Mahurangi Matters_Issue481_10 June 2024

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Traders plead for Watercare pipeline review

Developer and Warkworth commercial landlord Jamie Peters has called for an independent review of the options being considered by Watercare for a pipeline through the town centre.

He told a forum convened by One Mahurangi and Chris Penk MP last Friday, June 7, that he did not have confidence that Watercare would deliver the right decision for the town. His comments were supported by long-time infrastructure campaigner Roger Williams, who said the review should start immediately.

Watercare representatives attended the forum, including chief strategy and planning officer Priyan Perera, and heard first-hand the impassioned pleas of four retail and hospitality representatives.

Bridgehouse owner Ian Holt apologised for getting emotional. He said road closures in the past had cost him thousands of dollars in lost revenue. The jobs of 38 people were at stake and the town was already on its knees. While the plan hung over their heads, the business was unsaleable.

“I beg you to look at another option,” he said.

Bin Inn owner Jill Gabriel said her speciality store was totally reliant on cars parking outside the shop in Elizabeth Street. The promise of pedestrian access would not benefit her.

“We’ve struggled since the motorway opened and [if this pipeline goes ahead through the CBD] we will close,” she said.

Pete & Mary’s Café co-owner Suzannah Hemus said her home had already been severely impacted by Watercare’s wastewater upgrades at Snells Beach.

“Now we face a situation which will kill our business,” she said.

She painted a picture of the struggles the café had gone through since the first covid lockdown and how it had been “touch

and go” at times, and begged Watercare to reconsider any proposal to put the pipeline down Queen Street.

Her comments were echoed by The Photo Store owner Colin Stables, who said the majority of his customers were elderly.

“We [the businesses of Warkworth] can’t fund this project,” he said. “Through the Great Financial Crisis and covid, we did what we had to do to survive, but I think this will

be too much. We won’t be able to survive it.”

One Mahurangi manager Murray Chapman said he estimated that between 60 and 70 per cent of businesses in the town would not renew their leases or would close if the pipeline through the town centre went ahead.

Watercare acting chief customer officer Brent Evans told the audience that “this is not our first rodeo”.

“This is probably not want you want to hear, but we’ve put in infrastructure under wealthy homes in Auckland and through business centres,” he said. “We know it will be disruptive with impacts, wherever it goes. But we are listening to what you are telling us.”

Planner Burnette O’Connor pointed out that what had happened elsewhere would

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was in Warkworth last Friday to hear the concerns One Mahurangi has about the possibility that a wastewater pipeline project could effectively close down the CBD for 12 months. He is pictured with Pete & Mary café owner Suzannah Hemus, who spoke at Friday’s forum.

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Call for independent review of pipeline options

not necessarily be relevant in the context of Warkworth, which was a satellite town and a rural service town, quite different from anything Watercare would have encountered in central Auckland.

Perera said that at the delivery stage, Watercare would meet with impacted parties so customers could still park, the elderly could still access shops and service deliveries could still be achieved.

One Mahurangi co-chair Dave Stott said

he was very disappointed that Watercare had dismissed the option of taking the pipeline under the former ladies bowls club in Shoesmith Street, thereby bypassing the town centre. One Mahurangi had spoken to affected property owners in that area who were not opposed to the plan.

“In many ways, this option would be an easier one for Watercare to take,” he said.

The new sewer pipeline is needed to take wastewater from major housing

developments on the north-west side of town to a new pump station in Lucy Moore Park, construction of which could take anywhere from 14 to 22 months (see story below).

Watercare said it could not afford to delay the project and promised to revisit the Shoesmith Domain option.

A final decision on the route was expected this month, but it may now be August before the town traders learn their fate.

Reserve land needed for sewer pipe construction

While attention is focused on where Watercare will lay its planned new sewer through the Warkworth CBD, it has emerged that the wider project could see it commandeering part of four reserves and parks for construction sites.

The pipeline is needed to take wastewater from major new developments on the north-west side of town to a new pump station in Lucy Moore Park, construction of which could take anywhere from 14 to 22 months.

Project manager Michael Zhou told a Rodney Local Board workshop last month that Watercare had earmarked four potential temporary sites for heavy machinery to be used and stored throughout – part of Warkworth Showgrounds, Kowhai Reserve (where the ‘Welcome to Warkworth’ duck sign is), Kowhai Park and Shoesmith Reserve.

“Stage one, the northern branch sewer from the showgrounds to Hill Street, is in the design stage and work is in progress to obtain resource consent for construction,” he said. “We need to construct hardstanding areas for trucks, diggers and heavy machinery.”

The proposal to use part of the bottom section of Shoesmith Reserve as the main construction compound and site office for both the northern and southern sections rang alarm bells with members.

“All the children walk along from school there, it’s a super-dangerous road and busy in the mornings, you cannot find a car park there,” Ivan Wagstaff said.

“Also you’re going to have all these trucks going through Hill Street – would it not be

“Where every farewell tells a beautiful story.”

Red outlines show where Watercare would like to put temporary construction sites.

better to do it somewhere else on the same side of the road as the works? Is there any other option, like up at the showgrounds?”

Members suggested that another part of the showgrounds, such as the rodeo area, or as yet undeveloped land to the north, might be better options.

Zhou and elected member relationship manager Ben Halliwell said such feedback was the reason for them coming to the workshop.

“This is genuinely useful for us, you guys need these areas and you know how these parks are used and we don’t,” Halliwell said.

“Your suggestions are valuable. Coming to you this early in the process means that we can actually do something about that feedback.”

Zhou added that they couldn’t say when work might start until the southern sewer pipe route through Warkworth had been decided.

“That’s the big question. We can start when we can confirm the southern stage, because once we start, we want to go all the way through – we don’t want to stop, go away and come back, we want to do it all as fast as possible.”

Lily Watson

Pete Sharp Raoul Robertson

Hill Street SandspitRoad Matakana Road

Eight week road closure for bridge renewals at Makarau

Drivers and residents along West Coast Road can expect delays and inconvenience for up to two months while Auckland Transport (AT) closes a 7km section of the road for long-awaited repairs to two wooden bridges at Makarau.

The work is due to start this Wednesday, June 12, and all traffic will be diverted via Komokoriki Hill Road, an unsealed loop road that is steep and winding for part of its length.

Contractors will start by removing and replacing the single-track wooden bridge known as Stoney Creek Bridge No 3, just north of 901 West Coast Road, followed next month by Glennies Bridge, just north of Parker Road.

AT said each bridge would take around four weeks to fix, depending on the weather, and signs would be set up on surrounding roads to warn motorists and direct traffic.

A spokesperson urged drivers and local residents to plan ahead and consider using other routes.

“The detour will close the road between either end of Komokoriki Hill Road and traffic will detour through Komokoriki Hill Road,” they said.

“Residents within the road closure will maintain access to their properties, but will not have access across the bridge under repair.”

Drivers have been calling for the bridges to be properly repaired for more than a year, as the bitumen surfaces are worn, uneven and full of holes, bare planks and exposed screws (MM, Mar 4). The project has been in the pipeline since the end of last year, but details of the repairs and need for a

detour only emerged last week.

Some local residents expressed concern that Komokoriki Hill Road was being used as the detour route.

The metalled road was used as part of the route for Rally NZ in 2022 and was closed for several weeks last summer and autumn as a result of massive slips caused by heavy rain.

Sandi Webb, who runs her Funky Glass art mosaic business from the northern end of Komokoriki, said having weeks of two-way traffic using the road was a worry.

“It’s okay now, because we haven’t had any real rain yet, but it’s still pretty rough and very, very windy,” she said. “This will be right through the middle of winter.”

She added that when the slips were being repaired last year, large trucks would “come flying down the hill”, with little

regard for other traffic.

“I’m very concerned about it.”

Rodney Local Board member Geoff Upson is one of those who have long been campaigning for the bridges to be fixed.

He said while he thought Komokoriki Hill Road would be “okay” as a detour route, there could be issues on narrow sections if drivers didn’t obey road rules or just use common sense.

“There are lots of narrow, twisty corners that are definitely not wide enough for

oncoming traffic to pass, should they meet on one of the narrow corners,” he said. The bridge renewal work is being carried out by Auckland-based infrastructure company John Fillmore Contracting. Anyone with any queries or concerns about the project should contact AT: Email projects@at.govt.nz or call 09 930 5090

Rodney’s population growth fourth fastest in NZ

The Rodney Local Board area had the fourth highest percentage population growth of any area, district or city in New Zealand over the past five years. According to the first release of last year’s census data, Rodney’s population grew to 81,000, up from 69,100 people in the 2018 census – a growth of 17.22 per cent.

A comparison of population-growth data from 13 cities, 53 districts, 21 local board areas (in Auckland) and one territory (Chatham Islands) puts Rodney in fourth place, behind Selwyn district (28.44 per cent), Queenstown-Lakes district (24.24 per cent) and Papakura (24.06 per cent).

Auckland’s overall population grew over that period by just 5.11 per cent, Kaipara district by 15.19 per cent, Hibiscus and Bays LB area by 8.01 per cent, Far North district by 10.01 per cent and Whangārei district by 8.29 per cent.

Several jurisdictions – almost all of them in Auckland – experienced a drop in population between 2018 and 2023:

Albert-Eden LB area (-4.05 per cent), Devonport-Takapuna LB area (-3.14 per cent), Waitemata LB area (-2.03 per cent), Buller district (-1.83 per cent), Kaipatiki LB area (-1.72 per cent) and Orakei LB area (-1.71 per cent).

In other data released, New Zealand’s population grew by 6.3 per cent between 2018 and 2023, a slower growth rate than between 2013 and 2018, when it grew by 10.8 per cent.

The 2023 population count was 4,993,923, of whom 67.8 per cent comprised European ethnicities, 17.8 per cent Māori, 17.3 per cent Asian, 8.9 per cent Pasifika and 1.9 per cent Middle Eastern/Latin American/African.

The median age of the population increased to 38.1 years, compared with 37.4 years in 2018.

Auckland (35.9 years) and Gisborne (36.7 years) regions accounted for the youngest median age, while the West Coast (48.1 years) and Tasman (46.8 years) regions had the oldest median age.

Each

Auckland population growth between 2018 and 2023 censuses, showing Rodney as second fastest growing local board area

Komokoriki

bridge repair will take around four weeks.

ROAD CLOSED

Makarau Ahuroa Road

GLENNIES BRIDGE

Boom in buses set for July

Bus services will be booming in and around Warkworth from next month, with a new loop service around town and extra buses to and from Hibiscus Coast.

The new Rodney Local Board-funded 999 loop bus trial will begin its half-hourly service on Sunday, July 21, followed by the 995 service to and from Silverdale increasing its frequency to every 30 minutes on weekdays, instead of just at peak times at present.

The new loop bus will run clockwise every 30 minutes, starting at 6am and finishing at 7.30pm on weekdays, and 5.50am to 7.20pm on weekends and public holidays.

Fares will cost the same as any single zone trip on AT, which is currently $2.60 for adults and $1.35 for children.

Buses will start at the community transport hub next to the showgrounds, then stop in Baxter Street, Percy Street, Lilburn Street, Pulham Road, Walton Avenue, Woodcocks Road, Mansel Drive and Falls Road/Hill Street.

Auckland Transport (AT) principal service network planner Dave Hilson told a local board workshop on June 5 that plans to also put a bus stop in Hudson Road, near Pak’nSave, would not be going ahead at this stage.

He said this was due to safety issues around buses having to cross traffic and a turning lane, and a stormwater catch pit being in the way.

However, Hilson said Pak’nSave had approached AT about putting a stop inside its carpark, which would be looked into.

“We’re always a wee bit nervous about bus stops on private land and in carparks, but we will investigate,” he said.

However, the workshop heard from elected member relationship partner Beth Houlbrooke that AT had not been contacted by builders or developers about the possibility of taking the Mansel Drive bus stop outside Summerset Falls closer to the Kowhai Falls retail area (MM, May 27).

“I don’t think we have any record of them

approaching AT directly with that offer. We heard secondhand, through Glyn Williams, that was available and we read it in the Mahurangi Matters, but I don’t believe they approached us directly,” she said.

Members heard there had been four complaints from businesses about a bus stop near the top of Lilburn Street taking away parking, as well as some concerns over visibility at a stop between View Road and Albert Street, where Hill Street meets Falls Road.

“At this stage the intention is to build all of these stops for July 21 and then monitor them,” he said, adding that detailed data on how and when the new service was being used could be obtained from AT Hop card use.

Hilson said there was scope to alter stops, or extend the hours of the loop service, once it had been up and running for a while.

The new service will be publicised via posters at existing bus stops and in schools and local businesses, local newspaper advertising, targeted social media and via 2900 printed flyers delivered to Warkworth

Existing stops

New stops

homes and businesses.

Board members pointed out that you could take two or even more bus trips locally and only pay one fare, such as taking the loop bus and then catching another bus to Wellsford,

Silverdale or Snells Beach, for example. Chair Brent Bailey said that sounded like a bargain.

