July 25 2023
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Heritage on the hilltop Farewell for annual Santa parade
Following an appeal to gauge the support of the annual Dargaville Lions Christmas Parade, the group decided to …
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p Kaipara Heritage Machinery Club’s open day last Saturday drew in the crowds, with classic car and hot rod enthusiasts rolling in to celebrate. The machinery club’s extensive collection of antiquities was on display, with engines running and classic machines fired up in the large display hall atop Harding Park’s hill. The heritage machinery club hosted the open day as a chance to invite new members to sign up, joining a friendly team which is working to preserve industrial and agricultural history.
Matariki trails welcome riders
The Kaipara Cycling Club enjoyed a Matariki ride during last week’s seasonal celebrations, heading out before …
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Off-road tourism ignites contention u by Andy Bryenton
Kaipara’s Ripiro Beach made the national news twice last week for controversial reasons surrounding the proliferation of off-road driving tourism on the west coast.
A library re-established
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the vehicles going down the beach,” said Mr Elliott. While some have supported Mr Elliot’s sentiments, others have struck back, opining that these tourists are driving on a beach classified as an open road and bringing financial support to Dargaville. Numbers of 4x4 drivers using the beach have soared since West Auckland’s Muriwai was closed to traffic in 2022.
Councillor Ash Nayyar says that a ban is not the way to go, but education and enforcement of the rules are vital. “We love tourism, so we are not going to shoo them off,” says Mr Nayyar. “However, it’s vital that we have clear and better signage dictating the rules and etiquette of beach driving. We could use the services of our freedom camping rangers to monitor this and educate people.” ¢
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Te Kōpuru has a new library thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of community volunteers; the most …
A letter in the New Zealand Herald saw one correspondent label four-wheel drive enthusiasts visiting Kaipara as ‘hooning’ and guilty of ‘excessive speed and ignorance’. A later discussion on Radio New Zealand featured commentary from author Matt Elliot. “These four-wheel drives were congregating at Poutō, it was obviously a very well-organised meet of these guys, and there were just literally swarms of
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