Mahurangi Matters_Issue 469_4 December 2023

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F U N D R A I S E R Two Leigh locals will lose their longcherished hair and beards next month to raise money for the Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The Brave the Shave fundraiser at the station on Saturday, January 27 will fund equipment for the brigade’s new truck. In particular, they want to buy a single wheel

mule stretcher carrier (pictured), which can traverse rough and narrow terrain with less strain on the responding fire crews.

Fire chief Kevin Lawton says there are numerous walking tracks around Leigh and if a walker is injured, it can be a real challenge to extract them safely using a conventional stretcher. The cost of both

pieces of equipment is around $12,000 and organisers have set themselves a target of $20,000.

Facing the sharpened scissors will be Gabe Ransom and the man known in Leigh simply as Frick. continued page 2

Thankfully for Gabe and Frick (seated), a professional hairdresser will lop off their locks and not the fire station volunteers. Pictured, from left, Ataahua Knight, fire chief Kevin Lawton, Brooke Sanderson and Hayley Nessia.

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Contact us 4 December, 2023 – Issue 469 17 Neville Street, Warkworth, 0941 ph 09 425 9068 mahurangimatters

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www.localmatters.co.nz Next issue: 18 December Book your advertising by Dec 6 News: Jannette Thompson ph 021 263 4423 editor@localmatters.co.nz Sally Marden ph 022 478 1619 reporter@localmatters.co.nz Patrick Goodenough ph 022 549 8271 news@localmatters.co.nz Advertising: Ken Lawson ph 022 029 1899 advertising@localmatters.co.nz Marc Milford ph 022 029 1897 local@localmatters.co.nz Online: Alysha Paul ph 022 544 0249 online@localmatters.co.nz Accounts: Angela Thomas ph 425 9068 admin@localmatters.co.nz Graphic designer: Heather Arnold design@localmatters.co.nz A division of Local Matters. Mahurangi Matters is a locally owned publication, circulated to more than 14,200 homes and businesses fortnightly from Puhoi to Waipu.

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Hair razing fundraiser from page 1

Gabe says he can’t remember when he last had a shave or haircut, but thought it might be around 15 years ago.

“Losing my hair and beard is a small sacrifice that I can make as a tribute to all the time and effort the awesome Leigh Fire Brigade members make for our community on a regular basis,” Gabe says.

“Fortunately, I’ve not required their services yet, and hope not to, but their hard work and their voluntary efforts to save lives and homes in our community don’t go unnoticed.”

Frick says his last haircut was about 40 years ago, and his wife and family have never seen him without a beard.

“I feel for our firefighters every time the siren goes off and as I’m too old to join, this is my way of helping my friends in the brigade,” he says.

“If I can raise funds to make their work easier, I feel that’s great.

“I have needed all of the emergency services at one time or another, St Johns included, and without them I wouldn’t be here today, so I feel that this shave is the least I can do to show my appreciation to them.”

At the end of last month, the Leigh brigade had responded to more than 140 callouts, one of its busiest years on record.

“The brigade is in great shape with a mix of experienced firefighters and young enthusiastic recruits who are going through their training modules,” Lawton says.

“But it’s knowing that the community is behind us that keeps the volunteers motivated. It’s awesome that we have such a supportive community.”

To donate a few dollars to the fundraiser, go to ‘Brave the Shave LVFB’ on the givealittle.co.nz page.

The event will start at 3pm, and there will be a sausage sizzle and beverages at the station on the day. The fundraising page will close after the shave.

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AT’s spending priorities come under scrutiny from RLB Frustration at the state of local roads and how little funding Rodney receives compared to city projects was voiced at a Local Board workshop on November 22.

A panel of Auckland Transport (AT) staff gave a detailed presentation on its forward works programme and priorities for Rodney and Auckland for the coming year and beyond, with a view to getting feedback from board members over the next three months.

AT’s executive general manager for service delivery, Andrew Allen, said AT had a pool of money, albeit one subject to budget cuts, for delivering a range of outcomes across a dozen different programmes, including public transport, parking, cycling, capital projects, road safety and road renewals.

“We’re sharing our thinking on different projects and we want to hear if there is stuff missing or shouldn’t be there,” he said. “This is our (current) thinking and our projects to deliver in the next financial year, but there’s no way this is locked in and it will be subject to change.”

The AT capital programme for 2023/24 came in for particular scrutiny from members. This included $60.3 million for ‘Cycling & Active Modes’, of which more than half was going to urban cycleways (and a further $10 million on just one track), while of the $100.9 million for roads, more than a third was going on a road safety programme.

“Why do we have the road safety programme at $35 million and the unsealed road programme at just $6 million?” asked Wellsford’s Colin Smith. “That just seems stupid to me because everything in unsealed road improvement is safety. That just seems completely out of whack.”

Warkworth member Ivan Wagstaff was rendered almost speechless at where the unsealed road improvement budget sat in the scheme of things.

“This slide also shows you that there’s $10 million going towards a cycleway in Mangere and we get $6 million for the whole of Rodney for unsealed roads,” he said. “The inequity on display is … We don’t get urban cycleways. There are all these things we don’t get. It’s difficult to look at things like this.”

Allen said he got the point they were making and the apparent urban focus, but stressed that members had until February to make their feelings known via feedback on the programme.

Board member Michelle Carmichael asked if there was scope to push for reprioritisation of funding between different projects, particularly if there was a more urgent need, such as shifting cycleway funding to fixing a road where landslips had occurred.

“You’re welcome to give us any feedback you like – you have information on all the different programmes and level of engagement with board – if you want more engagement, let us know,” he said.

Board members have until March to provide feedback on 2024/25 programmes, which AT will then review and make adjustments to work programmes “where appropriate”. Finalised versions will be presented to the board in May before being signed off in June.

To see the AT presentation in full, go to https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ about-auckland-council/how-aucklandcouncil-works/local-boards/all-localboards/rodney-local-board/Pages/rodneylocal-board-meetings.aspx and click on the workshop programme for November 22.

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| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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Make your own rainbow

Warkworth will be the home of a rainbow-making machine for three weeks over the Christmas and New Year period. Commissioned by Auckland Council and now part of council’s public art collection, Rainbow Machine was designed and built by artists Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh, Patrick Loo and Sarosh Mulla, working with scientists and engineers from Callaghan Innovation and Ōtāhuhu Engineering to bring the artwork to life.

It is a mobile and interactive artwork that creates rainbows when the sun is shining, using eight custom-made lenses to reflect and refract light.

The artwork will be operating on the Warkworth Wharf (near the kiosk) from December 21 to January 11.

In brief Yes, yes Minister

Local National Party MPs have been given ministerial portfolios under the coalition agreement between National, ACT and NZ First announced on November 24.

Whangaparaoa MP Mark Mitchell has the cabinet posts of Minister of Corrections, Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, and Minister of Police. Kaipara ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk will be the Minister for Building and Construction, Minister for Land Information, Minister for Veterans, Associate Minister of Defence and Associate Minister of Immigration.

Additionally, local NZ First list MP Jenny Marcroft will be the Parliamentary UnderSecretary to the Minister for Media and Communications.

On patrol

Board votes to fund bus trial and road sealing After months of delay, deliberation and workshops, Rodney Local Board members last week voted to fund a new bus trial, as well as more than 10km of rural road improvements and sealing from its transported targeted rate.

However, Auckland Transport’s (AT) original recommendation for a three-year trial of an on-demand service linking Warkworth, Leigh and Sandspit was dropped, in favour of a cheaper twoyear trial of a fixed route loop around Warkworth town.

Warkworth member Michelle Carmichael moved an amendment to alter the original trial, which would have cost more than $2.5 million, or $850,000 per year, to a Warkworth loop service costed at $821,000, or $373,000 per year, plus the installation of five bus stops for up to $75,000.

Warkworth members said the three year on-demand service was much more risky financially, as it was contracted out and there was no guarantee AT would continue the service after the trial. They had suggested other options for Leigh and Sandspit using existing services, but AT said none of these were workable.

Carmichael said after the meeting that while members had received plenty of feedback supporting a Warkworth town bus service, there had been none specifically on the Leigh and Sandspit routes.

The reduction in cost also meant that surplus targeted rate funds for Warkworth could be diverted to road sealing projects, a post-flood investigation into which was the reason the bus trial was stalled earlier this year.

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Upper Waiwera Road (two sections) $311,400 Krippner Road, Puhoi $300,900 Tauhoa Road, Kaipara Flats $1,386,600 Hepburn Creek Road, Warkworth (two sections) $189,000 Anderson Road, Matakana $173,000 Jones Road, Omaha Flats $304,500 Omaha Valley Road $303,300

The proposed Warkworth bus loop.

is a good compromise to deliver some additional public transport in Warkworth, and to direct funds to our unsealed road improvements, which were part of the original purpose of the transport targeted rate,” she said. “We couldn’t do this and retain the full proposed bus trial.”

Members also voted to approve $1.48 million for unsealed roading improvements, which will be subsidised 50/50 by Waka Kotahi, as well as up to $1.7 million to seal those roads once they’ve been fixed.

AT’s road corridor asset manager, Peter Scott, said it made sense to seal the roads at the same time as improvement works were carried out, and said while Waka Kotahi subsidies did not currently cover road sealing itself, he thought they should

and would be pushing for that. He said this was because sealed roads were easier and cheaper to maintain, were less prone to environmental damage and stopped dust nuisance and pollution.

Scott added that, when delivered, the final package of improvement works and sealing (see panel) should also include Hamilton and Goatley Roads in Warkworth.

The Warkworth bus trial route is set to loop around town via Baxter Street, Percy Street, Lilburn Street, Pulham Road, Palmer Street, Whitaker Road, Woodcocks Road, Mansel Drive, Falls Road, Hudson Road, Great North Road and the community transport hub, and back into town via Whitaker Road. AT hopes to have it up and running by July next year.

Police are yet to make an arrest in relation to the break-in and burglary at NZ Diving on Morrison Drive in Warkworth, which occurred on November 4. “We are following positive lines of enquiry with the use of CCTV footage,” a police spokesperson said. Meanwhile, a 31-yearold male has been charged in relation to a tagging incident at the Wellsford toilets in October. He was charged with one count of owner or hirer failing/refusing to give information and is due to appear in the North Shore District Court on December 8. Police say they are continuing to investigate the matter.

Sports support

Sports organisations in Mahurangi are encouraged to apply for a slice of $13.6 million available through Auckland Council’s Sport and Recreation Facilities Investment Fund. Applications close on January 29, next year. The money is earmarked for building or infrastructure work. The last funding round saw a broad range of projects funded, from tennis court upgrades to new lights for a netball centre and a community hub redevelopment at a surf lifesaving club. The fund is contestable and open to non-council organisations for significant facility development. To discuss a proposal or to ask any questions about the process, contact sportandrecreation@ aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Town centre plan adopted

Rodney Local Board members have voted to adopt the 2023-33 Puhinui Warkworth Town Centre Plan that’s been in development for the past 18 months.

Rodney community broker Sue Dodds said recent developments affecting the town centre, including the opening of the motorway and new shops, meant the timing was good and it was important to take the next steps to turn the vision into reality. The meeting heard that local planners and community groups were keen to help progress the ideas laid out in the plan.

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December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

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Hoteo River bed timetabled

HAVE YOUR SAY People have until December 17 to have a say on what everyone hopes will be the final Hill Street redesign plan.

Hill Street design – round the roundabout again Anyone with a point of view on a proposed redesign of the Hill Street intersection in Warkworth has until December 17 to have their say.

The new design features: • A five-arm roundabout at the Brown Road/Great North Road intersection • A three-arm roundabout through the Sandspit Road and Matakana Road intersection • A free turning lane from Matakana Road to Elizabeth Street • Cycling and walking facilities including two boardwalks • Safer pedestrian crossing points.

It is a compromise between Auckland Transport’s cost saving ‘valued engineering’ design and the design favoured by the One Mahurangi Business Association.

Once feedback has been assessed, Auckland Transport will complete a detailed final

design and apply to Waka Kotahi for construction funding. All going well, construction could start next year.

The build will cost around $19 million and take about 18 months to complete.

The intersection at the junction of the old State Highway 1 has been a congestion bottleneck for decades, and the wider intersection layout incorporates five roads heading to the Warkworth town centre, Matakana and the Mahurangi East Peninsula.

AT’s group manager for infrastructure project delivery, Mark Banfield, described the intersection as “complex and confusing”.

“Since the Ara Tūhono – Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway and Te Honohono ki Tai Road opened in June, traffic volumes at the Hill Street intersection have halved,” Banfield said. “However, Warkworth is a growing area and local traffic using the intersection is expected to increase.

“As AT prepares to take over the management of the old state highway – a process called revocation – now’s the time to confirm an improved design to make the intersection easier and safer to use.

“The current layout has little in the way of safe walking and cycling facilities, it doesn’t fit with future plans for the area, or create a welcoming connection to the Warkworth town centre.”

Banfield said a number of different designs were considered and the latest option struck the right balance to provide access to key locations, reduce congestion, minimise environmental impact and allow safe access for “active modes” – cycling and walking.

One Mahurangi co-chair Dave Stott said the proposed final design was the culmination of decades of lobbying to local and central government from the local community.

“We are delighted that a solution has at last been achieved and that, subject to funding, construction could start next year,” Stott said.

Interested parties in the ownership of the bed of the Hoteo River have until December 15 to register their interest and participate in proceedings.

An investigation into the land status of the riverbed is being heard in the Maori Land Court in Whangarei.

The case involves the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust as the first applicant, Te Runanga o Ngāti Whatua as the second applicant and the Attorney-General as the respondent.

In court directions issued last month, Judge Miharo Armstrong set out a timetable for how the case would proceed.

He said Ngāti Manuhiri, Ngāti Whātua and the Crown were required to file and serve any response to the statements and memoranda from interested parties by February 2, and a decision on interested party participation would be made on February 29. The Judge acknowledged that many of the interested parties would not have legal representation.

All parties and interested parties are required to file and serve memoranda addressing any further directions sought by December 11 next year. These applications are set down for a further judicial conference on December 13 next year.

Mangawhai Christmas trees

Hato Hone St John Ambulance Mangawhai is selling Christmas trees at the Mangawhai ambulance station, at $50 for standard trees and $110 for large trees. The large trees (8-12 ft tall) will only be available during the week that began on December 1, and will need to be preordered. St John is also selling stands, which it said sold out quickly last year, as well as festoon lights. Trees are available Monday-Friday 3pm -6pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9am -1pm.

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4

| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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The approximate boundaries of the site for sale in Mangawhai. Image, Colliers

Mangawhai subdivision sale Mangawhai Central, the extensive property development in the heart of Mangawhai, awaits a new owner.

Expressions of interest in the 116 hectare greenfield site, off Molesworth Drive, closed on November 16.

Several days later, Colliers director Blair Peterken said discussions were underway with interested parties but he could not say more.

“We’re in a process,” he said. “We have interested parties looking at the property at the moment, so that’s all I can really comment on.”

With the potential for up to 1200 residential units, as well as a new business centre, Mangawhai Central is one of the country’s larger residential development sites.

Branches of Bunnings and New World opened late last year, and other lots in the service zone have been sold or leased, including land bought for an early childhood education centre.

Bulk earthworks and infrastructure are finished, and a number of residential lots have been presold.

Colliers director Joel Coburn said the sale of the subdivision would have no impact on those transactions within the development.

A buyer would be required to honour all existing contracts and obligations.

On the timing of the sale, Coburn said the vendors had planned to exit once commercial value had been added, and now was seen to be an appropriate time to do so.

Meanwhile, estate agents marketing house and land packages in Mangawhai Central said they had been told to advise prospective buyers of delays.

“We’ve been told by our vendors that there’s currently a delay of a year, more or less, but we don’t know,” one of the agents said. “It all depends if and when the right

buyer comes along. It’s a difficult one to answer but I suppose, in short, we are aware of delays.”