“This has been a long time coming and I can’t wait to see what happens next,” he said.

Public outcry leads to council backflip on rescue cuts

Emergency service providers in Northland are breathing a sigh of relief after councillors decided not to pursue plans to cut their funding.

Northland Regional Council (NRC) had proposed dropping its emergency service rate that provides vital funds for the Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) helicopter rescue, Surf Life Saving NZ, Hato Hone St John, Coastguard, and several search and rescue services (MM, Apr 15).

Service providers said cutting the rate would mean them running into the red at best and, at worst, lives being lost, and they urged opponents to contact NRC. Almost 2300 people did just that, making it clear they wanted the rate support to continue, as well as a similar rate supporting regional sport.

Council chair Geoff Crawford said the cost to individual ratepayers would be about $27.65 a year.

Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Surf Club chair Jess Costello said she was “absolutely stoked” that the funding was back.

“There was a serious risk to beach and water safety, not only of beachgoers, but the lifeguards, too. The amount of extra volunteer hours and callouts that lifeguards would have had to respond to would have been huge,” she said.

Costello said she was also relieved to hear that the peak season Paid Lifeguard Service would be back, as was Waipu Cove SLSC captain Kath Manning, who said she couldn’t comprehend what summer would look like without them.

Les Miller & Jackie Woolerton - Webster Malcolm Law

The Northland Rescue Helicopter service stood to lose $535,000 a year if the rates funding had been discontinued.

The new half-hourly loop service will launch on Sunday, July 21.

KDC fast-track submission

‘embarrassing’, members say

Kaipara District Council has thrown its formal support behind the government’s proposed Fast-Track Approvals Bill, but its criticism over the priority that the bill gives to iwi has drawn sharp criticism by two elected members.

In its submission to a select committee considering the legislation, the council said it was “inappropriate that the bill gives a much greater priority to the rights of iwi than to the rights of other ratepayers and residents in our district”.

The concerns of all in Kaipara should carry equal weight, whatever their ethnicity, it said.

The legislation provides for a four-person expert panel to evaluate projects seeking fast-track consent, with one of the four members nominated by the applicable local authority and one by the relevant iwi.

“This apparent equivalence between local authorities and iwi authorities seems to us totally inappropriate, and is likely to result in the concerns of Māori residents and ratepayers being given a disproportionately greater weight than the concerns of other ratepayers in our district,” the council submission said, noting too that the word ‘iwi’ appeared 56 times in the legislation.

Since the submission had to reach the committee before an April 19 deadline, it was formulated by Mayor Craig Jepson and Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen, acting under delegated authority.

The document was then presented to the council’s monthly meeting on May 29, for elected members to “note”.

Councillors Ihapera Paniora and Eryn Wilson-Collins vehemently objected, with Paniora – Kaipara’s first Māori ward councillor – calling the assertion that the bill gave Māori “greater weight” than other ratepayers “totally untrue and unfounded”.

Māori rights were in fact being “trampled right now under this three-headed taniwha”, she added, referring to the National/NZ First/ACT government.

Paniora said the submission should have been presented in the names of Jepson and Larsen, not sent on a council letterhead and purporting to be the view of the council as a whole.

Wilson-Collins said she was “embarrassed by this submission” and was not alone in the chamber or the council organisation to feel that way. Like Paniora, she did not want to be associated with it.

“Obviously we have philosophical differences in the room,” Jepson acknowledged.

After reading aloud the portion of the submission to which Paniora and WilsonCollins had objected, he said, “I would say that the majority of my council would agree with that statement”.

Mayoral involvement sought

The coalition government says the fasttrack legislation aims to facilitate the efficient provision of large-scale projects “with significant regional or national benefits”, by reducing the costs and time needed for consenting.

An expert panel would consider applications for accelerated consent, but with a ministerial trio – Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Transport Minister Simeon Brown – having the final say.

Concerned about the potential environmental impact of the process, green advocacy groups are spearheading opposition to the bill, which is still going through the select committee process.

In its submission, KDC said the draft legislation should be amended to empower the relevant mayor to grant or decline applications alongside the three ministers – if the mayor asks to be involved.

This would improve the local decisionmaking process and add local contextual information, it said.

Overall, the submission said KDC strongly supported the legislation’s stated intent.

A petition, calling on Watercare to rethink its pipeline route through Warkworth, is currently available at stores in the town.

Civil disobedience

– now or never

If One Mahurangi is serious about trying to stop Watercare from turning Warkworth’s town centre into a construction site (see column p9), then the time to act is now – not in 12 months’ time when designs are done, consents secured, materials purchased and contracts let. Turning the ship around at that point will be nigh on impossible. A peaceful and coordinated civil disobedience campaign, perhaps targeting the Snells Beach wastewater treatment plant currently under construction, would send a strong message to the hierarchy at Watercare, and Auckland Council, that the businesses along Elizabeth and Queen Streets in Warkworth are not going to lie down and accept the pipeline plan as it currently stands. For them, too much is at stake including both jobs and livelihoods. We are not talking about a couple of weeks of inconvenience – Queen Street alone would be virtually closed for more than a year. If we allow Watercare to ride roughshod over public opinion in this way, retailers and hospitality businesses in the town will close. Parking will disappear and so will customers, and people’s shopping habits will change. It could take years to reverse the damage done. As one retailer put it, after covid and the anniversary storms last year, this would be “the nail in the coffin”. Watercare has yet to disclose why Elizabeth and Queen Streets is its preferred option for the pipeline route, but cost must be a factor. Their lack of transparency during this whole process, as well as the lack of any sort of community analysis, only heightens the town’s anxiety that the impact on businesses has been given a very low priority. At least – at the very least – Watercare must reveal what made Elizabeth and Queen Streets its preferred option.

And One Mahurangi should be urged to use civil disobedience as its first option, not its last.

Your paper is a winner

It was a proud moment for Mahurangi Matters when it was named Community Newspaper of the Year at the prestigious Voyager Media Awards on May 24.

The judges said the paper exemplified the sort of local issues coverage that made community newspapers important. They singled out our coverage of the Dome landfill for special mention, as well commending the paper for its strong mix of local government coverage, opinion, sport and celebratory pieces on pillars of the community, “making the paper an overall rich and satisfying read”.

It was a thrill to accept the award on behalf of the diligent, hardworking team that produces and delivers your fortnightly paper, although this year’s awards were set against a gloomy backdrop. Many recipients paid tribute to axed shows such as Fair Go and Sunday, and the massive job losses that will accompany the closure of Newshub on July 5.

The fact that traditional media is under siege from tech giants such as Meta/ Facebook shouldn’t be news to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past decade or so. The tech barons who pay no tax in NZ gain massive advertising revenue by using news stories, without paying a cent to the newsrooms that produce those stories. Newspapers around the world are closing while governments fail to get to grips with the seriousness of this situation.

In 2021, Australia passed a first-of-its-kind law to force social media companies to share a portion of the profits they make from news content with news organisations. The law brought in almost $150 million in its first year. Canada followed suit

and California looks to be fashioning similar legislation. A news bargaining bill in NZ, first drafted under the Labour Government, was not supported by National’s poorly informed Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Melissa Lee. Luckily, she was barely in the job long enough for the ink to dry on her business cards, when she was replaced by Paul Goldsmith. Goldsmith attended the Voyager awards, where he could not have failed to sense the despair in the room. For him, the stopwatch is ticking – many small independent papers just like Mahurangi Matters have already closed, with others hanging on by their

Massive log pile lights up skies near Matakana

The night skies around Big Omaha and Point Wells were lit up by a spectacular blaze on Thursday night last week, when a huge pile of forestry logs went up in smoke. Fire crews from Leigh, Matakana and Warkworth were called to rein in the controlled burn, when shooting flames and embers from the 15-metre high woodpile

threatened to spread to surrounding trees. Crews spent almost three hours at the remote site between Quintal and Upper Whangateau Roads hosing down the fire surrounds. Because the fire could clearly be seen from miles around, several people called 111, including some who thought the blaze was in Point Wells.

fingernails. If Goldsmith fails to act soon, then who will provide the reliable and balanced coverage of stories such as the Auckland Anniversary floods and their aftermath, the Dome landfill, the growth around Warkworth, the expansion of solar farms and the wastewater pipeline through Warkworth? Not Facebook, that’s for sure.

Mahurangi Matters extends a special thanks to our advertisers, who make what we do possible. Many of these businesses have been supporting the paper for decades. It can’t be stressed enough that if readers enjoy the paper and want it to continue, then supporting these businesses, who support this paper, is crucial.

Accepting the award on the night were, from left, journalist Patrick Goodenough, editor Jannette Thompson and administration manager Angela Thomas.

Viewpoint

Chris Penk, MP for Kaipara ki Mahurangi chris.penkmp@parliament.govt.nz

Mahurangi microcosm

One thing I’ve been noting a bit lately is how much this electorate is a microcosm of New Zealand as a whole. Certainly this seems the case for our Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate, which takes in the readership of Mahurangi Matters. And the same was true before that of areas that had previously made up the Helensville, Rodney and Northland electorates.

Obviously there are many different people doing many different things locally, just as there are at national level. More striking, though, is that fact that this community faces issues that provide local examples of exactly the kinds of challenges and opportunities that the whole country faces.

An example would be ensuring that the young people of today are provided with wholesome, practical, real world opportunities to succeed, particularly for those with difficult backgrounds. At a national level, we talk about improving the youth justice system and establishing boot camps to ensure that some discipline and self-respect are afforded to youngsters needing a bit of direction in life. At a local level, meanwhile, there are great community groups and venues that can provide exactly this type of thing. Recently, I visited Action Matakana, which provides a great service to many different groups along these lines.

Another instance would be discussions about recognising our nation’s history in New Zealand schools’ curriculum and in connection with remembrance at Anzac Day, Waitangi Day and, more recently,

Footpaths update

Matariki. At a local level, meanwhile, the Albertland Museum in Wellsford provides as clear a historical record as anywhere in the world could wish to have tell the stories of its people. It was a pleasure recently to visit some of the delightful volunteers who keep this treasure running for the benefit of generations to come, including school children of the present day who visit.

My final example relates to local heroes who attain national recognition through the honours system. Recently the recognition provided by King’s Birthday Honours included a number of residents of the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate, including (in the Warkworth area) Sarah Haydon, ONZM for services to people with disabilities. Congratulations to all who have served our area and New Zealand at large so faithfully as to be recognised in this way.

When I attend meetings with fellow ministers in Wellington, where we discuss how best to turn around some of the long standing problems that have dogged our nation, I always keep in mind examples of how problems are being solved every day in the various communities of Auckland’s rural north.

Thanks for the inspiration and example provided by so many of you – along with honest assessments of some of the problems – to me, as your local MP. Together we can work to resolving these, in the words of the hoary old saying, by thinking globally and acting locally.

A total of 17 of the 30 footpaths that will be funded by the Rodney Local Board’s targeted transport rate, introduced in 2018, have been completed. In total, the board will spend just over $24 million to deliver about 10 kilometres of new pathways. Footpaths completed since July last year included Pakiri Road and Albert Street at Leigh, Leigh Road at Whangateau, Point Wells Road, School and Olympus Roads in Wellsford, Wech Drive Warkworth, Ahuroa School Road, and Puhoi Road. Projects currently in construction are in Old Woodcocks Road (due to be finished on June 20), School Road footpath and pedestrian crossing in Kaipara Flats (June 20), Kaipara Flats Road (June 20), Goodall Road footpath and school connection, Snells Beach (June 20), Rodney Street, Wellsford (June 13), and Rodney Street bridge and footpath connections in Wellsford (mid-August). A footpath in Mason Heights in Warkworth is in the final stages of design, with construction expected to start in the next few weeks.

Leigh fisher hauls in winner’s trophy

Third-generation fisher Logan Murman, 27, has landed the honour of being the inaugural Sunderland Marine Young Fisher of the Year.

The award, a collaboration between Young Fish Aotearoa NZ, founding sponsor Sunderland Marine and the NZ Federation of Commercial Fishermen, celebrates the early-career achievements and hard work of fishers under the age of 35.

Murman’s fishing career began when he was 17, working as a deckhand on a Leigh cray boat and longliners. At 20, he got his skipper’s ticket and continued working around Leigh until 2019, when he headed to the West Coast to broaden his experience. There he did stints fishing for tuna and a few months as a watchkeeper on a hoki trawler.

Murman returned to Leigh and bought the 14.2-metre FV Unity in 2021, which he now skippers, rotating between fishing for crays and longlining for finfish, depending on the season. He is a well-respected member of both the Leigh Commercial Fishermen’s Association and the Federation.

Young Fish co-founder and award creator, Ben Pierce, says Murman was chosen as the award’s inaugural recipient for his range of experiences, openness to innovation and resounding positive feedback from several people in the Leigh fishing community.

“We were impressed with how Logan has continuously challenged himself to broaden his horizons by fishing in different regions of the country for different species. His multiple nominators praised his willingness to continuously adjust his fishing methods – for example, by fishing in different areas depending on the season or lunar phase – to maximise his success. They also mentioned his positive attitude, how good he is to work with and his ongoing contributions to his local fishing communities, all of which are important qualities to nurture throughout your career.”

