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Community Newsletter

It’s midwinter in Kūaotunu and despite the shorter days, colder weather and occasional storms we have had our fair share of sunny days. Visitor activity is slower as always at this time of year but there is still plenty going on in our busy community. Read on…(Click the image above to access the full newsletter)...

Community Newsletter

Great news from Chorus that fibre is finally coming to Kūaotunu West as part of the remaining rural Broadband Rollout. The area is from Bluff Road to Seavill Park Rd.Chorus has advised that the rollout of fibre will get to Gray Ave in early December 2024, so if you are interested in receiving fibre we suggest that you contact Chorus to register your interest using the link below as soon as possible.Information on what’s involved in having fibre installed can be found here. It notes the s...

Community Newsletter

Your KRRA committee was delighted to learn last week that the long-requested traffic calming measures for the village have not only been approved but implemented. A great outcome (albeit after 3 plus years of advocacy). Thanks TCDC!And thanks also to TCDC for organising the great repair job that has been carried out on Black Jack Rd. We look forward to the next instalment after Christmas....

Community Newsletter

In the previous newsletter the new KRRA committee asked you to participate in a short survey and offered a $100 voucher from Luke’s Kitchen as an incentive to participate (thanks Luke).The draw was made in front of the Friday night crowd at the Kuaotunu Fire Station and KRRA member George Crosby was the winner. With three daughters who love going to Luke’s Kitchen, George was delighted to be the lucky recipient of this voucher.The KRRA committee was very appreciative of the 198 responses rec...

Community Newsletter

The Kuaotunu Residents & Ratepayers Association held its AGM as usual on Easter Sunday, at which a new committee was elected.  There are four new members as shown above: Nicci Kerr, Bella Pierce (left) with Marguerite Muellers, and Kim Crosland. You can find the full list of committee members here.One of the committee’s first tasks each year is to decide where to concentrate its advocacy efforts, as it is vital that we concentrate on those matters that are most important to you, the r...

Community Newsletter

A huge thank you on behalf of our whole community to our local emergency responders, who did an awesome job as usual.Do you have any thoughts on our community’s response or perhaps ideas on how we can improve our resilience in the future? Come along to the KRRA (Kuaotunu Residents & Ratepayers Association) AGM on Sunday the 9th of April (i.e. Easter Sunday) at the Kuaotunu Hall at 3pm and let us know what you think.Everyone is welcome, whether you are a KRRA member or not. (Note that membe...

Cyclone Gabrielle

The Kuaotunu Emergency Response Team is in the process of planning their Evacuation Response, should this be needed over the next few days. The Kuaotunu Hall is being set up with some resources and supplies should anyone need urgent housing. Some kind people have also offered accommodation should this be required.The Emergency Response Team will advise the community on Facebook if the Hall is needed and opens for urgent accommodation. This information will also be posted on the home page of this...

Community Newsletter

As regular readers of this newsletter will know, the initiative to implement traffic calming measures in Kuaotunu village has been a long drawn-out saga that your KRRA committee has been trying to progress for years.We are delighted that TCDC has finally implemented what represents Phase 1 of this initiative. Anecdotal reports indicate that while the area marked in red is not actually a pedestrian crossing, vehicles are in fact slowing down to let pedestrians cross the road there, which is fanta...

Community Newsletter

In conjunction with the Matarangi Ratepayers Association (MRAI), the Kuaotunu Residents & Ratepayers Association (KRRA) has been actively exploring the feasibility of reinstating walking & cycling access between Rings Beach and Matarangi via the building of a suspension bridge to bypass the area of Bluff Road that has been closed due to rockfall.In our opinion it is an absolute necessity to retain a safe cycle/walking track along our coastline, connecting our communit...

Community Newsletter

First Dark Sky Project Event a Success The Kuaotunu Peninsula Dark Sky Project hosted a very successful community event at the Kuaotunu Domain on June 26 to coincide with NZ’s first Matariki holiday weekend.Over 60 locals and a few visitors turned out at 5am on a cool Saturday morning to enjoy views of planets and stars through two big telescopes provided by members of the group. Jupiter put on a great show with its four biggest moons all lined up and easy to spot, whilst Saturn...

Community Newsletter

Have you met the new owners of the Kuaotunu Store yet? Kieron and Nicci Kerr (& dog Nero) took over the store recently and are already making exciting plans for its future. Their immediate focus is on extending the range and quality of the products that they offer, including having more fresh produce for sale (locally made where possible), so that locals can enjoy the convenience of being able to get the goods they need right here without having to travel over the hill. Reducing prices wher...

Community Newsletter

Traffic Calming Initiatives Gather Momentum It's not often that happenings in Kuaotunu make the front page of the Mercury Bay Informer, but in January the mysterious appearance of a zebra crossing in the village did just that (you can read the article here).The crossing and the temporary 30km signs that were subsequently installed by TCDC have had a significant impact slowing traffic down during what turned out to be a pretty hectic summer in the village, with unprecedented number...

Informer Article

Zebra Crossing Result of Stalemate in Kuaotunu Village CentreBrent Page, chair of the Kuaotunu Residents and Ratepayers Association (KRRA), is disappointed in Thames-Coromandel District Council’s response to what can only be described as an artistic zebra crossing that appeared the weekend before last in the Kuaotunu village centre....