While the agent said the situation was “frustrating”, he added that the property market in Mangawhai more generally was going pretty well as the moment.

“I hope things do go well for Mangawhai,” he said. “It’s a beautiful part of the country.

Everybody’s looking forward to that whole business district taking off.”

Property values in the area have grown significantly in recent years. A OneRoof report last month put average property values in Mangawhai Heads at $1,332,000, making it the third most-expensive suburb in Northland.

The Mangawhai Central subdivision was the subject of the biggest private plan change application ever to come before Kaipara District Council. Notified in 2020, private plan change 78 went through the full process, including an appeal to the Environment Court, which the parties settled out of court in April, 2022.

The private plan change, finalised through that process, allowed for new dwelling consents to be declined if there was insufficient capacity in the town’s wastewater system.

The treatment plant is currently expected to reach its 3000-connection ceiling next year, although council announced plans in October to expand the capacity by 550 additional connections. It said that increase would cater for Mangawhai’s projected expansion until at least 2030, depending on the rate of the growth.

Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson declined to comment on the sale of the Mangawhai Central property. A spokesperson said it was not part of council business.

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December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

5

Off

therecord

Give peace a chance In a surprise move, Rodney Local Board members were presented with three potted plants during the public forum at their monthly meeting in Warkworth last Wednesday, November 29. The peace lilies were a gift from regular attendee Steven Law, of Makarau, who said he had noticed the plant display in the Elizabeth Street reception area had died. He said the replacement plants were a gift from his whanau and he hoped they would not be neglected over the Christmas break. Board chair Brent Bailey thanked Law for the unexpected gift. 





Attention book readers Mahurangi Matters is in the market for a book reviewer. Sadly, our reviewer for the past couple of years, Tracey Lawton, is stepping down so we are looking for a keen and discerning reader to submit two reviews a month. Books are provided and you do have a say over the selection of the titles. It may also be possible to appoint two or three readers to share the reviews if that is more appealing. If you are interested in this honorary position, please get in touch by emailing Jannette at editor@localmatters.co.nz In the meantime, we wish Tracey well and thank her for her many reviews over many issues.

CORRECTION

A story about the digitisation of Warkworth Museum records published in the last issue (MM Nov 20) incorrectly stated the collaborative project with Auckland’s Maritime Museum was being funded largely by the Lottery Commission and Pub Charity. This was incorrect. The funding is coming largely from Te Puna Tahua Lottery Grants Board, not the NZ Lottery Commission.

See story page 4

YouSay

We welcome your feedback but letters under 250 words are preferred. We reserve the right to abridge them as necessary. Unabridged versions can be read at www.localmatters.co.nz/opinion.

Letters can be sent to editor@localmatters.co.nz or 17 Neville Street, Warkworth 0910

Junk mail plea

Solar hypocrisy

An open letter to whoever keeps putting racist, unsolicited junk mail in my letterbox. I don’t want your racist misinformation and diatribe about what you describe as “apartheid/racism/erosion of democracy”. If you were so concerned about democracy and being lawful, you would see that my letterbox clearly states no junk mail or advertising material and under our bylaws you are committing an offence by delivering me this rubbish.

And just for the record, it is junk, it is misinformation and it is not aiding better race relations or improving division in our society as you claim is needed.

Picking up the Mahurangi Matters today left me stunned – it’s no wonder Marilyn Jones is heartbroken (MM Nov 20)!

Where are these 260 hectares of solar panels and batteries going once they’re done and need replacement – to the Dome Valley tip perhaps? (Another disgraceful corporate example, but I digress ...).

It’s now commonly known all forms of solar power have a short (relatively speaking) lifespan and that the components are not biodegradable. They are produced using rare natural (and synthetic) materials, and hectares and hectares and hectares are required to generate enough energy for a small population.

So why are we replicating all the flaws of big (profitable) electric energy yet again?

Why is big money involved, yet again?

For New Zealanders to finally thrive socially and ecologically, it’s time to do away with big corporates all together and adopt a mindset of sustainability. This is the only way we can achieve ethical household resilience.

If somebody wishes to put solar panels on their own roof – by all means. If they want pedal power, wind power, coal, horse, bio or hydro power – the choice should be theirs for their own household, to suit their

Neil Anderson, Algies Bay Editor: If junk mail is delivered by verified postal or delivery services such as NZ Post or Reach Media, then they will do their best to ensure that junk mail is not put into letterboxes that clearly state ‘No Junk Mail’ or ‘Addressed Mail Only’. However, if junk mail is delivered by other sources such as the organisation printing the material, then householders have few options other than to contact the organisation itself.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will accept complaints about the content of the material, in the context of its Codes of Practice, via email or by using the online complaints form at: https://www.asa.co.nz/complaints/ make-a-complaint

Stone craftmanship Having read the article on the new stone retaining wall at Scotts Landing (MM Nov 6) and having seen it under construction, I have to say what an amazing piece of real craftsmanship it is, that we don’t often see today.

Apparently, these stones were old kerb stones from Auckland, all cut by prisoners at Mt Eden jail around 100 years ago. Truly a work of art.

Well done and thanks to Colin Christie and his team of tradesmen, and Auckland Council for spending our money on something decent and permanent.

Maury Purdy, Warkworth

Wells performance

Festive lights Leigh’s community Christmas celebration, Lax Lights, is on again this year, and this time it’s moving from its usual Friday evening date to Sunday, December 17. The family friendly event began some years ago as a straightforward display of Christmas lights and decorations by neighbours in the crescent, which lies off Wonderview Road.

Now, it has grown to a festive celebration

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for the whole village, with food trucks, live music, Christmas carols and a visit from Santa, before the lights are switched on when darkness falls. Residents in the Northwood Estate, off Ashmore Crescent in Warkworth, are also getting into the Christmas spirit with a show of lights that will be on display from 8pm to 10.30pm nightly leading up to Christmas.

Composer and organist Dr John Wells will be guest performer at the last Gold Connect Cafe of the year on Tuesday December 5. The fortnightly get-togethers started in June to provide a social outing for older Mahurangi East residents. As a member of Snells Beach Baptist church, Wells will perform carols and classics. The afternoons are held in the Snells Beach Baptist Church, 410 Mahurangi East Rd, from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. Afternoon tea provided, all welcome.

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| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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W E

Chris Penk, MP for Kaipara ki Mahurangi

D E L I V E R

T O

Y O U R

D O O R

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM SEE US ON FACEBOOK

chris.penkmp@parliament.govt.nz

Honouring our history I am excited and grateful to have remained as the local MP for this area, following the recent election. Thanks to everyone who took part, no matter how you chose to exercise your democratic right. I look forward to keep working with everyone in Auckland’s rural north who shares my desire for a greater share of attention and resources to be obtained for here.

In addition, I’ve picked up a handful of roles in the new government. One that I’m particularly passionate about is the Minister for Veterans. It’s hugely important that we honour and remember those who have served this country with such distinction over the years. I suspect that a large number of readers of Mahurangi Matters would agree with me on this score, based on the very healthy turnout at Anzac Day in Warkworth (and other ceremonies around the wider area) each year.

Warkworth is blessed with an active and engaging RSA, which connects beautifully with this community in the conduct of such commemorations. The reflections offered by senior students of Mahurangi College are always a highlight, for example.

The area is also well served, from the veterans’ perspective when it comes to Warkworth Museum and Heritage

C A N

Mahurangi. Both organisations have been instrumental in highlighting the historical significance of US Marine troops being based in the area during World War II. I was very pleased to attend the opening ceremony of some restored army huts at the museum a couple of years ago and earlier this month to witness the outstanding display put on by current and former NZ Defence Force personnel on Queen Street, Warkworth ... to say nothing of the Tiger Moths’ flypast! Thank you to Dave Parker and his team at Heritage Mahurangi for such a magnificent Armistice Day occasion.

This is an example of the local significance that national issues invariably have in each area. Here we have much to remember – lest we forget the lessons that history can teach – and I’m humbly delighted that I will have a chance to uphold and augment such local efforts as the relevant Minister.

On a much lighter ceremonial note, I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Warkworth Santa Parade.

This comes with huge thanks to Murray Chapman and One Mahurangi Business Association for arranging the event, along with all the local legends who have volunteered to support making it happen.

Food waste figures swell Nine million kilograms (9000 tonnes) of food scraps have been collected and kept out of landfill as a result of the rollout of more than 440,000 food scrap bins across Auckland over the past seven months.

Warkworth and other urban areas in Rodney – although not Wellsford or Matakana – were among the last to receive their bins, with collections beginning last month.

Some areas have seen reductions in the weight of total refuse in kerbside rubbish bins by up to 20 per cent.

“Our aspiration for Auckland to become a zero-waste city by 2040 is much closer, with most residents now able to access the food scrap collection service,” Auckland Council planning, environment and parks committee chair Richard Hills said.

“Weekly amounts collected right now suggest we’re on track to collect over 35,000 tonnes in the first full year, well on the way to our yearly target of 40,000 tonnes.”

The scraps are trucked to a plant in the Waikato where a process called anaerobic digestion technology breaks them down into biogas and nutrient liquid fertiliser.

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7

Route protection WTH • TE T

P SU

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PORTING

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Public hearings on route protection proposals for future transport projects around Warkworth wrapped up last week, with Auckland Transport representatives, affected landowners and other interested parties having their say before an independent three-person panel.

At the Auckland Council-hosted hearings in Warkworth, panel members Richard Blakey, Mark Farnsworth and Vaughan Smith heard submissions from individuals whose properties are impacted by eight notices of requirement (NoRs), designating land that may be required for new roads or the upgrading of existing ones, in the coming decades.

The NoRs were lodged with council earlier this year by Supporting Growth, a collaboration of AT and Waka Kotahi, following the preparation of an indicative business case in 2019, a detailed business case in 2020, and a consultation process last year which AT has described as “comprehensive”.

A number of submitters raised concerns about the nature and extent of the consultation, with some characterising it as rushed and cursory.

Bevan Morrison, speaking on behalf of the family’s Gumfield Property Ltd, said that over a number of years it had sought to engage with the authorities about plans for a western link road (WLR), which if built would significantly affect Morrison-owned property, including live-zoned industrial land.

The process had felt hasty, with little information proactively shared by Supporting Growth, he said.

“The multiple alternatives that were looked at, no detail was shared or given during the process. What was shared was basically the final alignment [for the proposed road],

G

public hearings close

Bevan Morrison had some issues around the process Supporting Growth had followed.

and at that point in time it was basically too late to do anything, almost too late to move red lines on a page. That’s disappointing.”

Supporting Growth did agree to one small boundary change to the designation for the WLR, after it was pointed out that it sliced through a corner of a piece of Morrisonowned land earmarked for a future community health hub. Morrison said that Supporting Growth had been informed earlier of plans for the development, but those plans were not taken into consideration when the NoR designation was made.

“The [consultation] process has been very rushed,” said Dave Stott, co-chair of One Mahurangi business association, who gave a joint presentation with Roger Williams of the Warkworth Area Liaison Group.

Stott told the hearing that meetings held with Supporting Growth had felt like “the presentation, really, of a fait accompli”.

“The sort of consultation that should have taken place, in terms of determining options and assessing options, didn’t occur.”

Stott noted that the Future Development Strategy recently adopted by council envisages 20-30 year delays for much of the growth around Warkworth – “yet there seems to be this undue haste to get these NoRs out. We felt there needed to be a pause, to consider the impact of the FDS.” Williams recommended that council put on hold four of the eight NoRs, until alternatives had been independently investigated, to the local community’s satisfaction.

The four NoRs he referred to are those relating to a public transport hub near Pak’nSave and the northern end of a future WLR; the upgrading of a western section of Woodcocks Road, from Evelyn Street to the new motorway; the upgrading of Sandspit Road, from the Hill Street intersection to the eastern rural-urban boundary; and the southern portion of the envisaged WLR, running from Evelyn Street to where the Old SH1 intersects with McKinney Road.

The remaining four NoRs are those relating

to the upgrading of the southern portion of Old SH1, from The Grange to just south of Valerie Close; the upgrading of Matakana Road, from the Hill Street intersection to the rural-urban boundary; a new road linking Matakana Road and Sandspit Road; and the northern portion of an envisaged wider western link, running from Woodcocks Road near the new motorway, southwards to the Mahurangi River.

With the public hearings over, a council planning team will now provide a written response on or before December 9. AT will then prepare its written final submissions, expected to be circulated before the Christmas break.

Council says the panel should make its recommendation on the NoRs early next year, after which AT will have 30 working days to make a decision. Council must release that decision within 10 working days of receiving it, and an appeal period will follow.

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| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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The design has been more than four years in the making and won’t be started until late next year.

Final design for Wood Street revitalisation unveiled at last After more than four years of trials, tests and community feedback, Kaipara District Council (KDC) has unveiled its final design to make Mangawhai’s Wood Street safer and less congested.

The revitalisation project has been in development since September 2019, when KDC was approached by the Mangawhai Business Association with concerns over traffic congestion and pedestrian safety in and around Wood Street.

Since then, numerous community workshops, trials, surveys and data monitoring have been carried out, as new layouts and designs have been put in place.

The biggest changes have been making Wood Street one-way, changes to parking and the introduction of traffic calming measures, such as raised pedestrian crossing points and road-narrowing.

The trial process has not been without its critics, with locals voicing complaints throughout on issues such as traffic jams and the safety of pedestrian crossing areas.

The final design includes wider footpaths, including timber boardwalks along a central section of Wood Street; shrub and tree planting; raised pedestrian crossings; and a mix of angled and parallel parking to optimise the number of carparks while still allowing larger delivery vehicles and

disabled access.

The project was made possible initially due to Waka Kotahi, which awarded KDC $455,000 from its Innovating Streets for People programme in 2020 for the interim design. Through the KDC 2021/2031 long term plan, around $4million was later approved for the construction of the permanent upgrade, and which is subject to Waka Kotahi approval to fund 62 per cent of the cost.

Although the design is now finalised, the necessary work is not due to start until the latter half of next year, after the project was delayed to coincide with stormwater upgrades along the same route.

While the design for Wood Street is complete, KDC is still working to finalise a new layout for the surrounding area around Fagan Place. This includes the former fire station site, two carparking areas, and a public playground.

Council is seeking feedback from locals on this aspect of the design and will be holding a mapping workshop on Sunday, December 10 between 3pm and 5pm at the Mangawhai Senior Citizens Hall in Fagan Place.

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Very little now remains of thermals baths and associated infrastructure.

Waiwera demolition continues New images have been released of the demolition that continues inside the former Waiwera Thermal Resort.

The work started on August 14.

Owner Urban Partners says there have been some setbacks, including that there is significantly more concrete on site than was apparent at the outset, due to previous leaseholders laying new concrete slabs over the top of existing concrete.

The company says it is doing everything C L U Srecycle IVE it can to salvageE Xand as much as E X C L U S I V E E X C L U S VE possible. This includes Isome of the slides

EXCLUSIVE

that have been picked up by Adrenalin Adventure Park.

The resort has been closed since 2018 and all attempts to sell, lease or set up a partnership arrangement have failed.

Urban Partners decided to demolish the failing infrastructure within the resort as it believes a clean site will have greater appeal to potential buyers.

When demolition is finished, topsoil will be laid and grass sown across the site, at which stage the site is expected to once again go on the market.

an site will be The owners believe a cle ial buyers. ent pot to tive more attrac

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Sunday Sunday 11-12noon Donna Wyllie 021827932 HEXHAM STREET, 93will HAUITI DRIVE, bedrooms.WARKWORTH master has a sliding door to the outside patio and faces east for the kitchen you feel right at homeThe here.

