans from four RSAs including Warkworth were treated to flights from North Shore Aero Club in Dairy Flat to Whenuapai on Sunday, May 14. They were accompanied by 10 members of North Shore Club’s Young Eagles. At Whenuapai, the 25 veterans were hosted by members of the Aviation Sports Club for lunch, then flew back to Dairy Flat via a route that gave scenic views of Auckland Harbour and the city. The majority of the veterans were from Warkworth and Birkenhead, along with some from Devonport and East Coat Bays. This is the fifth year the North Shore Club has hosted RSA veterans and Club Captain Rodger Coleclough is already planning next year’s event.

Groups seek volunteers

The Forest Bridge Trust is hosting a Volunteer Open Day at the Matakana Hall on Saturday, June 24, from 10am to 1pm. The event is being held to celebrate National Volunteer Week (June 18-24). Trust spokesperson Nikki Morgan says hopes people will take the opportunity to meet organisations, charities and not-forprofit groups from across Rodney who are looking for volunteers to lend a hand.

“Volunteering a few hours is a great way to give back to the community, achieve something collectively, meet new people, learn new skills, or lend your expertise to a

worthy cause,” she says. There will be an activity table for children, and a chance to have a chat over a cuppa. The theme of the this year’s national event is Time to Shine – He wā pīataata.

Nicole Wilson, Registered nutritionist www.nutritionkitchen.co.nz

Chewing the fat

As with most things in nutrition, context is really important and it’s certainly not about foods or nutrients being good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. And this is very much the case when it comes to fat. We often hear talk about healthy or unhealthy fats, but it isn’t that simple. What we do know is that diets high in saturated fats are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and heart disease. We also know that butter is high in saturated fat, so does that mean we should exclude it from our diet?

The short answer is – no.

However, as I mentioned at the start – it’s all about context, and how your intake of saturated fat fits within your whole dietary patten. Do you cover your vegetables in spoonfuls of butter or coat them in a rich cheesy sauce, and eat lots of fatty meats and calorie-dense packaged foods? Or, do you like some butter on your toast in the morning or on your corn cob in summer, but most of time your diet is full of fresh fruits, vegetables, complex carbs, lean protein, nuts and seeds? If your diet looks more like the second option, then it probably isn’t a big deal. However, if it’s more like the first option, then we maybe need to be concerned about your saturated fat intake.

You may be wondering why saturated fat is such a concern when it comes to heart health. It’s not a direct effect, as is often the case with dietary effects (and why context is important). High saturated fat leads to

an increase in LDL cholesterol – the bad cholesterol – and this, in turn, increases the chance of arteries becoming blocked or damaged, which leads to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease. What we want, when it comes to cholesterol, is more of the HDL cholesterol – the good one – and less LDL, and dietary changes can help with that. Mostly by swapping the saturated fats for unsaturated fats; though, sometimes you may need medication to help keep the LDL level down.

A simple way to tell the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats is how they are at room temperature. Saturated fats such as butter and coconut oil are solid at room temperature, whereas unsaturated fats such as olive and canola oils are liquid. Here are four simple ways to swap saturated fats for unsaturated:

• Swap out the butter for margarine

• Use avocado, hummus, nut or seed butters on sandwiches instead of butter

• Cook with olive, canola or sunflower oil (no, canola oil isn’t as bad as you may have heard on Tik Tok)

• Dress your vegetables with a squeeze of lemon juice and a grind of pepper, or leave them naked

If you sometimes have buttery vegetables, or the odd fatty takeaway, enjoy it rather than stressing about the effect of one single meal. Just remember the context and that it is your dietary pattern as a whole that counts.

Dark and pale brews win Top 30 slots

Two very different styles of beer from local breweries have made it into the annual New World Beer & Cider Awards Top 30 winning brews.

8 Wired Brewing’s dark beer Baltic Smoke Porter and McLeod’s Paradise Pale Ale both made the grade at the competition, where they were up against 700 contenders from around New Zealand and the rest of the world.

Warkworth-based 8 Wired were also highly commended for their Cucumber Hippy and Wild Feijoa sour beers.

The Top 30 was decided by an independent panel of 29 expert judges, who tasted all the entries ‘blind’ – without knowing which brew was which – over two days. Beers and ciders ranged from boutique small-batch craft examples to global brands, with more than a dozen different categories, including the burgeoning non-alcoholic sector.

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Cuisine

Lauraine Jacobs www.laurainejacobs.co.nz/blog/

Spicing up winter veggies

I have always been puzzled about eating spicy meals in countries where the climate is hot throughout the year. I like salads, barbecuing and eating food outdoors and chilled dishes when the weather is hot. But we have now moved into the cold season, the time has arrived when I crave food that’s spicy and hot.

The vegetables of winter can become very boring, very quickly and it’s easy to overcook them and serve up soggy meals that noone will truly enjoy. Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and spinach are all much better if cooked fast and lightly. They’re even better when a little imaginative flavouring picks them up and makes these stalwarts of the winter really interesting.

Curries are not for the fainthearted or lazy cook, as a good spicy curry needs careful attention and a good knowledge of how spices work. The shelves of the supermarket are packed with jars and packets of spicy flavouring mixes, so you don’t have to be troubled about keeping the

the French Café, brought out a range of excellent curry sauces which might be life-changing if you love a curry, but don’t have the patience or time to make it. His Cassia curry sauces are also an opportunity to taste the deliciousness of Sid’s food with a minimal investment. My favourite of the four flavours is the Karahi and if stores near you do not stock them, they can be bought online. Being a cook with a lifetime passion for being in the kitchen and cooking up a storm, I am happy to embrace the colder weather with curries of my own.

The doyenne of curry is the English actress and chef Madhur Jaffrey and in my cookbook library I have a battered copy of her BBC cookery book, Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours of India. Some of the pages are so badly stained with splodges of sauce I can hardly read them anymore. One of my favourite ways to cook cauliflower is a Madhur recipe that I have tweaked over the years. It’s a great dish to serve with grilled steak, lamb or fish and can

Cauliflower & potatoes, banquet style

1/2 cauliflower

4 medium potatoes, scrubbed

8 tbsps vegetable oil

2 onions, finely sliced 5cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into fine slivers

1 cup light tomato puree or pure tomato juice

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Break the cauliflower into florets. Cut the potatoes lengthways into halves. Heat the oil in a wok or heavy, deep frying pan. When hot, add the potatoes and fry them until they’re medium brown and barely cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper towels. Put the cauliflower florets into the same oil and fry until golden and just barely cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoons and drain on kitchen paper towels.

