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Kaitaia veteran Ivan Grbich is one of about a dozen World War II veterans asked to share their stories for Stuff's In Honour feature. His memories of the war are still amazingly vivid.
Hey neighbours, how's lockdown life treating you? If you've been trying to sort some long overdue DIY jobs around the home, with mixed results, help is at hand.
Have you already had a DIY disaster you need to fix, or are you looking to do some home improvements but don't where … View moreHey neighbours, how's lockdown life treating you? If you've been trying to sort some long overdue DIY jobs around the home, with mixed results, help is at hand.
Have you already had a DIY disaster you need to fix, or are you looking to do some home improvements but don't where where to start? Email homed@stuff.co.nz to tell us all about it - including photos if you can - and we'll ask our experts for their advice on how you can fix things up, or where to start with your project.
So whether you have a interiors design dilemma, a need for some home DIY know how, bigger plans for a reno you'd like an expert opinion on, or even a tough cleaning problem you want cleared up, we'll get you some answers. What are you waiting for? Email your questions and photos to homed@stuff.co.nz and we'll get back to you.
Please note: We are unable to recommend specific businesses or tradespeople to provide quotes etc.
Alert Level 3 is a milestone in our struggle against COVID-19. We are all responsible for what happens next. Every contact we make is a chance for the virus to spread.
We could easily lose what we have gained. Our success, or failure, depends on the decisions that we’ll each make alone – … View moreAlert Level 3 is a milestone in our struggle against COVID-19. We are all responsible for what happens next. Every contact we make is a chance for the virus to spread.
We could easily lose what we have gained. Our success, or failure, depends on the decisions that we’ll each make alone – but which in turn – will affect all of us.
Two weeks then a review
• On 11 May, we will review our progress and decide if we can safely continue to step down restrictions, or if more measures are required to protect us all.
• So the decisions we each make now, matter. Because every interaction we have is an opportunity for the virus to spread.
Keeping safe at Alert Level 3
• At Alert Level 3, the best way to keep those around you safe, is by keeping your bubble small. Interact with as few people as possible. Less people equals less risk. And continue to stay at home whenever you can.
• We should each be making the minimal number of trips. Be sure to stay local, and only make necessary trips.
• And importantly, work and learn from home if you can.
Let’s do this
We’re a team of 5 million. Formidable. And we can do this.
So thank you New Zealand for making the right decisions, when it really counts.
Northland, you’ll be off and racing with 2degrees speedy new Rural Broadband, and we want you to take it for a Test Drive on us, no strings attached. You’ll even get a free modem to trial.
If you stick around we’ll sweeten things up with a $200 joining credit on our 170GB … View moreNorthland, you’ll be off and racing with 2degrees speedy new Rural Broadband, and we want you to take it for a Test Drive on us, no strings attached. You’ll even get a free modem to trial.
If you stick around we’ll sweeten things up with a $200 joining credit on our 170GB Rural Broadband Plans for your home or business. Just $85/month incl GST on a 12-month term.
Give our NZ based team a call on 0800 022 202.
Rural Broadband not available everywhere. Offers end 03/05/20. $299 non-returned modem fee may apply. Click for T&Cs.
Whangarei Campus
Tēnā koutou katoa. Given the circumstances regarding COVID-19, teaching and delivery of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi programmes will differ from normal over the coming weeks or months.
We will keep staff, students and our wider community updated on this as best we can.… View moreWhangarei Campus
Tēnā koutou katoa. Given the circumstances regarding COVID-19, teaching and delivery of Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi programmes will differ from normal over the coming weeks or months.
We will keep staff, students and our wider community updated on this as best we can.
We urge students to please stay enrolled. Studylink payments of allowances and loans will continue as normal.
Follow our facebook page and visit our COVID-19 webpage to keep updated. We appreciate your patience.
Ngā manaakitanga, keep safe.
ANZAC Day will be marked a little differently this year. We’ll be warm and cosy at home and The Last Post won’t start until you press play. But one thing will be the same – remembrance.
To help us remember those who served and understand what ‘to serve’ meant, … View moreANZAC Day will be marked a little differently this year. We’ll be warm and cosy at home and The Last Post won’t start until you press play. But one thing will be the same – remembrance.
