Today, 136 The Strand is an unused shop awaiting demolition to create a new pedestrian plaza linking Whakatāne’s main retail area to the river-edge. In a matter of days, it will be hive of activity and youthful entrepreneurial spirit.
Members of the Whakatāne District Youth Council last week presented the $700 they raised from their recent ‘Movies Under the Stars’ event to the Dream Chaser Foundation.
A shellfish toxin warning issued in October for the Bay of Plenty has been extended to the Whakatāne District. Shellfish in Whakatāne, Ōhope and Ōpōtiki should be considered unsafe for human consumption until further notice.
A media release from Toi Te Ora Public Health Service, reproduced below, provides further details.
Following ongoing shellfish toxin monitoring the Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) warning has been extended eastwards along the Bay of Plenty coastline.
Work is nearing completion on a sizable underground storage tank in Ōhope that will see wastewater management improve dramatically.
The 20-metre-long concrete tank, part of a capital works programme at the Maraetōtara wastewater pump station, has a capacity of 50,000 litres and should be in use by the end of November. The pump station, one of two that serve Ōhope and Ōtarawairere, delivers wastewater to the Ōhope oxidation ponds. The new tank will provide eight hours of wastewater storage in the event of a power outage at the station.
Whakatāne District residents who have unused analogue television sets sitting in their garages and homes now have a golden opportunity to get rid of them, at a reduced cost and with the assurance that they will not end up in a landfill.
With the switchover to digital television signal transmissions scheduled to take effect in this area on 1 December, many more old-style ‘box’ TVs will be consigned to the scrap heap – which is where CReW (Community Resources Whakatāne)– comes in.
Whakatāne’s annual Young Achiever Awards have seen 144 members of the community recognised for national or international excellence in academic, cultural and sporting fields.
Organised jointly by the Whakatāne District Council and Whakatāne West Rotary Club, the Awards were held on 31 October 2013 at the Whakatāne Liberty Centre and were open to any young person up to and including secondary school level. More than 250 people attended the ceremony, and Master of Ceremonies Ian Finch noted that this reflected the high degree of support the community has for the event.
The Whakatāne District Council has awarded a three-year routine road maintenance contract to Tauranga-based Transfield Services NZ Limited.
The $4.39 million contract covers all routine pavement, drainage and environmental maintenance work on the 903 km of sealed and unsealed local roads in the Whakatāne District until October 2016. Council Infrastructure General Manager Tomasz Krawczyk says the tendering process attracted six bids, including three from local contractors. Tenders were assessed by an evaluation team which included a highly-experienced, independent convener.
The Whakatāne Community Board, in association with the Whakatāne Beacon and Radio 1XX, are pleased to present the Smiths City Christmas Lighting Trail. This district-wide event encourages home owners and businesses to light up their premises for the festive season.
Smiths City will be the major prize sponsor for the Supreme Award. PAK ’n SAVE and Bunnings are sponsoring the Residential and Commercial sections. Opus, Nova Energy and Horizon will sponsor the Community, People’s Choice and Best Neighbourhood Awards. There will also be spot prizes on offer.
Master Painters, Bay of Plenty Councils, Tauranga Environment Centre and Dulux, Wattyl and Resene are together conducting the Paint Waste Reduction Campaign across the Bay of Plenty to raise awareness of environmental issues resulting from painting and paint waste disposal.
The paint companies involved all run paint waste disposal programmes to allow painters to return unused paint and old paint buckets.
Eastern Bay of Plenty councils continue to work together on alcohol regulation and are pleased to announce the appointment of a shared Eastern Bay of Plenty District Licensing Committee (DLC) to take responsibility for local decisions relating to the sale and supply of alcohol. From December 2013, all local-level liquor licence decisions - new and renewal of premises licences, managers’ certificates, special licences and temporary authorities - will be made by the DLC.
A Whakatāne District Council-owned shop earmarked for demolition in mid-2014 is set to help young entrepreneurs gain real life business experience.
The Council owns four shops in the Whakatāne town centre which are expected to be demolished in June next year to make way for the development of a pedestrian plaza linking The Strand to the Whakatāne River-edge greenway area.
A road resurfacing procurement partnership between the NZ Transport Agency and the Whakatāne District Council is helping each organisation to achieve more efficient and economical local and highway maintenance outcomes.
The partnership involves the two organisations contracting out similar work programmes under one contract, as opposed to operating separate contracts.
A Whakatāne District Council initiative which aims to accelerate and reduce the cost of identifying and strengthening earthquake-prone buildings has received a positive response from building owners, businesspeople and property advisers.
A forum on Monday night drew some 120 people from the property sector, including landlords, retailers and other business owners, and representatives from real estate, banking and legal organisations.
The Whakatāne District Council is reminding the community that the 2013/14 restricted fire season has now started. The season began on 1 October and will run through to 30 April 2014.
Principal Rural Fire Officer Neal Yeates says a permit will be required for any fire in the open air during that period. “Fire Permits help us to know where and when fires are lit during the drier months so that we can provide a measure of protection for our community, as well as our forests, coastal and grassland areas.”
This month, Bay of Plenty residents will elect District Council, Regional Council and District Health Board members for the next three years. With only a few days to go until voting closes, Eastern Bay of Plenty Territorial Authorities are joining forces to remind voters to have their say before noon on Saturday 12 October.
To date, statistics are indicating lower than normal voter turnout, and if that trend continues, it will have a number of impacts on local residents.
Young women across the Eastern Bay of Plenty will have the opportunity to get involved in sports leadership roles thanks to the new Take the Lead initiative which launches this week.
The Take the Lead programme has been developed to provide opportunities for leadership development for young women (aged from 13 to 20) in sport and recreation over a three-year period. The project is jointly supported by Sport New Zealand, Sport Bay of Plenty, and the Whakatāne, Kawerau and Ōpōtiki District Councils.
Building owners and interested parties are invited to a forum this Monday, 7 October where the matters relating to earthquake-prone buildings will be discussed. The forum will be held by Whakatāne District Council in conjunction with the Eastern Bay of Plenty Chamber of Commerce.
Eastern Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management is investigating the cause of a false alarm which triggered the region’s continuous rise tsunami siren just before 8 am this morning (1 October 2013).
The siren system, which is linked through existing New Zealand Fire Service sirens, along with additional sirens which were recently installed at Coastlands, Waiōtahe and Ōhiwa, was accidentally activated this morning, with the cause still unknown.
Travellers looking to park their self-contained vehicles overnight will soon have a number of options within the Whakatāne District.
Parking for self-contained vehicles becomes available from today (1 October 2013), following a decision by the Whakatāne District Council earlier this year.
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