Essential maintenance on Auckland Harbour Bridge will run from Tue 17 January to Thu 23 March. Maintenance activities will require overnight lane restrictions most nights (from 10pm to 5am, Sun-Thu and 9pm to 9am on Saturday nights. Traffic will still be able to travel in both directions across the bridge at all times however some delays should be expected. Find out more: http://spr.ly/61843JtYM

Friday 13th JanuaryVineyards in the VillageMumm Tasting Series @ SculptureumSisters - Art Exhibition @ Mangawhai Artists GalleryLive Comedy in MatakanaSKILAA at Leigh Sawmill CafeMatakana Village Pub - Meat Pack Raffle Live Music Friday Nights at Matakana Village PubFiji Fridays at SmithsSaturday 14th JanuaryWarkworth & Districts RSA New Year MarketMangawhai Community MarketMangawhai Tavern MarketMatakana Village Farmers MarketPuhoi Pub Annual Woodchopping Carnival 2023Rodney Animal Rescue FundraiserFood Truck Collective - OmahaWild Wild West-Fest at 8 Wired BarrelworksSisters - Art Exhibition @ Mangawhai Artists GalleryMixed Messages at SmithsSunday 15th JanuaryMatakana Country Park MarketSisters - Art Exhibition @ Mangawhai Artists GallerySunday Sessions & Leigh Sawmill CafeSunday Service at SmithsCellar Door Live Session - Matakana Estate

Warkworth regionFriday 13th - Isolated showers with long fine breaks developing. Light winds, turning northeasterly this afternoon.Saturday 14th - Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Light winds and afternoon sea breezes.Sunday 15th - Mostly cloudy with isolated showers, clearing to fine in the afternoon. Easterlies.Mangawhai regionFriday 13th - Cloudy with the odd shower, becoming more frequent and possibly heavy until mid-afternoon. Light winds, turning easterly this morningSaturday 14th - Partly cloudy, with the chance of an afternoon shower. Easterly breezes.Sunday 15th - Fine, then a few showers developing in the afternoon. Easterlies.

Beer production could dwindle and prices spike because of the closure of the country's last food grade carbon dioxide plant.The liquid carbon dioxide plant at Kāpuni in Taranaki has been temporarily shut down because of safety concerns, and no reopening date has been announced.It had been New Zealand's only domestic producer of food-grade CO2 since the Marsden Point refinery was decommissioned last year.CO2 is used to carbonate drinks, and is also used in brewery equipment.Brewers Association executive director Dylan Firth said brewers were quite concerned.Brewers may have to import carbon at a higher price or invest in gas capturing technology, Firth said.He was hopeful production of the gas could catch up if the facility was not closed for long.

New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) is supporting The Neat Meat Company Ltd in its recall of Harmony brand Beef & Caramelised Onion Sausages due to the possible presence of foreign matter. "The affected sausages have a best before date of 20/01/2023 and could contain blue plastic," says NZFS deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle. "If you have bought any of these sausages, you should not consume them. Consumers should carefully check the best before date, throw out any affected product, and contact The Neat Meat Company Ltd for a full refund."If you have consumed any of this product and are concerned for your health, contact your health professional, or call Healthline on 0800 611 116. The recalled products are available nationwide from New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square stores.The following products, with a best before date of 20/01/2023, are included in the recall: Harmony brand Beef & Caramelised Onion Sausages, 480gThe products have not been exported and NZFS has not received any notifications of associated injury. "As is our usual practice, New Zealand Food Safety will be working with The Neat Meat Company Ltd to understand how the contamination occurred and to prevent its recurrence," said Mr Arbuckle.For full details, see https://bit.ly/3GTFehk

There are power outages in Leigh and Tawharanui Peninsula from overnight.Vector is currently being called out to investigate.To view your street and report an outage with Vector https://help.vector.co.nz/map

One person has sustained critical injuries following a serious crash near Snells Beach this morning.The crash on Mahurangi East Road, involving two vehicles, was reported at 6.34am.Emergency services are currently at the scene and the injured person will be transported to hospital.Road closures are in place on Mahurangi East Road near the intersection with James Street.The Serious Crash Unit has been advised and will examine the scene.Police advise motorists to avoid the area while our work is completed at the scene.An investigation will commence into the circumstances of the crash.

Tips for driving in bad weather Check your vehicleEffective brakes, tyres, windscreen wipers, lights and steering are more crucial in wet weather. Adjust your drivingWet roads can be very slippery, increase your following distance from four to six seconds.  Watch your visibilityVisibility can be reduced by heavy rain; this increases the risk of an accident. To improve visibility, turn on the demister or open a window. Brake carefullyIf the vehicle has anti-lock braking system (ABS) brakes, never pump the brakes in an emergency. Keep the pedal pressed down hard and steer out of trouble. If the vehicle doesn’t have ABS brakes, don’t brake too hard when it is wet. The vehicle may go into a dangerous skid. Instead, pump thebrakes gently. If your vehicle has auxiliary brakes read the instructions.Reduce speedOn a wet road, driving at the speed limit could be too fast for the conditions. You can lose control very easily in wet weather, especially if you must brake suddenly, so slow down. And importantly KEEP TO THE LEFT!

