Locksmart Locksmiths
March 5 2024
• Residential • Digital Locks • Automotive • Commercial • Property Re-Keys • Lock Maintenance
0800 334 122 Kaipara’s Only Regional Newspaper | Kaipara owned and Operated
info@locksmart.co.nz www.locksmart.co.nz
10,510 Copies DELIVERED FREE throughout the Kaipara
Sun shines on field days u by Andy Bryenton
Northland Field Days welcomed in the crowds for 2024, with plenty of new farming innovations alongside sports and games, carnival rides for the children, street cuisine and food trucks, and good weather for all three days of festivities.
Rates specifics tabled The Kaipara District Council has produced more detailed figures on rates, charting potential changes for different parts of the district and listing …
P3
Have your say on park plan
p Field Days patrons enjoyed three days of late-summer sunshine, as thousands flocked to take in the region’s biggest outdoor event
Mangawhai Community Park serves as a recreational hub, nationally significant sports facility, cultural and …
P5
News service spreads its wings
A new Māori media news service has been launched across Northland, with three groups joining forces to …
P7
“We have had a very successful 2024 Northland Field Days,” says event spokesperson Luciana Schwarz. “We had just under 19,000 visitors across the three days, and everything went well.” A packed schedule of exhibitors awaited those thousands of guests, some of whom came back for multiple visits to the big site just north of Dargaville. More than 300 businesses, groups and organisations pitched their marquees and rolled in a fleet of utes, bikes, ATVs and tractors to meet the public. Included in this number for the first time in many years was one of the Northland Rescue Helicopter organisation’s big Sikorsky choppers, helping to raise funds for future rescue missions. As usual, awards were given to those groups and businesses who made an
outstanding effort to present their site. The best new site award went to Marsden Metals, who championed the cause of recycling, bringing out their big neongreen machines to promote a circular resource economy. The Northland Regional Council’s plan to serve up wild venison bruschetta with red onion jam and horopito creme fraiche hit the spot, with assistance from levelfour cookery students at NorthTec, and earned them the best outdoor site award. Meanwhile the best indoor site prize went to the pest-eradication innovators from Trapinator, giving the three top sites an environmental theme, all about controlling introduced species and recycling for the future. The February 26 closure of the Brynderwyn Hills road had little to no
impact on the big event, which remains Northland’s largest. “People are probably used to it as I think it’s the second time around we’re having the show when the Brynderwyns are closed,” said Luciana. Instead of proving an impediment to the field days, the diversion around the major road repairs sparked a tourism campaign supported by Northland Inc and local councils, with the slogan ‘it’s Northland time’. If the success of Northland Field Days, and the number of visitors who came north to witness the three-day celebration is an indication, that slogan may be entirely accurate. Next up for the field days site is a major hot rod and motorcycle show, to be hosted on March 16. ¢
LOW COST
700cc QUIET, KAWASAKI POWERFUL ENGINE
HEAVY ENGINEERING
LOW SERVICING COSTS DESIGNED WITH SERVICING IN MIND
ROBUST 700CC SINGLE PACKS PUNCH LOCKABLE DIFFERENTIAL AND FULL ENGINE BRAKING
BUILT KAWASAKI STRONG USING KHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES TECHNOLOGY
OF OWNERSHIP
WINDSCREEN AND WIPERS NOT INCLUDED AND ARE OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES. PRICE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WHILE STOCKS LAST.
RELIABILITY COMES STANDARD CA Motorcycles, 130 Jervois St, Dargaville 09 439 0170 | carl@camotorcycles.co.nz
SEE US FOR FIELD DAYS DEALS ALL THIS MONTH!