Where to park for Cathedral Cove, "Pawsitive" park success and more

Whitianga Wharf vehicle access will be closed from Monday 9 December to allow for the installation of a new barrier arm. Only approved wharf users will be able to access the area while work is being carried out. The works are being done to address health and safety issues and are expected to take two to three days. Pedestrians will still be able to access the wharf via the sidewalk.

The toilet at Tapu Domain has been closed due to vandalism.

Our contractors have ordered parts for repair, and expect it will reopen early next week.

The nearest toilet to the north is at Waikawau Domain, and to the south at Waiomu Domain.

Check out our new kerbside rubbish and recycling collection calendars for our 2024/25 summer peak period and 2025 on our website.

We’ve included information about summer peak collections (for those areas with an influx of summer visitors) in the 2025 calendar, in order to keep all the information in one place and reduce the number of printed calendars. Printed calendars should be available from our Council offices and our PAYT tag retailers by Friday 6 December.

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The Board decided not to fill the current vacancy left by the resignation of Cath Wightman as per the Local Electoral Act 2001.

The Board allocated more than $6,000 from the 2024/25 Discretionary Budget Fund to three applicants:

• Tairua Business Association: $1,000 for the Tairua Spring Fling event
• Walk Tairua Society Inc: $5,000 for the installation of a bund on the Pepe Loop access walkway
• Tairua Residents and Ratepayers Association: $135 for the Environmental Assessment for their pontoon project

The balance remaining in this fund is $1,271.

The Board recommended to Council that it approve a sublease between Holcim (NZ) Limited and Tairua Contractors Limited for the building situated on part of Lot 6, 20 Red Bridge Road, Tairua.

Tairua-Pāuanui Parks and Reserves Renewal: The set of steps at Mount Paku have now been repaired.

Pāuanui Wastewater Treatment Plant Odour Control: Works at the wastewater treatment plant will be completed in December.  

Foodbank plea: Whitianga Community Services Trust manager Tony Marsters highlighted concerns at increased demand amid funding cuts.

The foodbank service has come under extreme demand with the service being emptied of stock daily, he said.

There was large demand in August, which tailed off. However, demand has now “skyrocketed”.

While harvesting from its garden and receiving donations from the fire brigade and local supermarkets help, Masters was concerned, noting how neighbouring foodbank services had closed down.

He noted recent funding cuts and said the trust was not in a position to advertise, other than on social media, the foodbank’s need for donations.

If anyone would like to help, they can contact the trust through its Facebook page here.

The Board:

• Approved the installation of a war memorial plaque and flagpole in the Kotare Reserve Memorial Garden in Hāhei in memory of local soldiers who fell in World War I and World War II.
• Approved the surrender of Whitianga Community Services Trust current lease and granted a new 30-year lease to the trust.
• Received and carried the Board’s financial operating results for the first quarter of the 2024/25 year.
• Received and carried a community partnerships report including updates on resilience resource caches and hubs. In the Mercury Bay area Civil Defence Centre resources have been set up in Whitianga with Community Response Group supported resilience hubs established in Cooks Beach, Hot Water Beach, Hahei, Matarangi, Kūaotunu, Whangapoua, Ōpito, Ōtama, Coroglen, Whenuakite and Wharekaho.

Community Service Award winners:

Photo caption: Tonga Loumoli and Tina Bartlett with Mayor Len Salt, Mercury Bay Community Board and supporters at the Community Service Awards presentation this week.

Tina Bartlett and Tonga Loumoli were each awarded certificates and gold medals as recipients of this year’s Community Service Awards in the Mercury Bay Community Board area.

Bartlett thanked the Board for the recognition but also all the work it did on behalf of the community.

Loumoli also thanked the Board, plus his wife and children. He said there was no warrior who stands without a team behind them.

Signs of the times

The tourist trade in Thames is benefiting from new signs installed recently, and others are set to go up over the next few weeks.