Remove most of the oil from the pan so only about 3 tablespoons remain. Add the onions to this oil and stir over gentle heat until they are golden. Add the ginger and continue cooking until the onions start to brown. Add the cayenne, turmeric, coriander and salt. Stir in and fry for a minute,

There’s plenty of drama and charisma in the festival’s opening night film, Masquerade, starring Pierre Niney and Marine Vacth.

French films showcased

The crème de la crème of French cinema will be showcased in Matakana next month as part of the L’OR French Film Festival Aotearoa.

The 23 films in the festival include the opening night title Masquerade and four other Cannes films – The Innocent, Everybody Loves Jeanne, Lie with Me and November, one of the highest grossing films at the French box office last year.

Masquerade is a romance/drama featuring two of France’s most recognisable leading men, Pierre Niney and François Cluzet. The story involves Adrien, an attractive dancer whose career was shattered by a motorbike accident, whose life is turned upside down when he meets Margot, a captivating beauty who lives for the thrill of scams and romantic entanglements. Together, they fantasise about a better life and hatch a diabolical scheme, an emotional masquerade. A number of comedies are in this year’s

Ticket giveaway

Mahurangi Matters has two double passes to the French Film Festival to give away. To enter, email editor@localmatters.co.nz with French Festival in the subject line. Competition closes at 9am on June 2.

festival, including A Great Friend, A Good Doctor, Country Cabaret and Jack Mimoun & the Secrets of Val Verde, which features the hilarious straight man Jérôme Commandeur (Employee of the Month and Happy 50).

For drama, the line-up includes Annie’s Fire, Simone, Woman of the Century, Tenor and Other People’s Children.

The festival will be at the Matakana Cinemas from June 15 to 28.

For tickets and information: www.frenchfilmfestival.co.nz

Piano favourite returns

One of New Zealand’s most exciting and versatile musicians, pianist Stephen De Pledge, will give a concert at the Warkworth Town Hall this Sunday, May 28.

De Pledge studied at the University of Auckland, and then with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

His career was launched after winning the Gold Medal from the Guildhall and he has since maintained a diverse and wideranging performing schedule as a soloist, chamber musician and song accompanist. His has toured throughout the UK, including five solo recitals in the Wigmore Hall in London, where he made his acclaimed debut in 1999. He has also given solo performances in Hong Kong, Italy, France, Singapore, Japan, Australia and the USA. Concerto appearances include the Philharmonia (London) and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, and performances in the Barbican and Fairfield Halls.

De Pledge has a repertoire that spans music from the 17th to the 21st centuries and the Warkworth audience can look forward to hearing Bach’s G minor English Suite and

Stephen De Pledge is no stranger to Warkworth Music audiences.

Mozart’s dramatic Sonata in C minor. The concert, which is presented by Warkworth Music, will also include 12 new minute-long etudes written for Rae de Lisle’s Fit4Piano series by some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most respected composers, the characterful Sketches of Amy Beach and Manuel de Falla’s famous Ritual Fire Dance. The programme will conclude with some entertaining improvisations.

Anyone who enjoys piano music will not want to miss this special concert, which starts at 4pm.

Tickets $35 at the door and online through www.warkworthmusic.org.nz School students are free.

The Warehouse

Warkworth

Woodcocks Road opens 8am Thursday 25th May

Opening deals, & goody bags for the first customers in store!

Opening soon!

Grand Opening

Thursday, May 25

Opening celebrations set to sizzle

When the new Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery store opens to the public this Thursday, May 25, manager Neville Renney will be there to welcome the first customers through the doors.

“We’re really looking forward to showing off this modern, new store to the community,” he says. “We’re promising a better shopping experience and I don’t think people will be disappointed.”

As well as a warm welcome, those early shoppers will receive a free coffee and a goody bag.

The opening will be celebrated over four days with different opening specials, in both the Warehouse and the adjoining Noel Leeming, on each of the four days.

From Thursday through to Sunday, four local community groups will hold sausage sizzle fundraisers outside the store – Kawau Coastguard, Springboard, the Warkworth Lions Club and Warkworth Scouts. The Warehouse will be matching funds raised across the four days.

It has been a busy few weeks for Renney and his team since the Snells Beach store closed

and their focus shifted to Warkworth.

Renney joined The Warehouse in Napier in 2016 as an assistant manager and has worked in Taupo and Dargaville before shifting to Snells Beach as manager, ahead of the Warkworth opening. He lives at Kaipara Flats with his wife Lauren and two daughters who attend Horizon School.

He says it is a privilege to be in charge of the new store, which is 100sqm larger than Snells Beach. This means more room for stock and a more efficient shopping experience.

“There will be full range of products across both The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery, including a standalone copy centre, garden centre, changing bulk ranges and a full selection of The Warehouse’s own Market Kitchen pantry range,” he says.

There are four self-serve kiosks, as well as two manual checkouts, and two service points. All signage is in both English and Te Reo.

Fifty staff will work across both The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery. There will be many familiar faces from Snells Beach, including Bruce Shepherd

and Jennifer Walsh, who opened the Snells Beach store 19 years ago.

Renney says the modern staff facilities have been designed to make the team feel valued and the environmental considerations in the design of the building are being reflected in its operation.

As well as offering soft plastic recycling for customers, the store is recycling all cardboard, and rainwater is being captured for use in the garden centre. There is also an ink and toner refilling service.

The carpark, which will eventually be shaded by puriri trees, includes more than 400 car spaces, plus bike racks and mobility scooter parking. The plan allows for seven EV charging bays, which should be in place later this year.

Security has also been a consideration –the store has a one way in and one way out system, as well as spider tags and soft tags, and 55 monitored security cameras.

Renney says there will be some great opening specials from Thursday onwards and he is expecting a fun few days ahead.

“Please come in and say hello.”

Soft plastic disposal

The Warehouse Warkworth will the 40th store in the chain to offer soft plastics recycling, as part of The Packaging Forum’s Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme. Customers can collect their soft plastics at home, bring them into the store, and drop them into the bins provided. More than 60 tonnes of soft plastic waste was recycled through the scheme in the last financial year. Once collected, the plastic is sent to Future Post and recycled into a range of items including fence posts for agriculture and farming.