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The three bedrooms donna.wyllie@independentagent.co.nz 93 HAUITI DR, WARKWORTH 26 HEXHAM ST, WARKWORTH Or3view appointment Or view by appointment morning sun. The double garage has an auto door and internal access.by All of the 26 HEXHAM STREET, WARKWORTH DRIVE, WARKWORTH 1 2 2 3Viewing1 1 1 VIDEO bedrooms,93 theHAUITI main with an ensuite andarea double full bathroom are conveniently spread across both floor levels, with a windows and doors glazed, an extra treat.

Viewing WARKWORTH Our house-proud vendors moving This wonderfully presented home boasts space, All ofare this on a 605sqmon section and only a short walk to the township. serving theOur other two bedrooms.

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Viewing This wonderfully presented home boasts house-proud vendors aremaster movinghas on a By Appointment Sunday 1:00pm-1.30pm Viewing Viewing: Sunday 1pm-1.30pm Viewing:

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By Appointment Our are presented moving on Sunday 1:00pm-1.30pm 93 HAUITI DRIVE, WARKWORTH $1,189,000 By Negotiation 26 HEXHAM STREET, the automatic gate and you notice the established property on 716sqm.

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Ronald (Ron) Harry Buckton

T

2 June 1938 - 10 November 2023

he life of one of the district’s most respected and experienced land surveyors, Ron Buckton, was celebrated in the Warkworth Anglican Christ Church on November 16. Mourners came from many walks of life, a tribute to Ron’s many and varied interests. Although he loved boating, fishing, farming, tramping and gardening, was a founding volunteer of the Warkworth Foodlink, a Freemason and former member of the Warkworth Brass Band, son-in-law Mark Dudley said family and church were the bedrock of his life.

The Bucktons are descendants of Joseph Buckton, an Albertlander, one of the settlers who arrived in Port Albert from England in 1862. Ron was born in the Warkworth Maternity Hospital on View Road, the second son of Earnie and Eileen. He started school at Tauhoa, completing his education as head boy at Warkworth District High School.

After leaving school, he worked for a short time in a bank and then as a trainee engineering draftsman.

However, when he turned 18, he was called up for compulsory military training and it was during his time in the NZ Army that he trained as an artillery surveyor in the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery. This cemented his decision to make surveying his career.

He returned to Warkworth and started as a cadet, training under Peter Clifton. Working during the day and studying by correspondence at night, Ron qualified as a registered surveyor in 1963. He then took over Clifton’s practice, which was the start of Buckton Surveyors. With the support of fellow surveyors Fraser Perkins, Kevin Taylor, Peter Frost and Pat Ward, and later Rick O’Flaherty and Tony Hayman, the business grew and by Ron’s retirement in 2002, the company employed more than a dozen staff.

The early work was typically small to medium scale urban (residential and industrial) subdivisions, small to large scale rural subdivisions, road legalisation surveys, boundary redefinition surveys, topographical surveys, Māori land surveys, land monitoring surveys and survey control surveys. Ron was involved in the surveying of a large section of the Marsden Point

to Wiri oil and gas pipelines that passed through Rodney, as well as urban developments such as the Woodcocks Road industrial area, Omaha South, Hauiti Drive, Campbell Drive, Victoria Street, Albert Road and Melwood Drive.

Ron’s career spanned the period between the end of the pioneering surveyors using simple but effective survey equipment such as theodolites, through to the start of the technological revolution, where current survey professionals now use high-end digital technology and complex software. GPS hadn’t been invented when he started and distances were typically measured using a steel chain. Calculations were made using log tables and a slide rule. These were the days when a subdivision consent application to Council could fit on a single A4 page.

Basic calculators then came along, followed by the first office computer, which was wheeled between staff on a trolley for those who needed to use it.

Software was loaded onto it every time it was turned on by feeding about 12 magnetic cards into it. All plan drafting was done by hand, and early plans were hand-coloured using water-based paints and brushes.

Communications usually involved posted letters, until fax machines came along.

Ron was remembered by colleagues as being an easy going and highly respected surveyor. He was a mentor to many aspiring surveyors, generously sharing his wealth of knowledge and fostering a new generation of professionals. He encouraged senior surveyors to join the survey institute and was in his element visiting a farm to talk to an owner about a project or taking a field crew over to Kawau Island on his boat.

Ron married Angela Baddeley in St Leonards Church in Matakana in 1968, and children Kara and Peter arrived in 1970 and 1973. Around this time, the couple bought a bach in North Cove on Kawau Island, which became a much-loved holiday destination for the family for the next 30 years. After retirement, Ron and Angela became avid travellers.

Ron is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Angela, children Peter and Kara, two granddaughters and a great-granddaughter.

December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

13

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The book Camp Bentzon, Celebrating 50 Years 1973-2023, written

by Peter Michel, was launched the celebration last month.

The camp provides Kiwi kids with the opportunity to immerse themselves in land and water-based outdoor activities, and sometimes the locals drop by to join in the fun.

Niels Bentzon at home on Kawau.

Camp Bentzon celebrates Kawau character The generosity of a small Danish mullet fisherman was celebrated on Kawau Island on November 18.

Niels Bentzon donated 29 acres in North Cove to ‘the youth of New Zealand’ in 1935, where the camp that bears his name was established 38 years later. About 90 friends and supporters of Camp Bentzon gathered to pay tribute to that donation and to reflect on the camp’s first half century.

Initially, the land was donated to the Education Board and a small school operated from the site for a few years, with the teacher domiciled in an adjoining tent.

When the school closed, the land lay dormant until teacher and former All Black Noel Bowden started visiting the site and took an interest in its future. A meeting was

convened at Mahurangi College in October 1969, where the Camp Bentzon (Kawau Island) Trust Board was established. The first members represented Waipu District School. Otamatea High School, Rodney College, Mahurangi College, Orewa High School, North Shore teachers Training College and the Department of Education.

Bowden was elected chair.

Fundraising started and the camp opened on November 3, 1973.

Current board chair Richard Boyle told the gathering on November 18 that over time, there had been many improvements and the introduction of fulltime managers and staff.

“We have moved from wooden dinghies to the fleet we have today, including kayaks and paddleboards,” he said.

“The old septic has been replaced with a state-of-the-art system, the accommodation has been upgraded and expanded, and modern kitchen and dining facilities built.

Those first guests could only dream of what the place looks like today.”

Current managers Peter and Erin Hyde, who have run the camp for just over 17 years, were thanked for their tireless efforts looking after the camp and the thousands of guests it has accommodated.

Peter said the camp continued to benefit from the support of many generous individuals, groups and businesses.

“From the early visionary founding members in the 1960s to those who, in the last few months, enabled us to re-roof the main building, including organisations that funded the project and suppliers and

Camp managers Peter and Erin Hyde.

contractors who donated product and services – all from the 1960s to the present day have had a part to play in the camp’s successes,” he said.

“Camp Bentzon has been assembled very much like a jigsaw puzzle and has slowly grown, almost organically, as funds and resources have become available.”

Today, the camp has 120 beds and connections with 32 schools, as well as accepting youth, family and other groups on weekends.

The camp remains an outdoor education facility committed to providing young people with outdoor education activities, particularly water-based, where young people can experience challenges to enable them to grow and become valuable members of society.

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Rapid Relief Team NZ director Danny Blampied said every farmer that pulled up had a story to tell.

“Socialising with others who have been through the same thing is a big part of the day.”

Tomarata dairy farmer Aaron Barnes said the event was a good reason to get off the farm and catch up with some familiar faces.

VIP ticket giveaway Topuni farmer Andrew Farr lost a hay barn, animals and fencing in the January/ February floods. He said the RRT donation very welcome and an awesome gesture.

Tomarata dry stock farmer Cam Cladwell, with Sarina Wickham, said the donated fencing was an amazing gesture. “Hats off to them [RRT] for stepping up and arranging all this. Its massive.”

Tauhoa sheep and beef farmer Dave Holmes, with daughter, Isabelle, 4, said his farm had suffered significant slip damage washouts and trees over. He said he’d been impressed by the RRT response. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Rapid Relief rolls out posts and hospitality It felt a bit like Show Day when eight trucks carrying nearly 100 kilometres of fencing rolled into Wellsford’s Centennial Park last Wednesday.

Coordinated by the Rapid Relief Team (RRT), the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, the donated fencing was handed over to about 300 farmers on the following day. The donations targeted farmers and landholders who had been hard hit by weather events at the start of the year.

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RRT had already held four Farmers Community Connect events prior to Wellsford, giving away more than $1.4 million worth of fencing to more than 1000 farmers.

RRT director Danny Blampied said the Wellsford operation involved around 50 volunteers from the church, who had come from all over the North Island to lend a hand. They were in involved in loading fence posts, battens, wire, staples and crimps, and giving the air pressure in tyres

a check, before inviting the farmers in for tea and coffee, and a bite to eat.

“These events are a great way for the community to turn up and let farmers and their families know how valued they are in their communities,” Blampied said. “We also arrange for about 20 different support agencies to be on hand to provide advice to farming families and to let them know how they can access other levels of help and assistance.”

Farmers at the Wellsford event came from as far away as Thames and Kaitaia.

Dire Straits Legacy, which stars musicians who recorded and toured with the iconic 80s rock band, are headlining A Summer’s Day Live at Matakana Country Park on January 2, and we have a double VIP pass worth more than $530 to give away.

The band will play all Dire Straits’ classic hits, with support from Scottish 70s rockers Nazareth, Kiwi favourites Hello Sailor, plus Auckland newcomers Uncommon State.

A single VIP pass normally costs $269 and will get you express entry into the event, a private bar, premium toilets, complimentary food until 8pm, a shaded area, a prime view of the stage, plus bar leaners and bean bag seating.

To enter the draw, simply email your name and phone number to reporter@localmatters.co.nz with Dire Straits Legacy in the subject line

by Thursday, December 14.

December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

17

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Supported by Mahurangi Matters

Special Thanks Heritage Mahurangi Inc sincerely thanks everyone who either sponsored or contributed to the success of events held: SPONSORS:

GJ Gardner Homes, Murphy Brothers, Cook Family Trust, Warkworth Anglican Parish, Warkworth Oaks, Al & Jude Mason, of Mason Containers, Mahurangi Matters.

CONTRIBUTORS: Bridgehouse Lodge, Brent Harbour, Bob Harrison & Chrissy Keith WW RSA, Copyworks, Daniel Hicks, David Burt, Gary Heaven & Shelly Trotter, Gubbs Motors, Ian Trethewey, Jim Schmidt, Kowhai Coast Lions, Kowhai Singers, Leon Salt & Brendda Salt, Mahurangi College kapa haka group, Major Mark Blythen and NZDF, Melanie Marnet, Nikki Dunn & WPA, Rev Peter Jenkins, Rhodes for Roads, Savan’s Bakery, NZ Police, Skywork Helicopters, Warkworth Library, Warkworth Lions Club, Warkworth/Wellsford Vintage Car Club, Warkworth Menswear, and Warkworth Visitor Information Centre.

To every group/organisation that participated and celebrated a year of significance, I say thank you so much. To all our valued heritage volunteer crew, you are simply the best.

Apologies to any I may have left out.

It has been a most memorable year in the history of Warkworth and Districts.

Thank you again

Dave Parker

Heritage Mahurangi chair/coordinator

Puppies and dogs will be at the sausage sizzle, and adoption forms will be available.

Generosity Corner set to sizzle Generosity Corner, the community shop on the corner of Mill Lane and Whitaker Road, will wind up a busy year with a fundraiser for the Country Retreat Animal Sanctuary on Saturday, December 9, from 9am to 1pm.

The non-profit sanctuary, run by Helen and Gavin Cook, cares for abandoned and surrendered mother dogs and puppies.

Every year, they rehome hundreds of puppies that come from all over the North Island. Money raised will help meet ongoing costs such as food and vet bills.

Shop owner John Bass says the shop keeps a permanent donation box on the counter for the sanctuary, but hopes the Saturday sizzle will add another $3000 to the cause.

Over the last 12 months, the shop has donated to Warkworth Lions, Mahurangi Hockey Club, Parent Port, Warkworth Scouts, Feeling Fab, Warkworth Food Rescue, Longacres Animal Haven and Adults in Motion (AIM).

Bass thanked Placemakers for its continued support, shop volunteers and everyone who had donated good, saleable items.

Bass said the only downside this year was the amount of “rubbish” left at the shop door after hours. This included soiled clothing and worn-out beds that were unsaleable.

“We spent $6000 on landfill fees – money that otherwise could have been spent supporting groups in our community,” he said.

Anti-rodeo protesters will gather at the Warkworth Rodeo on New Year’s Day for the ninth year in a row.

Animal advocacy organisation Direct Animal Action (DAA) is coordinating the protest and expects up to 100 people to attend. Spokesperson Apollo Taito says the group will be encouraging people not to attend the rodeo.

“We’ve been protesting at the Warkworth Rodeo, and other rodeos across the country, for approaching a decade now,” Taito says.

“Enough is enough.

“We’ve asked the Rodney Local Board not to approve the event permit for the rodeo

this year.

“There is so much opposition to rodeo these days; it’s a really bad look for the local board and Auckland Council to have it happening on council land.

“Every year, young calves, bulls and horses are bullied and abused by so-called cowboys, all for the entertainment of a minority. There’s no place for rodeo in modern Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The Warkworth Rodeo protest will happen at the entrance to the Warkworth Showgrounds on Monday, January 1, starting at 11am.

The Rodney Local Board granted the event permit on November 16.

Anti-rodeo protesters muster

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More than 30 floats are expected to take part this year.

Parade could be biggest yet Organisers of the annual Mangawhai Santa Parade have their fingers crossed for fine weather on Sunday, December 17, as more than 30 different floats are getting ready to take part.

Chief Elf John Phillis, who founded the parade in 2018, said this year’s parade was shaping up to be the best ever.

After mustering at Alamar Crescent, near the Mangawhai boat ramp, the parade will set off at 1pm, wending its way along Robert Street, up Wood Street and down Molesworth Drive to the Mangawhai Activity Zone (MAZ).

Once the procession is over, Santa will hop out of his sleigh to meet young fans and have a photo with them.

“Santa Claus has agreed to come back again, as he loves the Mangawhai area and he’s looking forward to giving every little boy and girl a gift,” Phillis said.

There will also be a sausage sizzle, ice blocks and the MAZ café will be open, and Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson will be on hand to present prizes to the winning floats.

At 4pm there will be a community concert showcasing local talent, starting with kapa haka from Mangawhai Beach School and their Talent Quest winners, before a variety of other performers take the stage.

“It goes on until 6.30pm and is an amazing line-up of talent by and for all ages,” Phillis said.

He expressed his thanks to the sponsors and Mangawhai community at large for their generous support of the annual event.

“It really does embrace the spirit of Christmas,” he added.

Info: Contact John Phillis on 021 339 329 or email johnphilliscelebrant@gmail.com

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The North Haven Hospice in Whangarei has a large catchment, serving the needs of patients and their families from Mangawhai to just south of the Bay of Islands.

New charity shop opening A new North Haven Hospice charity shop will open in the Mangawhai Village shops in Moir Street on December 13.

Chief executive Helen Blaxland says the shop will take donated secondhand goods and use the proceeds from their sale to deliver first class care.

Blaxland says Mangawhai, Langs Beach, Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto are all within the wider service area for North Haven and have long been supported by charity shops in Whangārei and Waipu.

“Our nurses are in the community every day as we have about 180 people we support at any one time,” she says. “These are people with a life-limiting or terminal illness, not just cancer patients, and can be any age.

“We’re just delighted to have found premises for a small charity shop to operate in the Moir Street shopping area and hope to be able to tell our story, of who we are and what we do, even better.”

Retail services manager Murray Annear will

oversee the new premises, bringing to the position his extensive experience of charity and secondhand retail management.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Murray says. “We’re keen to be involved more with the community and are looking for volunteers to be part of the new venture.

“It takes a few people to be open six days a week and we always need people willing to lend their experience and skills on a regular basis to help us out. Whether it’s sorting donations and putting them out, merchandising to make the donated goods look great or welcoming people and making the sales, we really rely on and appreciate our very generous volunteers.”

