A car (pictured) in the surf on Ruakaka Beach has been removed. The Northland Regional council were informed of the car by police on Tuesday and it was the Whangarei District Council who organised the removal the same day. The car in the tide, between the old power station and the racecourse, did not cause any environmental concerns.
Fire at old Money Factory
Firefighters were called to the old Money Factory site near Onerahi at 6.30am on Tuesday after a fire alarm went off at the rear of the building. A crew went to investigate but found no smoke or fire. It is unknown whether the alarm was set off by a lightning storm, or a power outage in Onerahi at the same time.
Dead motorcyclist named
A 34-year-old motorcyclist who died in the Far North on Sunday was Ben Petrie of Queenstown. Police extend their sympathies to friends and family of Mr Petrie and said the Serious Crash Unit continued to investigate the crash. A local firefighter says it's the fourth motorcycle crash on the same corner in as many months and is calling for warning signs before another rider is hurt or killed.
Bridge works
The establishment of the Taipa Bridge site office, including the installation of sediment control measures, is nearing completion according to Fulton Hogan's stakeholder liaison manager Jenny Scott. The stripping of topsoil and removal of vegetation had begun, after which a start would be made on removing mud from the estuary and installing rock material to construct the causeway on the east side of the river. That was expected to take some six weeks. The specialist bridge team was scheduled to arrive in April to begin constructing a temporary crossing immediately upstream from where the new Taipa bridge will be built, which will serve as the platform for a large cranes.