Mayors Memo

 

Kia ora.

Three weeks ago the announcement of a $27.2m ‘kickstart’ package for Kaipara District was made at a packed Otamatea Marae near Maungaturoto. It was a shining day for Kaipara – along with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, there were more Cabinet Ministers, MPs and local body politicians present than you could shake a stick at, along with kaumatua and kuia from across the North joining Te Uri o Hau and many locals in the celebrations.

The centre of the celebration was the $20m grant for Kaipara roads. This will include works on sealing Pouto Road and Waipoua River Road, upgrading to two-lanes the Hakaru bridge between Kaiwaka and Mangawhai and fixing other bridges. Significantly, $8.1m was prioritised for metalling and improving Kaipara’s 1100km unsealed road network. Don’t expect to see metal roads being tarsealed – EVERYONE is asking for that – but instead expect steady improvements across the entire network. What would have taken many years of ratepayer funding to achieve is now being fast-tracked, which puts us on a better footing to make even greater improvements sooner. Lots of people are interested to know what’s in store as we start dealing with years of under-investment in our roads. The KDC roading team will be doing specific communications about the work programme going forward and what we can all expect to see happening where and when. Thanks for your patience with this. We’re on our way.

Adding further value to what we already do well, we’ll also be working with the community over coming months on projects for developing our Kaipara wharf network and for Growing the Kai in Kaipara. These are the other two parts of the $27.2m Kaipara Kickstart package recently announced. Based on the roading work, all three fit neatly together. Stand by for more information here.

While you’re waiting you might want to join The People’s Panel between now and end of Feb when council will be asking everyone on the panel about wheelie bins for Kaipara. Are you in? Go to kaipara.govt.nz/panel to have your say.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for electing me one year ago to serve as Mayor of Kaipara District. It’s been a mighty first year, filled with many colourful events, times and colourful Kaipara characters, and I’m enjoying getting on with the job. The $27.2m grant for the roads, wharves and kai projects is a great kickstart to take us all to the next level. Let’s go!

Nga mihi nui.

Jason

PS. After the Government gave us the $27.2m, I personally thanked the Prime Minister by giving her a brown paper bag of new season kumara, freshly dug! She was grateful, said they’re a family favourite and we shared a laugh. A perfectly Kaipara thing to do.