The new charity shop will have both clothing and home décor.

North Haven Hospice needs to raise around $3 million a year to keep it services free. That’s over $55,000 a week and $8000 a day to meet the gap between current government funding and the cost of services provided.

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Wellsford Hammer Hardware was crowned the overall winner when the Polar Express steamed into town. Photos, Alysha Paul.

Sun shines

on Wellsford parade Crowds lined the footpaths of Matheson and Station Roads for the annual Wellsford Santa Parade on Saturday, November 25.

The parade was organised by Wellsford Plus with sponsorship from the Rodney Local Board and Wharehines, as well as other local businesses.

Spokesperson Rachel Ravenscroft described the day as “fantastic”.

“The weather was perfect and the floats were awesome,” she said. “It was a really fun community day involving schools and kindergartens, sports clubs, businesses, emergency services and service clubs.”

Rachel paid tribute to the creativity that went into the design and construction of the floats and costumes, which made judging the winners a tough job.

Eventually, Wellsford Hammer Hardware was awarded overall winner, with Tauhoa School taking out the children’s section and the Wellsford Volunteer Fire Brigade winning the community section.

Rachel thanked the community, and especially Santa, for turning up and making the day such a success.

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The gallery in Moir Street is open daily and represents more than two dozen local artists.

Christmas show and market stalls in Mangawhai village Art lovers will have more time than usual to enjoy the annual Mangawhai Artists’ Christmas Exhibition this year, with works staying on show and on sale for an extra couple of weeks.

The end of year art fair usually closes just before Christmas, but this year will open on the evening of Friday, December 15 and run until Wednesday, January 3, giving more locals and holidaymakers a chance to visit.

The opening night promises to be particularly festive, as it coincides with the Mangawhai Artists Christmas party.

The exhibition, which is held at the artists’ gallery at 45 Moir Street, always features a diverse selection of work by members, from paintings and drawings to ceramics, mosaics and sculptural forms. All works are for sale on a ‘cash and carry’ basis – whatever you buy, you take with you at the time.

All 2D artworks, such as paintings,

drawings and photos, will be no larger than 40cm x 40cm, while 3D works can have a base of up to 40cm x 40cm, with no limit on height, which organisers say means that the artworks are more affordable and easy to transport.

There will be further Christmas shopping opportunities on the weekend of December 16 and 17, when members are planning to have a pop-up art market outside the gallery between 9am and 2pm. Artists will be selling original artworks and items suitable for gifting.

Mangawhai Artists is also currently looking for volunteer ‘ambassadors’ to help out at the gallery for morning or afternoon shifts, by meeting and greeting visitors and processing any sales.

The gallery is open daily from 10am to 3pm and stages new exhibitions every two weeks.

Info: Email chair@mangawhaiartists.co.nz or visit www.mangawhaiartists.co.nz/

December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

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Waipu’s traditional date was almost scuppered by traffic management requirements.

Santa cleared for Christmas Eve landing in Waipu After a brief scare over traffic management in October, Santa has been given the green light to land his sleigh in Waipu for his traditional first stop on Christmas Eve. Organisers Promote Waipu had feared the traditional December 24 parade would have to moved back by more than a week, but after some swift support work behind the scenes by busy local elves, they were able to leave the Santa parade where and when it belongs.

This year’s procession will set off at 7pm from outside McLeod’s Pizza Barn, at the intersection of The Centre, Cove Road, Nova Scotia Road and South Road, before wending its way along the main street and into Caledonian Park for prizegiving.

There are prizes worth around $2500 on offer in a number of different categories, making it well worth the effort of

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organising a float and getting dressed up.

A fundraising raffle is being held in the run-up to the parade, with a first prize of a wheelbarrow, donated by Waipu Hammer Hardware, stacked with fresh produce, food, craft items and treats valued at more than $800. The second prize is a retro bike, donated by Ray White Waipu, and the third prize is a night’s accommodation at Camp Waipu Cove, including dinner at the Cove Cafe and a bottle of champagne.

Just 2500 tickets have been printed, courtesy of Waipu ITM, and they are available for $2.50 each from most shops in Waipu, or call organiser Penny Reynders on 021 530 803. The raffle will be drawn on December 20 “under police supervision”.

Info and float registrations: Email secretary@promotewaipu.co.nz

Timely toy sale Maungaturoto Primary School has organised a timely fundraising idea for this Saturday, December 9, when it will hold its first Great Christmas Toy Sale.

The school’s PTA came up with the idea to collect and sell good quality, unwanted toys and donations can be accepted until this Thursday, December 7.

“One kid’s trash is another kid’s treasure,” they say. “Christmas is nearly here, so out with the old and in with the new.”

Any unwanted toys or books should be dropped into the school office, but organisers ask that nothing broken, stained or rusty be donated, and no clothing please.

The toy sale will take place from 9am to 1pm in the school bus bay, next to the Maungaturoto Four Square carpark.

All proceeds will go to the primary school.

For more information, contact: Maungaturoto Primary School on 09 431 8106.

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WARKWORTH ROTARY|LIONS

OneMahurangi Murray Chapman, Manager https://onemahurangi.co.nz

Collective efforts As the year draws to a close and the holiday season approaches, our community has reason to celebrate – not only for the festive spirit of Christmas, but also for a significant resolution regarding Hill Street, a longstanding concern that has been on our radar for years.

The catalyst for progress has been the establishment of the One Mahurangi Transport Forum, a collaborative effort chaired by One Mahurangi co-chair Dave Stott and local MP Chris Penk. Bringing together representatives from Auckland Transport (AT), Waka Kotahi, Rodney Local Board, Auckland Council, and various community groups, the forum has become a crucial platform for constructive dialogue and problem-solving.

Contrary to what one might expect from a gathering involving elected officials and community representatives, the purpose of the forum is not to corner our elected leaders, but to engage in meaningful discussions aimed at finding solutions. It shows that when people talk openly and work together toward the same goal, progress is made.

The journey toward a resolution began 18 months ago when AT invited us to meet with its Hill Street design team. Representing the community in these discussions were Dave Stott, a civil engineer; Roger Williams, a roading engineer; and myself. At the outset, our perspectives and what the design team proposed seemed worlds apart. The initial meetings were characterised by differences, occasionally leading to acrimonious exchanges. Yet, we persisted, determined to find a compromise that would work for everyone.

The process was, without a doubt, a negotiation – one that required both parties to make concessions. The result, a design that doesn’t fulfil every wish on either side but stands as a testament to the

power of negotiation and compromise.

In the end, the collective efforts of the community, represented by our team, and the professionals at AT produced a plan that we are quietly satisfied with, acknowledging the reality that not every stakeholder can be completely pleased.

On a lighter note, by the time you read this, the Warkworth Santa Parade will have taken place. Sponsored this year by Warkworth Toyota and Harcourt Coopers & Co, the parade has been a community highlight, featuring over 30 registered floats. The generosity of local businesses providing spot prizes and the enthusiastic participation of volunteers have made it a cherished event. Special thanks go to the Santa Parade committee including Claire and Tania, who, alongside me, worked tirelessly to organise this joyful celebration.

As the year concludes, I extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to the wellbeing of our community. This includes local businesses, individuals who have taken the time to engage with me and, of course, the dedicated team at the Information Centre, led by Alison and her volunteers, and the OMBA operations team Lauren and Claire, who make my responsibilities more manageable. A special acknowledgment goes to the One Mahurangi committee, with gratitude directed towards co-chairs Dave Stott and Bevan Morrison, and our family of generous sponsors, whose ongoing support enables us to undertake initiatives that benefit our business community.

In wrapping up this year, I want to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We are Stronger Together and we look forward to working with you again in 2024 in our common goal of a vibrant and strong business community in Mahurangi.

‘Mad cow’ blood donor restriction to end

The ban on blood donations from anyone who lived in the UK, Ireland or France between 1980 and 1996 is being lifted. Medsafe recently approved New Zealand Blood Service’s submission to scrap the ban, which was imposed after UK outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, in the 1980s and 90s. NZ Blood Service said it would take six to eight weeks to implement the change, and is asking people to pre-register their interest online in the meantime.

Meanwhile, those who can already give blood or plasma are being asked to attend one of two days in Warkworth this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, December 6 and 7.

Appointments can be booked online or via the NZ Blood service app. For post-‘mad cow’ registration, visit https://www.nzblood.co.nz/mad-cow-donation-rule-restriction/ To book a donation in Warkworth, visit https://www.nzblood.co.nz/book-to-donate/

FOOD RESCUE 24 Baxter Street, Warkworth 0910 warkworthfoodrescue@gmail.com

Thank you

Every week you, our community, provides us with good food, rescued from being dumped.

Warkworth Food Rescue distributes that good food to local food bank groups to meet the need in the Warkworth and Wellsford districts.

Over the seven-and-a-half years that Warkworth Food Rescue has been operating, we have received 123,400kgs of rescued food. We are very grateful, and would like to thank NEW WORLD, WOOLWORTHS and PAK‘nSAVE for the support they give us, supplying food that can be rescued. We would also like to thank everyone who has donated.

Warkworth Food Rescue volunteers collect, sort and distribute the food, and supply foodlink and other local food bank groups to support families and individuals who might be doing it tough. As a result, less food waste ends up in landfill so we are doing our bit for the environment, too.

THANK YOU to all who have helped us throughout 2023.

As we move into a Christmas season, we wish you, our community, a safe and enjoyable Christmas and we look forward to your continued support in 2024.

How you can help?

• We are always keen to recruit new volunteers.

• Do you have an orchard or backyard with fruit or vegetables going spare? We have, on occasions, received trailer loads of fruit and vegetables, which we are able to distribute very quickly.

• Perhaps a farm or lifestyle block owner could provide an animal, which would allow us to supply meat for the food bank groups.

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Cuisine Lauraine Jacobs

www.laurainejacobs.co.nz/blog/

Christmas feasting I know what’s on the menu this Christmas for us! A huge golden roast chook, fragrant with a cranberry and orange stuffing. It’s a hangover from my childhood. Every year, the centre piece of our Christmas table was two gloriously large roast chooks, stuffed with the tasty savoury mixture my mother would prepare ahead.

Our chicken was most definitely a special treat, not a common supermarket item, and Mother went to the end of the earth to procure capons for our feast. These large male chickens had moist juicy breast meat, which could be carved into what seemed like an infinite number of delicious white slices, so everyone had plenty on their plate.

Two Hawke’s Bay brothers, George and Ben Bostock, raised on an organic orchard, decided almost 10 years ago to farm organic chickens and they have cornered the market with their fine birds. Their farm in Hastings sits in a large organic apple orchard and chickens are free to roam through the trees, eating the fallen apples in season and pecking about in the long lush grasses for their feed. Their little barns are open to allow them to shelter when needed and there’s no egg production for the Bostock’s aim to offer the healthiest most tasty birds. Chefs in good restaurants snap them up and the pair have achieved distribution through the major supermarkets, discerning butchers and specialty grocers. Of course, these birds are not cheap, but what’s Christmas without a little indulgence. (Unless you’re really committed to a turkey, which always seems like a risk-taking adventure to me. This stuffing would work with that bird, too.)

The stuffing, which I rarely bother with during the year, makes for extra flavour and keeps the bird juicy. As a kid, I didn’t really like stuffing but now older and wiser, I almost like it more than the meat! Dried cranberries or ‘craisins’ as some marketing guru renamed these little red orbs of both sweetness and a hint of tartness, make for a wonderfully festive look to your stuffing. Soak them in sweet orange juice for about an hour so they plump up and use a sourdough bread to fill to it out. Add a couple of bacon slices to the stuffing and use the rest of the pack to drape over the chook to keep it juicy. Herbs straight from the garden are best – I love sage and thyme – but if you have to, use dried herbs, but be sparing rather than over-generous as they tend to dominate the flavours.

I will be serving my Christmas chook with roast spuds, of course, and some lovely fresh green beans and peas mixed up with lots of butter and mint. And a little tip. If you have young children at the table, throw sausages into the roasting pan for 30 minutes so that the adults are left to devour the resplendent bird.

Roast chook with cranberry and bacon stuffing

Size 16 or 18 free range organic chicken 1 cup dried cranberries 1 orange, zest and juice 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 tbsps butter 2 thick slices bacon, cut into small pieces 1 cup sourdough bread chopped into small chunks

2 tsps salt Freshly ground black pepper 6-7 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped 6-7 sage leaves 8 slices very thin streaky bacon 1 tbsp olive oil 2 cups chicken stock

To make the stuffing, combine the cranberries with the orange juice and zest in a bowl to soak.

Take a frying pan and fry the onion gently in the butter until soft and starting to colour. Add the bacon pieces and continue to fry, stirring often.

Remove from the heat then add the bread chunks, the cranberries and orange juice, one teaspoon of the salt, freshly ground black pepper and chopped thyme and sage. Allow to cool. (This is important. You should never put a warm stuffing into a cold bird.)

Dry the chicken inside and out and stuff the cavity with the cooled stuffing. Tie the legs together to prevent the stuffing oozing out.

Rub the skin with olive oil then spread the streaky bacon slices over the skin.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast in a preheated oven for around 1 hour and fifteen minutes, or less if the chicken is not organic, basting occasionally until the skin is beautifully brown and the bacon is crisp. Take the chicken from the dish, cover it with foil and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes.

While the chicken is resting make a light gravy by deglazing the pan with the chicken stock. Allow this to bubble up and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, before carving the chicken into eight pieces.

If serving a crowd this recipe is easily doubled for two chickens and will serve 12 or more. Serves 6.

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Rebecka Keeling showing a little bit more than her Slow Blooms for the Soil Association calendar. Photo, Fiona McGeough.

Gardeners down trowels A Christmas present that might help your carrots sprout and your turnips sit up and take notice, is being marketed by the Soil & Health Association of New Zealand, and has a Matakana connection.

Rebecka Keeling, owner of Slow Blooms pick-your-own flower farm in Matakana, is one of the models for NZ’s first nude gardening calendar.

The calendar is being marketed as “a celebration of organic gardening, regenerating the land and a bit of goodnatured cheekiness”.

Association co-chair Jenny Lux says gardening in the nude symbolises shedding the layers between us and nature.

“Every picture tells a story of cultivating not just plants but our total wellbeing,” she says.

Keeling, who was recently elected to the Soil & Health Board, says being part of the

calendar was an empowering experience.

“At Slow Blooms, we grow according to permaculture ethics, which is about working with nature and not against it,” she says. “Stripping away our clothes for the photo shoot felt like a metaphor for simplifying our lives and embracing the beauty of an organic, regenerative world.”

All proceeds from the 2024 calendar sales will support the association’s work, promoting organic and regenerative practices, advocating for living soils, nutritious food, healthy people and a thriving environment.

The calendar is available for purchase on the OrganicNZ website. There are two options – one for the stylish, slightly more modest gardener, and another one for those who don’t mind a bit more ‘cheek’.

The calendar is priced at $30 for one or $55 for both versions.

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Oaks market success Right, Scarlett Davies with her grandmother Carol Ward.

An eclectic mix of new and used items, handiwork and home baking attracted a good crowd of shoppers at the first Grand Oaks Market, held on November 25. Many treasured household items and mementos went on sale on the stall tables inside the Southgate Room and at the entrance to the complex. All the stalls were run by residents, with help from friends and family members.

Elaine Goldthorpe was more than happy to help on her grand-daughter Chloe Wysoczanski’s stall, raising money for Jamboree.

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With a long, hot summer predicted, Central Landscape Supplies has lots and lots of mulch to get your garden through the dry. Pop in or go online to view our mulches.

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feature shop local Still life artist Charlotte Thodey.

Queen of cheese Juliet Harbutt.

Creative Matakana has been running since 2017.

