9th May 2016 Issue

On another fabulous spring day at the end of April, the Mangawhai Club formally opened its artificial Tiger Turf bowling green with a great rally. 

 

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The skirl of the pipes generally announces the arrival of a dignitary or conjures up images of dancing and gaiety until the first bugle notes of the ‘Last Post’ call us back to the sobriety and reality that is the remembrance of our war

 

 

The quiet semi-country street of Jack Boyd Drive has recently woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Though it comprises a number of bach-type homes, recently the building boom has certainly given it something of a ‘new street’ look.

 

Did you take part in the Big Dig in 1991? Were you one of the 60 to 70 people who assisted in the now-famous filling in of the breach in the Distal Spit completed in 1996?
 

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The Mangawhai Community Waste Water Scheme Advisory Panel tabled their recommendations to Council in July last year. Since that time staff and other experts have been hard at work further testing the recommendations and looking to see how they can implement them – in intent if not exactly.

Mangawhai woman Valerie Kerr (72) has pleaded guilty and been convicted on three charges of forgery and one charge of presenting a forged document.

The conviction at the North shore District Court on April 26 follows a three year investigation.

In keeping with the adage ‘you have to break eggs to make an omelette’, locals could be forgiven for thinking that the area behind the main Wood St shops resembles a bomb site. 

 

May is underway and the season is turning. If you haven't seen the change of colour in the leaves yet, you soon will, especially if you live where early frosts bite.

The settlement from the Auditor-General’s Office with Kaipara District Council is unexceptional, to say the least.

Helping people and saving lives is in Peter Davies’ blood. When it comes to flying helicopters there’s not much the Northland pilot hasn’t done.
 

 

Stolen firearms - Police are urging firearms license holders to make sure their weapons are tightly secured.
Abuse help - Police say the number of domestic disputes they attend throughout the region is still ‘a lot’.
Full recovery - The 10-year-old boy who suffered serious injuries related to an accidental strangulation

Marino, the kiwi attacked by a dog in bush above Kapawiti Road last October, received a big welcome when she was returned to Marunui Conservation last month.

 

After an intensive independent telephone survey conducted recently in the Mangawhai region to find out the listening habits of locals, results are very positive for the two locally based radio stations.

 

Police are urging Mangawhai landlords to obtain a methamphetamine screening test, before renting out their holiday homes to short and long term tenants.

Wellsford Senior Sergeant, Geoff Medland, says Mangawhai has a history of transient meth labs due to the area being a holiday destination with large numbers of bachs for rent.
 

Mangawhai Museum and Historical Society chair, Christine Bygrave, will report on a successful first year of operation for the museum when the society’s AGM is held at the museum at 3pm on Friday May 20.
 

 

Harmonious songs, impassioned cries and the stamping of feet resounded through the Maungaturoto hills and valleys in early April, as the 41st Tai Tokerau Festival kicked off.

 

 

In a decision passed down on May 3, the Supreme Court dismissed the Mangawhai Ratepayers and Residents Association (MRRA's) application to appeal a decision of the High Court in 2013, which found the rating increase to help pay for a new wastewater system was not unlawful.

Cycle-walkway essential - In a recent letter Christian Simon raised the issue
Double standard? - In your most recent issue you published a letter from me
Better treatment option - Dear John Robertson: The advantage of a free country
Beach access issues - I was very upset recently
 

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Like all quintessential New Zealand towns, Mangawhai is built around its community hall, centralising the community’s social gatherings, meetings and markets.

 

 

With silence and prayer, laying of wreaths and salutes of respect, Mangawhai commemorated April 25, Anzac Day.


 

 

Recent ANZAC Day commemorations have reminded us of the people that made sacrifices so that today we live in a democratic and free country. 

 

For the second successive year Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust will hold an Open Forum at the Mangawhai Club. This follows last year’s very successful inaugural forum.


 

We all take pride in our property – our greatest investment – and many take a lot of looking after, but these days it’s ‘so much to do, so little time.’ So, just give Gavin Walker a call.
 

March AGM and bus trip - In March the club had a very enjoyable bus trip to Couldrey House 
Student speaker impresses - Our April meeting was back at base in Mangawhai
Two weeks at UN conference - The main speaker was Sally Smith who has spoken at the club previously about sailing to Antarctica.
 

If you are interested in learning about technology, or if your computer, smartphone or tablet seem like some dark arcane impenetrable magic understandable only to your children and grandchildren, then the SeniorNet Open Day may be a good place for you on Saturday May 21 at The Club, 10am-2pm.

Over 50 primary school aged surfers converged on Waipu Cove on Saturday April 16 for the inaugural Northland Primary Schools Surfing Championships hosted by the Northland Surfing Association (NSA).

India’s Gaurav Gill and Australian based co-driver Glenn Macneall have won the 2016 International Rally of Whangarei by 30.4 seconds in the MRF Tyres Skoda Fabia R5.