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Good news for Settlement Road

Photo: Councillor Rachael Williams, Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen, Councillor Mike Howard and Mayor Craig Jepson outside the Hakaru Hall...

Baylys Beach boardwalk update

Mayor Craig Jepson, Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen, Councillor Gordon Lambeth and Hoskin Civil project manager Darren James...

Fixing roading legacy issues

Mangawhai and Hakaru have seen substantial growth of small rural lots over recent years.With rates based on land value, and values being driven up by demand there is a reasonable expectation from ratepayers that they will get something more for their money.Council has two mechanisms to collect funds to upgrade roads to compensate for the effects of subdivisions. One is via financial contributions (FCs) under the Resource Management Act. The other is via development contributions (DCs) under the ...

Fixing Kaipara's Roads

Kaipara has a vast network of roads to maintain covering some 1614 km, with 1140 km of this being unsealed. There are 354 bridges and large culverts, 99km of footpaths, and 32km of cycleways. Roading is also our biggest spend with a budget of about $51m next year alone.The quality of the maintenance of the roads is one of the biggest concerns of local ratepayers and residents so as a Council we are taking action to fix this. Leading change does not come without risk, but things definitely need t...

Testing the Climate on Rates

Every three years Council consults with the community on it’s Long Term Plan (LTP). The LTP is Council’s ten-year budget and works programme. Due to the demands of the adverse weather events, this year government has allowed Council to produce an ‘LTP lite’ focussing on just the next three years.Following months of work to get costs down, our Council has proposed a programme of works resulting in average consecutive rates increases for the next three years of 15.1, 8.4 and 3.4%. I am sur...

Mangawhai Shared Path

Pedestrian and cyclist safety has long been neglected on Molesworth Drive between the Village and the Heads. I lobbied the Council to prioritise improvements in this area.The Mangawhai Shared Path project attracted considerable funding from the Central Government. A footpath and cycle track that enables pedestrians and cyclists to safely walk or cycle from Mangawhai Village to Mangawhai Heads is now being built.This project will be an amazing asset to the local community and is expected to be co...

Kaiwaka Footpath Improvements

Catching up with "The Mayor of Kaiwaka" Mark Ottaway about getting footpath improvements carried out at Kaiwaka....

Mangawhai Endowment Lands Account (MELA)

The MELA fund is a $5 million asset resulting from the dissolution of the Mangawhai Harbour Board. When the council was under commission a decision was made to run the fund down. I initiated a policy review to ensure that the fund capital was protected from devaluation via inflation and protected for future generations.This means the proceeds of the fund are available for local community groups to apply for to undertake volunteer initiatives in the local area....

Kaiwaka Footbridges

After the Kaiwaka Footbridge plan was dropped from Council’s Long Term Plan, I saw an opportunity to lobby the Minister for Regional Economic Development, Shane Jones, on the importance of the footbridges for the safety of the Kaiwaka community.I supported the Council to apply for provincial growth funding for this project to meet a very short Cabinet approval deadline. Secured $750,000 provincial growth funding from the Government to ensure this project could finally come to fruition.The brid...

Mangawhai Beach School Crossing

The access to the Mangawhai Beach School didn’t have a proper crossing for children to get to and from school safely.With a growing school roll, the Principal contacted me and I worked within Council to cut through internal bureaucracy and advocate for this important health and safety facility to be installed as a matter of urgency.The school now has a proper, safe crossing point on Insley Street....

Mangawhai Shared Path and Kaiwaka Footbridges Funding Announcement

With Hon. Shane Jones at Mangawhai Shared Path and Kaiwaka Footbridges funding announcement....

Browns Road Bike Park

Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust (‘The Trackies’) had been trying for a number of years to get traction on developing a walking and mountain bike park on Council land in Brown’s Road.I helped to push the project internally within Council, which resulted in Council granting approval to have the Browns Road land used as a reserve.The Trackies are now in the process of building tracks, with the intention of further developing the reserve into a mountain bike park.This is a much-needed recrea...

Kaiwaka Fitness Trail Opening

Opening of the Kaiwaka Fitness Trail with Sheryl Anderson, Mark Ottaway and Phil Keene....