Array of arts and craft courses get creative juices flowing Making a wooden Windsor chair from scratch, writing with a leading NZ author and sampling dairy delights with a global cheese expert are all on the menu for the annual arts-intensive week Creative Matakana next year.

More than 20 classes, courses and workshops lasting from half a day to a full week will take place across a wide range of venues from May 6 to 10.

Tutors include novelist, poet and cofounder of the Auckland Writers Festival Stephanie Johnson, who will share tools to create compelling fiction, international cheese doyenne Juliet Harbutt and furniture maker Richard Hare, who returns to share his greenwood chair-making

skills over six days.

Visual art tutors include Australian still life specialist Charlotte Thodey, cold wax and collage artist Cheryl McGannon, abstract landscape painter David Ryan and photographer Tim Hawkins, while textile experts Jo Kinross, Ilka White and Alysn Midgelow-Marsden will be running classes on indigo dyeing, braided rug-making and embellished fabric art.

Margaret Woollett will be teaching contemporary calligraphy and how to make a hand-bound book, Ingrid Anderson will run a screen printing workshop, while Adrian Bird will pass on the skills required for the exquisite art of bonsai.

Lovers of fine food and wine are also in

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for several top treats – as well as three separate cheese, wine and charcuterie events with Juliet Harbutt, who led the revival of artisanal cheese in the UK for 30 years, the executive chef of Auckland’s renowned Ahi restaurant, Mike Shatura, will host a masterclass and lunch focused on current global food trends. He will showcase some of his favourite dishes using the finest local produce and a wide range of techniques, and the day will take place at what organisers say is an “exceptional local home”.

This will be the seventh Creative Matakana to be held and it will also be a farewell to event founder and creative director Jo Connor. The former physiotherapist and

&

garden tour organiser recently turned 80 and has decided to step out of the limelight, although she admitted last year that she would have a hard time letting go when the time came.

Kathy Hunter, who looks after Creative Matakana’s marketing, website and social media, says the future of the workshop week is currently under discussion, though she feels confident that it will continue in one form or another.

Online bookings open on Monday, January 8 at 8am on a first-come, first-served basis.

Prices range from $80 to $875, with most five-day courses costing $550.

Info and bookings: https://www.creativematakana.nz/

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There might be a foal in a manger at this Christmas fun day.

Festive fun with donkeys There could be an extra special attraction when Highfield Donkeys’ annual Santa Fun Day is held on Saturday, December 9.

That’s because one of the Algies Bay donkeys, Truffle, has been expecting to hear the patter of tiny hooves for several months and was looking fit to burst as Mahurangi Matters went to press.

Truffle had a ‘honeymoon visit’ away with partner Ted last Christmas and, as donkey pregnancies average 12 months, all Highfield fingers are crossed that a sibling for Tilly II and Toby is imminent.

As well as this potential new addition to

the seven-strong herd, attractions at the family fun day will include donkey rides, traditional children’s games and races, a free barbecue and a visit from Santa.

The fun starts at 11am and carries on until 2pm at the Highfield Garden Reserve at 483 Mahurangi East Road.

Donkey fans should also pop into Mahurangi East Library, where festive Highfield Christmas cards and gift tags are being sold as a fundraiser – $3 for cards and 50 cents for tags, cash only, while stocks last.

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Give an extra gift this Christmas

Warkworth has a new drop-off point for donations to Warkworth Christian Foodlink and Homebuilders this Christmas, at Warkworth Toyota in Mansel Drive. The dealership is collecting non-perishable food items or new, unwrapped gifts for local families in need daily until December 21, between 8am and 5pm from Monday to Friday, and 10am to 3pm on Sundays. Food, presents and gift vouchers for Foodlink, Homebuilders and Women’s Centre Rodney can also be dropped at the Mahurangi Matters office at 17 Neville Street on weekdays from 8.30am to 5pm until Monday, December 11. Meanwhile, gifts, vouchers and donations for Hestia Women’s Refuge are being accepted until Friday, December 15 at Westpac Warkworth, Leigh Eats, Ravish and Neighbourhood Recycle in Matakana.

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Warkworth pioneer descendants celebrate, remember Descendants of Warkworth’s pioneering families, many of them in period costume, gathered in the town hall on November 18 for a lunch celebrating the settlement’s founding 170 years ago.

Although a forecast of bad weather scuppered a planned river pageant that morning, the rest of the day marked a fitting highlight to the anniversary celebrations, Heritage Mahurangi chair Dave Parker said.

The guests were to have sailed up the river from Robertson Boats to the wharf for

a reception, after which the WellsfordWarkworth Vintage Car Club would have ferried them to the town hall.

Instead, about 120 descendants and guests, including grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, assembled in the hall for a special event, “to thank them for their families’ contribution to the building of the township”. The vintage attire worn by many added a real spirit to the event, Parker said.

“There weren’t many pioneering families that weren’t represented, one way or

another. An excellent cross-section of local families, who haven’t had such a gathering for a long time. Quite significant in many ways,” he said.

Those present included descendants of the town’s founder, John Anderson Brown.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown took part in the function, identifying himself as a descendant of an Albertland family (not related to J.A. Brown), which settled in Pahi for a number of years.

“He was excellent, very informed and jovial, and very taken by the whole event.”

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Also taking part were Councillor Greg Sayers and Rodney Local Board member Colin Smith.

In the evening, a Victorian musical soiree featuring the Kowhai Singers rounded off the 170th anniversary celebrations.

Parker said he was thrilled with the day, and with the whole festival, including the Armistice Day commemorations, which featured period military vehicles and a flypast by vintage planes.

“Overall, an outstanding event of which I and the team are extremely proud.”

Thanks for all your support and wishing you a very Merry Christmas and happy new Year’!

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Based in Rodney, Kayleen’s poetry and imaginative prose are woven from the threads of family life in NZ and her own international travel. She loves to create vivid characters and stories of courage and adventure and to draw on the talent of local artists for her covers.

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‘Songs to the Unsung sparkles with humanity and compassion. These poems and stories stay with you long after reading’. A selection of work by the author spanning her creative life from youth to adulthood.

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‘The Antique Chef is awash with quirky characters and odd adventures set in New Zealand during the 1990s’.

Lewis Hammond moves to a small country town to try out his life as a woman. Louise sets up the Vintage Café and becomes an overnight success, but she is also good at solving mysteries with her failed police dog, Bentley.

‘A riot of good fun’.

About the author

S O N G S to the U

K. M. Haz lehurst,

M. HA KAYLEEN

The team that organised a highly successful community night at the old Warehouse store in Snells Beach in August is back, this time with a festive family picnic to welcome summer. The Pohutukawa Picnic will take place on the afternoon of Friday, December 15 at the playground reserve at the bottom of Snells Beach Road, starting at 3pm. It is being organised by Kawau Bay Action Group (KBAG), a team of residents keen to make Snells Beach a fun and vibrant place to live for people of all ages. The picnic will feature live music from singer Lou Perkins, a sausage sizzle, soft drinks, ice blocks and Mr Whippy, and a certain man in a red suit has been invited as guest of honour. “We’re having another go – this time, we’re organising a picnic to welcome summer (everybody, cross fingers) and ring in the holidays,” one of the organisers says. KBAG says it is keen to work closely with the Snells Beach Residents & Ratepayers Association and local people to try to deliver events and activities that the community wants.

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of 14,460 satellites, and 630 explosions, collisions or unplanned events. There are 100,000 more satellites proposed for launch by 2030. But there are millions of pieces of space junk in low-Earth orbit.

Because of the cumulative effects of space junk, it may become impossible to even sustain satellites safely. More satellites and space junk mean more collisions, which means even more space junk, in a neverending cycle of increasing risk, known as the Kessler syndrome.

The New Zealand Government is in partnership with local runanga to develop Kaitōrete Spit, south of Christchurch, into a launching site for experimental aircraft, drones and rockets. The spit and nearby waters are habitat for rare and endangered species including the plant tororaro, and Hector’s dolphins.

The National Party’s pre-election policies supported two more aerospace test zones and a Minister of Space. New Zealand wants a piece of the space economy pie and is prepared to use fragile and threatened ecosystems and taxpayer dollars to do it. Space is increasingly militarised, and whether space development purposes are peaceful or not is often unclear.

The introduction to Star Trek said: ‘Space: the final frontier’, and it certainly is in terms of sustainability or principles of human engagement. So, while the uberrich look for a bolthole in space, the world’s poor continues to search for clean drinking water, and rare plants and animals are collateral damage.

SO NG S to th UN

Around two billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water. An estimated 3.6 billion people don’t have proper sanitation. Inequality and competition over resources drive political instability, which will likely get worse with climate change and biodiversity loss.

So, what do the world’s super-rich elite do? They build ever-bigger rocket ships to try to get beyond the moon, to Mars or to maybe one day establish a new colony elsewhere in space. It’s been a typical response in humanity’s past – instead of living within our means in a way that respects all life, we wreck local ecosystems and then go looking for the next frontier, to move in, colonise it, and wreck it, too, going further afield every time.

But is going out into space to set up new settler colonies the best/only/right response? I say no.

The world’s biggest super-rockets built

by Space X have both exploded just after launch. The energy and resources required for space colonisation are beyond viable limits. Creating new settlements in space, because we’ve wrecked what we’ve had here, is irresponsible, inequitable, far-fetched, and can never be a morally appropriate solution. It’s all too expensive, dependent on scarce resources, elitist and an escape strategy for the uber-rich, but leaves disenfranchised people and animals with the ruins on planet Earth.

But it is fanciful to think that even elites might even get there. Since 1957, there have been 6300 successful rocket launches

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In a world obsessed with achieving the elusive ‘summer body’, it’s time to challenge the notion that our worth is determined by how we look. The best way to enjoy summer is not through strict diets and unattainable beauty standards, but by embracing the body you have and taking it to the beach.

Recent studies show that dieting, often seen as the path to a summer-ready physique, is ironically the number one predictor of weight gain. The pressure to conform to societal ideals can lead to unhealthy habits and, ironically, counterproductive results.

Only a mere 5% of people actually possess the body type portrayed in the media, a standard that even those in the spotlight confess is unattainable. Iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford once remarked, “Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.” This candid admission highlights the discrepancy between reality and the images we see in the media, which are often airbrushed and digitally altered, creating an unrealistic standard that fuels insecurity and self-doubt.

Our bodies are dynamic, changing over time. We will age, develop cellulite, wrinkles, grey hair, and yes, even flabby bottoms. However, these changes do not diminish our value or worth in society.

Our bodies are the vessels that navigate us through life, not objects for scrutiny.

The pressure to conform to societal beauty standards is especially felt by mothers, who often shy away from being photographed

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due to body shame. However, it’s crucial to document your role as a parent. These photos serve as a legacy for your child, a testament to the love and care you provided, far beyond any physical imperfections.

Moreover, a child’s perception of their own body is rooted in how their parent (in particular, their mother, views theirs).

Therefore, it’s important to work on our own body acceptance and getting in the photos so we can be positive role models in body acceptance for our children.

In a society fixated on projecting the “best life” on social media, it’s time for a paradigm shift. Let’s view our bodies as what they are: vessels that allow us to experience life to the fullest. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s important to accept our bodies as they are. That doesn’t mean we don’t nourish them and take care of them, but it just means that we place our value and self-worth not on what we look like but that our bodies are just a part of who we are. We need to understand that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s important to accept our bodies as they are.

This means that we don’t place our value and self-worth on what we look like, but rather that our bodies are just a part of who we are. By embracing this mindset, we can enjoy the beach and all that summer has to offer without feeling self-conscious or ashamed of our bodies.

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The UK’s Goddard, known for his house, techno and ambient vibes, will also be performing, as will another Brit DJ, Hamdi, and Kettama from Ireland.

Completing the international line-up is Jarreau Vandal, from Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Notion, who hails from Bristol in the UK, and London-based 33 Below and Taylah Elaine.

Kiwis on stage will include Sin, Elipsa, Benny Boy, Bavhu, Syrup, Halfqueen, Miss Sinton, Mrs K and Tizza.

Tickets cost $159.90, or $259 for a VIP pass, and buses will be running to the festival from Auckland city, Warkworth, Snells Beach, Omaha Beach, Leigh and Mangawhai.

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Matakana will be pounding with the sound of drum and bass again just after Christmas, when the Hidden Valley festival returns to Matakana Country Park on Wednesday, December 27.

Thousands of people are expected to attend to see a line-up of international and local DJs and performers on stage at the R18 event from 3pm until 11pm.

Heading the pack is Wilkinson, a London record producer, DJ and remixer, who is an old friend of Hidden Valley – he has appeared at five out of the seven festivals since they began in 2016. Also up is UK drum and bass star Jack Hedges, better known as Hedex, making his Hidden Valley debut, plus American rapper Channel Tres, literally straight out of Compton, California.

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far from happy. She was passed from family to family, often denied access to school and made to work in part-time jobs from the age of 11. She also experienced the sort of physical violence her mother had tried to shield her from.

“I grew up feeling very angry towards her [Rosemary] and held on to the anger for most of my life.

“My adopted parents made up horrid stories about Mum and I believed them, so I didn’t want anything to do with her.

“It wasn’t until a relative got in touch through social media, and I had a chance to talk to Mum’s older sister, that I learned the truth. Everything I’d been told while in foster care was lies and I realised that what happened all those years ago, had been out of Mum’s control.”

Mother and daughter finally reunited six years ago and now keep in constant contact.

The birthday in Warkworth was made even more poignant when they remembered all the birthdays in between that they had missed.

W

A sad tale of abandonment, adoption and domestic violence has had a happy ending for a Warkworth mother, Rosemary Allan, and her daughter Rebecca Rowe.

Rebecca, who lives in Brisbane with her partner and four children, flew into NZ last month to share her 50th birthday with her mother whom she remembers seeing only once before in her life.

“Mum has missed out on so much of my life, I wanted to share this milestone birthday with her,” Rebecca says.

When Rebecca was born in Auckland in 1973, her mother was living at home with an abusive stepfather experiencing a level of violence that could have seen him jailed if anyone had bothered to press charges. Rosemary says she felt she had no choice but to foster her newborn, and then eventually, give Rebecca up for adoption.

“But I never stopped loving her, not for a minute. I would think about her every day,” Rosemary says. “I hoped I had done the right thing; that I was giving her the chance of a better life.”

But Rebecca’s experience in foster care was

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Charities supported by “Good in the Hood” funds from Z service stations across North, West and Central Auckland, at the presentation event in Auckland City.

Good in the Hood: Women’s Centre, Leigh patrollers score

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Z Energy has presented four charities – two locally-based – with a share of $4000, after customers at Z’s Warkworth service station voted with their tokens in the annual Good in the Hood promotion.

Based on the number of tokens each received, the funds were divided among Women’s Centre Rodney ($1371), Leigh Community Patrol ($572), Meat the Need ($1485) and Te Kiwi Māia ($572).

Since 2011, the programme has supported community groups around the country, giving them a share of a total $1 million pot, to do good in their neighbourhood.

Over the course of a month, customers are given an orange token to pop into one of four repositories, each labelled for a particular charity. Each service station then splits $4000, in proportion to the number of votes received.

“It’s been amazing to see the community support this initiative,” Warkworth Z retailer Gursharan Mann said. “We feel really lucky to be able to support these groups and the amazing work they do for our community.”

Women’s Centre Rodney manager Jo Nicholson said the organisation was grateful for the support.

“With demand on our existing services already stretched, the funds raised will enable us to open up new avenues of support for women,” she said. “We often get asked how to support the Women’s Centre, and the Z Good In The Hood campaign was a great way to do it. Thank you so much – we can’t do it without you!”

Leigh Community Patrol patroller Stuart Henderson said the group was delighted to have been selected in the campaign. The voluntary organisation serves the Leigh, Pākiri, Mathesons Ba, Whangateau and Matakana area, with the mission to help prevent crime and reduce harm.