Community Newsletter

Measuring Earthquakes in KuaotunuProbably not many local residents are aware that Kuaotunu is the home of New Zealand’s most advanced seismograph to measure earthquakes. Hidden deep in the Blue Fridge Valley is an old gold mining tunnel that has been the home for almost 40 years for one of these instruments that form the Geological and Nuclear Science’s ‘Geonet’ network.  These instruments measure minute earth tremors, which are uploaded in real time via a sophisticated data li...

Community Newsletter

Biosphere Working Group Update At the end of May, an historic meeting was convened by the Biosphere Working Group in the Kuaotunu Hall between all the volunteer groups working around the Kuaotunu Peninsula - this was the first time they had all met together!Together with Scott Simpson, Joe Davis of Ngati Hei, and representatives from DOC, each group had the opportunity to outline their work, their successes and their long term aspirations for restoring and replenishing our environment. Over 50 ...

Community Newsletter

Have Your Say on the Proposed Scallop Harvesting Ban As mentioned in the December newsletter, the Opito Bay Ratepayers Association (OBRA) is spearheading an initiative to work with Ngati Hei to place a rahui on the scallop beds from Whangapoua to Opoutere until the beds recover, the objective being to have a sustainable scallop fishery for all to enjoy. In order to support the need for the rahui, OBRA engaged LegaSea to manage a scientific survey of the Opito Bay scallop beds. With the...

Community Newsletter

Happylocal Community Hub is Formally Launched A local Kuaotunu family, the Linnecars, have spent the past year setting up what has now been formally launched as the Happylocal Community Hub, handily located in Irishtown Rd (opposite the Kuaotunu Hall). Courtney and Matthew had a vision to create a community-focused meeting place where local people and visitors could connect in a relaxing beautiful place, to work in a shared co-working space and look after their holistic health. The idea was to c...

Community Newsletter

Kuaotunu FENZ Welcomes New Appliance Our wonderful local rural fire force was delighted to receive its first ever brand new appliance recently. According to Garrick Simpson, Chief Fire Officer, in the past Kuaotunu FENZ has always been allocated old fire appliances that are due for retirement, which means that they quickly become difficult and costly to maintain and service. "Getting a brand new appliance is amazing and is a reflection on the awesome crew we have here and the...

Community Newsletter

New AED in Kuaotunu Village Thanks to St John, our village now has a new AED which has been attached to the noticeboard next to the store, making it very prominent and easily accessible, 24/7. This AED is in addition to one kept at the Fire Station, but as the Fire Station is not always open this new device is much appreciated. Note that the AED Locations website lets you look up the location of the nearest available AED, no matter where in the country you happen to be.  Traf...

Kuaotunu Conservation Work Lauded

The Department of Conservation has issued two media releases this week acknowledging the work and success of some of our local conservation organisations, namely Project Kiwi, Rings Beach Wetland Group and Kuaotunu Bird Rescue. For a small community such as ours to be mentioned in the national media twice in one week is a great acknowledgment of the efforts of our local conservation heroes....

Community Newsletter

So what did you get up to during lockdown? We might have been locked down but the weather was wonderful, and hey we live in one of the most beautiful places in NZ! From enjoying the great outdoors to getting creative indoors, Kuaotunu locals seem to have made the most of lockdown as can be seen from the above photos. Top: the Goodall family building forts on Kuaotunu beach.Bottom left: Charlie modelling a baby hoodie knitted by Jose Kakebeeke.Bottom right: Rupert Nielsen's woodwork creations. Go...

Covid-19 Updates

Last updated 18 May - On 25 March, 2020, a state of National Emergency was declared across the country as the Government pulls out all the stops to curtail the spread of COVID-19, and the Kuaotunu Community Emergency Response Team has therefore been activated.   The purpose of this team is to coordinate local emergency and support services representatives to ensure that relevant and up-to-date information, communication and appropriate responses are delivered effectively to t...

Community Newsletter

Doesn't it look fabulous? KRRA is super pleased with how the mural on the toilet block at the Black Jack Reserve turned out, and we hope you agree that this was a great use of KRRA funds. Your Committee would like to thank TCDC for refurbishing this toilet and installing two new outdoor showers (note that the water storage has to be upgraded before the showers are operational). And of course huge thanks to the artist, Rebekah Pearson, who did a fantastic job incorporating our wish for ...

Community Newsletter

It's finally happening... If you've driven along State Highway 25 recently then you will have seen for yourself that work has finally started on the footpath to the east of the boat ramp. The contractors have now commenced their Xmas break, like all of us, and work will recommence sometime in the new year. Medical News The Mercury Bay Medical Centre would like to inform the community that as of April 1st 2020 they will merge with The Doctors Surgery and operate from both site...

Community Newsletter

A Testing Time for All Well, we got through it and demonstrated once again what a cohesive and supportive group our Kuaotunu Community is. From the very moment we all heard NZTA was having to close our bridge, conversations began and help was offered from all and sundry. Your Committee was blown away by all the positive input, great ideas and keen desire to make sure no one was inconvenienced. Our heartfelt thanks to all concerned, too numerous to single out. My personal apologies for having to...