There are delays in the following places:1) Brynderwyns - Slip. Due to slips partially blocking lanes and flooding, SH1 is closed from Glenmohr Rd to Waipu. Expect delays or consider delaying your journey. Please follow directions of emergency services.2) Whangaripo Valley - massive flooding not passable by car. Choose alternative route.3) Wellsford - south of Wellsford on the northbound lane there is a tree on the road blocking it. Still passable but expect delays. Massive amount of water around and more slips eminent. Avoid the area if you can.4) Waiteitei Rd is under water. This is the back route from Mangawhai to Wellsford passing through Te Arai. Use SH1 instead but expect delays.5) Tomarata Valley Road is also flooded and blocked.6) Kaipara Flats Road - massive flooding and likely impassable. Avoid the area.7) Wayby Station Road, Wellsford. Avoid completely flooded about 4kms up is impassable.8) Brown Road, Mangawhai - flooding close to Wonderview Lane. Take Tara road instead.Be careful out there people!To see further updates head to our Roads / Traffic section

Warkworth regionMonday 9th January - Partly cloudy, with a few showers. Rain developing this evening. Southeasterlies, becoming strong about Great Barrier Island this morning.Tuesday 10th January - Rain, heavy at times. Southeasterlies, strong in exposed places, turning southwesterly in the evening.Wednesday 11th - Rain, easing in the morning with fine breaks developing in the afternoon. Southwesterlies, strong at times.Thursday 12th - Mainly fine, isolated showers developing. Fresh southwesterlies, easing.Friday 13th - Showers, becoming widespread and heavier. Easterlies, becoming fresh.Saturday 14th - A few showers, clearing to fine later. Northeasterlies. Sunday 15th - Showers with light winds.Mangawhai regionMonday 9th January - Partly cloudy, with showers, turning to rain this evening. Southeasterlies becoming strong around midday.Tuesday 10th January - Rain, heavy at times, easing in the evening as strong easterlies change lighter southwesterly.Wednesday 11th - Partly cloudy with southwesterlies.Thursday 12th - A few showers. Southwesterlies.Friday 13th - Partly cloudy, with rain developing. Easterlies.Saturday 14th - Showers. Easterlies.Sunday 15th - Rain with light winds.

Tropical cyclone ‘seven’ as named by the Joint Typhoon warning Center today is currently 900km west of New Caledonia moving SE at 19 knots. Sustained winds around 45 knots, gusting to 55 knots. It has yet to be officially named by a regional met agency due to different cyclone naming thresholds, but it could be officially named by Fiji Met on Sunday. It will continue to track SE while merging with other vortexes and head into the subtropics by Monday morning and come under the influence of the subtropical Jet stream as it transitions to a strong subtropical low, tracking towards the North Island. Most global weather model guidance is aligned to an impact on the North Island on Tuesday into Wednesday.Extratropical cyclones entering upper North Island waters from a Northeast direction are notorious for shifting more east in the last 24 hours, so nothing is confirmed at this stage. One exception to this trend was Cyclone Bola in 1988, which moved westward off the Pacific as the ridge strengthened. This made Bola stall and become a historically significant weather event for the North Island. Read more on Cyclone Bola impacts for the upper North at https://www.haurakigulfweather.com/cyclone-bola-1988For now, enjoy some sunny breaks amongst the showers on Sunday and Monday and tidy up any loose items around the property. Keep track of the storm at https://www.haurakigulfweather.com/cyclone3 Image: The main global weather models from overseas Met agencies, give the latest guidance from today on where the subtropical storm might possibly impact the North Island on late Monday to Wednesday. Storm and gale force winds will likely span around 300km from the centre.