“The Z manager was thrilled to have us show

up and occasionally run a stand at the station and her staff were incredibly supportive, feeding through the odd coffee or two,” he said. “They were really genuine about trying to help make a difference and made our patroller volunteers very welcome.”

Stuart said the group has been “blown away” at the support received locally over the past six months, in the form of generous business and private donations.

“Something that really resonated with folk that stopped to talk at the Z station was that the majority of our volunteer patrols over the past year have been resulting in roadside assistance on rural roads – often elderly folk – and also checking how our isolated community have fared after weather events.”

Meat the Need is a national farmer-led charity that directs mince and milk donated by farmers to more than 110 food banks helping families in need. (see story p37) General manager Zellara Holden said the contribution of the Warkworth community had been tremendous.

“Many of the food banks and community organisations we support right across the country are telling us that the demand they’re seeing is unprecedented and without Meat the Need, they’d be unable to provide their communities with nutritious protein,” Zellara said.

“We’re so incredibly thankful for everyone who continues to support our kaupapa and give to families and communities who find themselves impacted by food insecurity.”

Te Kiwi Māia (The Courageous Kiwi) works in the area of mental health and wellbeing of first responders and NZ Defence Force personnel.

In addition to the $4000 shared among the four charities, Z Warkworth has spent a further $1000 on community events and initiatives this year.

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GIVE A BIT OF GREEN The Rural Advisory Panel was told that some stormwater infrastructure was falling through the cracks.

Calls for improved rural stormwater management

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

Rural advocates are calling for better management of the rural stormwater network.

At a Rural Advisory Panel on November 17, Rodney’s Cr Greg Sayers questioned whether having no asset management plan was an ideal situation.

“There is a gap here – we don’t look after the water tables, water channels and overland flow paths,” he said. “If we can do a better job, then we should be doing a better job.”

Sayers has been trying to get some answers on the issue after the vulnerabilities in the rural network became apparent during storm events.

“We might be going backwards in terms of overland water flow pathways being blocked and flooding upstream causing all sorts of difficulties – how do we get some teeth into this so compliance teams will get out there and educate these people [private landowners].”

Sayers asked if now was the time to start advocating for more funding through Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP) Keeping drains, culverts and overland flow paths clear is the responsibility of either Auckland Transport (AT, Healthy Waters or private landowners.

AT and Healthy Waters representatives at the meeting admitted that some stormwater infrastructure was falling through the cracks.

AT’s road corridor maintenance manager, Alan Wallace, said funding maintenance for drains was extremely tight and he was not convinced the issue was that critical yet.

“I think we are seeing some improvement

in how we maintain drainage as part of our normal unsealed road maintenance,” Wallace said.

“Small rural settlements have little to no stormwater infrastructure and they are getting more populated – people’s expectations are that they have a level of protection, which isn’t there.”

He said that infrastructure had previously been funded through targeted rates and he expected a return to that strategy.

Healthy Waters’ safe septic programme lead, Elizabeth Johnson, said many issues around flood vulnerability would be addressed through council’s Making Space for Water Strategy.

“Education is a big part of Making Space for Water – there are nine staff who will work on overland flow path compliance,” Johnson said.

She said many people were unaware of how doing something like building a fence could impact the overland flow path.

“There are requirements under the stormwater bylaw that require people to not impact other people with their overland flow path. The regulations are there, the enforcement has not been there.”

While the panel wanted better management across the board, Chair Andy Baker warned that more funding would mean trade-offs in council’s LTP. “Everything comes with a cost and that cost has to be borne from somewhere,” Baker said.

“It would be really helpful for us to know how far you are prepared for your rates to go up or what other funding tools you are happy for council to use to pay for the things.”

The LTP will be open for public consultation next February.

s a m t s i Chr Blue

On Wednesday 13 December at 7pm we will be holding a Blue Christmas service at Warkworth Anglican Church, 43 Percy Street.

This is a quiet, contemplative service that makes space for any who find this time of year difficult or for those who have lost loved ones that they wish to remember. Anyone is welcome to attend.

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December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

35

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Sofia Leon yal, Siri Fox and

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Rico Coop, Albie Bo tt an

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Youth do the mahi on shellfish monitoring An enthusiastic group of students from Horizon School participated in the annual shellfish monitoring session at Sandspit on November 24, organised by Friends of Awa Matakanakana (FOAM).

Students from Years 9 and 10 made up the teams that collected, counted and measured shellfish at each of the 25 sample sites during the two-and-a-half hours before and after low tide.

They were supported by FOAM members and school staff.

The session started with a karakia by Matthew Williams, from Ngati Manuhiri, who told the students that water was a taonga of huge importance to iwi, and that enhancing the health and wellbeing of waterways should be an important priority for everyone.

A range of shellfish species inhabit the estuary at Sandspit including tuangi (cockles), whelks, nutshells, pipi, wedge and horn shells.

FOAM committee member Mark Foster says the mahi students carried out during the morning involved carefully digging a 100mm deep sample of sand and placing it into a frame. The frame’s contents were then rinsed in seawater and the empty shells removed so that the various species of shellfish could be counted.

“Only the tuangi are measured for the main purpose of comparing the data to previous years’ numbers and sizes,” Foster says.

“Tuangi are found just below the sediment surface, so that their short siphons can extend up and into the water column for feeding.

“They can move up to 1.5m along the

shore during each tidal cycle by crawling.

Tuangi are filter feeders and help to clean the water they live in and they are important food sources for other marine animals. When they are in high densities, such as at Sandspit, they can have a positive effect on water clarity.

“They are sensitive to a number of things including environmental stresses, such as pollution and over-harvesting and also, they can die if they are buried too deep under sediment.”

Foster says that this year’s monitoring showed that the numbers of mature tuangi at Sandspit appears to have increased a little in the past year. However, despite having the potential to reach 50mm in size, very few cockles have matured beyond 30mm in the last three years. The smaller,

juvenile tuangi numbers are remaining fairly constant, but those between 20mm and 30mm have decreased this year.

Data from the monitoring is forwarded to Auckland Council so that scientists can examine it in detail. The results also contribute to the Hauraki Gulf Forum’s State of the Gulf report, which is published every three years.

“Shellfish monitoring is just one important activity that is helping FOAM to gauge the health of the ecosystem across the catchment, which includes the Matakana and Glen Eden Rivers and the Sandspit estuary.”

Anyone interested in finding out more can visit the Friends of Awa Matakanakana website and follow the group’s Facebook page.

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Presenters, from left, Dave Letele, Matt Chisholm and Wayne Langford.

The first Big Feed event held last year resulted in 1.2 million meals for people in need.

Rural telethon rallies to help feed families A rural telethon where farmers donate meat and milk for those in need will be livestreamed online on Thursday, December 14.

The Big Feed was first broadcast a year ago and managed to raise enough donated produce and cash to provide 1.2 million protein meals for foodbanks.

The telethon is the brainchild of Meat the Need, a charity founded by farmers Wayne Langford and Siobhan O’Malley three years ago during covid, to connect the dots between farmers who wanted to donate some of what they produced to families in need.

Langford co-presented the first Big Feed last year with TV presenter turned farmer and mental health advocate Matt Chisholm and both are returning to host again this year. They will be joined by former boxer Dave Letele, who is now a community leader and runs a foodbank in South Auckland.

Langford, who was recently elected national president of Federated Farmers, said The Big Feed was more important than ever at the moment, not only to help

foodbanks and their clients, but farmers themselves.

“The cost of living crisis is placing huge pressure on people, families and foodbanks throughout New Zealand and the demand for Meat the Need services has increased massively,” he said.

“It’s also really tough on farm at the moment – more than 50 per cent of dairy farmers are making losses, and the same in sheep and beef.

“It’s been a bloody tough year for everyone and we want to shine a light on all the positive stories and things that are going on in the food and fibre sectors, so that everyone can reflect and end the year on a high.”

He said they aimed to do that with a mix of fun, humour and banter interspersed with wacky challenges and competitions in the Lincoln University studio. There will also be panel discussions, interviews with celebrities and special guests, and live crosses from across the country.

“Last year, I finished the event with no hair, and Matt was forced into shaving off his famous moustache, so we’re both

looking forward to what’s in store this year,” Langford said.

“This isn’t just about farmers giving back, we want the whole country to get in behind The Big Feed and ensure those in need have access to quality protein. Together we can put food on the table and help fill empty bellies.

“Christmas is a tough time of the year for many people and our indications show that this year, there will be more people feeling the pinch. It’s a great opportunity to come together as a community, make a difference and give back to those who are struggling right now,” he added.

The Big Feed can be watched on Meat The Need’s website or YouTube channel from 6am to 8pm on December 14. Farmers can pledge to donate livestock (sheep, beef and deer) or milk online through the Meat The Need website, while anyone else can donate cash through the website, by calling 0800 632884 on the day, or texting 3493 to donate $3. All donations will be donated to foodbanks.

Info and donations: Go to www.meattheneed.org.

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Meat to Maungaturoto

A local foodbank that has been benefiting from Meat the Need is the one run by Otamatea Community Services in Maungaturoto, which services the Kaipara south as far as Kaiwaka and Mangawhai.

Foodbank manager Angela Watts said they received regular deliveries of quality mince from Meat the Need, something that was appreciated at a time when demand was growing all the time.

“It’s fantastic, we’re extremely grateful,” she said. “People I’ve talked to who’ve used it have said it’s lovely mince. It really does meet the need.”

It was only by chance that Watts heard about Meat the Need, when her rural postie, who is also a dairy farmer, mentioned the scheme to her early last year. However, as soon as Watts contacted the organisation, Otamatea Community Services was added to their recipient list. Watts added that she hoped all foodbanks in the region could make use of the scheme.

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Animal emergencies – be prepared There are a plethora of animals in the Mahurangi region, be they household pets or the larger animals belonging to small block holders. It is an unfortunate fact of life (and animal ownership) that at some point or other these animals will become sick or injured and require emergency veterinary care. Such situations can be highly stressful and emotionally tough for both the animal and owner and, more recently, this is compounded by shifting veterinary afterhours services, due to the ongoing vet shortage and post-covid effects. This article aims to educate and help preparedness for animal emergencies so that this stress might be somewhat reduced.

So what constitutes an emergency?

Actively bleeding wounds and those that split the skin, laboured breathing or choking, collapse or loss of consciousness, convulsions or sudden unexplained lethargy are all an emergency. Lameness, where the animal is holding the leg up and unable to bear any weight on the limb, or where it is vocalising if the limb is touched, is serious. Persistent, severe vomiting or diarrhoea, particularly where blood is present are significant and should be seen promptly, as should any kind of toxin ingestion. When it comes to animals giving birth, active straining of 15 minutes in any species should result in some progress, so if you do not observe this, contact the vet promptly.

In any case, when you contact the veterinary

clinics after hours you will either speak directly to or be contacted by a veterinarian who will triage your animal based on the information you provide, and decide if and when your animal should be seen. Know that the vet on-call is usually working on their own and is responsible for all the clients in their region (including large animals), so may not be able to attend your animal straight away. Depending on the emergency, and the time of the night, you may be asked to take your pet to an emergency centre on the North Shore instead. Note that in most circumstances, veterinarians will only see your animals if you are a client of their practice, so it is very important to ensure that you sign yourself up when you become an owner or move to the region and before any emergency happens.

Beware that the cost of emergency veterinary care, whether provided by your regular veterinarian after hours, or in attending the available 24-hour emergency centres on the North Shore, is much higher than regular veterinary services, and clinics do not provide finance so payment ‘on the day’ needs to be made. Try to financially plan for a veterinary emergency when you become an animal owner. Obtaining pet insurance is one way to do this, or you can set aside a small amount regularly toward an emergency pet fund. We have several clients who have an automatic payment into their clinic account so they build an emergency fund directly with us.

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Tony and Jenny will be swapping snorkelling for cycling in Cambridge.

Local legends farewelled at Leigh Almost a week of back-to-back farewell gatherings culminated in a packed community send-off for Leigh stalwarts Tony and Jenny Enderby on Sunday, November 27 at Leigh Central, before they moved to start a new life in Cambridge.

More than 70 people heard speaker after speaker pay testimony to the incredible number of groups and organisations the couple had volunteered for, helped or got going since they moved to the town in 1996. These included Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade, Goat Island marine reserve, Forest & Bird’s Coastal Restoration Group, the Leigh Penguin Project, Pest Free Leigh, Leigh Business Group and the Leigh Rag. The Enderbys were praised not only for the endless work they had done themselves, but also for encouraging and helping so many other people to join in with community projects as well, as the coastal restoration

group’s Neil Sutherland commented.

“It’s easy to talk about what people give to projects, but with Tony and Jenny it’s what they give to us as individuals,” he said. “They’ve given me and many people such huge opportunities. They’ve done a stunning job.”

Tony modestly replied that people just needed a gentle shove in the right direction “and Jenny’s really good at that”.

The party also heard that in addition to all their good works, Tony was known for his “stirring” and sense of humour, Jenny was a demon poker player and sales of red wine could well drop when they left.

After cutting a cake decorated with lifelike little penguins and local marine life, Tony and Jenny thanked everyone and said though they would miss Leigh, they would be staying in touch with everyone and returning to visit regularly.

In brief

Agriculture open day

Farmers are being urged to take part in New Zealand’s next national open farm day, which is set for Sunday, March 10. Organisers say hosting an event is an opportunity to tell their farming stories and connect with urban Kiwis. “All farmers are welcome to join us – large or small, rural or urban, agriculture, permaculture and everything in between,” a spokesperson says. “We’ll support them with the guidelines, tips and tech to tell their story.” They say providing an opportunity to have a genuine on-farm experience and showing people where their food comes from is hugely important. It also gives farmers an opportunity to promote their businesses, products or job opportunities.

Info and registration: https://www.openfarms.co.nz/

Farming field day at Tapora

Kaipara Regenerative Farming Group and Northland Farming Diversity are holding a field day on diverse pasture management on Wednesday, December 13 at the Anselmi family farm in Burma Road, Tapora. Sustainable agronomy specialist Charles Merfield will be the guest speaker, talking about soil management, demonstrating visual soil assessment procedure and answering questions. There will be a farm walk and discussion after lunch, including talks on compaction, lime, humates, and kikuyu management.

Info: Kaipara Regenerative Farming Group on Facebook

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Council establishes early water watch Aucklanders are being told to expect stronger or more frequent winds from the west this summer, which will encourage drier conditions in eastern areas and more rain in the west.

While the forecast of unseasonably warm temperatures might be great news for holidaymakers and beachgoers, it’s not so good for rural Aucklanders who don’t have access to mains water supply.

Auckland Council’s healthy waters general manager, Craig Mcilroy, says if there were lessons to be learnt from the 2019/20 drought, it is the need for rural communities to be prepared.

“As the summer rolls around, it’s a timely reminder for rural residents to think about their water supplies,” Mcilroy says “If you’re reliant on rainwater tanks for your drinking water, check the tank levels regularly, use water wisely and book a delivery early.

“Forward planning is key to avoiding the experience of 2019/20, so it’s important to keep your eye on the ball.”

Facing the prospect of another dry summer, council has established 26 permanent community water sites around rural Auckland to help mitigate the situation and assist with future drought management should it arise.

These bollards (water refill stations) provide a back-up drinking water supply where, during water shortages, residents can collect 20 litres of water per person per day. They are available as normal drinking fountains all year round.

In the Mahurangi district, they can be found at the following locations: • Leigh Hall, 4 Cumberland Street, Leigh • Martins Bay Reserve, 287 Martins Bay Road, Martins Bay • Ranfurly/Kaipara Flats Hall, 903 Kaipara Flats Road • Sinclair Park, 34 Macky Road,

Mangawhai Rd slip repairs

The bollards (drinking fountains) like this one at Kaipara Flats provide a back-up drinking water supply.