Team photo: Ross Marchant. Project photos: Brijana Cato

Manager Neville Renney.

Build delivered on time and

on budget

There is a tremendous sense of achievement when a project of this scale is delivered on budget and ahead of schedule, according to Dobbyn Builders project manager Bevan Morrison.

Work started on the Warehouse/Noel

Leeming build on May 24 last year and was expected to take 14 months to finish. The opening this Thursday, May 25, clipped that timeframe by two months.

Morrison gives the credit to the more than 300 people who worked on the site, of which an estimated 95 per cent were local contractors or people who lived locally.

“I don’t think you can underestimate the impact of that ‘local’ component,”

Morrison says. “It reminded me of when my brother and I used to pick up hay in the summer, while we were at uni. We’d work all the hours we needed to, to get the job done.

“We saw that same sort of work ethic here –most nights the site didn’t shut down until

late. The Dobbyn Builders team really put in the effort to keep everything on track.

“I’d like to think that it will be used as an example – that other developers might look at what we’ve done here and think that maybe they should give the local tradies a go first. This job demonstrates that there are real benefits in using locals.”

The 6500-square metre building has been billed as one of the most energy efficient retail buildings in New Zealand. Materials and building processes used have kept the project’s carbon footprint low and the design has placed an emphasis on energy efficiency.

The biggest point of difference between Kowhai Falls and a traditional build is the use of engineered wood such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL) instead of steel for the structure. The LVL wood came from NZ pines planted 25 years ago

“A massive chunk of time and money was spent on the foundations including the

installation 313 piles, ranging from nine to 12 metres. Because of the poor ground conditions, we dug down two metres and filled with scoria and pumice sand, and then a lightweight recycled polystyrene. The polished concrete floor was poured on top of that.

“We were nine months into the project before we started building the structure above ground, but, fortunately, the roof was on before Christmas … before Cyclone Gabriel and associated storms hit, which was a good test for the weather-tightness of the building.”

Morrison says disrupted supply chains and the weather did pose some challenges, but overall, the project was “a lot of fun”, with a great feeling of camaraderie on site “If someone needed a hand, there was always someone around to jump in and help.

“I think Glen Inger [the developer] went out on a bit of a limb insisting that The Warehouse use local contractors, but it

At a glance

313

4000+ tonnes of concrete piles under the floor

tonnes of structural timber

7.5km of insulation panels in the roof and walls

894 fire sprinklers

22,000

More than 100 plus alitre rain water tank for garden centre

was so great to be given that chance. He was a regular visitor on site and quite inspirational.”

Wearing his One Mahurangi co-chair hat, Morrison says he understands retailers in the town centre being apprehensive about the new stores coming to town.

“But the reality is that the district is growing and the existing town centre won’t be able to meet all the retail needs of that growth. It is better to grow retail in a controlled fashion, in a central area like a shopping centre, than see it happen willy-nilly.

“There are a lot of challenges with retail in Warkworth, both in the town centre and at The Grange, particularly around opening hours and Sunday trading.”

Kowhai Falls construction manager Hamish Dobbyn says he is sincerely grateful for the opportunity that the Inger family has given the Dobbyn Builders team to undertake a significant project of this scale, from start to finish, in their own backyard.

Project manager Bevan Morrison says the 12-month build gave him the opportunity to work with a lot of good people.

Visitors to Kowhai Falls may not realise it, but when they visit the store, they will be looking at …

Not seeing red

One of the most striking features of the new Warehouse store in Warkworth is that it’s not red. The muted grey and black façade was one of the conditions of Auckland Council’s resource consent, in the same way that the neighbouring Mitre 10 store was limited in how much orange paint it could use on its building.

Good neighbours

During the 12-month build, Dobbyn Builders has liaised regularly with the residents of the neighbouring retirement village Summerset Falls. “We wanted to keep them abreast of what was happening, and we sought their feedback on what they wanted to see included in the complex,” project manager Bevan Morrison says.

“The top two requests were for an ATM machine and roast dinners,” As a result of the residents’ feedback, two ATM machines will be part of the final complex, parking has been set aside for mobility scooters and a request for a shuttle bus is being considered, although a proposed ondemand service from Auckland Transport might negate the need for that. Delivering the roast dinners is still in the planning stages!

Firth Concrete now uses ECOMIX cement produced by GBC for all local production

... nearing completion.

Works starts in 2022 ...

Tech solutions on tap

The new Noel Leeming store, at 950sqm, is three times the size of the former site in Warkworth.

Manager Steve Venter says this means customers can look forward to a wider range of products, and he is particularly excited to be introducing a built-in cooking centre and a tech solutions hub.

The cooking centre features a fully functioning kitchen that showcases a variety of leading appliance brands.

“They are a great way for customers to see a range of appliances in action, from ovens and air fryers to breadmakers and fridges, and try out different features and designs,” Venter says.

Staff will be on hand to demonstrate products and offer advice on the best options to suit any cooking style. And he hasn’t ruled out cooking demonstrations in future.

The tech centre will have dedicated staff

on the desk to help with everything from setting up a device to data transfer for phones, computers and other electronic devices. Charges will apply, depending on the level of service required.

“We used to get a lot of requests for assistance at the old store, so this is meeting that demand,” Venter says.

“This modern new store will mean we will be able to serve the community so much better than we could in the past.”

The store will employ 17 staff, five more than the town centre store.

It will also offer an e-waste service for old devices including computers, monitors, printers, copiers, phones and cameras.

“We ask people to make sure, if possible, that their data is saved and erased before bringing the device in. The disposal is 100 per cent secure and there is no charge for dropping items in so they can be safely destroyed.”

Noel Leeming manager Steve Venter.

What’s next at The Falls?

The second stage of the Kowhai Falls Retail Centre will include seven retail stores, with a combined floor space of just under 5000sqm.

Preparations for submitting a building consent to Auckland Council are underway and the plan is to have the retail spaces open within the next 18 months.

The building, known as Building B, will also be a low energy building and will be built with the same NZ timber structure and Metalcraft insulated panels used for The Warehouse.

Negotiations have started with a number of high-profile national and international retailers interested in setting up in Warkworth.

When Building B is finished, the third

building will include a café and restaurant complex, across the carpark from the retail stores. This is likely to be delivered around 2025.

Developer Glen Inger has shown interest in a rustic open-plan restaurant, perhaps in conjunction with a local brewery. The idea is to have a shared kitchen between the café and restaurant, so meals can be served across the day from breakfast to dinner including the highly-requested roast dinners.

