May 6 2025
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Hooked on west coast surfcasting Water services collaboration Kaipara is not tackling water issues raised by Local Waters Done Well alone, with a vote confirming the …
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p The Kauri Coast Surfcasting Contest was a major success for 2025. Shawn House bagged a 7.82kg monster, while Alastair Hammond landed a specimen weighing 3.34kg, and Manu Kareko hooked a 2.42kg example; prizes were presented by Matt Hewetson. The trio of winners were part of a contingent of more than 400 anglers who descended on the Ripiro coast for the annual fishing festivities. Special thanks go out to all the organisers and sponsors.
New doctor for Dargaville in limbo
Farewell to Dargaville’s cinema ambassador
Cinema volunteers, founding members of the Anzac Theatre’s governing trust, patrons, friends and well-wishers …
u by Andy Bryenton
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More detail call in landfill case
Despite an extensive round of court hearings and more than six years of campaigning, opponents of the …
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Plans for a new medical practice in Dargaville have been stalled and potentially jeopardised by the inaction of the government entity which should expedite such efforts, says mayor Craig Jepson. The mayor expre s sed acute disappointment that the positive efforts of the Maungatapere Medical Centre had been met with apparent indifference by Health New Zealand. The practice manager of the MMC confirmed that they had waited two months for a response from the government’s health authorities, and the extreme delay had led to cancelled plans. These included the hiring of a qualified doctor and a nurse practitioner, who were keen to help ease the well-publicised, controversial health availability crisis in Dargaville. However, with the delay stretching on, these professionals were
advised that there was no guaranteed position for them to take up. The same goes for a premises, which would have housed the new practice. “I am appalled and angry that my constituents, our citizens and those in private enterprise who are trying to do something very positive for Dargaville have been treated this way,” said mayor Jepson. “It’s unacceptable that when there is a well-known shortage of doctors, when people are waiting for weeks to see a GP, that people offering a solution are ignored.” “It’s incredibly disappointing for our rural community to miss out on
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the opportunity of another GP service assisting to meet the needs of our increasing population in Dargaville and surrounds,” said Kaipara Community Health Trust CEO Debbie Evans. The wait time to visit a doctor in Dargaville can sometimes run to three weeks or more, and the government has acknowledged there’s a shortage of rural GPs. Initiatives to hire, train and even immigrate medical professionals have been highly publicised. This is one of the reasons that the mayor, and the MMC’s leadership, have been so baffled by the lack of action from Health New Zealand when they have worked hard to provide a solution. ¢