Murman was presented with the custom award trophy during the annual fish ’n’ chip

dinner at the Federation conference, held in Tauranga last month. He will receive $5000 courtesy of sponsor Sunderland Marine to further his maritime training and career.

Church consults on Ascension Vineyard sale

The Catholic Diocese of Auckland is considering buying Ascension Vineyard on Matakana Road.

The winery has been closed for nearly four years and on the market for the last two. It went into receivership in 2013 and was subsequently bought by brothers Gino and Kiro Gurshin and Alex and Mick Sipka, who reopened the restaurant in September 2014. Alex Sipka later bought out the Gurshin brothers and attempted, unsuccessfully, to lease the hospitality side of the business.

Diocese general manager James van Schie says the church is consulting with parishioners about the potential purchase. He says the Holy Name Parish Church in Alnwick Street, Warkworth is too small for its growing community and the bigger property [7.5 hectares] would allow the Holy Name parish to accommodate a church and pastoral centre. Under the proposal, the existing restaurant would be repurposed to provide hospitality for parish events, day retreats, community hire and as a space for both church and local groups to gather. The land currently occupied by vines would be set aside with the intention of being developed for future pastoral use,

such as a primary school in the long term. This second stage of development would likely not happen for at least 10 years,

depending on the growth of Warkworth. The church is expected to make a decision by late next month.

The trophy was created by Werble Hill Crafts.

From left, Young Fish Aotearoa NZ co-founder Ben Pierce, Sunderland Marine Young Fisher of the Year Award winner Logan Murman, and Sunderland Marine representative Nicki Peacey. Photo, Claire Williamson.

Ascension, which once boasted a 200-seat restaurant, bar, cellar door and conference area, plus four hectares of vineyard and the winery, may be about to take a new direction.

OneMahurangi

David Stott, Co-chair https://onemahurangi.co.nz

Busy times for business

One Mahurangi Business Association is facing a very busy next six weeks. First, the positive news – on May 29, we began a six-course series of workshops on artificial intelligence (AI) developments and ChatGPT basics. The series has attracted widespread interest and will be held fortnightly until the final session on August 7. We are currently negotiating another series of workshops, this time over four sessions, on stress management and building business and personal resilience. It is proposed that this workshop series will commence after the completion of the AI workshop series. Once dates are confirmed, we will advertise the details across our usual platforms, such as our website and Facebook page.

We are also going to hold another Meet the Police session in the Woodcocks industrial area on Thursday, June 13 at ITSS Engineering. We have previously run two similar sessions, and there has been interest in a further meeting, particularly with the appointment of a new acting police sergeant. Security is still an issue, and we are currently working with the police on the location, operation and monitoring of new security cameras.

To cap this period off, the Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights is back and will be held on Saturday, July 6. We encourage

Family fun at Te Hana

everyone to come along throughout the day and enjoy a wonderful occasion. It grows in size every year, and the hospitality industry regularly has its best daily take for the year. There will be some new attractions so come along and enjoy (see story p20). The biggest issue facing us, though, is the Watercare proposal to route its new wastewater line through Elizabeth and Queen Streets. We have been working on two alternative routes, which we will present to the Mayor of Auckland within the next couple of weeks. We have also written to the Mayor outlining our total opposition to the Watercare proposal, for which we got unanimous support from all businesses on those two streets. We have also launched a petition, which will be widely available in the CBD and online for the community to sign. This will be presented to the Watercare’s chair and chief executive. Following that, we will embark on a national media campaign. We would also encourage as many as possible to submit to Auckland Transport’s Regional Long Term Plan (RLTP). There are two important items in the RLTP that affect Warkworth – namely, funding for the construction of Hill Street and sealing of unsealed roads in Rodney. Any support that your submissions give to these two matters will be greatly beneficial in obtaining the requisite funding.

A free Matariki Whānau Day will be held at Te Hana’s Te Ao Marama Maori cultural centre and marae on Saturday, June 22, from 10am to 2pm. Attractions include children’s rides, stalls, kapa haka, face painting, a bouncy castle, ice cream, a sausage sizzle and hangi. There will also be health services and advice available from Te Ha Oranga for kaumatua and tamariki, old and young, including flu shots.

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Join us at our upcoming seminars

At Summerset, we recognise that it’s a big decision to move into a retirement village and for some, it can be a very emotional and overwhelming time. To help you navigate through this process, we’re holding two informative seminars on Wednesday 19 June at Summerset Falls in Warkworth.

In the morning, we will have a Real Estate Panel Discussion where you will hear the inside scoop from local real estate agents on what is happening in the property market. After a light lunch, we will have our Downsizing & Decluttering Seminar where you’ll hear advice from our Moving Specialist to ensure your move is stress-free and well-planned. Plus, attendees will go into the draw to win one of two $100 New World vouchers.#

Our show homes will be open, and you can view at your leisure. Spaces are limited so you’ll need to RSVP by Sunday 16 June to Leanne on 09 425 1202.

Wednesday 19 June

Downsizing Seminar, 10:30am – 11:30am Real Estate Seminar, 12:30 pm – 1:30pm Summerset Falls

31 Mansel Drive, Warkworth 09 425 1202 | warkworth.sales@summerset.co.nz

Electronic flooding signage alerts trialled

Two Warkworth roads have been chosen for a national pilot of an electronic flooding alert system.

Auckland Transport (AT) will install electronic signage and related infrastructure on Kaipara Flats Road and Falls Road around the middle of this month.

The system is designed to relay warning messages when waters rise. Initially, the messages will be sent via SMS and email to anyone who has entered into the system.

Once the final level is triggered, which will be set at 150ml over the road level, the signs will activate with “road closed, divert via” messaging.

Project manager Karin Turnage says as further technical complexities are resolved, the intent will be to reach as many people as possible, before they arrive to the area.

“If people can be informed that waters are rising or roads are flooded, safer decisions can be made prior to travelling, either by not travelling altogether or by using alternative routes,” Turnage says.

A sign will be placed close to 945 Kaipara Flats Road, so that people can continue to Old Woodcocks Road if Kaipara Flats Road is closed. Another sign will be placed around 6 Kaipara Flats Road, so that people have the option of carrying on along SH1 instead of entering Kaipara Flats Road, if there is flooding.

“This road can flood in about eight places depending upon the severity of the weather event, which is why the road is closed at either end. The road gets very dark, there are limited road and locations signs, no petrol stations, limited places to turn around and often cellular cover is lost during these weather events so it can get very difficult and unsafe,” she says.

In Falls Road, a sign will be placed around 326 Falls Road so users don’t turn into Falls Road, but continue down Woodcocks Road. Another sign will also be placed around 24 Mansel Drive so that users can continue along Mansel Drive.

Turnage says it is understood Google Maps directs many into Falls Road as it is the

shortest route, saving users about onekilometre on their trip.

“Many people use this road who aren’t from the local area so the signs are aiming to stop people driving through the ford in unsafe conditions.”

Turnage says that as a pilot programme, everything may not work perfectly from the start.

“But we can amend and evolve as we learn, and AT is keen to get feedback from road users,” she adds.

Information is sought on whether the signage is installed in the best locations, if the wording is helpful, if the trigger levels provide sufficient time and warnings, and whether the system is impacting road user behaviour, adding value, and any other lessons to improve the alerts for these pilot sites, and for other sites where they may be used in future.

If anyone would like to receive the notifications or is keen to provide feedback, email Karin.Turnage@at.govt.nz

Football returns to Pūhoi grounds

Football resumed in Pūhoi this month after 18 months playing away in Orewa and Millwater.

Football manager Troy Connolly said it was great to be back on the home turf and a big crowd had turned out for the first game on June 1.

The grounds were closed last year after the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.

The Pūhoi Sports Club had more good news last week, when it was announced that it would receive $10,000 from the NZ Community Trust for sports uniforms and equipment.

The money will be spent on both junior and some senior team uniforms, as well as nets, training ladders, balls, corner poles and cones.

Connolly says Pūhoi has about 130 players registered this season, including a women’s team which plays on Sundays.

He says the grounds are looking good, but it will be interesting to see how they hold up in the wetter winter months through to September.

The return of football to the grounds will provide a much-needed boost to funds from kitchen and bar trading. Connolly says this will be spent of further renovations and upgrades at the clubhouse.

In its latest funding round, the Community Trust distributed just over $443,000. Other recipients included North Harbour Rugby Union and the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.

Volunteer heroes

Organisations that rely on volunteers are being encouraged to recognise their teams during National Volunteer Week, June 16 to 22. About 21 per cent of New Zealanders regularly undertake volunteer work and the value of their informal contribution is estimated at $4 billion a year.

Design | Manufacture | Installation

Auckland Transport hopes that better signage on flooded roads will help road users make better travel decisions.

Pets Vets Corner

Pet of the Month

In May, our brave kitten Momo came into Warkworth Vets for her vaccinations and became our first candidate to get a thermochip. This nifty chip not only has her microchip number but also checks her temperature. Along with her shots, the thermochip was gently inserted between her shoulder blades using a tiny syringe. Momo was such a trooper for both injections! The whole thing was quick and easy, just like regular microchipping.

The thermochip checks Momo’s temperature just under her skin, which is different from the rectal method. While it doesn’t replace the traditional way, the thermochip makes it much easier to keep an eye on Momo’s temperature over time. Since the microchip is in a convenient spot, we can take multiple readings without stressing her out.

By taking several temperature checks throughout the day, we can see trends in Momo’s temperature. When we mix this info with her daily activities and behavior using a connected pet product, we get a complete picture of her normal health and behavior. Spotting any unusual changes early can help us catch any issues with Momo’s wellbeing sooner. All in all, the thermochip has been a great tool for keeping track of Momo’s health with less fuss. Her experience shows how new technology can make pet care easier and help keep our furry friends happy and healthy.

Vets: Jon Makin BVSc, Danny Cash BVSc and Associates

WARKWORTH VETS

VETERINARY HOSPITAL COAST 2 COAST VETS

Phone 09 425 8244 (Warkworth) 09 423 7048 (Wellsford) 24 hour 7 day a week emergency cover Now open 8 am until 2pm Saturdays

Town’s proud heritage marked

Visitors to Warkworth will get a better sense of the town’s history when a Heritage Mahurangi project kicks off later this month.

Following on from the publication of a walking and driving Heritage Trail brochure in 2022, the group plans to identify heritage buildings in the area with a series of publicly displayed alloy plaques.

Chair Dave Parker says there will be 13 initially, but there are potentially 30 buildings and sites between Pūhoi and Warkworth, including Leigh and Matakana, which could be included.

The initial list includes the Bridgehouse Lodge (1854), Warkworth Hotel (1862), Thomson /Broomfield House (1870), Warkworth Anglican Church (1876), St Columbia Presbyterian Church (1876), Warkworth Methodist Church (1876), Warkworth Courthouse (1880), Warkworth Brass Band hall (1883) and the former Warkworth Post Office (1911).

Heritage Mahurangi had hoped to include four Auckland Council owned buildings/ sites, but hit a stumbling block.

The group has been told it will need resource consent, as well as landowner approval, to affix the plaques to the old Masonic Hall (1883), Wilson Cement works (1878), the band rotunda on Church Hill (1911) and the Warkworth Town Hall (1911).

“The private building owners have been very enthusiastic,” Parker says. “It’s only council that has caused the hiccup. It’s ridiculous that we need a resource consent to attach a small plaque to a building.” The oval shaped plaques are 300mm x 200mm, and include a QR code so visitors can access additional information on the building or site.

Each plaque costs $150, with the group covering the costs. However, Parker says they would welcome any donations from building owners or other businesses.

Heritage Mahurangi chair Dave Parker with a mock-up of what the plaques may look like.

Decking Direct

Home owners will have more choice when building or renovating outside entertainment areas, following the opening of Decking Direct in Elizabeth Street, Warkworth.

The former Tackle & Outdoor store has been transformed into a purpose-built showroom of outdoor furniture, decking, fencing, louvre systems and lighting ideas. Branch manager Renier Lee says the purpose is to give customers an experience of the range of options available in timbers and colours, and the quality of the workmanship.

“The days when your only choice was pine decking are long gone,” he says. Warkworth is Decking Direct’s second outlet, although there are plans to open six more showrooms in the next 12 months. The company is owned by directors Sam

Lee says Decking Direct only carries product that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, meaning it is sourced from sustainably grown forests with strict environment, social and economic standards.

The decking on display in the showroom ranges from composite PVC decking with a 50 year warranty to class 1 durables such as purple heart and Brazilian teak, and class 2 timbers, such as vitex and kwila.

Lee says the company chose to set up in Warkworth because of the planned growth in the area. Warkworth will also be its base for business further north.

A networking evening is being planned where other town businesses, builders and architects will be invited to tour the showroom and learn more about what Decking Direct has to offer.