The building will also accommodate public toilets and some smaller 100 to 200 sqm tenancies for businesses such as florists, hairdressers and opticians.

The fourth and final build will accommodate a 2500sqm Crackerjack store, described as the “bargain hunter’s best friend”.

Concerns that the pressure from council water mains may not be enough in future, so a 455,000 litre water tank has been installed to service the 894 fire sprinklers in the building. If the sprinklers were all turned on at once, the 250 kilowatt diesel pump would empty the tank in an hour.

to be supplying water infrastructure needs for local projects both big and small

rural roundup feature

Range of support for those dealing with onslaught

Please, not again – that was the allpervasive feeling north of Auckland when yet another major rain deluge struck the region on Tuesday, May 9.

Properties that had never flooded before January 27 were submerged again, dozens of drivers stranded as roads were blocked once more, and tonnes more soil, rocks and trees slipped from their moorings. When many people are still clearing up or waiting for insurance payments from the first big floods, the re-occurrence every few weeks of more of the same feels like it’s adding insult to injury.

For people living in rural areas, there can be the added hardship of isolation – even at the best of times, it’s often difficult to find the time and opportunity to connect with neighbours and the wider community, especially when the clear-up worklist gets ever-longer.

However, at times like this it’s more important than ever to get off the property and meet other people, and to realise that there is nothing wrong with accepting a bit of help now and again.

Michelle Ruddell is a dairy farmer and

chair of Northland Rural Support Trust, so knows only too well the trials rural people throughout the region are currently having to deal with.

She says the torrential rainfall and flooding across Northland and Auckland, combined with power and communication outages, slips and damage to roads has made life incredibly challenging for farmers, growers or anyone living in rural areas.

“The ongoing wet weather has been really draining and stressful for many people,” she says.

“Many people are feeling this way, and when you’re having those days and when it’s all getting too much, it’s important to know there is help there.”

The Rural Support Trust is a relatively new organisation, founded in 2008 by rural people, for rural people.

“We’re not there to advise them, we’re there to support them and connect them with people who provide whatever help they might need,” Ruddell says.

“It’s always confidential, it can be over the phone or a one-on-one chat with one of our facilitators. Sometimes farmers and

growers just want a yarn over a cuppa.”

The trust also organises and takes part in collaborative events either out in the community or online, such as the recent Big Check-In, a national Zoom event to support rural people affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.

“That was fabulous – to be able to show people that we’re all vulnerable and acknowledge that it’s happening to many people,” Ruddell says. “It was an opportunity for people to just listen – they

Northland Rural Support Trust chair Michelle Ruddell – “we’re all vulnerable”.

Rural Women NZ president Gill Naylor. continued next page

didn’t have to say anything or contribute.

“People said it was really encouraging to know that they’re not the only ones going through it all.”

Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) is also providing a range of support, including grants of up to $1000 for anyone at all living rurally who is experiencing hardship, including being under mental and emotional pressure.

President Gill Naylor says the adverse events fund, which is financed entirely by donations and fundraising, has not surprisingly been experiencing high demand lately.

“The need is unprecedented at this point in time, this has been huge,” she says. “There have been some heart-wrenching stories out there.

“It’s really humbling to be able to let people know someone cares. There’s more to it than just the dollar amount.”

Naylor stresses that RWNZ is not just for farmers and growers.

“Our focus is on rural communities as a whole. We’re about the people and that includes schools, health facilities,

whatever’s involved in communities – we represent small town New Zealand.”

She says for people who are working their way through complex insurance claims or processes for more significant funding, the RWNZ grants can provide speedy and timely support.

“We cover anywhere that’s been affected and it’s going to be ongoing,” Naylor says. Both organisations stress that the most important thing is for rural people to realise that they can get help and there is nothing wrong with needing a bit of a legup every now and again.

“There’s support out there and there are organisations that are there to help and our role is to help those farmers and growers to connect with people,” Ruddell says.

Info: Rural Support Trust – call 0800 787 254 or visit www.rural-support.org.nz

Rural Women NZ – https://ruralwomennz. nz/charitable-grants-and-support-draft/

The Big Check-In recording - https:// us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/bvpPmgGTq xBdZ6JLroXpFFNabMHefKwk2BK1pJnPn 943wYQek4Z28Fs_-k1-Kuu6.mK-0OLb0fBNEtK_?startTime=1683183621000

Rural areas have been hit by a series of extreme weather events, causing ongoing stress, anxiety and distress for many.

Join us for a community planting day at Te Muri Regional Park

Sunday, 4 June 2023

Buses leave Puhoi at 10am & 10:30am. Limited to 30 passengers per trip

Whakatōnga ā Te Muri: Join the Mahurangi Land Restoration Programme for a fun day out at this idyllic location not currently open to the public. Bring your whānau and friends to help plant some native trees.

Transport to Te Muri Regional Park is by bus only. The first bus leaves Puhoi Pioneers Memorial Park at 10:00am, the second bus leaves at 10:30am. The planting event begins with a karakia at 11:00am. The first bus back to Puhoi will leave Te Muri at 1:30pm. Bring:

•clean, sturdy footwear

•weather-appropriate clothing (event will go ahead rain or shine)

•a drink bottle

All planting equipment will be provided, and there’ll be morning tea as well as a sausage sizzle at the end of planting. We're looking forward to seeing you there. Scan code to register or visit www.eventbrite

Funding for rural landowners

The Mahurangi Land Restoration Project (MLRP) contributes up to 60 percent of the cost of projects that protect:

waterways including permanent and intermittent streams, springs and headwaters

coastal margins

wetlands

critical source areas e.g. steep gullies

native bush that contains a waterway

You're eligible to apply for funding if:

your land is in the Mahurangi catchment you can contribute 40 to 50 percent towards the project (this can include voluntary labour)

MORE INFO:

www.ngatimanuhiri.iwi.nz/melr

mahurangilandrestoration@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Funding covers:

buying native plants & planting labour fencing materials & fencing labour site preparation & maintenance alternative water supply removal or remediation of fish passage barriers

Funding does not cover:

activities to meet subdivision or title requirements extensive weed control

Grim year for grape growers

At this time of year, local vineyards should still be dotted with the last few golden, green and russet red leaves, giving a final glow of autumn colour after the annual grape harvest.

