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A warm Kaipara welcome Inspired by nature The Dargaville High School auditorium is sporting three brightly coloured panels after art students and leaders collaborated in creating the locally …
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p Citizens from a dozen foreign nations became fully-fledged Kiwis last week in a ceremony hosted by Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson on a picture-perfect early autumn day in Dargaville.
New wheels for health service After 700,000km and helping thousands of locals get to health appointments the Kaipara Community Health Trust …
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Rates rise wrestled down u by Andy Bryenton
The Kaipara District Council will send its annual plan out to the public for consultation after achieving a second year of rates rises in single digits, despite economic pressures driving rates up nationwide.
Hydrology report reveals depths of drought The Northland Regional Council has released a hydrology report charting the extent and severity of the drought …
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Kiwi homeowners faced rates rises of on average 15 per cent in 2024, and the Kaipara District Council managed to deliver an average under 10 per cent. This year, early planning information from other councils indicates a rates rise of 5–15 per cent around the nation, with the KDC managing to clip costs and deliver an 8.9 per cent increase. Prime minister Christopher Luxon has told councils to “rein in the fantasies” and focus on core business to tackle rates rises.
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“Pick up the rubbish. Fix the pipes. Fill in potholes, and more generally, maintain local assets quickly, carefully and costeffectively,” said Mr Luxon. To pare down spending and drop rates rises from over 10 per cent, the council agreed that depreciation of water infrastructure, roading plans and money to pay consultants on Three Waters’ matters would be reduced. Also discussed in the 2025 financials is the possibility of cancelling $100,000 in loans to the Mangawhai
Museum, which museum leadership has long sought. “Going forward, it’s nice to be able to keep our commitment to keep those rates down, we are a small council, and being able to keep those rate rises under 15 per cent, which seems to be an average around the country, is a pretty mean feat,” said mayor Craig Jepson. The mayor also noted that cyclone and tornado recovery had put pressure on the KDC over and above the usual fiscal forces at work in the wider economy. ¢
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