ASB Classic tournament director Nicolas Lamperin would have woken up Friday thinking things could only get better from here. That's because, after five days of shocking weather, they really couldn't have gotten much worse.Then he would have seen the headlines, quoting a clearly upset Emma Raducanu. The tournament drawcard suffered the ignominy of withdrawing from the Classic with an ankle injury, for which she blamed the indoor court surfaces the players had been moved to.After Raducanu's charming interactions with the media on her way to the second round match, where she said all the right things about coming to Auckland and using it as preparation for the upcoming Australian Open, that would have had to sting.If that wasn't enough, word came through mid-morning that second seed and world number 11 Holgar Rune pulled out of the men's tournament, due to start next week.So far, so bad.There is at least some sort of recourse with Raducanu. Her complaints about the court surface situation, while understandably frustrating, apply to everyone equally. She has been remarkably injury-prone since her breakthrough US Open win, which is why she came in ranked 78 in the world and was not seeded.Taking nothing away from how disappointing this is in the lead up to the Australian Open later in the month, it was either play indoors or don't play at all.The one bright spot is that the court surfaces and change of scene hasn't slowed down number one seeded American Coco Gauff one bit, who cruised to a second-round win over former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin.Arguably even more impressive has been Canadian Layleh Fernandez, who crushed Austrian Julia Grabher in her match, dropping only one game.The biggest issue though is that while both women are playing very good tennis and could potentially meet in the final on Sunday, no one can actually watch it live while the rain comes down.The indoor set-up has no stands, leaving the court looking and feeling like we were back in peak Covid precaution times. It also hasn't been designed with broadcast in mind, either, with the low camera angles and dark spots meaning that the ball essentially gets lost to anyone watching as soon as it clears the net to the far side of the court.This is not how it was supposed to happen. The return of the ASB Classic was the start of an interesting couple of months of hosting sport in New Zealand, with the World Sevens Series set to return (albeit for one last time) after its pandemic-enforced hiatus, while the English cricket team arrive in February for an anticipated series against the Black Caps.The joke in the media room is that everyone can basically reprint their pieces from the last rain-affected tournament about how Stanley Street needs a roof, but even then, that's pretty unfair given the tournament has had three long years without any revenue. Construction of such a project would not be cheap and given Auckland's glacial relationship with developing any sort of sports infrastructure, probably wouldn't be quick either.No one is really sure when rain has disrupted the tournament to this extent before, although 2018 was particularly bad with the quarter finals and semis having to take place on the same day. The one difference there was just a couple of days of the skies opening, while this year the unseasonable precipitation seems set to mess with the men's tournament too once that gets under way.Let's hope, for the tournament's sake, that the forecasters have got it wrong.

Tiny house advocates say legislation, lending and land are prohibiting people from buying tiny homes.Tiny House Hub founder Sharla May said there was "huge demand" for tiny homes, but that complications appeared when people tried to make their dream a reality.LegislationOne of the main issues tiny homes owners faced was a lack of standards across councils, said May.She compared the current system to being like if people required different licences in different cities."Imagine having a driver's licence in Auckland, moving to Hamilton ... and having to apply for a new licence in Hamilton. That's exactly what the industry faces at the moment."The majority of people, she said, were facing inconsistency when talking to council - each time talking to different people and getting different answers.A few she said were even having trouble getting people from the council "to put anything in writing confirming if their tiny house [is] legal or not".Chairperson of the New Zealand Tiny House Association (THA) and owner of Tiny House Builders Ltd Rebecca McLean said the THA would like to see a national standard created for tiny homes, so if people relocated from one location to another, council rules would be the same.She said they just needed the support of someone in government.LendingLending also presented a challenge for tiny home buyers, McLean said, with first-home buyers unable to use their KiwiSaver.Dave Tyrer, chief operating officer at Squirrel Mortgages, said that was because tiny homes were typically treated like vehicles, rather than houses, in terms of lending.As a result, buyers are also unable to get a standard home loan.Tyrer said there were "literally a handful of lenders who will lend on tiny homes".One of the biggest differences, Tyrer said, was tiny home owners often did not own the land. No land meant tiny homes had less security to put against a loan.Tyrer said an asset such as a house will degrade over time, while "typically land doesn't degrade".He believed the higher risk profile associated with a tiny house was what detracted banks from lending to them. Instead, he said most tiny house loans were treated like personal loans.But those loans also come at a higher cost. At Squirrel, he said they typically lent at 9.95 percent per annum - significantly more than than the 6.5 percent banks are charging around for a mortgage in the same time period.A one-bedroom house in Queenstown, only 33 square metres, went on the market for over $1 million last year. Photo: RNZ / Peter NewportLandNot owning their land also presented tiny house owners with issues beyond lending.May said it also presented issues around tenancy. Tiny homes on leased land aren't currently covered by the Residential Tenancies Act, she said.That raised a myriad of issues from how often the rent can be increased to who is liable for what. She said work needed to be done in that area.McLean said finding land could also be challenging. But she said it had become easier with websites such as May's Landshare, which connected those with land and those looking for it.May hoped to see the issues around tiny homes addressed."It's not for everyone, but there are a lot of people that want to live in tiny homes so … why are we stopping them?"Tiny homes could assist in solving the housing crisis, said May.McLean expected interest in tiny houses to continue to increase."People want to look at different alternative ways of living."But until the government puts in legislation to make the process simpler and more accessible, barriers would remain for some tiny house buyers.