Kaukapakapa • Warkworth Town Hall, 2 Alnwick Street, Warkworth • Wellsford Community Centre, 224 Rodney Street, Wellsford • Whangateau Reserve, 559 Leigh Road, Whangateau Auckland Council has a network of 78 rain gauges across the region which are monitored for rainfall levels. Automatic alerts for low rainfall notify the operations team to set up the bollards for bulk bottle filling, with all the sites meeting current drinking water standards.

Council says the steps rural householders can take now before they run out of

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water are: • check your water tank levels regularly • monitor your water usage and make lifestyle changes - shorter showers • consider the needs of livestock if they are using your rain tank supply • find out the local water supplier, in case you need a top-up over the holidays • plan and book water refill deliveries early • ensure tanks are well maintained and roof guttering is free of debris • install water-saving devices in showerheads and taps • consider investing in extra tank capacity.

Kaipara District Council is working on opening slip-affected Mangawhai Road to two-way traffic before Christmas as a temporary measure, and its contractors will begin this week to clear trees and vegetation at the site.

They will then reinstate the road and complete metalling, sealing and the relocation of power poles, before removing the temporary traffic lights and opening the road to allow two-way traffic flow.

“We continue to work with geotechnical engineers on repairing the deep seated slip failure, which will require a significant engineering solution,” a council spokesperson says.

Earlier, council announced that more than half of 71 slips still affecting roads in the district, following severe weather events earlier this year, should be repaired by the middle of next year.

Almost 250 of the 300 slips caused by storms and cyclones since February have already been repaired.

Seventy-one of the most complex slips required detailed inspections by engineers, often hampered by ongoing instability caused by continued wet weather.

Repairs to 43 sites should be completed this financial year. That work will reinstate roads to the condition they were in before the bad weather, and each is estimated to cost $100,000 or less. The remaining 28 complex slip sites will cost more than $100,000 each to repair, and require formal procurement processes. Some could take up three years to complete.

A list of the slips and their current status is available at www.kaipara.govt.nz/roadrepairs

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Holy Name Catholic Church 6 Alnwick Street, Warkworth Sts Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Puhoi 83 Puhoi Road, Puhoi 425 8545 • www.holyname.org.nz Saturday 23rd Dec – Saturday Vigil Mass Warkworth 6pm Sunday 24th Dec – Sunday Morning Masses Puhoi 8.30am – Warkworth 10.30am

CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES 2023 Sunday 24th Dec – Christmas Eve Warkworth 6.30pm – Puhoi 9pm Monday 25th Dec – Christmas Day Warkworth 10.30am There is NO MASS at Puhoi on Christmas Day. CHRISTMAS CAROLS 2023 Saturday 24th December Warkworth 6pm – Puhoi 8.30pm

THE MAHURANGI METHODIST PARISH COMMUNITY Wish you a joyful, peace-filled Christmas in 2023 and New Year in 2024.

We invite you to join us at any of our Christmas services of Celebration and Reflection.

There is no Christmas Eve service but the regular Sunday services.

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25 December: Christmas Day service

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31 December:

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St Alban's Kaipara Flats 19 Old Woodcocks Road

Christmas Eve Service 7pm, 24 December, Christmas Eve

Family Communion    Christ the KingPhone Church www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz 431 4122 Mangawhai

9.00 am

St Paul’s, Kaiwaka 9.00 am

Mangawhai Mission District   Anglican Church Christmas Services

CHRISTMAS SERVICES 2023

www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz

Phone 431 4122 www.ma

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www.warkworthanglican.nz

Check Mahurangi Hope facebook (www.facebook.com/ MahurangiHopeChurch) for details of church services or phone 425 8861 for more information. previously known as

Mahurangi Presbyterian Church

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHO ‘THE QUAKERS’ ARE? A Quaker Group from the Mahurangi/Warkworth area meets together regularly. If you are interested to learn more, please contact James on 027 293 9414

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You are all very welcome!

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Phone

St Paul’s, Kaiwaka 9.0

www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz

431 4122 www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz

Phone 431 4122 www.mangawhaianglican.org.nz

Christmas Eve Morning Service with Morning Tea 9.30am Christmas Eve Carol Service 7pm 31st December Because of Morning Service with m ...

Morning Tea 9.30am Bethlehe SUMMER Schedule Weekly Service at 9.30am with a community meal on the 1st Sunday of each month No Christmas Day service Normal Sunday services throughout January at 9.30am 410 Mahurangi East Rd, Snells Beach

December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

Phone 431 4

Phone Phone431 4314122 4122 www.ma

12 Hauraki Road

Christmas Day Service 9.30am, 25 December, Christmas Day

CH

CHRI

CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT

St Michael's Leigh

24 December:

9am Snells Beach Community Church 10.30am Warkworth Methodist Church

Sat 9am-12pm

Thursday 24 December 11.00 pmam Mangawhai 9.00

Christmas Church Notices CATHOLIC CHURCH

Christmas Eve Carol Service 11.00 pm Christm Thursday 24 December Thursday 24 December 7.00 pm Thursd

CHRISTMAS DAY Midnight Christmas Communion Family Communion Christ the King Church Mangawhai Christ the King Church

Classifieds AERIALS

CH

Midnight Christmas Communion 31 Woodcocks Rd, Warkworth Shop hours CHRISTMAS CHRI ChristEVE the King Church St Michael’s, St Mic Mangawhai 09 425 9100 MonHakaru - Fri 8am-5pm

43

Classifieds SITUATIONS VACANT

WALKERS WANTED! Reliable walkers wanted for part-time work delivering mailers/newspapers into household letterboxes.

No experience necessary.

Materials delivered right to your door.

Regular work community newspaper and mailers.

We would prefer if you had a smart phone.

A section of stopbank south of Ruawai township, part of a longstanding scheme designed to manage flooding risk on the low-lying Ruawai Flats.

Kaipara’s shift on coastal climate projects draws community fire

Contact phone Tanya Milford by txt or email 021 066 0838, tanyamilford@hotmail.com www.reach.nz/walker-signup

Mahurangi Matters can be picked up from the following businesses:

WARKWORTH: Mahurangi Matters, Paper Plus, Warkworth Information Centre, Woolworths, New World, Z • PUHOI: Puhoi Pub, Puhoi Store • SNELLS BEACH: Snells Beach Dairy, The Food Market, Gull, Snells Beach Library • MATAKANA: Matakana 4 Square, Gull, Matakana Information Centre • Point Wells Store • OMAHA: Omaha Superette • LEIGH General Store • WELLSFORD: Top Shop 4 Square, Woody’s Winners, Port Albert Store • KAIWAKA: 4 Square, Caltex • MANGAWHAI: Mangawhai Village Superette, Mangawhai Club, Mangawhai New World • MAUNGATUROTO: 4 Square RD1 • WAIPU: Waipu service station

www.localmatters.co.nz

Sudoku the numbers game

6

MEDIUM

6 3 8 7 4 8 5 1 5

7

6

8

9

8 1 9 3 8 5 2 1 5If it’s2local,3 4 let us know!

3

SOLUTION page 43

Mahurangi 425 9068 FILL IN THISMatters GRID SO THAT EVERY COLUMN, EVERY ROW AND EVERY 3X3 BOX CONTAINS THE DIGITS 1 TO 9.

44

| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

www.puzzles.ca

4 3

Kaipara District Council last week received a petition seeking to save a $1.5 million climate adaption pilot project launched under its predecessor, which some current councillors do not support.

Set up in 2021, the Ruawai Adaptive Pathways (RAP) pilot project aims to prepare for and respond to coastal hazards, flood hazards and sea level rise in the Ruawai area, land lying mostly at or below sea level.

Work undertaken so far has focused on identifying climate-related risks and examining communities’ tolerance to them, ahead of developing communitydriven actions to address them.

In October, council narrowly passed a motion by Mayor Craig Jepson suspending progress on the RAP. The motion asked the chief executive to report on the implications of cancelling the programme and reallocating its remaining budget to other activities, such as physical works on adaptation benefiting the Ruawai area.

These included the longstanding Ruawai/ Raupō drainage scheme, aimed at managing flooding risk on the Ruawai flats through a system of drains and stopbanks.

The petition to save the RAP was initiated

by Anna Curnow, a former Kaipara deputy mayor and co-chair of a community panel that advises the pilot project.

She told council’s monthly meeting in Dargaville last week that the number of signatures had risen above 800.

“There are a lot of people who care about what is happening here,” she said, stressing the need for “a long-term, agile plan that’s owned by the community – not by anyone else, but by the people who are affected by it”.

“There are as many views on climate change in Ruawai as there are people. Which is exactly why we need to be doing climate adaptation planning,” Curnow said. “It’s a process that draws out those opinions, that tests them. It brings the evidence into

the room and tests that evidence against the lived experience of the people who live there.”

Also giving a brief presentation was the new Green list MP, Hūhana Lyndon, of Te Tai Tokerau.

“The people of Kaipara have felt the bite, the ngau, of climate change just earlier this year,” Lyndon said. “And nga mihi to our marae, our communities and our people who gathered to work hard to restore, alongside council and government, and the way with which we responded to Cyclone Gabrielle.”

Shortly after hearing the presentations, Jepson proposed a new motion – that council pauses the RAP and all related expenditure, and consults on the climate smart programme through the 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan.

The mayor said the approach to climate change had to change as climate change projection data, and the understanding of the risks, shifted.

“We need to get real, and stop spending money where we don’t need to,” he said.

“Spend it on what’s real, which is physical works. Physical works required still at Raupō are significant, and every dollar we can turn that way is the real adaptation.”

The motion divided the council, but passed.

Splits over climate were also seen at council’s September meeting, when councillors passed in a 6-4 vote a motion by deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen to cancel an already-budgeted greenhouse gas emissions accounting contract, and to halt the development of Kaipara’s climate policy.

Larsen argued at the time that there was no statutory requirement to carry out either activity, that they delivered no tangible benefits to ratepayers, and that the funds would be better spent on projects that will.

During that debate, Larsen stressed that his motion would not impact work such as the RAP or the Raupō drainage scheme.

Support the advertisers who support Mahurangi Matters

Wine

TYREPOWER WARKWORTH PROUD SPONSORS OF

James Graham, Matakana Winegrowers james@takatuwine.co.nz

Celebrating with wine, past and present Wine has been a part of human civilisation since nomadic tribes settled and began to cultivate crops. The earliest carbon dated evidence of wine production comes from the area around modern-day Georgia and Northern Iran around 6000 to 7000 BC. Given that ripe fruits contain sugar and water, and that wild yeasts naturally occur on their skins – the basics for producing alcohol (as a side effect of spoilage of overripe fruit) – wine has been omnipresent for as long as humans have walked the earth.

So the birth of wine around 8000 to 9000 years ago is really one of humanities first examples of controlling a natural process to create something desirable and of value.

The importance of wine and celebration in early European/Mediterranean cultures is strongly represented in the development of artistic expression that grew alongside it.

From circa 3000 BC Egyptian paintings on the walls of their tombs included incredibly detailed images of grape growing and wine consumption. Between 2500 and 1000 BC the Sumerian, Hittite and Mesopotamian cultures all produced intricate painted objects depicting wine as part of their celebrations, or in functional pieces such as jewel encrusted golden vessels.

The development of the ancient Greek, and then Roman, civilisations saw the intertwining of wine into the most fundamental aspects of their societies.

Wine become an offering to the gods to secure their favour (especially Dionysus (Bacchus) the Greek (Roman) god of wine), it was drunk across all levels of society to celebrate festivals, weddings, and the Symposium (drinking parties held after banquets).

The growth of Christianity from the early centuries AD continued to cement wine as central to religion, community and culture.

In Biblical accounts, Jesus’ first miracle was

at a wedding turning water into wine when the wine had run out. Wine was integral to the story of the last supper and became symbolic to Christians as a representation of the blood of Christ.

Because of this, grape cultivation and winemaking became a primary staple of European colonisation of the new world.

Grapevines travelled on the Santa Maria with Columbus to the Americas, as they then did with other European explorers to all corners of the world.

When we drink wine to celebrate Christmas, or time with friends and family, we continue a tradition as old as any recorded history. A constant in an age where change is everywhere.

This summer, as the sun finally comes to warm and dry us out, I hope you will join the local Matakana Winegrowers every Friday evening at the Farmers Market for ‘Vineyards in the Village’, where there will be local wines, live music and Bernardo’s Italian pizza from 4.30pm to 8pm, on December 8 and 15, then every Friday from January 5 to March 8.

It’s a chance to kick back, enjoy our wines and relax after a long year – please come and join us!

For more information: www.kaipara.govt. nz/objective-build

www.localmatters.co.nz

SUPPORTING LOCAL SPORT

A round-up of sports activities and events in the district Darts People interested in playing social darts are invited to check out the Warkworth RSA Darts Club.

The club meets at the Warkworth RSA on Thursday nights at 7pm, with games starting at 7.30pm.

Four dart boards are in play and an online scoring system is used. Any level of player is welcome. $5 entry. The bar will be open.

Fishing comp The annual Salty Dog Social Club Fishing Competition and Family Fun Day will be held on Saturday, January 20. All welcome. Entertainment starts at 4pm and prizegiving is from 6pm. Bouncy castle, Mr Whippy, games, lucky dips, sausage sizzle, and more. To enter the fishing competition and get an entry form, contact Bazz on 021 451 001 or email officetsdsc@yahoo.com with the subject Salty Dog Fishing Competition 2024. Lots of categories and spot prizes.

Swim funding Water Skills For Life is currently taking expressions of interest for 2024 funding. A limited amount of funding is available to cover the provision of 8-10 Water Skills for Life lessons per tamariki in years 3-6. Available funds will be allocated on a first-in, first-served basis to schools within the greater Auckland area. For more details visit: https://aktive.org.nz/funding-services/funding Casual tennis Casual tennis players are welcome to play at Mahurangi East Tennis Club. The club is located at Goodall Reserve on Mahurangi East Road, Snells Beach. Courts are available for hire on non-club days and between 7am and 8pm daily. There is a hire fee of $20 per court per hour. Bookings and info can be found at www.mahutennis.co.nz/events Maxxis Trail Ride The Kaipara Motorcycle Club Maxxis Trail Ride Series next year will feature three rides in Matakana and Kaipara Flats on Sunday, January 21, Sunday, February 18, and Sunday, March 24. Hot food available at each event with sign-on starting around 8.30am. There is a cost per event of $50 for seniors (16+), $30 for juniors (under 16), and $120 for families (2 seniors and 3 juniors). For more info visit Kaipara Motorcycle Club on Facebook or ring Warkworth Motorcycles at 425 8535.

List sports news FREE by emailing editor@localmatters.co.nz

2 Mill Lane, Warkworth 0910 283 3495 | 022 489 7477 (Ah) warkworth@tyrepower.net.nz www.tyrepower.co.nz

Close to Exekias, two-handled amphora, Greek Archaic Period (ca. 540–530 BC).

MFA Boston Collection

Kaipara streamlines consents Kaipara District Council is introducing a new management system for issuing resource consents.

Objective Build will enable architects, developers, builders and homeowners to keep track of their consents and users can see the status of applications, actions required, and manage their consents through to completion.

The system is already in use elsewhere in New Zealand, but Kaipara is the first Northland council to introduce it.

Whangarei is expected to follow next year, a step that will standardise building consent processes between the two districts.

Kaipara processes more than 700 building consent applications annually.

Building services manager Alistair Dunlop says the system will provide more transparency, give builders and architects better oversight of their consent applications, and allow homeowners to track the progress of their consents.

SCOREBOARD

RODNEY SEPTIC PHONE 09 422 7166 TANK CLEANING OR 027 494 6370

DOES MY SEPTIC TANK NEED CLEANING? Yes, every 2-3 years. Why? Because septic tanks are a filter. You clean your car filter and your water filters regularly and yet one of the most important filtersgets forgotten - your septic tank. Keep your environment clean and green.

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December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

45

for the pukeko and Pete broke his collar bone and lost a lot of skin.

