February 25 2025
32 Victoria Street DARGAVILLE Kaipara’s Only Regional Newspaper | Kaipara owned and Operated
NORTHLAND
FIELD DAYS
PHONE 09 439 6910
10,510 Copies DELIVERED FREE throughout the Kaipara
Northland Field Days in bloom
p Tangiteroria School students helped prepare the Northland Field Days site for visitors this week. Their artwork, Evolution, is part of the bale art competition.
Pensioner housing needs fiscal top-up
Hubs on hold, hall forges ahead
The necessities of fiscal caution have put the brakes on plans to erect two community hubs in Mangawhai …
u by Andy Bryenton
P5
Council election dates are set
P7
Funds are sought to be released from the District Leadership Depreciation Reserves of the Kaipara District Council, the fund earmarked for IT, council vehicles and council property replacements. With $3.2 million in this account in June 2024, there’s enough to cover the budgetary stretch that has struck the pensioner housing rebuild. The question is whether it should be used for this purpose. The need for more funding for this project comes down to several factors, following the necessity to get the Fagan Place pensioner housing units up to the government-mandated healthy homes
standard by July 1 this year. By May 2022, it was identified that action would be needed, and the then-incumbent council tried to find a community housing provider to take over the precinct. Estimates on the cost of an upgrade at that time ran to $180,000 or more for each unit, a plan which was rejected. By September 2024, months before the healthy homes rules came into effect, a source for new buildings was found and an indicative price of $2.9 million tabled. However, the report presented to councillors this week notes that ‘through the handover process, project delivery
staff identified on-site installation items that had not been scoped or approved during the procurement process’. It’s also noted that with a July 1 deadline, the development of ‘for construction’ plans is still underway, and the pricing in KDC hands is only indicative, not finalised. Without the approval of another $1.2 million the project could not be completed, with what council staff call ‘significant financial implications’. Councillors will be asked whether the option of using DLDR funds to complete the housing project might be acceptable at this week’s meeting. ¢
Ltd
The local body elections of 2025 have had their important dates set, and now it’s time to enrol to vote …
Plans to improve pensioner housing in Mangawhai, have struck financial turbulence, with a proposal going before councillors this week to allocate another $1.2 million to the project.
P: 021 705 837 E: brett@barnbuildersnz.co.nz W: www.barnbuilders.co.nz
CONSTRUCTION SPECIALISTS FARM & LIFESTYLE
LIGHT COMMERCIAL
BARN STYLE HOMES