News snippets from Northland

Whangārei District Council is looking for up to 36 people to join its three advisory groups.

Crash cuts power

Whangārei households experienced power cuts after a car ploughed into a power pole on Saturday afternoon. An area of Western Hills Drive in Kensington was closed for more than three hours after a car hit the pole and brought power lines down across the section of SH1 at 3.40pm. The driver was taken to Whangārei Hospital with moderate injuries.

Advisory groups

Whangārei District Council is looking for up to 36 people to join its three advisory groups. It is seeking a diverse membership for the Positive Ageing, Youth and Disability Advisory Groups, and says members will be selected as individuals, not as representatives of organisations, and they must have relevant experience. Memberships will be for a two-year term, with the possibility of reappointment for one more term. Applications close on February 14. Visit wdc.govt.nz/Community/Advisory-groups.

Ngāpuhi scholarships

Students with Ngāpuhi whakapapa have until March 26 to apply one of the six different scholarships offered by Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi O Ngāpuhi. Available are 15 $500 disbursements for school-leavers entering into their first year of tertiary study; 42 $1000 bachelor-degree level disbursements; seven $1500 honours-degree scholarships; seven $1500 graduate or post-graduate diploma scholarships; five $2000 masters scholarships; and four $4000 PhD scholarships. To be eligible, applicants must be fully registered with the rūnanga, and formally enrolled with a tertiary provider. Visit ngapuhi.iwi.nz/funding/#scholarships

Accreditation renewal

International Accreditation New Zealand will renew the Far North District Council's Building Consent Authority after council staff processed more than 99 per cent of consent applications in 20 days or fewer since August 1. The team takes 13 days on average to process consent applications and have completed 100 per cent within the 20-day statutory timeframe since September. The assessment is a big improvement on last year when the agency, which is appointed by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment to audit building consent authorities, identified critical non-compliance issues. The latest one identified only a small number of general, non-compliance issues, many of which were addressed during the audit.