Let's think big picture, infrastructure and the Long Term Plan
Let's think big picture and the Long Term Plan. “This year’s severe weather events really exposed the lack of resilience in our transportation network,” says Infrastructure Committee Chairman Simon Reid. "At the same time, economic conditions are tough and the costs of developing infrastructure have increased dramatically. These factors are shaping our thinking as we prepare the infrastructure budgets for the next 10 years as part of our 2024-2034 Long Term Plan."
🚗 On roading
“Our immediate focus is to invest in renewals and get our infrastructure where it needs to be. We need to get some basics right, like roadside drainage, shaping unsealed roads and making sure our facilities are weather tight. “Tackling outstanding road repairs from the last year will remain a big focus. With plans to fix the most complex slips locked in for the next 2-3 years, work is ramping up already this summer. “We have made significant progress, but some repair work will take time and building more resilient infrastructure is a major focus on for this Long Term Plan,” he said.
📈 Planning for growth
“There’s an opportunity now to make sure we plan well for growth and support development led by others. This includes the Hospital redevelopment and the Whangārei to Ruakākā expressway/rail network, Kāinga Ora housing developments and other significant private developments. “We also need to think about our communities’ growing sport and recreation needs. We’ll be identifying the location and scope of our future Sports Hub to take pressure off existing facilities such as Kensington. “Bream Bay and Northern areas are under growth pressure and some key investments will be required to absorb the growth of these communities now and in future,” said Cr Reid.
🌧 Climate resilience
“We need more focus on our coastal and other communities affected by recent weather events. In this LTP we’ll look at how we protect our City Centre as well as working through resilience plans within different catchments. Our new Coastal Policy will be aimed at working with communities to find sustainable solutions."
🛴 City centre
“In addition to flood protection, a key challenge is to keep our City Centre accessible for everyone. As we see vacant sites developed, we need sufficient parking in the right areas and to implement some of the improvements signalled in our City Centre Plan. In parallel to this, we’ll continue to improve roads to support vehicles and buses that take more passengers. Completing cycle connections will help us achieve the full benefits of our shared path network. Finally, while we won’t be able to do everything, completing key city centre projects, will allow us to connect our Town Basin and city centre together vibrantly to promote economic growth of our City. Affordability is going to be a major consideration as we consult with our wider community in early 2024."
Poll: Should we ditch daylight saving? 🕰️
First introduced in New Zealand in 1927 with the passing of the Summer Time Act, it's what we know as 'Daylight Saving' and this year it ends on the first Sunday in April.
While we do get to sleep in this time around, some people would like to scrap the clock tinkering for good.
And why? Some evidence suggests the time changes are bad for our health as they mess with sleep patterns leading to short-term fatigue and affecting mood. Meanwhile the hour change is frustrating for farmers and a nightmare for getting the littlies to sleep. But what's your take?
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39.3% Yes - get rid of the clock changes
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58.7% No, I enjoy it
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2% Other - I'll share below
Be careful out there...
If you can, stay home today, and if you are travelling, please drive to the conditions. While we've had consistent rainfall overnight, the forecast is still likely to bring: dangerous river conditions, flooding, slips and landslides, hazardous driving conditions, and road closures in some areas. Northland Regional Council have shared some important updates this morning.
🚩 The Red and Orange Heavy Rain Warnings, as well as the Strong Wind Warning issued by MetService New Zealand, remain in place until the early hours of tomorrow morning. The key period of concern is still today through to Friday morning.
🚩 Many rivers in the Far North are running at high levels, with some still rising. (High tide on the east coast is early this afternoon.) The Kaeo River has reached a level where flooding on SH10 is possible. So if you’re travelling through Kaeo or Waimate North this morning, please take extra care.
🚩 There are already a number of State Highway closures and there are likely to be more, as well as local road closures. Crews will work to clear these as quickly as possible, but there may be delays. If you come across any local roading issues or storm related damage on public property, please report it through to your local council:
Whangarei District Council: www.wdc.govt.nz...
Kaipara District Council www.kaipara.govt.nz...
Kaipara District Council www.fndc.govt.nz...
🚩 There are a number of isolated power outages around the region. Northpower and Top Energy NZ crews will be out today working to resolve these issues as soon as they can, but this may take some time.
Check the latest outages here:
Northpower: northpower.nz...
Top Energy NZ: outages.topenergy.co.nz...
🚩 Northland Civil Defence works across the councils to provide local welfare support. If centres or marae are open to provide support, they will be published on the district council websites.
If you need welfare support, please ring your local district council.
Whangarei District Council
Phone: 0800 932 463
Far North District Council
Phone: 0800 920 029
Kaipara District Council
Phone: 0800 727 059
Finally, some key reminders for today:
- Do not enter floodwaters: it only takes a small amount of moving water to knock you off your feet or sweep a vehicle away.
- Avoid unnecessary travel over this period. Conditions may deteriorate quickly, and roads may close with little warning.
- Be prepared to self evacuate if you see rising water, feel unsafe, or notice conditions worsening.
- Be aware of landslide risks, and keep well away from areas that have recently been affected by slips or landslides. If you notice cracks in the ground, tilting trees or power poles, unusual noises, or rapid changes in stream levels, leave immediately.
If at any time you feel you, your whānau, or your property are at immediate risk, please call emergency services on 111
Civil Defence will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates here as more information becomes available.
This remains an evolving situation, so please continue to keep up to date with the latest information from MetService, NZTA and your local and regional councils.
If there's anything else you think we should all know, feel free to share it in the comments below.
Remembering the 51 Trees planted at Whangarei Falls, Tikipunga
1 July 2019
School children, parents and teachers, local maori Hapu members and Kuia & Kaumatua were among more than 100 people who together planted 51 trees in Whangārei to honour the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings.
The idea for the planting of native trees to remember those who lost their lives in the March attacks came from a student.
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