St John project in full swing

 

At the eastern end of the Mangawhai Activity Zone the sound of children playing has given way to the rattle of chainsaws and the roar of the wood chipper.

Reagan and his team from Orang Otang Tree Trimmers are up to their earmuffs in scrub, timber and mulch as they fell trees and dispose of the debris before preparing the site that will afford a

permanent home for the proposed St John Ambulance station.

A bulldozer is expected to have the site completely cleared in a little over a week.

St John Northland District operations manager Tony

Devanney says it’s great to see something tangible happening after four years of planning.

“The tender process is close to a decision for the construction of the building itself and connections are still optimistic the building

will be close to completion by Christmas.”

That will be followed by some extensive landscaping befitting the location.

Mangawhai St John Acting Manager Kay Carey says the station will be a big step forward as, both locally, and in conjunction with other local districts, the Mangawhai squad attend 250 to 300 callouts per year.

“The recent recruitment drive was successful in bringing in eight new volunteers

currently undergoing training and though the team are volunteers and thus not available on a 24/7 basis the workload is definitely increasing.”

No doubt construction of the station will create a lot of public interest and it will be great to have this important service locally, operating from a relatively central site and with easy public access.

By Rob Pooley

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