“I’ve never been allowed to forget that one,” he says.

He says good cyclists do well in the Rodney Coastal Challenge, as it has a 10km run and 8km kayak but 55km of cycling.

“There are a few flat bits, but most of it is hilly, with some steep and big climbs. The Puhoi River is great fun in a kayak, so I make up some time there.”

The semi-retired retirement village groundsman says he is pretty competitive and does some form of training five days a week. One year, he won the Rodney Coastal Challenge’s Over 60s category, and in 2014 he won the Over 60s One Day Coast to Coast event.

The 75-year-old says this year’s race, on November 19, was “a bit of a learning curve”, with cycling again causing issues.

He finished within his target time, in 5hrs:10mins, but says he got a lot of cramps and realised that he had been “a bit light on the cycle training”.

“At the end of the race, I said ‘I think this might be the last one’,” Pete says. “But it was a great day and now I’m thinking I could do it again, but next time work a bit more on the cycling.”

Pete Melling recently completed the Rodney Coastal Challenge, almost 20 years after he first ran it in 2005.

The event, which is celebrating 25 years, sees more than 300 competitors run, paddle and cycle across Rodney, from Woodhill Forest to Wenderholm Regional Park.

It is run by the Kaukapakapa Scout Group as a fundraiser and Pete says they deserve a huge pat on the back.

“Multisport has suffered greatly from health and safety regulations, which makes it expensive to hold a race now,” Pete says. “So bless the scout group that organises this. You have to take your hat off to them. That’s why I support it – also because it’s local and I love multisport.”

Before he started entering multisport races, Pete was a kayaker and runner.

“Cycling came later, and is my weakest link,” he says. “And the training locally can be dangerous – there aren’t a lot of good off-road cycle trails.”

Pete joined the Hibiscus Coast Harriers and Triathlon Club around 20 years ago. His fellow club members know him as Pukeko Pete, after a pukeko flew into his front wheel while he was on a training ride in 2010. The incident was fatal

Pete Melling crosses the finish line. Photo, Hazel Main.

Pukeko Pete does

it again

Want Your House

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4:50am 3.0 3.0 3:45am 3.0 3.0 5:49am 2:41am 3.0 3.0 4:47am 1:42am 3.0 3.1 3:44am 3.2 2:42am 6:01am 3.1 0.6 12:47am 1:44am 3.1 5:12am 0.5 0.6 12:50am 4:26am 0.4 0.6 5:55am 3:40am 0.4 0.6 5:05am 2:56am 0.5 0.7 4:17am 2:12am 0.5 0.8 3:30am 1:29am 0.6 0.9 2:44am 1.0 1:58am 12:01am 0.9 1.1 12:45am 1:12am 0.8 5:28am 2.8 2.7 12:24am 4:35am 2.7 2.7 6:05am 4:15am 3:41am 2.6 2.7 5:11am 11:02am 0.9 0.7 9:58am 0.9 0.7 11:52am 8:53am 0.8 0.7 10:53am 7:50am 0.8 0.7 9:50am 6:53am 0.7 0.6 8:46am 3.1 7:45am 11:34am 3.3 3.2 12:24pm 6:48am 0.6 10:47am 3.4 3.2 12:29pm 10:02am 3.4 3.2 11:38am 9:18am 3.3 3.2 10:48am 8:35am 3.2 3.1 10:00am 7:51am 3.1 3.0 9:14am 7:06am 3.0 2.9 8:28am 6:18am 2.9 2.8 7:42am 11:35am 1.0 0.9 6:55am 10:45am 1.1 1.0 12:01pm 9:51am 1.1 1.0 11:11am 10:17am

5:34pm 3.0 3.2 4:33pm 3.1 3.1 6:07pm 3:28pm 3.1 3.0 5:10pm 2:22pm 3.2 3.0 4:13pm 1:20pm 3.2 3.1 3:15pm 6:22pm 3.3 0.7 2:18pm 5:29pm 0.6 0.6 1:23pm 4:40pm 0.6 0.5 6:34pm 3:54pm 0.6 0.5 5:40pm 3:11pm 0.6 0.5 4:48pm 2:29pm 0.7 0.6 3:57pm 1:47pm 0.8 0.6 3:09pm 1:05pm 0.9 0.7 2:21pm 12:21pm 0.9 0.8 1:34pm 6:03pm 2.8 2.9 12:48pm 5:14pm 2.8 2.8 6:10pm 4:21pm 2.8 2.7 5:20pm Tide Tide 4:31pm 10:33pm 0.7 0.8 11:32pm 0.7 9:30pm 0.7 0.9 11:19pm 8:25pm 0.7 0.8 10:20pm 7:21pm 0.6 0.8 9:22pm 11:07pm 3.2 3.3 11:56pm 3.3 7:28pm 0.6 8:25pm 10:21pm 3.2 3.3 11:58pm 9:36pm 3.2 3.3 11:07pm 8:53pm 3.1 3.3 10:17pm 8:11pm 3.0 3.2 9:28pm 7:29pm 3.0 3.1 8:38pm 6:47pm 2.9 3.0 7:48pm 6:59pm 11:14pm 1.0 1.1 10:24pm 1.0 1.2 11:35pm Times Times 10:45pm 5:56am 7:16am 8:30pm 5:39pm

Sun Sun Fishing Fishing Guide Guide

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| Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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What’s on

D E CEM BER 202 3 UPDAT E

See www.localmatters.co.nz/whats-on/ for a full list of upcoming events

December 4

Making Room for Rivers public meeting, Matakana Hall, 7pm. Info: Making Room for Rivers at www.eventfinda.co.nz

4

Eat Smart/Feel Great Nutrition Workshop, Mangawhai Fishing & Boating Club, 6-7.15pm. Practical demonstration and sampling.

4-10

Treemendous Christmas Tree Display, Old Masonic Hall, Baxter Street, Warkworth, 10am-5pm daily. Kowhai Coast Lions’ fundraiser with visits from Santa. Entry $3, $1 for children. Info: Call 425 0969 or 027 620 6006

5

Gold Connect final meeting, Snells Beach Baptist Church, 2.30-4.30pm. ExAuckland Town Hall organist John Wells playing Christmas carols on piano.

Singalong and nibbles. Free. (see brief p6)

6

Warkworth Liaison Group meeting, downstairs meeting room, Warkworth RSA, Mill Lane, 7.30pm

6

Warkworth Museum/Maritime Museum information workshop for digi hub project volunteers Info: Call 425 7093

6-7

Blood donation, Warkworth Town Hall, 12-6pm Wednesday, 11am-5pm Thursday. New donors always welcome. Info and bookings: https://www.nzblood.co.nz/book-to-donate/ (see brief p23)

7

Dementia Care & Power of Attorney, Wellsford RSA, 11am. Talk by Paddy Sullivan from Age Concern Rodney

7

Back Bar Jazz, The Bridgehouse, Warkworth, 6.30pm. Free, all welcome

7

Friends of the Mahurangi East Library AGM, 11 Schooner Avenue, Snells Beach, 10am. To discuss the future and vote in roles.

8

Matakana Vineyards in the Village, Matakana Farmers Market, 4.30-8pm. Wine from local vineyards, Italian in the Village pizza, live music, cellar door sales.

8

Snells Beach School Christmas carols, 6-7.30pm. Music, craft and food stalls.

9

Sausage sizzle fundraiser for Country Retreat, Generosity Corner, Mill Lane, Warkworth, 9am-1pm (see story p18)

9

The Great Christmas Toy Sale, Maungaturoto Primary School bus bay, Hurndall Street, 9am-1pm. Preloved toy sale. Info: Call the school on 09 431 8106 (see story p22)

9

Highfield Donkey Santa Fun Day, Highfield Reserve, Algies Bay, 11am-2pm.

Donkey rides, games, barbecue, Santa and more. All welcome. (see story p29)

9

Wellsford Variety Music Club Music Event, Wellsford District Community Centre, 6-9.30pm. Five bands, solo open mic or supported by club band. $10pp or $20 for two adults & 2 children. Light supper. All welcome.

Info: Andrew 422 3424.

10

Car Boot & Craft Market Fundraiser, Whangaparāoa Coast Plaza Lower Carpark, 10am-2pm. Fundraiser for HBC Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren.

Info and bookings: Lynda on 021 160 3206

14

Christmas in Vienna concert, Town Hall, Warkworth, 11am.

Info: www.operatunity.co.nz

15

Pohutukawa Picnic, Snells Beach Road/Sunrise Boulevard playground, 3pm.

Sausage sizzle, live music, Santa (see brief p31)

15

Matakana Vineyards in the Village, Matakana Farmers Market, 4.30-8pm. Wine from local vineyards, Italian in the Village pizza, live music, cellar door sales.

15

Mangawhai Artists Christmas Exhibition opening, 45 Moir Street, 6pm (see story p21)

16

Brunch, Horizon Create Campus Cafe, Snells Beach, 11am-1pm. Guest speaker sharing life story. Entry $20. Freewill offering. Info: Craig Patten 021 0222 1121

16

Point Wells Hall Pre-Christmas Garage Sale, 5 Point Wells Road, 10am-2pm.

Second-hand goods, bric-a-brac, clothing, plants, kid’s stuff, and more. Stall fees donated to Matakana Volunteer Fire Brigade. Stall space available, visit https://forms.gle/7Hu4qw1MH5nWLKQv5

17

Lax Lights, Lax Crescent, Leigh, early evening. Christmas lights, live music and food trucks (see brief p6)

17

Whangateau Folk Club presents an evening with Paul McLaney, Whangateau Hall, 7.30pm

17

Mangawhai Santa Parade & Community Concert, Alamar Crescent to MAZ, Molesworth Drive, 1-6.30pm (see story p19)

18

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

24

Waipu Santa Parade, The Centre, 7pm (see story p22)

29

Great Summer Art Exhibition preview and prizegiving, Mahurangi East Community Centre, 7pm. Tickets $20 at door

Opening before Christmas Mahurangi Hope Centre is hoping to be up and running before Christmas.

Mahurangi Presbyterian Church plan to move into the new Mahurangi Hope Centre to run their church services, community events, Combined Churches Foodbank, as well as the other activities associated with the Mahu Vision Community Trust.

Pastor Nick McLennan said the name change reflected what the church wants to be known for.

“We were looking for a name that speaks both to who Jesus is, as well as what the Gospel is all about.”

“We will have our first service in the new building before Christmas and hopefully we will be able to iron out all the bugs before our official opening next year.”

Stage one of the centre is nearly complete after two years of building.

It includes a function centre seating 300, a fully equipped commercial kitchen, and competition-level gymnasium with hoops and other equipment supplied by North Harbour Basketball. Competitions and tournaments are looking to get underway in the new year.

An enclosed playground sits outside the function area, with fencing supplied by Mitre 10 Mega Warkworth.

There is also a chapel opening off the side of the function centre for those who want a bit of a quiet space for reflection, it features a stained glass window designed by graphic designer Amy Wait.

The final step in stage one is the carpark which is currently being completed by Mason Contractors.

The church will be planning to complete stage two, which includes a 450 seat auditorium at a later date.

Photos, Aidan Burridge Visuals

This project still requires community funding support. If you would like to be involved please phone Brian Dangerfield on 021 672 500.

List your event by emailing the details to online@localmatters.co.nz

www.localmatters.co.nz

December 4, 2023 | Mahurangimatters |

47

Super Rugby selection

for rising Mahurangi star

from there.”

Instead, he played a year of North Harbour under19s before getting into the NH academy, and then moving into the Bunnings NPC. “So I took a bit of a different route. The main challenge was probably getting my foot in the door during my first year out of school.”

His most memorable rugby episode so far was his NPC debut, when he was a late selection for a North Harbour against Southland game in September 2020.

Still at university, he flew into Invercargill with an exam that had to be written in his hotel room the night before the big game.

“It was all a bit of a rush. I packed the wrong notes, arrived at the hotel late and had a stressful evening – not what you want the day before your debut,” he recalled.

He had been expecting to get about five minutes off the bench, but a teammate’s injury around the 45th minute threw him straight into the fray.

North Harbour lost by one point.

And the exam? “I scraped by – but I did it,” he laughed. “It was a stressful weekend, it definitely sticks with me.”

Kade said that over time he had found ways of blocking out the noise, before and during important games.

When he was younger, he used to try to visualise before going out, “but sometimes you end up playing the game in your head before hitting the field, so it’s not very good”.

Now he tries not to think about the game, meditates, and aims to clear his head so as to be more focused when game time arrives.

“What I try to remember is that I’ve played so many games of rugby in my life. I imagine that it’s just another game, inside the four white lines, playing with my mates against 15 others.”

Not surprisingly, Kade’s goals mirror those of every talented young player in New Zealand. He looks forward to his Super Rugby debut, would love to win a title with the Blues – and one day be selected for All Blacks, following in the 20th century footsteps of former Mahurangi College greats Murray Jones, Zinzan Brooke and Robin Brooke.

“That’s always been the dream, since I was a kid.”

Warkworth’s Kade Banks has been selected for the Blues, another significant step in a rising rugby career for the outside back, built on foundations laid at Mahurangi College.

The 23-year-old former estate agent has been named for the Super Rugby Pacific side after four seasons with North Harbour, where he made 24 National Provincial Championship (NPC) appearances at wing and fullback, notching up six tries.

“I’m really looking forward to getting into it,” Kade said. “I’ve been in and around the environment, having done pre-season last year, but it’s good to get my first contract, and some certainty around what I’m doing for at least the next year.”

Kade was speaking at the end of a big first week since selection – a visit to Wellington for Super Rugby induction, followed by several days at Blues headquarters in Epsom for squad induction, getting kitted out, and fitness and strength testing.

A weekend for rest and recovery beckoned, before getting back into it the following week.

Being selected for the Blues, a squad that includes 11 former or current All Blacks, meant a great deal, he said.

“I was born and raised in Warkworth and spent my whole life with it being the team I’ve grown up aspiring to be part of. I’m super-stoked to finally have made it.”

Kade said easily his biggest influence has been his Dad, Terrence, who coached him from when he started playing the game at the age of four or five, through his First XV co-captaincy, until he was 19.

The whole family has been right behind him, and made it to virtually every game during his NPC career.

“They’ve followed me around, which is really cool.

I’ve always loved rugby, from the outset. I always wanted to make a career out of it. It’s a lot more fun than going to work.”

Asked what the biggest challenge he’s had to face in his career so far, Kade said it was probably the fact that he didn’t slot straight into the academy system from high school.

“It’s been a bit of a different journey to most of the other boys, who went from big rugby schools straight into the Harbour academy, straight into the Blues academy and then moved up

Kade during his first week of Blues fitness and strength training. Photo, Blues Media

Coast to Coast Health Care For a full range of family medical care, including A&M services in an integrated system 24 hours a day, across our region, including public holidays For further information and new enrolments, please contact any of our clinics

Mangawhai

4 Fagan Place 09 431 4128 Open 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Matakana

74 Matakana Valley Road 09 422 7737 Open 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Urgent Accident + Medical Care

Maungaturoto

138 Hurndall Street 09 431 8576 Open 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Paparoa

OPEN 8am - 7.30pm • 7 days

1978 Paparoa Valley Road 09 431 7222 Open 8am-5pm, Tuesday & Thursday

Snells Beach

145 Mahurangi East Road 09 425 6666 Open 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Waipu

11/7 Nova Scotia Drive 09 432 1190 Open 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday

Health Hub Warkworth + Pharmacy

HEALTH HUB

WARKWORTH

09 425 8585

77 Morrison Drive, Warkworth

Wellsford Medical

Urgent Accident + Medical Care + Lab Test + Radiology Xray

OPEN 8am - 8pm • 7 days

09 423 8086

220 Rodney Street, Wellsford

Call 09 423 8086 for 8pm - 8am • 7 days URGENT DOCTOR SERVICE - WELLSFORD 48 | Mahurangimatters | December 4, 2023

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