Cimino Cole is a very passionate man. Founder of the Mahurangi Magazine and founding executive member of Mahurangi action, a lot of great community initiatives can be attributed to his energy and drive.

He first encountered the Mahurangi Harbour during a boy scout camp, after moving to Waiwera with his family at age 13. He then moved here in 1974 and has been living locally ever since.

Mahurangi Magazine, a publication with all the information you could ever need about Mahurangi, began as a hard copy magazine in 2007, before moving to its current online platform.

Mahurangi Action, previously known as Friends of the Mahurangi, began in 1974, with Cimino being a driving force, and for decades, the youngest member. The issue that first banded this group together was plans by the then Warkworth Town Council for a wastewater treatment plant. The system would discharge into the Mahurangi River, just below the town. “Although the spur was the wastewater, the landscape was the overarching concern. Their aim was to protect harbour’s landscape and keep it as the beautiful place we all know and love”.

He has a lot of notable achievements to be proud of, but the one that first sprung to mind was the prevention of roads into Te Muri. In the 1980s, the idea of a road bridge (along with parking for hundreds of cars) from Mahurangi West to Te Muri Beach, a beautiful isolated spot that can only be accessed by foot or from the water, was mooted.

Cimino and Mahurangi Action rallied, along with the community, to put this plan to rest and preserve the “splendid isolation”. “We blew it out of the water”. Because they had done a huge amount of preparation and went to the council with all the information and submissions gathered, they managed to preserve this little slice of paradise. “It's just darling”. Cimino speaks of it as “the most joyous” project he has worked on.

Mahurangi Action also revived the annual tradition of the Mahurangi Regatta in 1977, and according to Cimino “it just gets better and better”. His mission for 2020 is to use the regatta as a way of making attendees aware of community initiatives and issues, like the dredging of the Mahurangi river, a critical issue affecting the Mahurangi harbour. 

He also organises the Warkworth Town Hall talks, which have had a direct effect on the funding of projects, such as the green lipped mussel restoration. “The potential of those talks to galvanise these projects has been large”.

These are just a few of Cimino's very impressive achievements in his ongoing endeavours to keep Mahurangi the incredible place that it is. Thank you and keep up the great work!