Not this year, however. Along with everyone else, the Matakana wine region has been hit hard by recent storms and flood events, resulting in the worst grape harvest anyone has ever known here, and the vines are stressed and bare.

Most grape growers could not pick any fruit at all and the few who did only managed a fraction of their usual quantity.

Hegman Foster is president of Matakana Winegrowers and owns Omaha Bay Vineyard on Takatu Road. In a good year, he would expect to pick 18 tonnes of grapes, in a bad one around 12 – this year, he barely scraped one.

“We just salvaged what little syrah, cabernet franc and malbec we could for rosé,” he said.

“I can’t recall anyone else talking about picking and, even if they did, it would only have been small amounts.”

Richard Robson runs Matakana Estate, the only sizable commercial winery left in the district. As well as making up to 13,000 bottles of his own wines, four other local vineyards process their fruit there, but this year, the winery stayed silent and unused.

“I’ve been making wine since 1996 and this was the first year that I’ve never crushed

RODNEY SEPTIC

a grape,” he said. “In the past, even if one variety has not been great, another has been okay, or I’ve been able to salvage something.” He said it was pretty soul destroying for all concerned.

“You only get one chance a year to make wine and if you lose that chance, you’ve got to wait 12 months before you can do it again.”

Foster said it put winemakers under huge budgetary pressure, missing out on a whole year of stock to sell.

“Financially, it’s not been good. A lot of small wineries don’t grow a lot of grapes or make a lot of wine and everything they bottle, they need to sell,” he said. While most producers would have red wines from previous years that they could keep selling, whites and rosés would be stretched, Foster said.

“We may have to supplement with other grapes from elsewhere to give us something to sell,” he said.

Robson agreed.

“At this point in time we’re okay, we probably have enough wine from the previous vintage, but if it happened again, we’d be stuffed,” he said.

Only time will tell what the coming season will bring, but Foster said winemakers were working together to give the stormhammered vines the best possible nutrients and care to bring them back on-stream.

Rachel Blackie, Wellsford Vet Clinic https://wellsfordvet.com/

Animal anxiety

In big hospitals, there are pain management teams for humans. In the veterinary field, vets have pain management skills which improve every year. Pain diagnosis, on the other hand, can be quite tricky. If we poke or prod somewhere and elicit a flinch, or see a limp, then the diagnosis of pain is relatively straightforward. However, some animals, just as some humans, internalise pain and discomfort. If pain becomes chronic, or chronically intermittent, we may see the behavioural signs of anxiety develop. This is especially so if there is a familial predilection for this, or a threshold number of pain events has occurred. The same can be said for stressful events within the human field. After the Christchurch earthquakes, Kiwi neuroscience educator Nathan Wallace found that within a family of children, some developed anxiety after one or two earthquake events, and other siblings developed it at four or five events. This showed that these latter children had a higher threshold before signs of anxiety developed.

So, what is anxiety?

Anxiety is defined as the anticipation of a real, or perceived, negative event. Behavioural signs of anxiety include hypervigilance, hyperactivity and fear-based behaviours in the recorded behaviours of a species. When these signs are seen out of context, and occur at a constant and elevated level or interfere with normal functioning, then it is likely to become a problem to the animal, their

owners and other animals they might mix with.

In a sense, we may think we can “train away” anxiety, but essentially, we cannot. We can train legs to be more still (less hyperactive) for example, but the anxiety remains until diagnosis and treatment begins. Anxiety generally worsens if trainers think they can train it away. Often during this process, the initial (undesirable) anxiety behaviour is replaced by another undesirable behaviour, which gives a sense that we did, in fact, “train it away”. This is especially so when pain is present. We have a saying that you can’t train through the pain, and pain is indeed a common reason that training isn’t progressing as it ought to particularly within ridden horses, and even some interdog aggression cases I have seen.

Anxiety-related conditions are an extremely common class of disorders in companion animals, which includes horses, and make up a huge amount of patients presented to veterinary behaviour specialists. A subset of these animals have pain and inflammation somewhere in the body that is tricky to detect because it may be hidden inside. This is why, as a GP vet, a thorough physical exam and gathering a full history of a patient is so important. Our hands, fingers and eyes are usually the single most important diagnostic tools for pain detection that a vet has in their toolbox. Resolving any pain and its underlying cause is the first step in the treatment of anxiety-related conditions.

Constant rain and storms since October meant this year’s harvest was a write-off for most grape growers.

For services & WOF’s call

Post-landslip aid for farmers

A special event aimed at helping farmers and landowners cope with landslips resulting from recent floods, storms and Cyclone Gabrielle is being held at Ahuroa this month.

Beef + Lamb NZ is organising the Slip Recovery Field Day, bringing industry experts and funding organisations to Ahuroa Hall on Wednesday, May 31, from 10am to 2pm.

Topics covered with include slip revegetation, land regeneration, land use change and future planning. There will also be tools available for mapping and tuition on how to use them, and lunch will be provided.

Beef + Lamb NZ’s northern North Island extension manager Katrina Stead said

stories and resources would be shared from people who were involved in recovery on the ground during previous adverse events, such as Cyclone Bola.

“We will also be joined by local organisations that have funds available for farming businesses and tools to help with recovery,” she said.

Local farmland has suffered extensive slip damage in recent months, with the Kaipara Hills area being particularly badly affected. To register for the slip recovery day, visit https://events.beeflambnz.com/event/ registration?id=BLNZ_Slip_Recovery_Field_ Day_Ahuroa995811630

Info: Contact Katrina Stead on 027 489 7343 or email katrina.stead@beeflambnz. com

Science A whole of science approach

The major global challenges facing humanity in recent times all involve complex science issues. This is true for climate change, covid (and the vaccines) and the circular economy. What can be overlooked is that remediation of each of these challenges requires a broader, holistic, and interdisciplinary knowledge. This breadth should be balanced by advanced capability in at least one of the traditional science disciplines.

For example, understanding climate change involves the full range of science disciplines. The warming role of atmospheric carbon dioxide demands an understanding of physics (climatology) and chemistry (spectroscopy). The development of technology solutions to remediate climate change requires engineering, chemistry and physics. The green hydrogen economy requires a knowledge of electrochemistry and photochemistry. The development of natural solutions to climate change usually involves plant sciences and ecology to provide an understanding of species loss and habitat destruction. The impact of climate change on human populations necessitates a knowledge of demographics, geography, and environmental health. The impact on the pastoral sectors and especially the most vulnerable sector of all, agriculture, involves a deep understanding of soil science, entomology (insects), plant diseases and even genetics.

