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1310 days ago

Fears for critically endangered fairy tern near Pākiri sand mining site

Caroline Williams Reporter from Rodney Times

A group is calling for authorities to end sand mining offshore an Auckland beach which is home to the critically endangered tara iti (New Zealand fairy tern).

Kaipara Limited, a company involved with quarrying, mining and infrastructure development, has applied for resource consent to continue extracting sand from an offshore coastal marine area near Pākiri.

Sand has been taken from the Pākiri area for almost 100 years, and if successful, Kaipara Limited will be allowed to extract two million cubic metres of sand over 20 more years.

For many of the 665 people against the proposal, the critically endangered tara iti is at the forefront of their concerns.

The native shore bird is likely New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird, with a population of about 45 including only 12 breeding pairs, according to the Department of Conservation.

The Endangered Species Foundation said Auckland Council needed to “make the right decision” and put an end to the Pākiri sand mining, for which the current resource consent is due to expire in 2023.

Click 'read more' for the full story.

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More messages from your neighbours
11 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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3 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 61.7% Summer
    61.7% Complete
  • 36.7% Winter
    36.7% Complete
  • 1.6% Other - I'll share below
    1.6% Complete
1060 votes
9 days ago

Would you like a free copy of our February 2025 issue?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. We give away free copies to readers whose recipes are used in our magazine. We're still on the hunt for tomato recipes, so send your family's favourite way to use up your homegrown harvest, to: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. If we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of the mag

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