There is a new reason not to swim in the harbour with high levels of E.coli having been detected near the campground. Waikato Regional Council received test results late on Friday and released a notice on their facebook page. Te Whatu Ora has followed this up with a Public Health Warning which will stay in place until further testing shows that it is safe. There was no comment about how often testing will take place.
Tests have been done at Ngarunui Beach and we’re safe from E Coli there but we’re assuming the entire harbour is off limits as the E coli comes from land based animal faeces via waste and stormwater runoff.
Port Waikato Beach (Maraetai Bay) also has the same warning.
Xtreme Zero Waste has closed their site to the public today due to too many hazards flying around in the wind and a decision will be made later today about cancelling tomorrow's curbside rubbish and recycling pickup. The curbside pickups around the rest off the district and in Hamilton have already been cancelled today. And, if you were planning to fly out of Hamilton airport soon you might have to wait till after the cyclone because it’s closed as well.
Waikato Police have arrested two Waikato based youths in relation to breaking into a number of vehicles and an aggravated robbery in Raglan over Waitangi weekend. After executing a number of search warrants they arrested a 14 year old male and a 16 year old female for these offenses.
They will face charges including aggravated wounding, aggravated robbery and unlawful interference with motor vehicles.
Police thanked the community for coming forward with information and supporting their enquiries.
A roadworker has been killed near Raglan after being struck by a truck that was working nearby.
Fulton Hogan says it’s supporting those affected by the “tragic event” at a worksite, and helping authorities.
Police were called to the serious crash shortly before 8am on Sunday at the intersection of Cogswell Rd and State Highway 23.
“The man was directing traffic on the highway, when a truck working nearby struck and killed him,” according to a statement.
Over 40 volunteers braved the weather and helped with the beach cleanup at Ruapuke yesterday. The Whaingaroa Environment Centre says they're going to analyse the results and let us know soon how much waste was collected but it's expected to be a fair amount due to the flooding up north.
In sports news the Billabong Grom surf comp at Whangamata was cut short due to the weather but from the reports we can see that local surfer Maya Mateja was doing well managing to nam 3rd place in the U16 girls.