The NZ forestry sector is based on a monoculture, pinus radiata, which may be vulnerable to new diseases and other risks following arising from climate warming. Hence, forest science will need to follow and anticipate accelerating climate warming and its associated flooding and drought

patterns as revealed by climatology. Another example which is important for NZ is the field of wine grapes. The need for wine producers to plan and plant for future climate change has been well known for several years. Each grape variety has its own temperature range so that many winemakers are now planning to move to warmer types. For example, the two most important export wines for New Zealand, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, are both cool climate wines originally from France. Therefore, alternative warmer climate varieties are being developed by winemakers including some which have their origins in Southern Italy or Spain. The Australian wine industry has developed a map of warm and cool zones for future wine developments. This requires a well-developed knowledge of geography and grape variety genetics, as well as the changing microbiology of soils.

This need for a more holistic science strategy to confront the major threats and challenges to humanity is included in the Nobel Prize awards, which require the demonstration of benefits to humanity. It is also apparent in the changing pattern of Nobel Prize award fields, which increasingly involve overlap between traditional science disciplines. Over the past decades, this overlap has become evident, for example, between chemistry and molecular biology and between economics and climate modelling (mathematics and statistics). We are in an age where the global perspective is as important as the national perspective and where holistic insights are as important as focused insights. In confronting and overcoming global challenges like climate and pandemics, the whole of science approach will be paramount.

Jett Lawrence won the 250 East Supercross title on his easy. But then, when you put an awesome rider on a bike not a surprise. We gave the CRF250R a major makeover has seen the payoff. That’s because the CRF250R stacks torque and midrange power—where you really need it for whoops, managing jumps, or blasting out of deep loam and machine we’ve ever built in this class.

When Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence won the 250 East Supercross title on his CRF250R, he made it look easy. But then, when you put an awesome rider on a bike as good as this, it’s certainly not a surprise. We gave the CRF250R a major makeover last year and now the world has seen the payoff. That’s because the CRF250R stacks the deck when it comes to torque and midrange power — where you really need it for critical track sections like whoops, managing jumps, or blasting out of deep loam and berms. The result is the best machine we’ve ever built in this class.

When Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence won the 250 East Supercross title on his CRF250R, he made it look easy. But then, when you put an awesome rider on a bike as good as this, it’s certainly not a surprise. We gave the CRF250R a major makeover last year and now the world has seen the payoff. That’s because the CRF250R stacks the deck when it comes to torque and midrange power—where you really need it for critical track sections like whoops, managing jumps, or blasting out of deep loam and berms. The result is the best machine we’ve ever built in this class.

SPECIAL PRICE

$14,495 INC GST

While stocks last | Limited stock available

Emeritus Professor Ralph Cooney ONZM, FRSNZ r.cooney@auckland.ac.nz

Farm and forestry land is especially prone to slips.

Listings

Artificial golf arrives in Tapora

Tapora Golf Course reopened this month, becoming NZ’s first golf course to have entirely artificial greens.

Over the past four months, the course has undergone a major redevelopment, including replacing what were the course’s traditional grassed putting strips.

The conversion to an all-weather playing amenity cost the club in the region of $500,000. However, the club calculates that the initial upfront outlay will eventually pay for itself over five years through savings associated with reduced greenkeeper’s wages and lower operating expenses for specialist green lawnmowers, turf maintenance machinery, grass fertiliser, weed control and irrigation.

The new artificial turf – comparable to sports surfaces already now widely used in New Zealand for hockey and soccer pitches – has an estimated life of up to 15 years if maintained carefully. With the underlying civil works and landscaping to establish the new greens undertaken as a one-off cost, replacing the artificial greens at their end of their eventual ‘best by’ date will be considerably cheaper.

Construction of the greens encompassed excavating nearly a metre of subsoil, which was then back-filled with free-draining rocks, followed by a layer of smaller gravel, then topped off with sand – all of which was compacted with heavyweight rollers normally used for roading construction.

The new greens replicate holes golfers would expect to find on a typical course –with gentle undulations, some slopes, and in some cases two-tiered greens. Each hole features multiple pin placements, which can be changed on a regular basis to ensure variety for players.

In conjunction with the new greens being installed, the club also took advantage of the temporary closure of the facility to lengthen its fairways and install new tee boxes – adding not only distance to some holes, but also creating multiple angles to its nine holes.

Club spokesman and one of the main

people behind the course upgrade and overhaul, Greg Inger, said the club was excited about becoming the first golfing amenity in New Zealand to bravely go where no other course in the country had ventured.

“The artificial turf which has been laid down is ‘next generation’ in terms of the playing experience it offers players,” Inger said. “We’re not talking about teeing up on mini-golf style carpet here, but a simulated artificial grass surface which plays just like a normal green, except that you won’t find pitch marks or annoying weed growth coming through.

“Golf as a sport is on a huge popularity wave at the moment, and in fact has been since early 2020 when Covid-19 conditions meant people were looking for a recreational activity which could be played in ‘lockdown’ conditions. While general society is now back to a degree of normality, the momentum for golf has continued on.

“As a result, most golf courses in and around Auckland are now heavily booked over weekends – with strong numbers of women, youngsters, and families getting into the game.

“Tapora Golf Club is aiming to be a genuine playing option for those struggling to find tee times on city courses – whether they are looking to play a social round with friends, a competitive challenge on a full length course, or are looking for a golf course with classic Kiwi rural feel to it.

“We expect that the attraction of offering all-weather greens on a predominantly sand base soil structure – the only ones of their type in New Zealand – will come to the fore over winter, when rain impacts on the playing viability for many courses.”

Tapora Golf Club celebrated its official opening of the new greens facility with a well-patronised tournament this month, including members and guest players travelling from across Auckland and Northland to be part of the special occasion.

The 18-hole/par-72 course is open to the public for $25 a round.

Our annual Cross Country Championships took place before the worst of our recent deluge, but with appropriately muddy conditions still testing all students. Congratulations to the winners and all who competed. Thanks to the PE department, sports prefects, sports council and Year 12 PE classes for helping run this event. The top 3 placegetters for Years 9-13 are competing at the North Harbour Championships this week. Mr Lenihan is the teacher in charge of our cross country team, good luck to those competitors.

