By Local Matters general manager Jannette Thompson A year like no other in living memory is how many of us will look back on 2020. The stuff of Hollywood movies suddenly became our reality and words such as bubbles, clusters, quarantine, lockdown, community...... Read More

The Oyster Party has erected signs in Kaipara ki Mahurangi promising a fresh approach. Party leader Tom Oyst says other foods have also been gaining attention for their aphrodisiac qualities. The Pomegranate Party has been seeding doubt while the Banana...... Read More

Residents who rely on rainwater are being urged to install an extra tank or they could be left high and dry by Auckland Council this summer. Ongoing drought pressures and Emergency Budget cuts mean that even if household tanks run dry and there are...... Read More

Pic-y rodents Students trapping rats around the grounds of Mahurangi College have found their local rodents are fussy eaters. The school’s forest project coordinator, Colin Binsted, told last month’s Rodney Local Board meeting that the bog-standard...... Read More

Readers with long enough memories may recall Claytons. It was one of the first ‘non-alcoholic alcohol’ drinks in NZ, packaged to look like whisky. The ad went something like: ‘Claytons – the drink you have when you’re not...... Read More

Readers may have noticed a fair number of stories about new developments on the Coast in recent issues, including in this one. The paper has always alerted readers to planned developments – a task that has become more difficult. In the Rodney District...... Read More

One Warkworth’s perennial campaign to get us all to shop local has suffered a grave setback. A Mahurangi Matters reporter stepped into the Warkworth branch of Noel Leeming recently to purchase an electric shaver – no doubt to enhance what...... Read More

It is with a sense of great relief that we bring you this first post-Covid 19 lockdown issue of Mahurangi Matters. Relief that the PM’s high stakes gamble of throwing the country into lockdown with just 48 hours’ notice paid off and relief...... Read More

I must be in honest in saying that it is not often that I try and make something new out of left-overs. Recently I broke that mould. My son complained that last night’s chicken drumsticks were, I quote, “gross”. That was very unfortunate...... Read More

Not once in the last six weeks has anyone told me that quitting meat will save the planet. It’s nice to have a break. Indeed, while it remains essential that we continue to scale up our efforts to minimise New Zealand’s environmental footprint,...... Read More