It’s going to be a big holiday weekend in Whaingaroa with well over a thousand people expected for the Raglan Arts Weekend. There will also be an Oyster festival at the wharf and we see the return of the Sunday Sessions at the Yot Club at the same time as the Big Bada Boom Sound System will be rocking The Yard right next door.
Tonight at 6pm The Hatch will hold its official opening in the town hall as the Arts Weekend expands to include their all-new emerging artist exhibition. The hatch will feature works from 16 of Whaingaroa’s up and coming artists with doors open from 10am each morning of Labour weekend.
Elsewhere council has listened to the residents of Stewart St who said they didn’t want their street opened up for freedom campers to stay overnight. The community board had wanted to create a space near toilet facilities for overnight stays but council received an overwhelming response against the idea.
There are also new prohibited areas at Aroaro Reserve, Wainui Reserve Bush and the water treatment ponds on Wainui rd. Because of the national legislation council has no choice but to play whack-a-mole as each upgrade of the council bylaw bans whichever new place freedom campers have moved to after their previous favourite location was banned.
In other council news it has been revealed that the long planned internal bus service in Raglan has been delayed for another year. The community board and district council were planning to have a trial up and running for this summer but the Waikato Regional Council appears to have dropped the ball this time having failed to do the work necessary to get the service going.
The Raglan Community Board have also agreed to write a letter of support for the proposed swimming pool at Rangitahi. The pool will be a privately owned public pool and the board were happy to support the concept but made it clear council would not be helping to pay for ongoing maintenance after it was up and running.
Mayor Jacqui Church has asked for patience as council goes into it’s busy construction season with plans this month to start upgrading Marine Parade beside the soccer fields, making the road wider, sealing the overflow parking entrance to the sports grounds and installing speed humps to slow traffic. They will also be doing repair work around Wainui Reserve fixing up parking areas and part of the drive in.
Work is also happening at the campground including a stormwater upgrade as well as an upgrade of the kitchen and laundry facilities and the sports pavilion at the rugby grounds will be getting its first maintenance work since it was constructed with a repaint planned, along with enhancements to the interior.
The Whaingaroa Whai Rugby League club is calling for expressions of interest for junior rugby league teams for next winter. Following a successful first season with mens and womens adult teams they are wanting to hear from the community to see if there is enough interest to justify setting up a junior club.