After many months of planning, our Hōteo Wero camps are finally underway, based at the Dills farm. Students have enjoyed the challenge of being offthe-grid, strengthening friendships and exploring the local area. Rather than a checklist of activities, these camps are centred on connecting - with the environment, with classmates, and with your own self. Sitting around the campfire, cooking food, telling ghost stories and disconnecting from the pressures of the everyday world are a big part of the experience. Our thanks to all those in the community who have supported this vision.

On the last day of Term 1, Year 8 STEAM Drama/Dance students from Huia and Kea syndicates put on a shadow theatre performances for 3 & 4 year olds from early childhood centres: Tiny Explorers and Kindercare. The main aim of the shadow theatre plays was to teach the children about what a Kaitiaki is and how to be one. Feedback from the centres mentioned that they loved watching the performances and better understood what a Kaitiaki is and how to look after the environment.

As part of their unit on NZ Histories, our Year 8 students had the opportunity to visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum. They learnt about the history of Maori and Pacific migration to Aotearoa, how and why they migrated and the importance of these connections. They were also able to handle some of the museum’s taonga and objects. The lessons integrated Te Reo Māori throughout and encouraged the practice of the language by exploring. Our students were also fortunate to have time to explore the rest of this amazing museum. Thank you to all the parents who volunteered for the day to help out.

Practices for our 2023 school production are well underway. This year our show is Freaky Friday, a hilarious contemporary update of the classic novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films. It promises to be another hit. Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for sneak peak photos from our dress rehearsals and information regarding ticket sales. Performances begin 19 June.

This year, Mahurangi College partnered with Kura Kai, a charitable organisation that provides chest freezers to high schools around NZ. With a simple kaupapa of whānau cooking for whānau, the freezer is filled with meals made by volunteers, to be freely shared to support our school and wider community. To get us started, our Year 12 Health class made 100 nutritious meals to be added to the freezer. These meals will be passed out to anyone in need of a little aroha. We want all our Kura Kai meals to be freely and widely accessed -

it’s a small way we can teach our kids how to care and think of others in a practical way. If you would like to be involved in any way with Mahurangi College Kura Kai by making some meals, donating financially or simply know of someone in need of a meal, please get in touch. For more information visit our school website or email us directly at: kurakai@mahurangi.school.nz

Tony Giles - PRINCIPAL

MITRE 10

ACHIEVER OF THE MONTH

NZSS U16 Football Team

Football Player of the Year 2022

Member of 1st XI Cricket

Member of Boys Football 1st XI

Sport Blue Recipient 2022

Pictured with Charlie Humphries Operations Standards Manager

James Elder

Karateclasses

Mangawhai Kyokushin Karate classes are held on Tuesday evenings in the Mangawhai Senior Citizens Community Hall, in Fagan Place, from 5pm to 6pm. All welcome. Enquiries, phone Garry Clarke on 021 0333 999

Wakaamainvitation

Students aged between 13 and 17 are invited to join a Saturday waka ama get-together at the Mangawhai estuary, off Sellars Drive near the campground, from 8.30am. Details, contact Nicole on 021 662 943

Coffeecartinvite

Netball Rodney would like to hear from any coffee cart owners out there who might be keen to provide hot drinks at the Centennial Park courts on Saturday mornings. For more information, email netballrodneycenter@xtra.co.nz

Golffundraiser

The Make It Happen Golf Day, raising funds for the Tinui Primary School in Masterton, which was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, will be held at the Warkworth Golf Club on June 4. The event is being organised by Mahurangi College. It will be a three person Ambrose team event for both handicapped and non-handicapped players. The cost is $300 per team; hole sponsorship $500, which includes a team entry. To enter a team or sponsor a hole, email m.neville@mahurangi.school.nz Play starts at 11am.

Indoorbowls

Snells Beach Indoor Bowls meet at the Mahurangi East Community Centre, Hamatana Rd, on Mondays at 12.30pm, beginners welcome. Info: Pam 425 6405

Marine Purse seining ban long overdue

Sam Woolford, LegaSea Project Lead sam@legasea.co.nz

The decline of available food sources for snapper and other creatures won’t improve if indiscriminate purse seining of important food sources continues in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Earlier this year, Ministry for Primary Industries reports showed that snapper in the Gulf are starving, pointing to ecosystem collapse and a lack of food available as causes.

But snapper aren’t the only ones struggling to find food – seabird species are leaving their gulf feeding grounds to go on long trips south to bring food back for their young.

Small schooling fish species, known as forage fish or bait fish, are important food sources for larger fish such as kingfish, seabirds and mammals including dolphins. Forage fish include anchovy, mackerel, pilchards and kahawai. The variety and numbers of forage fish are declining. There are many contributing factors to the decline in available food sources. An estimated 4 million kilograms of forage fish are purse seined out of the Hauraki Gulf every year. Purse seining works by setting a large net, sometimes up to two kilometres long, in a circle around the bait school and then drawing the net in slowly to create a ‘purse’. In the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, the most fish caught, by weight, is blue mackerel – a fish much smaller than snapper. Using a seine net, thousands of mackerel can be caught in one set.

Fisheries New Zealand puts little effort into measuring the effects of taking so many fish. In December 2019, an estimated 1000 kilograms of dead mackerel were ‘accidentally lost’ from a commercial vessel, some of them washing up on the shores of

Legasea says the most effective way to improve the long term productivity of the marine environment is to remove destructive fishing techniques such as bottom trawling, scallop dredging, and Danish and purse seining from the Hauraki Gulf.

Kawau Island. And, around 90% of blue mackerel is exported, usually as frozen food or bait.

Seafood New Zealand statistics show whole, frozen blue mackerel is being exported for around $1.80 a kilo. At this bargain basement price, we need to rethink our priorities in favour of sustaining the environment including our birds, mammals and other fish species. The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has the authority to ban any fishing method on the basis of sustainability. Banning purse seine fishing means we can protect the food sources that are so important to sustaining the sealife we treasure, including our snapper, seabirds, dolphins, and whales.