Cloudsoft Accounting Solutions

After years of helping friends and family with their taxes on the side while working full-time for a range of employers, Warkworth accountant Ben Carmichael has gone out on his own, offering services that go far beyond tax returns.

Among Cloudsoft Accounting Solutions’ points of difference: It’s not your typical 9-5, weekday operation.

“I plan my day around clients’ needs,” Ben says. “If that means having a meeting in the evening or on a Saturday, I’ll make myself available to them.”

This works especially well for hard-working small business owners, who simply don’t have time during the workday to meet their accountant.

“Sometimes accounting can seem like a dead expense. I’m all about turning it into something that adds value to a business,” Ben says. “I don’t just want to process

numbers for clients; my job is to explain the numbers to them and help with business planning or coaching, so they succeed long-term.”

A self-described “technological nerd”, he believes technology makes business more efficient.

Sustainability is central: he runs a paperless business, works from his solar-powered home rather than renting office space, and when he visits clients, it’s in an electric vehicle.

“The less environmental impact I can have, the better.”

Ben grew up in Australia and settled in Dargaville in 2007, before moving to Warkworth in 2014 with his wife, Jay, and accountant-in-training Isobel, now 12.

Free time means playing video games or indulging “the Aussie in me” at the horse racing. The family loves the beaches and enjoys visiting Tomarata Lake and the Cement Works.

Renier Lee

Stansfield and brothers Murdoch and Ash Razmi.

Ben Carmichael and Baxter.

Silverhill Small Engine Repairs

Derek Meurant has a simple philosophy to fixing engines –do it well and don’t overcharge.

He’s been a mechanical engineer for nearly 30 years and has just opened his own shop, Silverhill Small Engine Repairs, at the top end of Rodney Street, right next door to wife Nicki Jane’s beauty salon. “I try to make it easy and affordable for people to keep their things running,” he says. “I don’t charge for finding a problem, no matter how long it takes. I’ll let you know how much it will cost to fix and how long it will take, with no pressure to go ahead.”

Derek ran the Silverdale Stihl workshop for many years before moving to Wellsford 14 years ago, where he’s since been working out of his garage.

With factory training and qualifications

from manufacturers ranging from Briggs & Stratton and Stihl to Honda and Husqvarna, he can pretty much turn his hand to anything.

“I do everything – chainsaws, lawnmowers, ride-ons, weedeaters, generators, stumpgrinders, you name it, though I tend to draw the line at tractors and outboard motors as they take up a lot of room.”

In Rodney Street, Meurant has a large workshop at the back and a showroom at the front, where he sells lawnmowers, chainsaws, tools, house and farm pumps, generators, weedeaters, drills, wood stoves, and accessories such as chainsaw bar oil at just $5 a litre when you BYO container.

“I’m here to help out Wellsford and charge affordable prices for a job well done,” he says.

Four Square Matakana

Service is a word that crops up a lot when the new owner of the Four Square in Matakana, Omar Amiri, talks about his plans for the store.

“I want to be a local hero,” he says.

He says this means helping elderly customers take their groceries to their car, supporting the school and going that extra mile to make shopping in the store the best experience possible.

Amiri has taken over from David Wyman. However, he is no stranger to the grocery trade. He ran a Four Square in Ruawai for four-and-a-half years and, more recently, a Four Square in Red Beach.

Amiri recently won a Foodstuffs’ Excellence overall values award, which focuses on the cooperatives core values of Think Customer, In it Together, Be Courageous and Above the Line.

“It’s a bit of a dream come true to be moving to Matakana. I’ve visited many times over the years and always felt there was a real sense of community here.”

The Matakana store employs 25 full-time, part-time and casual staff, and its recent redesign makes it one of the most modern stores in New Zealand.

Still to come will be hot meals, fresh coffee, rotisserie chicken, sushi and other caféstyle food choices.

Amiri says the store already stocks a lot of locally sourced products and he is keen to expand on this range.

“If anyone has any ideas of what they would like to see in the store, then please come and see me. I’m very keen to get feedback from customers.”

Omar Amiri

Derek Meurant

Mahi Dental

Warkworth dentist Mahitha (Mahi) Veerepalli has opened a new clinic at The Grange, eight years after co-founding a thriving practice in the town.

After moving from India in 2008 with her oral hygienist and therapist husband Sarath Pothula, Mahi completed her studies and practiced in the Bay of Plenty and then Hawkes Bay.

The couple enjoyed Napier, but felt isolated from friends and family in the Auckland area, and moved to Warkworth in 2016. The practice they co-created and developed, Riverside Dental, quickly became successful. Since they were only able to use 50 per cent of the partnership-based practice, over time space began to run out.

And so, Mahi Dental was born – a modern practice run by Mahi and her team of eight members belonging to the community they strive to serve, including two full-time

dentists (Dr Mahi and Dr Amna) and two part-time dental hygienists and therapists (Fiona and Sarath).

Mahi Dental boasts advanced equipment, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), which uses coneshaped x-ray to reconstruct 3D images of a patient’s teeth, and same-day crown technology (CEREC). Mahi prioritises putting patients at ease with gentle, unrushed treatments in a comfortable, calm environment.

The launch has been exciting, if a little hectic, she laughs.

When not working, Mahi is an enthusiastic acrylic painter. The couple also enjoy socialising and travel.

“We love the community,” she says of living in Warkworth. “We don’t like a busy, Aucklandish lifestyle. Living here is ideal because it is close to the city, but not in the city.”

Navigation Homes Rodney

New home buyers looking for their dream house now have a new one-stop design and build showroom in Warkworth, with the opening of Navigation Homes Rodney at The Grange.

With backgrounds in construction, quantity surveying and sales, business owners Sanketh Puttagunta and Chaithanya Gunturu are ideally placed to offer whatever people desire, whether it’s new homes, house and land packages, or their own personal design and building options.

They say with all the growth happening in Warkworth and the wider Rodney region, it’s important for home buyers to have plenty of choice and a locally based team they can work with.

“Navigation Homes specialises in delivering high quality and custom-designed homes that reflect the vision and lifestyle of each client,” Sanketh says.

“We have a plan book with more than 100 designs, but there’s plenty of flexibility in that, so if a customer wants something different, we can work with them to deliver exactly what they are looking for.”

That can range from the number of bedrooms and general layout to details such as build materials, fixtures and fittings, samples of which can be seen in the showroom.

Sanketh says the Navigation ethos is to offer homes with a focus on craftmanship, innovation and client satisfaction.

“From concept to completion, we partner with our clients to bring their dreams to life. We do not just build structures, we build relationships, trust and a legacy of excellence in construction,” he says.

“Every home we build is not just a home, but a cherished sanctuary where families can create lifelong memories.”

Sanketh Puttagunta and Chaithanya Gunturu.

Mahitha (Mahi) Veerepalli

Macleod steps into new church role with Hope

There has been a changing of the guard at the Mahurangi Hope Church, formerly Mahurangi Presbyterian Church.

Long-serving Mahurangi Hope Community Trust (formerly the Mahu Vision Community Trust) manager Roger Mackay has handed over the reins to Jono Macleod, a doctor and former Mahurangi College student.

The busy role involves overseeing an annual budget of around $250,000, which funds a number of outreach programmes including the Christian Foodlink, run by Hope on behalf of the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian parishes of Mahurangi. Foodlink is currently helping about 40 families a week.

The trust formed in 2011 and has been heavily involved in supporting Mahurangi’s Kiribati community, among the world’s first climate refugees.

One of the programmes directed at Pasifika youth involves weekly get-togethers

with about 60 participating high school students. They receive tutoring, volleyball coaching, mentoring and a nutritious meal, and there are also speakers on career options and opportunities.

Macleod says immigrants face special challenges and the programmes are designed to help them transition to life in NZ.

Macleod is based in the recently-opened Hope Church complex in Mansel Drive, a facility which he says offers much more scope to be a community hub and connection point.

“There are an unlimited number of projects we would like to be involved in, so accessing funding to deliver some of these will be a big part of my job,” he says.

As an example, Hope would like to go one step beyond Foodlink and start a Food Haven, which could include initiatives such as a community garden, budgeting advice and health training.

“We envisage something that is much more relationship-based.”

Macleod says settling into his new role has been all about learning about the trust and its work.

“I’ve been incredibly impressed by the community, the people and the work they do.”

Both Macleod and Mackay agree that there are a lot of people struggling with high rents and interest payments on mortgages.

“These are families where both parents are working, but who are still struggling to make ends meet. It only takes one unexpected cost such as a car breakdown to push them past the breaking point.

“These are the families we are trying to help with some wraparound resources.”

Hope would welcome donations to assist with its programmes. For more information, contact Jono Macleod at jono@hopehq.nz

Kaipara shelves waste-to-energy

Kaipara District Council is dumping the idea of a feasibility study on the establishment of a plant to incinerate rubbish and generate electricity in the district.

At council’s May 29 meeting, it was agreed that chief executive Jason Marris would provide members with a brief report confirming that council staff would not be reporting back to council on its viability. Council said that any waste-to-energy (WtE) plant would be a private sector initiative, not a council project.

Council first called for a viability report on WtE in April last year. Since then, interactions and meetings involving Auckland and Northland elected members and chief executives were held, and on one occasion South Island Resource Recovery Ltd (SIRRL) representatives gave a presentation on the process.

But at the May 29 meeting, Marris said it had become “very clear, very quickly” that it wasn’t for council to report on WtE viability, as any such project in the future would be a private sector one.

Cr Ihapera Paniora asked whether the issue could be brought back for council to officially “close off” the April 2023 notice of motion, citing community concerns about the issue.

Marris said he was happy to provide a halfpage report to explain why staff would not be reporting back to council on WtE feasibility.

Mayor Craig Jepson, a longstanding WtE advocate, had earlier called a potential plant in Kaipara “an excellent candidate” for accelerated consent, under the coalition government’s pending Fast-Track Approvals legislation (MM, April 15).

A KDC spokesperson reiterated last week that council will not be building a wasteto-energy plant, and had not received any private sector application for one.

Roger Mackay believes the trust will be in good hands under the leadership of Jono Macleod.

Health

Wilson, The Food Tree rachael@thefoodtree.co

Building immunity for winter

As winter’s embrace tightens, our thoughts often turn to maintaining health and fortifying our immune system. I’m here to guide you through a non-diet, ‘health at every size’ (HAES) dietitian’s perspective on enhancing immunity without restrictive diets.

Our immune system is a complex network influenced by genetics, environment and lifestyle. While no single food or diet can instantly ‘boost’ our immune system, a balanced diet supports its functions. A non-diet approach focuses on nourishing with a variety of foods rich in essential nutrients like vitamins A, C, D and E, and minerals such as zinc and selenium. Include a colorful mix of fruits, vegetables, proteins, whole grains and healthy fats to support immune health.

Intuitive eating and immunity

Intuitive eating encourages listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues, leading to balanced meals that satisfy and provide necessary nutrients for immune support. Chronic stress can weaken your immune response so incorporate stressreduction techniques and aim for seven to nine hours of sleep to aid your immune system.

Physical activity and hydration

Moderate physical activity reduces inflammation and supports immune cells. Staying hydrated is crucial, especially in winter, when we’re less likely to feel thirsty due to the cold. Despite the lack of heat, it’s easier to become dehydrated in the colder months, so keep a water bottle handy and sip throughout the day.

Incorporating antioxidant-rich foods into your diet is a key strategy for supporting your immune system during the colder months. Here are some simple ways to increase your antioxidant intake and add more nourishing foods to boost immunity:

• Frozen berries are a convenient source of antioxidants. Include frozen strawberries and blueberries in your diet.

• Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale are packed with vitamins and help

fight off free radicals.

• Snack on almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for a healthy dose of vitamin E.

• Colorful vegetables such as carrots, orange kumara and sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A.

• Add turmeric to your meals and sip on green tea for their anti-inflammatory properties.

• Oranges, lemons, and grapefruits provide vitamin C, essential for immune function.

In addition to these, consider the following nourishing foods to maintain a robust immune system through winter:

• Whole grains: Oats and barley contain beta-glucan, a fiber with immuneenhancing properties.

• Probiotic foods: Yogurt and kefir support gut health, a critical component of the immune system.

• Lean proteins: Fish, poultry, and tofu provide the amino acids necessary for immune cell production.

In the digital age, misinformation about health, particularly immunity-boosting quick fixes, is rampant. Many products claiming to enhance your immune system lack scientific backing and can be misleading. The concept of boosting immunity with a pill or a special diet is a myth. Our immune system requires consistent care through a well-rounded lifestyle, not quick fixes.

