My Account
Footpath fails
Thank for your timely article about the footpath hazard by the ANZ (MM Jan 16). I also was tripped up by the uneven pavers there back in May 2018, badly damaging my ribs. Myself and companions put in reports to Auckland Council. I did get a reply from the Council implying there was no money to fix this problem. When having my ribs checked by the doctor, the nurses at the medical center mentioned they have a few people coming in as a result of accidents from the uneven footpaths in Warkworth. I see today there has been some tarseal put on some of the path around the trees. What a waste of time; the trees need to go. They are not natives and will not be missed by passers-by. Our residents’ wellbeing is far more valuable than some trees. Stop wasting money on minor repairs and fix once and for all.
Margaret Wright, Warkworth
Forget Lawrie Road
The recent article on the above subject is of particular interest to me and my family as we are the resident whose property is 50 meters from the Lawrie Rd transfer station.
The Warkworth area is undergoing significant residential and business growth and needs an efficient waste management system that adds as little as possible to landfills.
The council has the opportunity to partner with Northern Waste to build such a facility at the new site [off Sandspit Road] that Northern Waste has applied for resource consent and yet they continue to be fixated on applying a sticking plaster approach to the current site in Lawrie Road.
The Council have acknowledge that significant capital is needed to remediate this site to bring it back to square one even before a new facility could be built. I don’t believe that the site is suitable and I think it would be a waste of ratepayer money. Even if a new facility was built it would result in a significant amount for additional traffic into an area that it was never intended to handle. As to what would happen in the interim two year period with regards to handling the current volume of waste the Council has not yet make a decision.
The debacle that unfolded last year has shown that the Council lacks the ability to see the bigger picture and I wish I had more confidence in their ability to deliver to their own timelines but I don’t.
It’s about time they saw the light and backed Northern Wastes initiatives where commercial imperatives will drive success to deliver the type of facility that is needed to support the growth that has already started and will only accelerate when the motorway extension is completed.
Sure, we have a vested interest in seeing the Lawrie Road Transfer Station closed, but wouldn’t you if you were woken at 7.0 am daily with the excessive noise and then have looters and scroungers on site at night, some of whom take an interest in your property and assault your family.
The answer has to be a facility that is:
- going to have minimal impact on residents,
- is a fully enclosed facility with high levels of security monitoring
- that is compliant with ALL the council environmental standards [let them be the watchdogs]
- is commercially viable AND environmentally focussed
- has the capacity for growth that meets the areas long term needs
- ties in with future roading expansion into the area
that is definitely NOT Lawrie Road.
So lets get with the program, take off the rose coloured glasses of “boutique community recycling” [leave that to the community groups keen to work with Northern Waste] and support Northern Wastes resource application for a fully functional commercial and environmental focussed facility off Sandspit Road that is efficient, effective and will serve the whole area for decades to come.
John Norman & Family, Warkworth
You do the maths
In the article about the new Mahurangi bus services (MM Jan 30), Auckland Transport (AT) media manager Mark Hannan says bus passenger numbers are great considering the services are still relatively new. So let’s look at the numbers. In November, the weekday average is quoted at 250 to 350 passengers per day. Firstly, average means the mid-point, so we can take it that the true average is 300. Every weekday the network has 66 trips. That equates to 4.55 passengers per trip. On weekends the average number of passengers per day is 150. There are 38 trips, giving a loading of 3.95 per trip. If these numbers are considered great, then AT are way out in front for the Mediocrity Performance Trophy. The other Council departments are working very hard to plunge to this level. Lookout AT, they’re gaining. Even the Rodney Local Board, with all its incompetence, is struggling with the pace.
Lance Taylor, Te Hana.
Donation appreciation
I chair the Governance Board for an organisation called Abuse Prevention Services Inc. We provide group and individual programmes for both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and specialist counselling for children who have witnessed or been impacted by domestic violence in the Rodney and Hibiscus Coast area.
We currently run programmes in Warkworth, Orewa and Helensville. We are an NGO partly funded by the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Social Development and Oranga Tamariki. As with all NGOs, we are constantly looking for funding for our operational team and for resources for our programmes. I approached the Community Trading Post in Warkworth prior to Christmas with a request for funding for resources for our programmes starting in the new year. I cannot say enough in praise of this organisation, which is completely run by volunteers and aims to provide funding for community initiatives. They came back to me very quickly with enough funds to ensure that our team leaders had all the resources they required for our 2019 programmes, which have just started. We are very lucky in our community to have people who put community first and devote their time and energy to helping others. I think the Community Trading Post is an outstanding initiative and look forward to working with them on an ongoing basis.
I would be very grateful if you could give them a big shout out in Mahurangi Matters.