To help us remember those who served and understand what ‘to serve’ meant, Ryman recorded their ANZAC resident’s stories. Some are humorous, others are tragic and eye-opening, but they all offer insight into the courage, bravery, and determination required to serve.
What better way to remember than to read the memories of those who were there?
For over 150 years, the news and information we uncover and provide have relied on your support, either through subscription to our newspapers, consuming news via our online sites, or indirectly through the patronage you provide to those who advertise with us.
Now there’s a … View moreFor over 150 years, the news and information we uncover and provide have relied on your support, either through subscription to our newspapers, consuming news via our online sites, or indirectly through the patronage you provide to those who advertise with us.
Now there’s a new way you can support us: by making direct financial contributions to help power our news teams up and down the country.
Make a contribution and you’ll help our journalists continue to do what they do best: provide our readers with trustworthy, accurate and reliable news.
When we move to Alert Level 3 we will be able to offer our full range of residential & commercial Pest Control services.
PESTWORX are committed to maintaining a quality Pest Control service whilst mitigating the spread of Covid-19.
To ensure safe practice we will be following strict … View moreWhen we move to Alert Level 3 we will be able to offer our full range of residential & commercial Pest Control services.
PESTWORX are committed to maintaining a quality Pest Control service whilst mitigating the spread of Covid-19.
To ensure safe practice we will be following strict protocols to avoid non-essential person to person contact by social distancing and the use of PPE.
Our technicians are GPS tracked for easy contact tracing if required.
We hope that you have stayed safe and well during these uncertain times.
Create a simple hanging bird feeder from a few pieces of plywood and a terracotta pot and saucer.
Make the most of this weekend with this easy step by step project idea from Resene. Find out how to create this quick and easy project yourself
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) says it is doing all it can to ensure it’s ready when the nation enters the next phase of the central government response to the Covid-19 pandemic next week.
Council chair Penny Smart says just like the rest of the nation, councillors had adapted quickly to … View moreThe Northland Regional Council (NRC) says it is doing all it can to ensure it’s ready when the nation enters the next phase of the central government response to the Covid-19 pandemic next week.
Council chair Penny Smart says just like the rest of the nation, councillors had adapted quickly to the Level Four lockdown restrictions and were now collectively turning their attention to how the Level Three status in place from Tuesday 28 April would impact the organisation.
The council’s crucial functions had continued throughout the pandemic, including environmental monitoring deemed critical to ensuring the health and wellbeing of Northland communities, ensuring maritime navigational safety, flood and drought monitoring and management and supporting critical Civil Defence work.
Civil Defence emergency management in the region is co-funded and staffed by all four local authorities (including the NRC) and team members have been liaising with regional stakeholders, emergency services, Northland DHB, key suppliers of food and water, volunteer groups, national agencies, iwi and the National Emergency Management Agency throughout both the pandemic and ongoing regional drought response.
As part of that, a team of Northland Civil Defence staff has been supported by staff from all four councils, working from a range of locations. Among a wide range of workstreams the Northland-wide Civil Defence effort has led or been involved in in recent weeks have been;
Making sure support is available to assist communities in a welfare capacity (things like ensuring vulnerable people have access to food, water, medicines and other essentials)
Assisting to ensure critical infrastructure like telecommunications, electricity, fuel supply, food distribution are maintained and kept running
Co-ordinating information flows to and from the national response and helping to ensure an accurate picture of the effects on Northland is conveyed.
Elsewhere, regional council subsidiary, Northland Inc, the North’s Regional Economic Development Agency and Regional Tourism Organisation, has been assisting in a business continuity capacity to help a variety of Northland companies impacted by the Level Four lockdown and would continue to do so under Level Three.
Chair Smart says While Level Three was effectively the start of central government’s intention to gradually and carefully ease the nation out of the most stringent pandemic-related restrictions, the regional council was determined to do its best to support those restrictions during the transitional period.
“You may notice increased numbers of regional council staff returning to the field under the Level Three restrictions, particularly in our core areas of environmental monitoring and enforcement, flood management, biosecurity land management activities.”
