Complete agenda for October 2009 Council Meeting (pdf, 1610KB)

Northland Regional Council - 21 October 2009 Page 22 Item 7• Tsunami warning for Northland• Update 2 - tsunami expected in Northland• Update 3 - tsunami passes, warning downgraded• Update 4 –tsunami warning cancelled, but caution still advisedThe Chairman’s ‘Northern Matters’ column covered the proposed local governmentchanges in Auckland and highlighted the need for Northland to work with theAuckland Transition Agency.The Chairman’s ‘From where I sit’ column looked at changes to the ResourceManagement Act and the impact on Regional Council processes.EVENTSAs part of Keep New Zealand Beautiful week and Conservation week staff have beeninvolved in four clean-ups across Northland. On 7 September eight staff fromCoastal Monitoring, Maritime and Community Relations undertook a clean-up on theHatea River area behind Okara Park on Port Road and Pohe Island. The rubbish wasaudited and over 1500kgs of rubbish was collected in four hours.The same day, the CoastCare Co-ordinator assisted in a clean-up in Paihia involving25 people around the Paihia beach area. This community-lead clean-up is going tobecome a monthly event.NRC also supported the Tokerau Beach clean-up on 19 September. The day is anannual event and is supported by several local businesses, DOC and FNDC as wellas NRC.The results from these clean-ups have been entered into national databases forKeep New Zealand Beautiful and the Sir Peter Blake Trust.NRC also supported a planting and clean-up day at Mangawhare Skate Park inDargaville organised by KDC and DOC. Staff from NRC’s Dargaville office attendedthe community day held on 17 September.NRC supported eDay again this year and Community Relations staff worked on thepromotion and advertising of the Whangarei event. Several NRC staff worked ateDay on 12 September helping collect electronic waste. Despite the rain, this year’seDay collected 966 tonnes of old computer equipment and mobile phones, 33 tonneswas collected in Whangarei with 622 car visits throughout the day (nearly double thatof last year).Twelve groups and individuals were recognised – one posthumously - for a range ofdiverse work from wetland restoration to pa site enhancement at the 2009 NorthlandCommunity Conservation and Environment Awards. The awards were held on 17September at Kingston House, Kerikeri. The awards were jointly organised by DOC,NRC and the Biodiversity Northland Forum.WEBSITEHighlights:On an average week day, the website receives approximately 1,500 page views perday. The tsunami warning on 30 September resulted in 5,387 page views to the NRCwebsite on that day.