Four new blue and white signs have been put up at various parts of the town pointing to amenities such as refreshments, toilets, electric vehicle charging points. the hospital and picnic areas. 

Two creative, unusually shaped large signs using the new Explore Thames branding (reflected also in the Visitor Information Centre design) are being installed in key locations by late January. The signs are in the shape of the Pinnacles and a poppet head reflecting the town’s mining history. They’re about 2m high and will be erected in Grahamstown and Porritt Park. Information includes a map, history and information from local Māori perspective. 

Discretionary funding

The Board approved funding for the following priority areas which included:

Community safety

• $1,057 dash cams and high-vis jackets for the community patrol vehicle

Children and youth

• $4,500 mentored driving course for Thames youth
• $4,470 traffic management for the Santa parade
• $5,913 support towards T-RAP and Ngāti Maru Rūnanga’s Christmas in the Park
• $6,247 contribution towards CAPS Hauraki’s Children’s Day event in March 2025
• $1,650 first aid course for clubs delivering activities for children and youth

$4,325 hire of the Civic Centre for Thames’ Music and Drama’s School of Rock in May 2025

Graffiti removal

A local man who’s taken on the voluntary task of removing graffiti on private property reported that the town is ‘winning’ the battle to stop graffiti taking over. In the past few years the resident(who prefers to remain anonymous) has removed graffiti from a range of structures in the town, Kōpū and Kauaeranga Valley.

To report graffiti on council property, please register a request for service: www.tcdc.govt.nz/rfs

Rainbow crossing petition

A petition of more than 1,000 signatories was received by the Community Board calling for a rainbow crossing to replace the pedestrian crossing in Grahamstown.

“Thames people love the icons of the rainbow with our rainbow steps, two stunning sculptures, colourful fence, bollards and the sign on the pet crematorium,” the petitioners said. “Since1978 the rainbow flag has symbolised inclusion, equity, diversity, belonging and progression.” Rainbow crossings can be seen around Aotearoa, including in Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne, Taupō, New Plymouth, Wellington and Queenstown.

The group said the crossing would increase visibility of our town, as photos would promote interest on social media, and rainbow crossings are a tourist drawcard around the world.

The petition will be forwarded and council staff will respond in due course. 

The Board:

• Approved a request for discretionary funding from the Coromandel Arts Council, of $2,500, to help towards the cost of replacing one of the Tekoteko (carved figures) on Memorial Reserve, 355 Kapanga Road, Coromandel.
• Received and carried the first quarterly operating results report for the financial year ending 30 June 2025. There were no significant variances for the quarter.
• Welcomed our Council’s new Chief Financial Officer, Peter Bridgwater.
• Received and carried our Council’s Community Partnership update. In the Board area, a cache of Civil Defence Centre resources has been set up in Coromandel Town with Community Response Group supported Resilience Hubs established in Kennedy Bay at both Te Paea and Harataunga Maraes, Manaia Marae and Manaia Fire Station,  Kōpūtauākī, Colville, Port Charles, Papa Aroha, Little Bay, Tuateawa and Kereta.

After the meeting, Board Chair Gavin Jeffcoat and Mayor Len Salt honoured community members Donald Hughes and Michael Noonan with a 2024 Community Service Award in recognition of outstanding service to the Coromandel-Colville community. Tributes were paid by Gavin Jeffcoat, Kim Brett, Jean Ashby and Mayor Len to honour their many years of dedicated service for local communities and organisations.

The Whangamatā Community Board recommended to Council to approve a request of $64,025 from the Whangamatā Community Swimming Pool Inc for the pool’s capital works project from the Whangamatā Community Board's Retained Earnings.

Stormwater improvement works are planned to start in February 2025 with a focus on the outlets back into town.

The Tourism Infrastructure Fund funded public convenience projects, including the upgrading of a toilet facility on Port Road, are expected to be completed within this financial year.