It’s Matariki this weekend and Whaingaroa has more than one event being held over the next three days and in fact, there are so many they’re going into next weekend as well. The first event is tonight with the environment centre holding soup and seeds in the town hall entryway with free soup, seeds and a planting guide while Prince Harry, permaculturist and DJ will be on the decks.
The Old School is opening the Matariki exhibition with Dallas Mihinui and Jason Messant on Friday and on Saturday its hosting the Paint A Bowl Workshop. Also on Saturday Whaingaroa Youth Workers Collective is holding the Lights At Papahua event with free barbeque and soup, skating and music at a lit-up Papahua.
Various venues and restaurants around town are hosting Matariki themed events as well this weekend and then next weekend Nga Rongoa O Matariki, the medicine of Matariki event will be held in the town hall and Soil to Supper will be teaching participants about prepping for Kumara and Potatoes.
And Xtreme Zero Waste says while their site will be closed on Friday for the Matariki public holiday their curbside crew will still be on the job collecting from the Kowhai zone on the eastside of Raglan.
Waikato Regional Council is pushing for a Biodiversity Accord for the region and will be getting government agencies and iwi together to try to get them to commit to a regional biodiversity strategy in a bid to halt biodiversity loss The Regional Council recently released its report on the environment in the region and while there has been some positive progress in some areas it was noted that indicator species were declining in the 2001-2018 period within the regions estuaries and that over 50% of streams outside of native bush scored in the worst band for the Macroinvertebrate Community which forms a crucial part of waterway ecosystems.
In a press release brimming with bureaucratic language we’ve been told the accord is intended to be a high-level agreement between the council, territorial authorities, Department of Conservation, Ministry for Primary Industries, QEII National Trust and iwi – and that it will be a living document that will be regularly reviewed.
And that is the Raglan News for Thursday 13th July 2023 https://raglanradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot%202023-07-13%20at%202.46.44%20PM.png