Hibiscus Matters_Issue 275_5 February 2020

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localmatters.co.nz

February 5, 2020

Your locally-owned Community Newspaper FREE

Government funds Penlink Funding for the 7km Penlink Road and bridge from Whangaparaoa Peninsula to Redvale is included in a $2.2 billion package of Government investment in Auckland roads announced by Minister Phil Twyford on January 29. The funding provides $411 million, enough to fully fund the building of a two-lane road and bridge across the Weiti River, and brings the projected start date forward to late 2021. A public private partnership, long considered the way to get the project to happen, is therefore no longer needed. The road will still be tolled, according to the NZ Transport Agency. Labour List MP based in Rodney, Marja Lubeck says the road will be future proofed for four lanes and the funding is fantastic news for local people and businesses. Hibiscus & Bays Local Board member Janet Fitzgerald, who has campaigned with Penlink Now to get the project across the line for more than 15 years, was emotional at the news but says the fight is not over.

A Kiwi firefighter battles through the night in New South Wales. Photo, Kawau Island chief fire officer Gavin Brunton (see story p3). Extreme fire risk has Coast firefighters worried.

continued p3

Drought conditions spark Coast fire fears With a total fire ban put in place for Auckland and North Waikato last week, and the National Insititute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) saying the region is in a “meteoroligical drought”, local firefighters are on high alert,

according to Manly chief fire officer Shayne Kennedy.

He says on January 27, the day before the fire ban came into force, firefighters attended a fire that had been lit on Stanmore Bay beach. Fires on beaches are not permitted by

Auckland Council at any time, and it’s a particularly high risk activity given the dryness of nearby reserves.

Mr Kennedy says it’s going to be very dry for the next couple of months and firefighters want the public to be aware that the risk of fire is high.

Clearance

He is particularly worried about rural areas such as Dairy Flat, Wainui, Stillwater and Puhoi and also parts of Whangaparaoa where there is a lot of bush and vegetation such as Shakespear Regional Park, and the end of Scott Road in Stanmore Bay. continued p2

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