February 17, 2021
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Farmers fear for stock as bores run dry Desperate farmers are organising a public meeting to investigate groundwater extraction permits in the Tomarata/Te Arai district. This follows reports that bores are running dry for the first time in decades. Landowner spokesperson Brian Mason is calling on representatives from Auckland Council, as well as the Rodney Local Board and government, to attend the meeting. Mr Mason’s farm is among those affected. He says in the 25 years he has owned the property, this is the first time that his bores have run dry. He has been investigating consents in
the area and says the level of allocation from the aquifer is “frightening”. He has had to de-stock and lease grazing paddocks on a neighbouring farm to ensure the welfare of his animals. “There is a lot of anxiety among farmers at the moment. We hope a meeting will help us understand the ins and outs,” Mr Mason says. Meanwhile, Te Arai Links has responded to a backlash on social media linking it to the water shortage. The company, owned by US billionaire Ric Kayne, which has already developed the private luxury golf course Tara Iti in north Te Arai, is now building two
further 18-hole golf courses on Ocean View Road, Te Arai South, which will be open to the public. Late last year the company was granted multiple consents by Auckland Council for at least nine bores and two dams, and a water take from Poutawa Stream. One bore, on the Te Arai South coastal aquifer, is limited to 11,120 cubic metres a year, while another, on the Pakiri Waitemata aquifer, is for 161,670 cubic metres a year – 32 times greater than the recommended permitted activity. The annual extraction permitted on seven other bores is 211,000 cubic metres annually.
The water will mainly be used for irrigation and revegetation work. In granting the consents, Council said it did not believe they would adversely affect the ability of the Pakiri Waitemata or neighbouring aquifers to recharge, or adversely impact on surface water. Council’s water continued page 2
What’s inside Covid vaccine resistance page 3
Rogues remember the big dig page 14
Future growth
College students’ safety secured
pages 33-44
Mahurangi College has a new pedestrian crossing, near the intersection of Woodcocks Road and Morrison Drive. For the last two years, teachers have been voluntarily standing near the intersection wearing high vis and waving to drivers to slow them down as children cross. Sophie Townsend, 12, said crossing the road made her daily walk to school daunting. Auckland Transport came to the party and built a crossing at the end of last year, at the college’s request.
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