Rather than unproven supplements, focus on evidence-based practices like a balanced diet and regular exercise. These will support immune function over time. Building immunity for winter is about nurturing your body with diverse, nutrientrich foods, managing stress, getting quality sleep, staying active and keeping hydrated. By adopting a non-diet, HAES-aligned approach, you can support your immune system in a sustainable, non-restrictive way, steering clear of the unfounded claims of quick fixes. Rachael

Cuisine

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

Hearty vegetable and chickpea soup

Often I think there seems to be nothing for dinner, despite having my vegetable drawer half-filled with staples that see me through each week. When asked “What’s for dinner?” most people respond first with the protein that takes centre plate, (vegetarians excluded.) Usual answers will be lamb chops, steak, chicken, mince or fish or, as in many households, pizza or spaghetti. But turning to the vegetables on hand, and especially now that winter has arrived with a vengeance, wonderful soups can be whipped up to make a satisfying and delicious meal. It’s also a good idea to think like this as all the food waste that is being constantly discussed can be avoided by tossing all those vegies into a pan, boiling them up together for a filling soup. Add some crusty bread or toast and there’s dinner.

One of the handiest gadgets in my kitchen is the blending stick (and, in case you’re asking ‘hasn’t she got an air fryer’, the answer is no, I have not.) My blending stick can change a mixture of vegetables into a super smooth soup, or into a lovely puree of potatoes, pumpkin, or any combination to serve over pasta. One of my favourites is when I have a surplus of broccoli from the garden, as all the plants produce their heads at once. Broccoli, blended with olive oil, a few fresh herbs and some parmesan or cream makes a great meal served with chunky pasta tubes.

Likewise, a chunky soup of vegetables on hand makes for an easy dinner. Add in some chickpeas or white beans from a can to add interest and texture. And the bigger the saucepan, the more the chance of leftovers that will do for a quick lunch in the next day or two.

The lovely soup recipe here was whipped up in less than half an hour. The ingredient list might appear long, but it can be altered, added to or take a different direction according to what is in your fridge. That one remaining carrot or kumara or a chunk of pumpkin could also become a parsnip or a large potato, and if you haven’t got a leek, a nice big onion will do the trick instead.

I have made soups like this with rice instead of the chickpeas, or pasta shapes like macaroni, tubes or shells. Other type of beans or lentils are also great ingredients in any soup. But do consider the order you add the various ingredients to your pan. Onions, garlic and leeks all develop more flavour with a longer cooking time, but softer, fragile vegetables like pumpkin and green beans, broccoli or other types of squash do not need to be cooked as long as those dense carrots, kumara and potatoes.

And finishing touches are important, too. A pile of fresh herbs makes a great

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 leek, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 large kumara, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

150g cup chickpeas, drained

1 litre chicken stock

1 cup water

1 tin crushed tomatoes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

150g pumpkin, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 handful of fresh spinach leaves, washed and sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

To finish

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan and add the leeks and garlic cloves with the cumin. Cook for about 8 minutes over a very low heat until the leeks soften. Add the carrot, kumara and chickpeas and toss well in the oil. Add the stock, tomato and water and set to a low simmer for about 15 minutes. Next, add pumpkin chunks and salt and pepper and continue to simmer slowly for a further 10 minutes. Finally stir in the spinach and cook for a further minute.

To serve, ladle out into individual bowls and scatter over ham, feta cheese and extra black pepper. Serve hot with fresh crusty bread or buttered toast. Serves 4 to 6 as a complete meal.

Hearty winter vegetable soup

Weaver joins art exhibition

Sandspit-based flax weaver Kathy Stevenson will be the special guest at the Kawau Bay Artists annual exhibition and sale at the old Masonic Hall on Matariki weekend, June 28 and 29.

Kathy first started weaving with Connie Marsden, in Wellsford, and has shared her passion for weaving as a tutor, particularly with children.

“I have always loved art and sharing the knowledge of flax with others is awesome, especially children,” she says. “I’m currently producing ceramics to incorporate with my flax wall hangings, and I also enjoy acrylic painting and dabble in pencil portraits.”

In 2019, Kathy created a flax backdrop for the Rodney Floral Art Society, which was chosen to represent New Zealand in India.

The Matariki weekend art show will see four award winning artists displaying their work – Lillian Fromont, Jenny Arnerich, Sue Williams and Colleen Kangwai – who have been exhibiting together for more than a decade.

On sale will be a range of smaller items such as paintings, books, jewellery, photographs and cards.

The show will be open on both Friday and Saturday, from 10am to 3pm.

Virtuosic duo ready to wow Warkworth

Cellist Andrew Joyce and pianist Jian Liu will combine their formidable talents to celebrate their musical and cultural heritages at a concert in Warkworth on Saturday, June 15.

Joyce and Liu have crafted a programme that is framed by two cornerstone works of the cello and piano chamber repertoire, opening with the intricate melodies and harmonies of Bach’s Sonata in G minor, and ultimately celebrating the rich language and texture of Brahms.

The cello and piano keep their gentle dialogue engaged through English folk songs and a mesmerising Phantasiestück from Paul Hindemith, as well as contemporary works from New Zealand’s composer Dorothy Buchanan and Chinese composer Fang Dongqing.

Infusing the eclectic programme with

grace and whimsy, a Chamber Music NZ spokesperson says these two musicians, who are at the height of their careers, weave their instruments’ voices together with exquisite artistry.

Before joining the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as principal cellist in 2010, UK-born Andrew Joyce played regularly with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic Orchestras, and toured the world’s great concert halls as guest principal.

Internationally-acclaimed concert pianist Dr Jian Liu is currently the New Zealand School of Music’s acting head and head of piano studies.

The concert is presented by Warkworth Music in partnership with Chamber Music NZ. It will be held at the Warkworth Town Hall, starting at 4pm.

Joyce & Jian Liu

Andrew Joyce and Jian Liu will perform in Warkworth this weekend. Photo, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Te Tira Puoro o Aotearoa.

Mahurangi Dreaming, by Lillian Fromont.

Winter Festival of Lights gears

Organisers of the Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights are confident that this year’s event, on July 6, will build on the success of last year, when more than 10,000 people flocked to the Warkworth town centre, giving hospitality businesses in particular a huge boost.

In earlier years, One Mahurangi business association manager Murray Chapman says, visitors tended to trickle in during the day, with larger crowds only arriving as night fell. But the 2023 festival was buzzing all day.

The Warkworth Hotel reported the busiest day in its history, Golden Boat takeaways at one stage had an hour wait for food, and virtually all of the food trucks that rolled into town for the event ran out of supplies.

Marketview data on consumer spending showed that hospitality sector spend was up 50 per cent on the day, Murray says.

“We had probably 15-20 food trucks in town, so you’d think that would have drawn people away from the cafés and restaurants – but no. They all did really well out of it, which for me is one of the most pleasing things about the festival, because you want the town to benefit.”

This year, the association already has 23 food trucks lined up, with others on a waiting list.

The appeal for visitors goes way beyond food and drink, of course. Fun amusement rides, live music (including the fabulous family foursome Rumpus Machine), the

Why not make your commute time

ever-popular flashing-light disco floor in the Masonic Hall, and glow-in-the-dark face painting, vertical bungy jumping and water walking (in large inflatable ‘zorb’ balls) are among the attractions on offer.

The nighttime laser light show took a break last year in favour of a ceremony to launch the light installation on the river bank opposite the town. This year it’s back, scheduled for 8pm.

“It’s always been a huge attraction,” Chapman enthuses. “You see mums and dads and kids all dancing – it’s just magic.”

Another crowd favourite is the afterdark Parade of Lights, beginning in the PaperPlus carpark at 6pm. While it celebrates floats festooned in lights, it’s for

everyone, Murray says.

“Wrap your kids in battery-powered lights and join in.”

Contributing to the midwinter ambience, about 85 per cent of businesses in the town centre strung up lights last year.

Murray says One Mahurangi has always encouraged businesses in the industrial area to light up too, although few have so far.

It’s in their interests, he says. People from around the district who have never been up to the industrial area, but visit to view the lights, would see that there are businesses located there they were perhaps unaware continued next page

relaxing and comfortable

of, and may come back later to use their services.

Of the businesses in the industrial area that have joined in, he singles out Splash Water Specialists, which had an illuminated dolphin in its window last year.

Chapman stresses the important role of volunteers in making the festival a success.

Although the programme runs from 11am until 9.30pm, for volunteers that day starts at 6am and ends only around 11pm.

“Set-up is hard, but breaking down is horrendous, because you’re knackered,” he laughs. “It’s great to have volunteers who are fresh, especially young, strong people.”

Shadow of pipeline

The idea that Watercare may dig up the roads to lay a wastewater pipeline through Warkworth’s central business district is front of mind for One Mahurangi business association manager Murray Chapman as preparations for this year’s Winter Festival of Lights continue.

Among other things, he worries that if Watercare chooses the Queen Street route for its pipeline, that could push next year’s winter festival, and possibly also the Kowhai Festival and the Santa Parade, out of the town centre.

If such events had to move to, say, the showgrounds, they would be enormously impacted. They really need to be in the heart of the town, where the heritage buildings and river provide the ambience, he says.

“The disruption may only be for one or two years, but in the life of a festival that’s only been going since 2018, that’s a long time.”

That’s quite apart from the damage Murray says the pipeline construction would cause to businesses along the route. He predicts that some will close, with negative ripple effects reaching owners’ families and the wider community.

from previous page

From left, Paige, Daisy and Annita.

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

This year is an exceptional year for viewing aurora, comets, meteors and other astro marvels in our dark skies away from the light pollution of nearby towns and cities. And it has been a great year for astrophotographers, both professional and amateur. A common question I get asked is why does a camera record a much brighter astro-image than the human eye sees?

The answer to the above question is simple geometry. Capturing light is like capturing water in a bucket – the larger the bucket the more water it can capture.

Let us look at our common light-buckets – the diameter of a human pupil in the dark is about 8mm, the diameter of an iPhone lens is 20mm, and the area of a typical astro-lens is about 50mm. And the greater the area of a lens, the greater its light-capture capacity. So, the relative light capture disadvantage of the human eye (value of 1) over an SLR Camera is 40-fold and of an iPhone lens about six-fold. However, it does not end there, as the refresh time for the human eye is roughly 1/30th of a second, so the eye captures a new image every 0.03 of a second and, of course, the amazing human brain smooths out the images that we see. However, a

camera is not limited in its exposure time, so we can increase the camera exposure or light-capturing time up to 30 seconds, if necessary, in order to compensate for the dimness of a distant astro-image. That is another 1000-fold advantage for the camera over the eye. Combining both the area and exposure time advantage, in theory, we could get 40 times 1000 overall optical brightness advantage, or roughly 40,000-fold, which is a very big advantage. However, these geometric calculations above do not include the inherent evolutionary advantages of the human eye. Also, in capturing an image of a distant faint star, we may not need to use 50mm of the diameter of the wide-angle lens and to avoid star trails we will try to use much less than 30 seconds of exposure. And, of course, the sensitivity of the human retina will be very different to the sensitivity of the camera detector. Finally, the ability of the human brain to amplify a signal is likely to be very different from the amplification (ISO) function of the camera. Nevertheless, while the absolute advantage of the camera may be much less than 40,000, it is not difficult to understand why my camera image of the aurora was much brighter than my eye vision image.

Gun club in bid to reopen range

A group of rural residents in Makarau are girding their loins for another legal battle to try to prevent Auckland Shooting Club from reopening its range in Tuhirangi Road.

The club has applied to Auckland Council for proposed and retrospective resource consent for an outdoor shooting range with five bays, with a hearing due to be held in the coming weeks.

Around 2200 submissions were made to council when the application was publicly notified earlier this year, with the vast majority opposing.

The range was forced to close in 2019, when a group led by the Vipassana Meditation Centre and including local hapu Ngati Rongo, won a two-year court battle against a Code of Compliance granted to Auckland Shooting Club by council.

Now, the group, Keep The Peace Makarau Valley Incorporated (KTPMV), is campaigning again to raise the $200,000 needed to fund a barrister and expert reports on noise, wildlife impact, water contamination and traffic management at

the upcoming hearing.

Spokesperson John Raffaelli said several things had changed in the years since the Appeal Court win, with more homes now within earshot of the range and a pine forest previously acting as something of a buffer having been harvested.

“There are five homes situated within a 1km radius of the club, along with the Vipassana Centre, and there are a total of approximately 103 homes within a 3km radius,” he said. “The sounds of shooting can be heard up to 9.7km away.”

Auckland Shooting Club has said it wants to become one of the largest club ranges in the Southern Hemisphere, with plans to eventually have 33 shooting bays.

Relations between local residents and the club have long been strained, with Auckland Shooting Club branding opponents as “local hippies” and “anti-fun lefties” on social media, while KTPMV maintains that the remote Makaurau Valley is simply the wrong place for the noise and traffic generated by 365-day a year shooting.

Focus on youth at Mahurangi’s first Enviro Expo

How can I make a difference in my own backyard? That will be one of the questions posed at the inaugural Enviro Expo in the Warkworth Town Hall on Saturday, June 22. The family-friendly event is being organised by Restore Rodney East (RRE) and The Forest Bridge Trust.

Nearly 30 social and environmental organisations are involved, as well as schools, businesses and Auckland Council. The day will showcase the wide range of environmental programmes operating in the Mahurangi area, covering everything from pest control and wildlife protection to recycling.

RRE facilitator Sarah Churchouse says the emphasis will be on making it a fun and family-friendly day.

