January 25 2022
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‘Plan for Omicron — be ready’
“We awake to being in red again, and while we had three days of ‘release’ to orange last week, we know …
P3
A blast from the past
Spanning Kaiwaka’s busy highway Kaiwaka residents are set to have a safer, more scenic way to cross State Highway One as work begins …
P5
p Dargaville’s Janelle Reynish has been named Miss Kumeu 2022 after impressing the judges at the nation’s biggest hot rod show with her ensemble of 1950s rock ’n’ roll fashion. “To me and my family, this is normal,” says Janelle. “I’ve been a pin-up for the past four or five years. However, this is the biggest award I’ve ever won and it’s one of the biggest in the country.”
Opposition to highway slowdown u by Andy Bryenton
Sweeping plans to drop the speed limit of nearly all Northland state highways have drawn the ire of civic leaders across the region, including Kaipara councillor for the West Coast-Central Ward, David Wills.
Be on watch for counterfeit cash
Kaipara businesses and citizens have been concerned by what appears to be a nationwide counterfeiting scam …
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Waka Kotahi seeks to reduce road deaths by making roads safer, and has discussed reducing Northland’s speed limit from 100km/h to 80km/h, including all of state highways 12 and 14. “We are very rare in New Zealand in the amount of kilometres we drive on the state
highway network. Our communities and towns are joined together by these roads,” says Kaipara Mayor Dr Jason Smith. State highways are not administered by the district council. Mr Wills suggested that the true motive may be cost-driven.
“It costs less to engineer a road for an 80km/h speed limit than it does to do so for 100km/h. It’s a cheaper option to reduce the speeds than to maintain high-risk roads to avoid serious injury and death,” Wills said. continued on page 4 …
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