News in Brief

Art ‘n Tartan rescheduled
The Waipu Museum Art ’n Tartan Wearable Art Awards, previously scheduled for October 15 and 16, has now been rescheduled to Friday November 12 and Saturday November 13, provided Northland is in Level 1. Organisers say everyone who has already purchased tickets can have them exchanged for the rescheduled show, and are doing everything possible to make the hugely popular event happen.

Want to be part of the action? Organisers are looking for volunteer back-stage crew to help make the magic happen. Call Debi on 021 324 707 or email creativelynx@eznet.co.nz for details.

Kaiwaka foot bridge contract awarded
Kaipara District Council (KDC) has awarded the contract to design and build the two Kaiwaka footbridges to Bridge It NZ. The footbridges are funded through Kanoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit to improve pedestrian safety around State Highway 1.

Bridge It NZ has started the detailed design for the works. They will pre-fabricate the bridges offsite and will start the onsite works early in the new year. The two bridges will be 2.5m wide and share the same design, which improves the efficiency of the build.

After the bridges are in place, access ramps will be built and paths constructed under the State Highway 1 road bridges to make it easier to move around the Kaiwaka village. The northern-most bridge will cross over to McClean Park. The McClean Family is gifting the land at 5-7 Gibbons Road to allow the path to go through it. The Council has allocated $100,000 in the Long-Term Plan for development of the Park. KDC staff, Kaiwaka Can and the community will work together to implement a plan to develop the park as a local recreational area. At this stage the bridges are expected to be completed and opened by March 2022.

Ag Day going ahead
Mangawhai Beach School Ag Animal Day will be going ahead on October 28. If they don’t have a four-legged farm friend to groom for the day, then now is the time, says the school, for students to be sourcing orphaned lambs and calves so they can participate. More details are to be emailed to families, but if parents have questions or want to make plans as soon as possible, contact Abby on 021 468 195 or email aganimals@mangawhaibeach.school.nz.

Recyclable ‘in theory’ no good
A reminder for NZ business – recycleable ‘in theory’ doesn’t cut it. The Commerce Commission has warned a takeaway coffee cup manufacturer for misleading consumers by claiming its hot drink cups are 100 percent recyclable. In theory, the cups are fully recyclable, but they just can’t be recycled in New Zealand. The commission said Glopac NZ likely breached the Fair Trading Act by claiming its cups were recyclable, when in fact hot drink takeaway cups aren’t currently accepted into recycling streams in New Zealand.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the commission’s warning shows companies understand the power of marketing their products as being environmentally friendly.

“Consumers want to do the right thing for the planet. This type of greenwashing takes advantage of that goodwill for profit. Companies need to take the shortcomings in New Zealand’s recycling ecosystem into account before making claims that their products can be recycled.”