Sally Smith, Chair of Governance Abuse Prevention Services Inc.
Dirty deeds done cheap
Thank you Mahurangi Matters for challenging Auckland Transport (AT) on the condition of Matakana Road (MM Feb 13). AT are obviously not keen to outline how roading contracts are awarded or the process involved. It is obvious, however, that local contractors are not being used and big city contractors are favoured. At the beginning of 2018, these contractors spent weeks resealing Matakana Road only to find pot holes appearing weeks after. The same contractors have been responsible for recent problems. AT media relations manager Mark Hannan stated there had been ‘some melting’. That’s an understatement. Beth Houlbrooke blames increased activity due to quarrying, logging and cleanfills – hello Beth, I think that is what we call Council permitted activity – and then goes on to say that ATs maintenance budget is not equipped to bring these roads up to a standard necessary to withstand the amount of heavy traffic. No wonder the road falls to bits. Isn’t it true that roading contractors use the cheapest grade tar to ensure they have plenty of future work? This would explain melting tar and the fast deterioration of roads. With a thousand plus staff working at AT, northern Rodney ratepayers deserve better.
Neil Hatfull, Warkworth
Disgusting roads
When is enough, enough? Having visited family at Snells Beach, and deciding to head back on the Sunday evening of a long Auckland Anniversary weekend (in a deliberate attempt to avoid the more expected, if no less acceptable queues on the Monday), is it really reasonable to have to spend an hour travelling the last 1.5km on Sandspit Road to get back to SH1? What a disgusting state of affairs. Notwithstanding the immediate solution to build a slip lane at the intersection of Sandspit Road and Matakana Road, we are still being asked to rely on the new motorway and Matakana link road, which are a minimum of three years away, and likely longer. Auckland Council are determined to increase Warkworth’s population from about 4000 to 20,000, and subdivision development continues apace in Matakana, Snells Beach, Algies Bay and the Warkworth isthmus, yet it is obvious that Auckland Transport and NZTA are years behind in developing infrastructure that can cope with this growth. It is time that Auckland Council directed funding to real-world issues, and the Government stopped tinkering with the development of roading infrastructure north of Auckland. It is not only Warkworth area ratepayers who are disgusted with the lack of infrastructure development, but also visitors to the area.
Rhys Holding, Ellerslie
Why pick on the weir?
There seem to be many streams, creeks and small rivers below the weir for whitebait to breed. Why does a section of the Auckland council think it is vital to remove our weir for a few whitebait that may or may not be able to access yet another stream? To do this, they will destroy an historical site, inevitably cost lots of money, and inevitably make a mess for a while. They will also annoy heaps of people in Warkworth who love the weir as it is and consider it iconic to our town.
Bob and Sue Stevenson, Warkworth
Democracy must prevail
Many people who attended the packed town hall Wednesday February 13 were unable to express their views. Time ran out due to the quasi Auckland Council ‘experts’ waffling on regarding fish species never encountered in the Mahurangi River, plus associated costs of fish ladders/bridges copied from other countries.
Already three access slips exist. Paul Decker’s excellent knowledge indicated an additional access is possible for approximately $500. Seasons, tides, floods, water temperature and PH all combine to impact species.
All talk was skewed to ‘the whitebait’ by the “out of town experts,” hell bent on brain washing the public and disposing of the much loved and pleasing weir.
A wise gentleman pointed out: snapper are not seen in southern NZ and whitebait are relatively scarce in the north.
Phil Goff promised to keep our rates more or less at status quo however we now have an environmental targeted rate, a water targeted rate, a Rodney Local Board transport targeted rate, plus an extra petrol tax! What a sneaky underhanded way to drag more money in for Auckland.
Who decided Council could swoop down, steal and try to destroy something as iconic as the very beautiful 114 year old weir – built by pioneers for practicality and enjoyment.
Let Council start using Rodney’s extra extra rate money, firstly by cleaning up the piles of debris and rubbish on the off side of the bridge, addressing the unkempt Mahurangi Stream that feeds into the river, installing a couple of low cost fish access arms – all with our targeted rate money.
People at the meeting asked for a vote. It was denied.
Democracy must prevail. Our people in our area have a right to choose.
Would Auckland citizens like to see bulldozers from Rodney demolish their city winter gardens?
Deanna Yarndley, Warkworth
Parry Kauri Park
Into our park so lush and so green
Some wonderful Kauris there to be seen
So handsome and tall
But under threat and liable to fall
The trouble is a virus that enters the roots
Brought into the park on our dirty boots
We must brush our shoes to remove all the dirt
And with disinfectant give them a squirt
This will ensure our trees remain
For future generations to visit again and again.
Ray Jensen, president Kauri and Native Bushman Association