“It’s important to be introducing our younger generations to the concepts of what conservation is all about and why it’s important,” she says. “It’s especially important to promote the idea that you can contribute to what’s happening across the region by just doing things differently in your own backyard, whether this means trapping for rats or starting a compost.

“It’s our youth who will be responsible for carrying on the work that is being done today, so if we can help them to take ownership and understand why these organisations exist then, hopefully, they will become supportive.”

Among those exhibiting will be the Compost Collective, Leigh Penguin Project, Kaipara Kiwi Project, Mahurangi East Land Restoration and the Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary Society.

The organisers are especially excited to have the Blake NZ Virtual Reality Underwater Experience as one of the participating groups (see story p25).

Churchouse says the expo will be a chance to meet the numerous conservation groups actively working on projects in the Mahurangi area and beyond, and discover more about the amazing environmental work that is happening across Rodney.

There will also be trap setting demonstrations, kapa haka performances, a sausage sizzle and free tea and coffee. All expo visitors will go in the draw to win two tickets to visit Tiritiri Matangi Island.

The expo will be open from 9am to 3pm. Organisers are asking people to book a time slot for the Virtual Reality Experience here: https://shorturl.at/0r1MM

Lottery Grants, Save the Kiwi, Auckland Council and the Rodney Local Board were thanked for their support.

green shoots feature

The Enviro Expo will be an opportunity to talk with committed volunteers about local conservation and environmental programmes. Friends of Awa Matakanakana (FOAM) will be among the groups participating. The group will be encouraging children to talk about what is important to them about rivers. “Maybe they like frogs or eels, but what what do they know about the common bully or woodycased caddis flies?” a spokesperson says. “Parents and grandparents might remember eating freshwater mussels or smoked eel. FOAM is keen to learn if young people would like to harvest these traditional delicacies from streams around Matakana in the future. What does the younger generation think they need to do to help these declining species? Come and tell FOAM your thoughts at the expo.”

Enviro Expo

Warkworth Town Hall

Saturday June 22

Organisers say the expo won’t be a “hard sell” to recruit volunteers. They say education is the first step, so they hope the day will encourage people to take a closer look at what’s in their gardens and backyards, as well as what’s not there.

Megan Norling assisting a trained Kaipara Kiwi handler during a transmitter change.

Batteries causing fire risk

Lithium batteries, disposable vapes and other electrical items placed in kerbside collection bins are putting waste truck drivers at risk.

Nine recycling and rubbish trucks caught fire in Auckland in the first three months of this year, compared with 13 for the whole of last year.

Three of the nine council trucks were so badly damaged they had to be taken off the road for repairs.

Auckland Council general manager for waste solutions Parul Sood says these fires pose a risk to the public as well as truck drivers, and the main culprits are most likely lithium batteries, disposable vapes and other electrical items placed in kerbside collection bins.

“When a fire sparks in the back of a truck, drivers must act fast to follow safety protocols, which often involves them ejecting the load onto the road for Fire and Emergency New Zealand to extinguish,” Sood says.

“While drivers are given training to handle these emergencies, they are still unnecessarily being put in extreme danger.” Fire and Emergency NZ spokesperson

Peter Gallagher says people might not be aware of the serious risks that some household items pose.

“Correct disposal is essential for any hazardous items, which includes any batterypowered or electrical device,” he says.

The types of hazardous items that cannot be placed in rubbish or recycling bins include vapes, car batteries, electric scooters, jump-start packs, aerosols – paint

Rubbish truck fires, like the one left in Auckland city, also happen in Rodney. Two bins – one smouldering and one warm with barbecue ash – were identified in Omaha in February. Luckily, the bin inspector and truck driver noticed, doused them with water, tagged them and did not collect them. Council says they almost certainly would have started a fire in the truck.

and butane canisters, gas bottles – and lithium batteries and devices containing these batteries.

Lithium batteries can be found in a range of household items such as laptops, mobile phones, hearing aids, power tools, power banks, rechargeable batteries and disposable vapes. During the compaction process in the truck, lithium batteries can rupture or short causing them to ignite.

Often items can be disassembled by specialists for components to be reused or reconditioned. For guidance on where to dispose of these items safely and in many cases, for free, visit www.aucklandcouncil. govt.nz/whereitgoes

• Battery recycling is available at Less Waste in Snells Beach. Disposal of car batteries is free, alkaline batteries cost $5 per kilo and lithium, button, rechargeable, mixed cost $8 per kilo

• Most vape shops offer a vape recycling service, or go to www.vapecycle.co.nz

View this story online to see a short video of the contents of a recycling truck on the road being extinguished by the fire brigade. Credit, Auckland Council.

In brief

On the radar

Auckland Council is asking MetService to install a second rain radar in the Auckland region after councillors discovered the city only has one, located on Mount Tamahunga. Chief executive officer Phil Wilson confirmed the radar was down recently just before a flooding event hit the St Heliers and Mount Wellington areas. Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson asked what sort of risk this posed. “The fact that Auckland only has one rain radar facility in the north and nothing in the south, in a region that’s 140 kilometres long isn’t prudent in my view,” Wilson said.

Library’s temporary home

Mahurangi East Library has been given a new temporary home while extensive renovation works continue on the community centre building. Staff have been offering limited services from a library bus parked at the tennis club since works started in early April, but now they are moving into a portacom building. Regional library manager Megan Grimshaw-Jones told a Rodney Local Board workshop last week that the bus was moving on to Ōrewa and Mahurangi East was getting a temporary building that would be in use until the library reopened in the spring.

Cool festive fundraiser

Midwinter Christmas is the theme of this year’s Wellsford Plus charity dinner, which takes place at the town’s RSA on Saturday, July 13, from 6.30pm. There will be entertainment, an auction, spot prizes, a two-course dinner and a courtesy coach home if required. Money raised will go towards providing security cameras for the town, plus the Santa Parade, Wellsford Primary School AIMS games, Purpose for Youth and the Loaves & Fishes foodbank. Tickets cost $60 from Hammer Hardware Wellsford, The Nook or online at https:// events.humanitix.com/wellsford-plus-charitydinner.

Council’s new campaign “Check it before you chuck it” is aimed at avoiding scenes like this.

There’s a chance to dive deep into the waters of the Hauraki Gulf without getting wet, when Blake NZ brings a virtual reality (VR) underwater experience to the Enviro Expo in Warkworth on Saturday, June 22.

Using a number of 360 degree videos and headsets, the former Sir Peter Blake Trust will show expo visitors realistic virtual views from beneath local waters that compare and contrast various marine environments.

Blake NZ’s senior discovery programme manager, Thomas Morris, says VR is a fun and educational way to make it easier to genuinely understand and feel the difference between healthy and unhealthy marine landscapes.

“VR headsets transform the way we interact with digital content,” he says. “They take us beyond the traditional screen-based experience and immerse us in virtual environments, where we can explore, create, learn, and interact in ways that were previously unimaginable.”

Blake NZ-VR was launched four years ago to take underwater exploration and education into schools across Aotearoa NZ, with a simple aim – “if we can’t take every child to the ocean, let’s bring the ocean to every child”.

As well as a sense of wonder at being able to “swim” with rays and other sealife,

Morris says students come away from the sessions with a deeper understanding of kaitiakitanga, or guardianship, and practical action they can take to help

Community Recycling Centre + Re-use Shop

Wednesday - Saturday, 9am - 3pm 55 Lawrie Road, Snells Beach

ENVIRO EXPO

eight participants at a time, and subject to space and availability.

“We will be focusing our sessions on the Hauraki Gulf and the threats this amazing environment is facing, as this is most relevant to the event and its participants,”

Morris says

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Make your Matariki weekend count

Community wetland planting high in the hills between Warkworth and Matakana.

Make an impact on freshwater quality downstream – all the way to Sandspit and Kawau Bay.

More than 100 volunteers needed to get nearly 4500 plants into the earth. Planting goes ahead rain or shine.

When the Matariki star cluster shines it is a significant time to plant in preparation for spring growth.

Wear sturdy clean closed-in shoes or boots, weather-appropriate clothing and bring: • Water • Snacks • Clean garden gloves • Clean spades. Some will be available.

FREE sausage sizzle with vegan options available.

Register now to assist with traffic management, car parking, catering and important updates at Eventfinda: Planting New Wetland for Matariki.

9am-1pm on Sunday 30 June at 126C Clayden Road, Matakana.

TOSSI

Lyn Hamilton-Hunter www.tossi.org.nz

Space invaders

From a place far, far away we came upon a beautiful remote little island, bringing with us our treasured house plants to decorate our spaceships for the journey and eventually our homes in a new world. Little did we realise that these treasured plants in their delicate pots would take over the land like something out of a horror movie. Such as the Day of the Pampas, or Gingerland, or how about The Moth.?

Joking aside, these invasive plants are not just any old weed in the wrong place, they are plants that cause high levels of environmental damage to our native ecosystem. The very worst of them will out-compete, smother or poison the native species and waterways.

At some level, one can only admire their ability to proliferate, and they use nature to do it – wind, water, birds and soil, sending their offspring to find new ground to colonise. The worst offenders, or perhaps the best, are those that have amazing seed dispersal. If you have driven down SH1 recently you will have seen the vast swathes of pampas that are dominating the landscape (not to be confused with the native toi toi). Or the Dome Valley, a lovely corridor for wild ginger to hang out. At Tāwharanui, the worst invaders we are at pains to keep out are wild ginger, moth plant and woolly nightshade. Then there’s also pampas, monkey apple, bone seed, and the list goes on. There are others, as well as those mentioned above, out on the peninsula and the surrounding areas just waiting to leap the fence, such as privet, Japanese honeysuckle, agapanthus, tradescantia, gorse and Mexican daisy.

my opening paragraph – 75 per cent of invasive species started out as houseplants! My final word, though, is to our authorities that own public land such as reserves and roadsides – you have to do better. In turn, this will inspire the rest of us to do better. The health of our people depends on having a healthy ecosystem, which is currently at risk of being invaded from inner space.

For more great tips on how to tackle your weeds, go to weedbusters.org.nz

022 011 0244 | andy@greenwash.co.nz | www.greenwash.co.nz

Covering Warkworth, Matakana, Omaha, Snells Beach, Sandspit, Wellsford, Mangawhai, Leigh, Orewa

It can all seem a bit overwhelming, but we could all do our bit to slow it down. Tackle the invaders in your own backyard, don’t give them a chance to disperse their seeds – cut off the heads before seeds appear or deal to them before they flower, don’t send the seeds to landfill where they can disperse further, pull up seedlings, have mini-working bees to help each other dig out the bigger patches, don’t put invasives in your compost or green waste, and get a weed bag to put them in to rot.

We also suggest that gardeners be selective with what they buy for their garden; buy natives where possible or research non-invasive alternatives. Remember

:

+ Years in

Moth plant

Climbing asparagus

Woolly nightshade

This retired farm gully at the end of Clayden Road will be transformed into a wetland.

Wetland planting for Matariki

A special tree planting morning will be held high in the hills between Warkworth and Matakana on the Matariki holiday weekend at the end of this month.

Friends of Awa Matakanakana (FOAM) spokesperson John Collins says they will need the community’s help to get nearly 4500 plants into the ground.

“FOAM has collaborated with a farmer to transform a retired farm valley into a wetland,” Collins says.

“Ngāti Manuhiri suggested planting the wetland during Matariki, a traditional time to plant in preparation for spring growth, and FOAM accepted the suggestion.”

The site is at the upper reaches of Glen Eden River and will have an impact on freshwater quality downstream – all the way to Sandspit and Kawau Bay.

“The planting of wetlands is one of FOAM’s long-term priorities – to enhance waterways at the highest reaches of the catchment.

“It will recreate an important wetland ecosystem, which cleans the water that flows into it by trapping sediment and soils, filtering out nutrients and removing contaminants.”

Flooding and erosion can be reduced by

In brief

More dam compliance

Scan to register

planting at headwater sites, which can absorb more rainfall and reduce the speed of flow through waterways.

Volunteers need to wear sturdy shoes or boots, and bring clean garden gloves and spades, as well as water, snacks, hat and appropriate clothing for the weather. The planting will go ahead, rain or shine. When the mahi is finished, there will be a sausage sizzle with vegan options available. Organisers are asking people to register to assist with traffic management, catering and important updates.

The planting day, which is supported by Auckland Council, will be held at 126C Clayden Road on Sunday, June 30, from 9am-1pm.

