November 15, 2017
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What’s inside New roles for Rodney politicians page 9
Students shine
page 20-23
Locals produce world class olive oils page 45 Clayton Rule and Dakota Purvis join a score of volunteers helping to put the finishing touches at Warkworth’s new community hospice, Tui House. The hospice will begin receiving its first patients early next year after Rodney residents rallied together to raise millions of dollars to fund it. Read all about the making of a state-of-the-art facility, which will bring comfort to those reaching the end of life. See our special feature, pages 29-44.
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Fuel tax threat to Rodney transport hopes Rodney councillor Greg Sayers will fight to exclude Rodney from an Auckland regional fuel tax, saying the money raised will do nothing to improve transport in Rodney and may, in fact, divert resources away from Rodney. The incoming Government has announced that it will allow Auckland to introduce a regional fuel tax to
fund investment in the city’s transport network, including light rail to the airport. The tax is likely to add an additional 10 cents per litre on the price of both petrol and diesel. Cr Sayers says the anticipated $120 million per annum that will be raised from the fuel tax will be used to fund
specific projects already identified by the Crown and Auckland Council. But he says none of these projects will assist Rodney. Specifically, a fuel tax would fail to accelerate the fixing of the Hill Street intersection, would do nothing to seal Rodney’s 600km of unsealed roads and would fail to bring public transport any
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closer to Warkworth. Cr Sayers says that Warkworth and Wellsford residents already pay a $2.30 toll each way when commuting to work in Auckland. “It’s unfair to ask families to pay both a toll and a fuel tax without providing them with a public transport alternative,” he says. continued page 2 WWW.RDCONSTRUCTION.CO.NZ
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