22 Support for Seniors, Warkworth Library, 10.30am-12 noon. Presented by Paddy Sullivan, Age Concern Rodney.

26-28 Wellsford Drama Club presents Keep to Thy First Wife, Wellsford Community Centre, 7pm (Friday and Saturday) and 2pm matinee on Sunday. Tickets $20 at the door

27 Hello Sailor, Leigh Sawmill, 8pm. Tickets $54.55 at the door.

27&28 Albertland Celebrations, Albertland Heritage Museum. Info: https://albertlandmuseum.co.nz/ (see story & column p14)

28 Fabric Rescue Market, Matakana Community Hall, 10am-2pm. Sale of unwanted fabric and craft/sewing items for koha. Info: Julie Tuck on 027 570 8151 or email fabricrescuemk@gmail.com

28 Stephen De Pledge presented by Warkworth Music, Warkworth Town Hall, 4-6pm (see story p19)

29 Life without a car, Age Concern Rodney Health Promotion, Warkworth Library, 10.30am-midday

30 Wellsford Plus annual general meeting, Wellsford Community Centre, 6.30pm. All current members welcome.

31 Warkworth Lions Quiz Night, Warkworth Bowls Club, Mill Lane; teams of six, $10 per person.

1 Strike Up the Band, a celebration of the big band era, Warkworth Town Hall, 11am. Tickets $39

1-5 June Art exhibition & sale, Estuary Art Centre, 214B Hibiscus Coast Highway, Orewa https://harbourhospice.org.nz/event/hibiscus-coast-art-exhibition/

2-10 Starting from Scratch art exhibition, Takatu Studio, 201a Takatu Road, Matakana, 9am-3pm. New ceramics and paintings by Helene Carpenter.

4 Tawharanui Planting Day, 9am-1pm. Meet at the Woolshed; tools, gloves and lunch provided

4 Whakatōnga ā Te Muri community planting day (see ad p for details)

7 Warkworth Liaison Group meeting, downstairs meeting room at Warkworth RSA, Mill Lane, 7pm

10 Quiz Night, Ahuroa Fire Station, 383 West Coast Road, 7pm. Prizes and raffles, cash bar, bring a plate or snacks to share. Tables of 6 or individual tickets, $10 per person. No Eftpos. RSVP and info: ahuroa.quiz@gmail.com

11 Leys Orchestra Family Concert, Warkworth Town Hall, 3pm. Free

IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT MORE LOCAL, THEN WHY NOT JOIN US!

WARKWORTH TOWN HALL

Warkworth Town Hall has been a centre of community life for Warkworth, Kaipara and the Matakana Coast for over 100years. The recently renovated hall and facilities are available for everyone in the Mahurangi community to hire. In the entranceway to the Warkworth Hall stands an octagonal memorial to the members of our local community who fought in the Great Wars. It lists the towns and villages in our community whose men and women 'signed up', were all farewelled and some welcomed home - at Warkworth Town Hall. 100 years on, the residents and families of these same communities have contributed to the restoration of this important local building, through their rates and donations.

Saturday 27th May, 10am-2pm next to Warkworth Butchery

Treat

Tuesday 6th June, 5.30 - 8pm

• Tony from "Mead in New Zealand"Oak aged award winning Mead

• Diana from "Four Little Birds"

Patisserie and Cakes

• Christina from "Reveal Yourself"

Holistic Healthy Nutrition

15-28 French Film Festival, Matakana Cinemas (see story and win tickets p19)

17 Improv Comedy Night, Warkworth Squash Club, Shoesmith Street, 7.30pm. Tickets $25 per person. Contact Kaye Jackson on 021 135 7574 or squashykaye@ icloud.com

19 Low Vision Support Group, Summerset Falls Village, Warkworth, 1.30pm. All welcome. Info: enquiries@mcdonaldadams.co.nz

24 Volunteer Open Day, Matakana Hall, 10am-1pm. The Forest Bridge Trust event to celebrate National Volunteer Week (see brief p16)

25 Leigh Mid-winter Swim, Matheson Bay, 10.30am start (see brief p6)

30 Movie Magic, a Matakanata Choir concert at Matakana Hall, 7.30pm; tickets $20 adults, gold coin children

29–July 2 Puhoi 160th celebrations, includes a lunch, dance and church service. Info and tickets puhoibohemianmuseum@gmail.com or ph 027 211 0316.

Stephen De Pledge

French Film Festival

Matakana driver scores

dream double

A young racing driver from Matakana is several steps closer to his dream of becoming a serious Supercars contender, following two major wins this month.

Brock Gilchrist, who is 19, not only took out the 2023 Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ Toyota 86 Championship at Hampton Downs on May 7, he was also chosen as the winner of a test drive in the Ampol Red Bull racing Gen 3 Camaro Supercar in Brisbane in July. Gilchrist will also be heading for Germany in August to race a Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO at the famous Nürburgring track in the third round of the ADAC GT4 championship as part of his prize for winning the Toyota 86 championship. He said winning both prizes was a dream come true.

“These are two really major prizes – I didn’t expect to end up getting both,” he said. “I’m very, very lucky.”

Motorsport has been a part of Gilchrist’s life since he was born – he was named after Australian racing legend Peter Brock and he started racing when he was just 14, after his late father bought him a BMW e30.

“Dad was a massive fan of motor racing, so I grew up watching him go-karting and I started very young,” he said. This was his fifth consecutive Toyota 86 season, winning nine races throughout New Zealand, including all three races over the NZ Grand Prix

weekend in February.

His achievements on and off the track made Gilchrist the obvious choice for the Supercar test drive, according to the Tony Quinn Foundation, which was set up to support young Kiwi racing drivers by the owner of Hampton Downs, Highlands and Taupo International Motorsport Parks in 2021.

Foundation trustee and parks chief executive Josie Spillane said Brock was the outstanding performer and had come a long way this season.

“His motorsport talent is obviously evident and he has also worked incredibly hard on the off-track requirements of being a top line racing driver. Putting a racing season together these days and finding sponsors is not an easy job and he was the last guy on the grid for this season,” she said.

“He had a tough season last year and came back in emphatic style this season and that caught the eye of every trustee. He’s charismatic, engaging and is extremely professional in all of his off-track dealings with everyone. He is doing a great job of laying foundations for a shot at big future if he wants it.”

Gilchrist certainly does want it – although he’s keeping his feet on the ground with his day job as an apprentice plumber, his dream is to drive full-time in the future.

“It would be cool to go into Supercars, that’s where I’ve always wanted to go,” he said. “But anything where I’m getting paid to drive in a car full-time would be great.”

From left, Brock Gilchrist, Tony Quinn Foundation trustee Josie Spillane, Ursula Gilchrist and Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy head Daniel Gaunt.

Going places fast – Brock Gilchrist of Matakana.