Warkworth regionFriday 6th January - Periods of rain, turning to a few showers this evening. Northeasterlies, strong in exposed places until evening.Saturday 7th January - Partly cloudy with showers. Light winds.Sunday 8th January - Partly cloudy. Isolated afternoon and evening showers, some possibly heavy. Light winds and afternoon sea breezes.Mangawhai regionFriday 6th January - Periods of morning rain. Partly cloudy from afternoon with a few showers, possibly heavy, clearing evening. Northeasterlies.Saturday 7th January - Partly cloudy. Light winds.Sunday 8th January - Partly cloudy. A few afternoon or evening showers likely. Light winds and afternoon sea breezes.

Matakana App is now posting obituary and funeral notices on the App.You can find these under the Funeral Services button – Obituary / Death NoticesThis is another way to let our community know if someone has passed. This service we are providing free. Please email through the details to [email protected] if you have a notice, you would like us to post. You are welcome to include an image, photo, or video. Many thanks,The Matakana App team

SH1 NORTHERN TOLL ROAD WORKS - JAN-FEBTo carry out essential maintenance on the Hillcrest Bridge, located along the State Highway 1 Northern Gateway Toll Road, lane reductions will be required for approximately 3 weeks southbound and 3 weeks northbound. Work commences on recoating the Hillcrest bridge's supports/legs from Mon 09 January to Thu 26 January with SH1 reduced to 1 lane southbound throughout this period. Both northbound lanes will remain open. Following this SH1 will be reduced to 1 lane northbound from Mon 06 February to Thu 23 February. Both southbound lanes will remain open.Some delays are likely during period where lanes reductions are in place. We recommend you plan ahead to avoid congestion. Please note this work is weather dependent which may result in a change from advertised dates. Check our Traffic Map at: www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/auckland for current information.

A second North Island concert has been cancelled due to bad weather lashing the motu this week.One-day concert Summer Haze in Matakana was called off on Tuesday night because organisers could not guarantee the safety of crew and attendees.Tauranga's A Summer's Day Live organisers have now announced it too would not be going ahead Wednesday evening.The event was part of a tour of the country, and featured musical artists UB40, Jefferson Starship and Dragon.It was supposed to begin in Wharepai Domain, Mt Maunganui at 4.30pm.In a statement on the event's website, organiser Neptune Entertainment said it was cancelled "due to current and forecasted adverse weather conditions"."We had an amazing show planned, however safety is our top priority and this call has been made with our customers and staff first in mind," the statement continued.Customers would receive an automatic refund within 10 business days, Neptune Entertainment said."Thank you for your understanding," the statement concluded.Comments on Neptune Entertainment's social media post about the cancellation were largely positive, with people agreeing the weather was too severe.

The stretch of State Highway 1 between Warkworth and Wellsford through Dome Valley has always been prone to disasters. It was first graded in the 1860s as a part of the Great North Road, a troubled project to connect Auckland with Whangarei. A lack of government investment led the road to quickly degrade in quality. Eventually, the road shifted to more stable terrain bringing the very legality of the route into question.In 1920, the Rodney County Council re-surveyed the road and metalled it. But it was still not up to the task. Winter weather made it unusable for months at a time as the clay underlying the metal turned into thick, greasy mud. The road was unusable almost every winter and spring. Farmers Trading Company even placed a sign outside its Wellsford store indicating when the road was closed. The alternative route was a 46-km detour through Kaipara Flats, Tauhoa, Wharehine, and Port Albert, which had a concrete all-weather highway but was prone to flooding at the Hoteo River crossing.The current alignment of State Highway 1 through Dome Valley was completed in 1933, adding smoother bends and gentler grades. However, it could not overcome the forces of nature. In March and July 1935, torrential rainstorms caused several slips and a large sinkhole that blocked all traffic between Wellsford and Warkworth. Despite countless repairs and upgrades over the ensuing decades, this section remains one of the most problematic along the highway. Be careful and drive safely this summer if travelling through Dome Valley.

A fire in a 100-year-old pōhutukawa tree, that has been burning for more than two days, has been finally put out yesterday.The fire began late on New Year's Eve at Martin's Bay, in Mahurangi East, and was thought to be caused by fireworks.A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said one crew member and a tanker remained at the site overnight and into this morning.Northeasterly winds were fanning the flames under the tree's exposed roots but the pōhutukawa was unable to be cut down as it was near the edge of a cliff, with a house below, they said.The fire had been extinguished and the crew left about 10.30am, the spokesperson said.No FENZ investigation into the fire and its cause was likely to take place.For video of the burning tree go to Warkworth Volunteer Fire Brigade https://fb.watch/hQetO_tQ4y/