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2149 days ago

Northland takes two top awards

Annette Lambly-Robinson Reporter from Whangārei Leader

Helping bring a $445 million super fibre-optic submarine cable to Northland has earned the region's economic development agency a top honour in this year's Economic Development NZ Awards by winning Best Practice in Inward Investment.

The 15,000km super fibre-optic Hawaiki Cable project which connects New Zealand with Australia, mainland United States, Hawaii and the Pacific is expected to future-proof New Zealand's internet capacity for the next 25 years.

The cable landed at Mangawhai in February 2018, and was turned on in July.

Northland Inc's General Manager of investment and Infrastructure,Vaughan Cooper, said the initial contact with Hawaiki founder and chief executive Remi Galasso began in 2013 after a group of local businessmen learned the Hawaiki team was looking for a suitable landing site in New Zealand and contacted the agency.

"The cable is now operational, which means Northland now has a digital sector, we have underlying infrastructure to support it, we are creating a digital strategy, and we're underway.

Northland Inc also won the Best Practice in Sustainable Development Award for its Extension 350 project, a farmer-led farmer-focused programme aiming to transform farming practice in Northland.

The project started in November 2016, and over five years will involve 350 farmers throughout Northland.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: How do you feel about dogs being allowed indoors in cafes?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

For most of us, seeing a friendly doggo while out and about instantly brings a smile to our faces. But how do you feel about cafes welcoming pups inside?

Cast a vote and share your thoughts below.

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How do you feel about dogs being allowed indoors in cafes?
  • 27.8% I love it!
    27.8% Complete
  • 31.6% Only in designated areas
    31.6% Complete
  • 40.6% No, it should be outdoors only.
    40.6% Complete
1747 votes
1 day ago

Happy Tuesday, neighbours, can you figure out today's riddle rush 🏃‍♂️

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street. He passes the cops, but they don’t stop him. Why?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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3 days ago

Rubbish bins

Susan from Kamo

I posted a message about the disappearing rubbish bins in Whangarei a week or so ago (but I limited the area). However, I’ll leave this open to a wider area this time. Apparently this is not just limited to Whangarei. However, I went to the Whangarei District Council website, and sent a general enquiry email as to why this was happening. About a week later, I did get a phone call back. I had mentioned two particular bins that had been removed. The man I spoke with was not aware they had been removed! What I found out is that the rubbish bins are emptied by an outside contractor, not city workers. They come and say they find maybe a single coffee cup in a bin and think the bin doesn’t need to be there, so THEY remove the bin! The more I thought about this, the more I thought this is pure laziness - the more bins removed, the less work that has to be done. How much effort does it take to look in a bin and see the liner does not need to be changed? Where one bin has been removed, there is now rubbish in it’s place. I noticed the bins at a couple of bus stops have also been removed, and there is rubbish on the ground - exactly where the bins used to be! I have been told that one of the bins I emailed about will be replaced. And I will follow up on that if it isn’t back in place in two weeks. (This outside contractor is also supposed to be picking up rubbish twice a week along the Kamo shared pathway as well!)
So - if you noticed bins are missing and they need to be put back, send an email to WDC and tell them the location and that there is rubbish there and the bin needs to be replaced! Rate payers are paying for this service, no doubt.