Register here: https://www.eventfinda. co.nz/2024/planting-new-wetland-formatariki/auckland

Farmers and landowners are being reminded that new regulations came into effect last month requiring some dams to be registered and classified. Any dam that is at least four metres high and stores 20,000 cubic metres or more will need a Dam Classification Certificate by August 13. Dam owners need to complete an online application form, get that certified by a recognised dam safety engineer and pay an application fee of $255. The new regulations do not apply to dams that are less than four metres in height, regardless of their storage capacity. Info: Search for ‘dam safety’ at https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ or email damsafetyteam@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Fishy news

There are 31 freshwater fish species in the Auckland region, 13 of which are threatened or at risk of extinction, according to a recently-published Regional Conservation Status Assessment report. The team at Auckland Zoo is working to protect native freshwater fish by breeding the waikaka (black mudfish), which it intends to release in a suitable habitat sometime in the future. Black mudfish, considered at risk, are unique to Aotearoa and are, at times, literally fish out of water. In summer, when some wetlands dry up, black mudfish can survive by wriggling into mud and absorbing oxygen through their skin until the water returns. This is how this fish earned its name waikaka, which translates as ‘cunning in water’.

Site Contour Plans

Construction Set-out

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425 7393 | admin@wwsurveyors.co.nz 23 Bertram Street, Warkworth

Land Restoration Programme 9am - 2pm Sunday 16 June

www.ngatimanuhiri.iwi.nz/mlrp

Join us for a community planting day at Te Muri Regional Park You will need: clean, sturdy footwear weather-appropriate clothing (event will go ahead unless torrential rain) a drink bottle All planting equipment provided. Access by bus only - buses leave Pūhoi Pioneers Memorial Park at 9:00 and 9:45 am

Whakatōnga ā Te Muri: Join the Mahurangi Land Restoration Programme for a fun day in nature at this idyllic location not currently open to private vehicles. Bring your whānau and friends to help plant some native trees and enjoy morning tea and a sausage sizzle together.

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Auckland Council is urging urban homeowners to plant native plants and trees in their gardens with the aim of increasing the region’s canopy cover from 18 to 30 per cent and its birdlife.

Council says more trees and native plants have many benefits – cultural, economic, social and environmental – leading to improved water and air quality, greater biodiversity, shade and a reduction of carbon dioxide through carbon sequestration.

Council’s head of natural environment design Sam Hill says birdsong is known to have a positive impact on health.

“It helps improve mental wellbeing, and when we plant natives in our gardens, we entice those native birds back,” Hill says.

“The bird-plant relationship is connected. You can attract specific birds to your yard by planting the right plants which, in turn,

helps support the region’s biodiversity.

“The plants host seasonal fruit and nectar, and serve up insects that native birds have shaped their lifecycles around. This creates a safe environment for them – a place to shelter and a place to nest.

“Select a range of native plants that provide food all year round, and that native backyard birds depend on.”

Council is implementing a winter planting programme, the Ngahere Street Tree Project, which will see 11,000 trees planted on street verges over the next 10 years. This year’s planting season starts soon with the planting of 2002 new trees on road corridors across 15 areas of the Auckland region. Rodney will get 19 trees in Kumeu. Read more about Auckland’s Urban Ngahere (Forest) Strategy here: https://shorturl.at/kbeHW

A variety of plants in an urban garden will provide birds like this kākā with food and shelter all year round. Photo, Tim Lovegrove.

Animals

Ingrid Spitze, Wellsford Vet Clinic https://wellsfordvet.com/

Adding up the chemical load

With all the world jumping up and down about our effect on the environment, let’s have a look at what we are doing in veterinary medicine, starting with the principles it is based on. The germ theory states that disease is caused by bugs (viruses, bacteria, fungi and so on) and has been proven since Louis Pasteur postulated it in 1861. It is the reason we use antibiotics, antifungals and so on to get rid of them. There are three main groups of antibiotics and their origins are as follows:

• Penicillins are produced by moulds,

• Tetracyclines are natural products from a soil bacteria called actinomyces, and

• Flouroquinalones, which originate as an extract from chinchona bark and, more recently, using artemisinin from artemesia plant.

Many of the antifungals are originally produced by the trichocomaceae family. Anti-parasitics such as avermectins occur naturally as a fermentation product of streptomyces avermitilis, a soil microbe. All these substances are produced to increase the producer’s chances of survival and give them an edge over their fellow bugs. It seems not only humans like to wage war on each other. Needless to say, many of these compounds are now produced in sterile laboratories. The terrain theory states that the terrain needs to be conducive for the bug to colonise, multiply and evade the immune system, and then cause disease. This is the

reason some animals get fleas and others don’t, and why some cats get cat flu and others don’t.

Here I would also include non-infectious causes such as nutrition (deficiencies such as magnesium and calcium in dairy cattle; as well as excesses, such as carbohydrates in cat foods or just plain over-indulgence leading to systemic inflammation, immune dysregulation and cancers), mental and social factors. This can include anxiety such as when there is inadequate socialisation of puppies, and inadequate exercise or boredom resulting in over-grooming.

In the last decade or so, focus has shifted from treating the infectious cause to identifying and solving the underlying cause. For example, is the yeast infection of skin due to systemic inflammation caused by a food allergy?

We are concerned about the chemicals we put into our environment. Have you added up how many chemicals you have in your home? Just for fun, add up the mg/ml of insect sprays, rat or mouse bait, antibacterial/antiseptic hand soap and so on, and multiply it by the amount of liquid in the bottle. You may be surprised.

Considering that we eat food, breathe the air and have zillions of bugs on our skins and in our intestines keeping us healthy, it would be fair to say ‘we are our environment’. So the question then becomes, ‘what are we doing to ourselves?’

Wellsford CLINIC VET

We provide:

• Care for all your veterinary needs.

• Four dedicated Vets and friendly office staff, who deliver a comprehensive service.

• An after hours emergency service in Wellsford.

116 Rodney Street, Wellsford (opposite McDonalds)

History

The story of an engine

In pride of place in the Kauri Museum at Matakohe is what is thought to be the largest surviving Davey Paxman portable compound engine in the world. This rare engine (Paxman No. 20428) was built in Colchester, England, in 1921. James Paxman, the company’s founder, was a talented engineer. He built up the Paxman engineering works with the assistance of two financial backers, brothers Henry and Charles Davey. Established in 1865, the company rapidly expanded. They employed more than 1000 men in 1901 and over 2500 in the 1960s. Initially, the company supported the farming and milling industries of Great Britain and abroad, but as these industries declined, they changed to producing different machinery and equipment. In the 1920s, Paxman was the leading manufacturer of steam engines and mining equipment. In 2005, the business was purchased by the German company MAN B&W.

Paxman No. 20428 has an engine rating of 20 NHP (Nominal Horse Power) and was the largest portable engine produced by Paxman. While the Paxman catalogue offered 25 NHP and 30 NHP models, these were not portable. The 20 NHP engine was designed to have a maximum working boiler pressure of 140 psi (pound-force per square inch, or working pressure) and it was this work capacity that attracted the attention of the Public Works Department in NZ. The works department placed an order for the portable engine with Davy Paxman agents on 13 May, 1920. The machine was shipped to New Zealand in October 1921 and sent to the Public Works Department in Tauranga. From 1922 to 1927, the engine was central in construction of the

North Island’s East Coast railway. From 1927 to 1930, it was used at a sawmill in Waikoau, milling timber for the Napier to Gisborne railway. From 1930 to 1936, the Davey Paxman lay idle until it passed into private ownership, and George Mills and his sons used the machine to drive their sawmill at Ashley Clinton, in the Hawkes Bay. Mills looked after the Paxman and kept it well maintained.

In 1987, the engine passed to the Forest Service, which shifted it to Rotorua where they planned to display it as an historic

item. However, this never happened.

In 1990, the engine was gifted to the Kauri Museum. It was stored for a couple of years, but then a group of steam enthusiasts undertook its restoration. This project was completed in June 1998, and it has been on display at the museum since November 1998.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, helping with the maintenance and restoration of the museum’s machinery, please contact Marion Walsh on 021 823 944 or email marion.walsh@ kaurimuseum.com

Big wins for local brews

Two local breweries have chalked up top awards in national and international beer competitions.

A Belgian-style amber ale, Desperate Glory – Oud Bruin, from Warkworth-based 8 Wired beat more than 600 other brews to be named supreme winner in the recent 2024 New World Beer & Cider Awards.

The 8 Wired team’s Lo-Fi Low Carb Raspberry Sour, a 2.5 per cent ABV low alcohol ale, also made it into the New World Top 30 winning brews, with three others, iStout, Cloud Tripper Hazy IPA and Citrus Maxima Wheat Ale, all highly commended.

The New World awards follow 8 Wired being crowned overall winner at the NZ Beer Awards last year and come just weeks after owners Soren and Monique Eriksen put the brewery and Matakana barrel store and tap room up for sale.

“We are stoked to continue achieving such recognition – and with the brewery at a crossroads with potential ownership changes, it reinforces the potential for the brand to go from strength to strength. Watch this space,” Soren said.

“The industry has changed drastically over the past decade or so, and continues to become more competitive, so it is particularly rewarding to see our efforts acknowledged at such a high level again.”

Meanwhile, Matakana’s Sawmill Brewery scooped a gold medal at one of the world’s biggest beer competitions, the Australian International Beer Awards, in Melbourne last month for its dark beer, Baltic Porter.

Bowlers meet

The Leigh Bowling Club will hold its annual meeting on Sunday, June 16, starting at 1pm. Among the business to be discussed will be the setting the subscription fees and election of officers. The club looks forward to having a good turnout of all members or potential members.

A Paxman compound portable steam engine built by Davey Paxman & Co., in Colchester, England, in 1921. Now, over a century later, the largest surviving Paxman compound portable steam machine is on display in the Kauri Museum at Matakohe.

Marion Walsh, Volunteer Coordinator, Kauri Museum www.kaurimuseum.com

Steve

Classifieds

REDDING ELECTRONICS

Freeview Installs, Satellite Dish, UHF Aerial. Installation & Repairs. Ph Dave 09 422 7227 or 027 458 5457

APPLIANCE REPAIRS

A SMART REPAIR Service for F&P smartdrive washers, F&P/ Simpson dryers. Prompt service 021 168 7349.

DRIVEWAYS

MAINTENANCE Grading, rolling & metalling for rural Driveways. No job too BIG or small. Contact Trevor tlc.trev@hotmail.com

DVDS & VIDEOS

VIDEOS TRANSFERRED to DVD/hard drive. Phone or txt Tetotara Video 021 777 385

HOME & MAINTENANCE

Blue Skies Cleaning

Window Cleaning, Soft Bio House Wash, Gutter Clean, All Exterior Cleaning, Water Blasting, Roof Treatment, Local Professional service. Ph Pat 022-646-5849

COLLINS ELECTRONICS

HAVE YOU LOST PRIME? Or need your Freeview box tuned for the new channels? TV repairs, microwave oven repairs, Freeview installations.

Ph Paul 09 422 0500 or 027 29 222 04

The deadline for classified advertising for our June 24 paper is June 19. Send classified advertising enquiries to design@localmatters.co.nz

GROUND CARE SERVICE

Tree-work, Hedges, Mulch Application, Garden & Section Tidy ups, & Greenwaste removal. Call Mahurangi Groundcare 021 133 8884

WINDOW CLEANING/ HOUSEWASH/GUTTER CLEANING Local professional service. Ph Pat 022-646-5849.

HORSE TRUCKS & FLOATS

REID EQUESTRIAN ENGINEERING, Wellsford. Float rebuilds, horse truck conversions, etc. Dog kennels made to measure. Quality work. Ph Ron 423 9666

INVESTMENTS

EARN 10% RETURN

Secured 1st mortgage and PG. Paid monthly. Min $100k. Ph 027 229 1914

PEST CONTROL

PEST CONTROL Eradication of rats & mice. Competitive Rates. Ph 426 2253 Ph 027 286 7321, www.noratsandmice.nz

For Children's Birthday Party's George The Magician Lots of Fun! 021 954 875 ghwinchserices@xtra.co nz PUBLIC NOTICES

MAGIC SHOWS

NORTHERN ACTION GROUP (NAG)

Totara Park Retirement Village Hall, 5 Melwood Drive, Warkworth, on Monday 24th June at 7pm

Topic “Better deal for Rodney”. Important guest speakers! All welcome!

PORT ALBERT CEMETERY

Monday 8th July 7pm

@ Port Albert Hall. All Welcome

Sec: S Treadwell

PORT ALBERT HALL AGM

AGM

Tuesday 2nd July 7pm

@ Port Albert Hall. All Welcome

Sec J Lambert

WARKWORTH HOCKEY CLUB

AGM

ITSS Engineering, 24 Morrison Drive, 6.30pm, Monday, 1st July 2024

SITUATIONS VACANT

WALKERS

URGENTLY NEEDED TO DELIVER THE MAHURANGI MATTERS NEWSPAPERS in Warkworth and Wellsford Contact Tanya Milford 021 066 0838

2 female any colour, healthy good natured, as company for our existing pair, also 2 or 3 Gotland sheep ph 09 422 6699 or text 021 285 6815 STOCK WANTED

ALPACAS

Gourmet chef goes to

French-trained Matakana chef Matthew Casey has cooked in some of the finest hotels, restaurants and private homes in the world, but his latest cooking venture has him completely out of his comfort zone.

In the polar opposite of his day job at Source Kitchen, creating bespoke menus for weddings and events from local produce, Casey is stepping in front of the cameras to take part in TVNZ 2’s Snack Masters, where two chefs compete each week to recreate a classic snack or fast food.

