SH23 is going to be closed for 4 days overnight next month as Fulton Hogan do their summer renewals program. Starting on March 9th and hopefully taking just four nights the resurfacing work will be happening on the Divvy by Four Brothers Scenic Reserve and at the Ohautira Rd intersection - but not at the same time. The work on the Divvy will be done on the first two nights with the work at the Ohautira junction on the 11th and 12th, provided the weather stays clear.
The closure will run from 9pm to 5am and they’ll be escorting traffic through at 9:45pm, 11pm, 1am and 3am
Emergency Services will still be given priority access at all times through the work site.
Roadworks: Location 1
Roadworks: Location 2
Waikato Regional Council has stuck to its planned budget for 2025/26, while at the same time increasing the amount available for community transport and supporting regional economic development. This means their rates charge will increase by 5.9% on 1st July, which is lower than the planned 8.6 per cent announced last year when they did their long term plan.
Council Chair Pamela Storey noted several changes to their plans including putting a pause on the freshwater farm plans rollout.
Meanwhile rates increases from the District Council were signalled at the recent Raglan Community Board meeting. Although they were not yet ratified it’s expected there will be a general rate rise of 4.25% and a targeted rate rise of 13% Given that ratepayers have been forced by government to take on the burden of upgrading the nations 3-waters network commentators are saying this is a surprisingly low increase.
It’s also looking like the District Council will not be spending 2 million to rebuild the Manu Bay breakwall. After several years of acrimony, litigation and mediation the money required to do the work does not appear to be in this year’s proposed Long Term Plan. Instead there is a much smaller figure of $59,500 which could be for regular maintenance work to ensure the ramp is safe.
There are also doubts over the viability of the Council and Watercare’s plan to dispose of treated wastewater at Wainui reserve, with the recent Waters Governance Board meeting hearing that soil tests have shown the ground in the disposal area is not sufficiently absorbent to handle the load. However the engineers have not given up and are exploring other options on the reserve.