However, during Level Three councillors would continue to work remotely as this had proven to be an effective way for them to continue to conduct governance business. (Throughout Alert Level Four, regional councillors had continued to hold virtual weekly workshops and had also carried out their first regular monthly formal meeting (again remotely) this week (subs: Tues 21 April).)
As expected, a great deal of councillors’ current attention and energies were being expended ensuring the organisation’s Annual Plan – originally drawn up prior to the pandemic – reflected the very different forces and conditions (economic and other) now at work.
“As with many other local authorities, a formal period for public consultation on our Annual Plan was drawing to a close late last month (subs: March) just as the nation went into the Level Four lockdown.
Chair Smart says while the world had then changed more or less overnight, local authorities’ ongoing responsibilities to plan to provide a number of services essential to keeping people and communities healthy and safe had not.
“We’ve accepted a number of late submissions on our Annual Plan and the very real concerns our communities have about Covid-19’s impact are being factored into our considerations.”
The council had already brought forward its planned meeting to consider submissions and adopt its Annual Plan and – after initially hoping to do this early next week (subs: 28 April) – the associated financial complexities meant this would now happen early next month (subs: May), still several weeks earlier than originally planned.
Chair Smart reiterated the rescheduling was intended to provide Northlanders with all the certainty it could; no small feat considering the operating landscape was evolving rapidly and in some cases, changing by the day.
She said much of the spending originally proposed had been intended to maintain the council’s long-term focus on helping native life flourish, caring for water and protecting communities from flood risk.
While it was always a difficult balancing act for local government in terms of desired outcomes versus affordability, getting that balance right was even more critical in the current environment and involved considerable work at both a governance and staff level.
Councillors would keep the public fully informed on their plans (including around rates) going forward and wanted to reassure the community they had heard its calls for financial constraint.
“However, while we appreciate rates bills are just one of a number of critical financial considerations for people, if rates are not paid our region’s ability to collectively recover from this pandemic will be less rapid, harder and even more expensive next year.”
At this point, the advice from the regional council was still for those experiencing financial hardship to contact their local district council (which collected regional council rates on its behalf) to discuss their circumstances and arrange a payment.
Councillors also appreciated the economic support Central Government had already delivered to Northland and Northlanders in various ways and the way people in the region had worked – and continued to work – to support each other through the pandemic.
“Regional council has continued to engage strongly with central government on behalf of our region to ensure we get our fair share of its available funding to ensure our regional economic can recover as quickly as possible post-Covid.
Finally, councillors urged people to heed central government’s request to stay home, stay safe, look after each other and stay up to date with official guidance at www.covid19.govt.nz...
Northland, you’ll be off and racing with 2degrees speedy new Rural Broadband, and we want you to take it for a Test Drive on us, no strings attached. You’ll even get a free modem to trial.
If you stick around we’ll sweeten things up with a $200 joining credit on our 170GB … View moreNorthland, you’ll be off and racing with 2degrees speedy new Rural Broadband, and we want you to take it for a Test Drive on us, no strings attached. You’ll even get a free modem to trial.
If you stick around we’ll sweeten things up with a $200 joining credit on our 170GB Rural Broadband Plans for your home or business. Just $85/month incl GST on a 12 month term.
Give our NZ based team a call on 0800 022 202.
The Doctors Kerikeri strive to keep our community informed and healthy.
We are preparing for Flu season 2020. To avoid the spread of flu we would like to take this opportunity to remind our community about preventable measures every day. Simple actions such as washing your hands or staying home … View moreThe Doctors Kerikeri strive to keep our community informed and healthy.
We are preparing for Flu season 2020. To avoid the spread of flu we would like to take this opportunity to remind our community about preventable measures every day. Simple actions such as washing your hands or staying home from work and/or school
when feeling unwell reduces the spread of germs.
If you do become unwell please CALL THE MEDICAL CENTRE FIRST before presenting at the practice. You will be triaged and helped over the phone by one of our clinical staff. If you do need to come into the practice, please follow instructions given to you by our team. This is to ensure the best care for you and others attending the medical centre.