“You have no idea what you have to create or who you are against, and you’ve got just

SITUATIONS VACANT

YOUTH HEALTH REGISTERED NURSE, PART TIME (0.5FTE) - HOURS ARE FLEXIBLE

We are seeking a Youth Health or General Practice experienced Nurse to work at Rodney College in the funded Te Whata Ora/ Health New Zealand, School Based Health Service.

You will be youth focused and confident working with families and the school pastoral team.

The successful applicant must have:

• Current NZ APC • Cross cultural competence • Medtech skills

• A Youth Health qualification or a commitment to undertake study Start as soon as possible. Apply in writing with your CV, covering letter and the names of 2 referees to: principal@rodneycollege.school.nz or post to Principal, Rodney College, 287-319 Rodney Street, Wellsford 0900. If it’s local, let us know!

2 2 9 9 7 5

Mahurangi Matters 425 9068

Hell and back for a pizza on TV

48 hours to find and make everything from scratch,” he said.

Burger King Whoppers and KitKats are among the items already tackled in the current series, but for Casey it was a Lust Deluxe from Hell Pizza’s gourmet range, a meat-fest featuring marinated steak, five-pepper pepperoni, salami, ham, bacon, smoked chorizo, black pepper and Bearnaise sauce.

While he could probably make a Bearnaise in his sleep, the rest of the recipe caused a few headaches.

“The biggest challenge is that you’re not trying to make it as you would like it,

you have to make it exactly as it is made in-store,” he said. “I’ve never worked in a pizza or even an Italian restaurant, I’m French-trained, and there were things on that pizza that I’d never think about using or buying.”

It’s not just the ingredients the chefs have to source, either – Casey also had to find and buy a large commercial gas-fired pizza oven, and have it plumbed in to the Riverhead Tavern, where the cook-off is filmed in front of three judges from Hell. Although he’s cooked for presidents and prime ministers, he said Snack Masters was right up there as a high pressure experience.

“It’s quite nerve wracking,” he said. “You over-think things and get really worried. There are no timers allowed and you kind of lose track of time when you’re in there.”

As for whether Casey’s pizza was better than that of his opponent, barbecue specialist Paul Patterson, who runs Paulie’s Kitchen at the Waiheke Bowling Club, he is not allowed to say.

However, even if he could, he’s not 100 per cent sure anyway, since he said two different endings were filmed to keep it a surprise.

Snack Masters will be broadcast on TVNZ 2 on Thursday, June 20 at 7.30pm.

Sam

Marine Where have all our baitfish gone?

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

Don’t judge a fish just by its size. The small baitfish such as pilchards or jack mackerels you catch off your local wharf pack a mighty punch when it comes to keeping our marine ecosystems functioning. Without them, many of our favourite fish, whales and seabirds would go hungry. So, it’s totally unreasonable that commercial interests are harvesting over three million kilos of baitfish from the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park every year and exporting them for minimal returns. Our precious baitfish are worth more in the ocean feeding our diverse marine life than being sold for a pittance in an overseas fish market.

If you’ve spent time in the Gulf recently you will have noticed the scarcity of workups. Baitfish workups filled with kahawai and kingfish, diving seabirds and hungry whales used to be a common sight. Now they are rare. This is a worrying sign that baitfish populations may be in serious decline.

Because there has been no scientific assessment of baitfish population levels, officials are essentially managing this important fishery blindfolded, with no true or reliable information on how the stock is doing. The minimal information available indicates the fishery could be in trouble, as commercial catches of blue and jack mackerel in the Gulf have steadily declined since 2019, yet the catch limit has stayed the same. With the current catch limit for jack mackerel last set in 1995, it’s long overdue for a review.

There have been dynamic changes in our marine environment over the past 20 years, including increased land run-off, warming ocean temperatures and overfishing. All these factors can contribute to the depletion of our most vulnerable species. Baitfish are an essential food source. If they are struggling to withstand excessive harvest amid the changing environment, then the marine life that eats them will be the next to suffer. It’s the domino effect of having a catch limit set too high, for too long.

The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, must direct officials to complete a scientific assessment of baitfish stocks. Only then can the Minister reset catch limits at a more sustainable level, leaving more baitfish in the water to increase their populations.

We don’t want to wait for the fishery to collapse before we realise that something is seriously wrong. And that action needs to be taken now.

It’s embarrassing that our baitfish, a fundamental contributor to the marine food web, is so undervalued by humans. We do not want them to be the next victim of mismanagement, and that’s why LegaSea will be advocating for our baitfish stocks to be urgently reviewed this year. Just because jack mackerel are small, it doesn’t mean they are any less worthy of more conservative management.

10 Dairy Women’s Network Paint’n’Sip evening, Wellsford Community Centre, 6pm for 6.30pm. Info and registration: https://www.dwn.co.nz/events/

13 Goodall Reserve Planting Day, 9.30am. Meet at end of Hamatana Road, Snells Beach.

14 Tea & Talk ‘Pioneers of the Mahurangi’, Warkworth Museum, 10am. Speaker Lyn Wade. $10pp, bookings essential. Email: warkworthmuseum@xtra.co.nz

15 Andrew Joyce & Jian Liu, Warkworth Town Hall, 4pm; presented by Warkworth Music. Members $30, non-members $40. Info: www.warkworthmusic.org.nz (see story p19)

16 Te Muri Planting Day, 9am-2pm. Bus leaves Puhoi Pioneers Memorial Park at 9am & 9.45am. BYO clean, sturdy footwear, weather-appropriate clothing & a drink. Info & register: https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/events

16 Wellsford Planting Day, 10am-12pm. Meet at 30 Worker Road. BYO clean, sturdy footwear, weather-appropriate clothing, clean gloves and spade (if you have them) & a drink bottle. Info: Auckland Parks on Facebook.

17 Warkworth Mens Rebus meeting, Shoesmith Hall, 10am. Guest speaker. New members welcome. Info: Ron 422 3111.

17 Nutrition Essentials: Eating for Better Health free community talk, Mangawhai Fishing & Boating Club, 9.30-10.30am. Info & register: jacqui@jacquikraftnutrition.co

21 Winter Solstice Celebration, Brick Bay Restaurant, 6pm. Live music, four-course set menu. Info: https://www.brickbay.co.nz/winter-series

21 Matakantata Choir presents Home, Matakana Hall, 7.30pm. Tickets from Harts Pharmacy or Gull Matakana. $25 adults or gold coin for children. Info: Jenni 0274 364 363

21 English Conversation Group, Warkworth Library, 2-3pm. For speakers with English as their second language, free. Meet every second Friday of the month.

22 Enviro Expo, Warkworth Town Hall, 9.30am. Family friendly conservation day. Virtual reality station, demonstrations, sausage sizzle, free tea and coffee. Info: Enviro Expo on Facebook (see stories p23 & 25)

22 Matariki Whanau Day, Te Hana Te Ao Marama marae, 10am-2pm. Sausage sizzle, hangi, rides, stalls, bouncy castle and face painting, plus health advice and vaccinations. Free. (see brief p9)

22 Lower Northland Masters Tennis Club Quiz Night, Warkworth Rackets, 6.3010pm. Fun and social quiz night. Info: https://warkworthrackets.co.nz/

23 Leigh Midwinter Swim, Matheson Bay, 10.15am – rain or shine. All welcome.

23 Matakantata Choir presents Home, Warkworth Town Hall, 4pm. Tickets from Harts Pharmacy or Gull Matakana. $25 adults or gold coin for children. Info: Jenni 0274 364 363

23 Kaiwaka Lantern Festival, Kaiwaka Sports Assn, Gibbons Rd, starting at 3pm; parade at 7pm. All welcome

25 Warkworth Ladies Rebus general meeting, Besoul, 12 Gumfield Drive, 10am. Guest speaker. New members welcome. Info: Pam Chapman on 09 945 3316.

26 Reading Revolution, Warkworth Library, 10am-12pm. Short story & poem read aloud. Free.

28 Matariki public holiday

28&29 Kawau Bay Artists Exhibition, old Masonic Hall, 10am-3pm (see story p19)

29 Bullrush & Mudpies, Warkworth Town Hall, 2pm & 7pm. Fundraiser documentary on history of Warkworth School. Tickets $25, from the school or email: bullrushandmudpies@gmail.com

30 Puhoi Village Market, Puhoi Sports Club carpark, 9am-1pm

30 Matariki planting day, Clayden Road, between Warkworth and Matakana, 9am-1pm (see story p27)

Lane swimming

Kowhai Swimming Club offers lane swimming at the Mahurangi College pool for adults aged 16 and older. Times: Monday and Wednesday from 6-7.50am and 6-7pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 6-7pm, Friday from 6-7.50am, and Saturday mornings from 7-9am. This lane swimming is unsuitable for weak or non-swimmers. Booking not required. Cost $7 per session, $60 for concession card of 10 swims, $130 for three month session card, or $4 for students. Please bring correct change. Info: kowhaiswimming@gmail.com

Fundraiser

The Kiwi Cup National Raffle is giving away $35,000 worth of return tickets for two to Barcelona to see New Zealand fight for the America’s Cup. Raffle tickets cost $20, with $10 from every sale going to the Sandspit Yacht Club Centreboard Division for junior sailing development, when you nominate Sandspit Yacht Club as your preferred club at checkout. Info: https://kiwicup.co.nz/

Netball coaching workshops

Netball Northern will host two Performance Enhancement Coaches Workshops at the Whangarei Netball Centre on Thursday, July 4. The first workshop focuses on fundamental movement from 5-6.30pm and the second workshop focuses on centre pass attack/defence from 6.30-8pm. Registrations close Friday, June 28. Info: https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/297879

Tennis comp

Warkworth Rackets Wimbledon Whites tennis competition will be held on Saturday, July 4 from 3-8pm. This is a fun afternoon/evening of friendly competition. In a nod to tennis history and tradition, players are encouraged to don their classic Wimbledon whites and homage will be paid to the sport’s roots by incorporating old-style vintage wooden rackets.

Info: tennis@warkworthrackets.co.nz

Golf

The Bream Bay Classic 54-hole gross strokeplay will be held at Waipu Golf Club on July 6 and 7. The three divisions are Open, Masters and Ladies. Entries close at 5pm on July 3. Info: https://www.waipugolfclub.org.nz/upcoming-events

Wonderful weather brings in wealth of

Wings & Wheels

Blue skies, clear sunshine and almost no wind provided perfect conditions for a Wings & Wheels day organised by Rodney Aero Club at Kaipara Flats airfield last month.

Despite relying almost entirely on word of mouth, more than 50 aircraft flew in for the day and they were joined by the same number of vintage and classic cars.

Aero club member Keith Morris said recent developments at the Newton Road airfield meant there was a well-groomed grass runway for the planes, and a new roadway around the airstrip provided plenty of parking.

There were several rare vintage and sport aircraft, including five Tiger Moths, a DH Dragon, a Boeing Stearman previously owned by the late Paul Holmes, the NZ Warbirds de Havilland Beaver, and a Yak 52 that once belonged to renowned Lithuanian aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys.

Meanwhile, members of the Waitemata and Wellsford-Warkworth vintage car clubs organised their own display, which included a 1917 Ford Model T (in black, of course), a Morgan 3-wheeler and a 1924 Sunbeam 14/40 open top tourer driven by Ian and Jacqui Goldingham, who were dressed in full flying gear, complete with leather jackets, flying helmets and goggles.

Morris said the collaboration between classic car lovers and avid aircraft fans was the brainchild of someone with a foot in both camps.

“The original idea started with well-known vintage aircraft restorer and operator Stan Smith, who is also club captain of the Waitemata Vintage Car Club, and he suggested it to Bruce Lynch, who has a hangar on the airfield and is on the committee of the

Rodney Aero Club,” Morris said.

The resulting event attracted way more planes and cars than expected and a sizeable crowd enjoyed looking at the many aircraft and vehicles around the airfield, as well as a flying display and a barbecue lunch.

Morris said the club was left afterwards

with “a great feeling of an event well done”, and said a huge thank you was owed to a large number of volunteer helpers.

“The number of visitors, vintage cars and aircraft were wildly in excess of what had been planned for, but a herculean effort was put in by the many volunteers to make the day the huge success that it was,” he said.

“Maybe we will do it again, but we will have to pray for a similarly lovely day!” Anyone wanting to know more about Rodney Aero Club, or to book a trial flight, should contact Brien O’Brien on 021 414 710.

Ian and Jacqui Goldingham drove in wearing full flying kit. Russell Jenkins’ immaculate Stearman.

A bird’s eye view of Wings & Wheels at Kaipara Flats airfield. Photo, David Signal. All other photos, Keith Morris.

NZ Warbirds’ Beaver flew six passengers in from Ardmore.

Rob Fry’s Yak 52, formerly flown by aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys.

Michael Bach taxiing in his very rare DH Moth Minor.

Stan Smith’s Dragon on the groomed grass runway.