For information regarding COVID19 (Coronavirus) please call the HELP LINE 0800 358 5453
Phone: 09-407 7777
Address: 4 Homestead Road, Kerikeri 0230
Anzac Day is being celebrated differently this year, with virtual services and online events, all from our own living rooms, balconies and driveways. Download this pdf of a poppy, by award-winning illustrator Sharon Murdoch, to print off and stick in a front window - To show that even in lockdown, … View moreAnzac Day is being celebrated differently this year, with virtual services and online events, all from our own living rooms, balconies and driveways. Download this pdf of a poppy, by award-winning illustrator Sharon Murdoch, to print off and stick in a front window - To show that even in lockdown, in our small bubbles, we shall not forget. That we can still say thank you for the sacrifices, we can still pay tribute to the bravery of so many.
As a first-home buyer it pays to weigh up your options to see whether buying new or buying 'character' is best for you.
The Northland Regional Council has named the four winners of its inaugural ‘Tū i teora Scholarship’ programme; Courtney Sanson, Katherine (Katarina) Tautuhi, Huia Webby and Zane Williams.
The council’s Deputy Chair Justin Blaikie says the scholarships aim to support students studying or … View moreThe Northland Regional Council has named the four winners of its inaugural ‘Tū i teora Scholarship’ programme; Courtney Sanson, Katherine (Katarina) Tautuhi, Huia Webby and Zane Williams.
The council’s Deputy Chair Justin Blaikie says the scholarships aim to support students studying or training in areas that align with council’s focus and mission of ‘working together to create a healthy environment, strong economy and resilient communities’.
They also aim to build Māori capacity within Te Taitokerau and provide opportunities for further education, with two earmarked for Māori who whakapapa (share a genealogical connection) to Te Taitokerau.”
Councillor Blaikie says while the scholarships were an existing initiative and applications had closed before central government introduced its Covid-19 pandemic response, they would hopefully be of even more practical value to recipients given the impact the pandemic was having on tertiary studies.
The application official period for the scholarships ended in mid-February, with 72 applications, three-quarters of which were from Māori who whakapapa to Te Taitokerau.
Over recent weeks – including as the country moved into Level Four lockdown – those applications had been reviewed by a four-strong selection panel* which had met remotely earlier this month (subs: April) to carry out judging.
*(Selection panel members were Te Tai Tokerau Māori and Council (TTMAC) Working Party representative Georgina Connelly (of Te Uri O Hau Settlement Trust) and regional council staff Lorna Douglas (Eastern Coast Land Manager), Cathy Erstich (Community Engagement Manager) and Auriole Ruka (Maori Engagement Manager).
Councillor Blaikie says the panel was unanimous in its selection of the four winners, who represent a diverse range of backgrounds and career study paths.
“The winners have now been informed and regional councillors have been briefed on their success. My fellow councillors and I congratulate them and acknowledge the very important role they – and indeed all those who applied or are engaged in tertiary studies – will have to play in our region’s collective future.”
Winners (alphabetically by surname) are:
Courtney Sanson; from Tautoro, near Kaikohe (Ngapuhi/Te Rarawa).
Has a Bachelor of Science (Earth Sciences) going on to Master of
Environmental Sciences (Waikato University) focusing on water quality
Katherine (Katarina) Tautuhi; from Kaipara (Te Uri o Hau/Ngati Porou/Te Rarawa). Katarina has a Bachelor of Mātauranga Māori with a focus on environmental issues within Tai Tokerau. Currently studying towards a Masters of Indigenous Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi with a focus on Māori worldview of Te Ao Tūroa, the environment
Huia Webby; from Whangarei (2018 Whangarei Girls High graduate).
Studying Bachelor of Science majoring in marine (Wellington University) - entering second year of studies.
Zane Williams; from Whangarei (2017 Kamo High graduate).
Studying for Bachelor of AgriCommerce (Massey University)
Further information on the winners – and the scholarships themselves – will be available shortly from the council’s website: www.nrc.govt.nz...
Caption for ‘Huia Webby Copyright: Victoria University of Wellington - 20190900’
A supplied, pre-pandemic lockdown image of one of the four Tū i te ora Scholarship winners Huia Webby. (Photocredit: Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) Image Service
Caption for ‘Justin Blaikie (P) - 20191029’
Deputy Chair Justin Blaikie…Northlanders continuing their tertiary studies – despite the current pandemic response – will have an important role to play in future and the inaugural ‘Tū i te ora Scholarship’ winners especially so.
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