Northland news in brief: Aquabots to do battle; and concrete spill blocks intersection

The Northland Aquabot Competition - where robots built by students will do battle underwater - is being held at Whangārei Aquatic Centre next Tuesday.

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Clash of the Aquabots

Whangārei Aquatic Centre will be a battleground for an army of Aquabots, with up to 160 Northland students ready to test the water for their transforming robots.
And the NZ Defence Force (NZDF) will be there to show off its own underwater robots.
The Northland Aquabot Competition - where robots built by students will do battle
underwater - is on at the centre from 9am to 2pm on Tuesday.
Organiser Gareth Bodle said although Covid has hammered some schools (staff and pupils) there is still a turnout of 40 teams - from Panguru/Whangaroa, Bay of Islands, Whangārei and Northern Wairoa - and likely over 150-160 students taking part.
The event is supported by the NZDF, who will bring their own underwater ROVs and hydrological equipment and provide demonstrations at 10am, 11.30am and 1pm.

Concrete spill hosed off

One of Kaitaia's busiest intersections was partly blocked by a concrete spill on Tuesday. Around noon motorists reported fresh concrete on the Pak'nSave roundabout preventing access to the supermarket and McDonalds. Kaitaia deputy fire chief Ross Beddows said contractors had started shovelling the wet concrete away but the brigade's hoses made a faster job of it. The mess was cleaned up within 15 minutes. "We have no concrete evidence so all we can deduce is that a truck must have been a bit full as it went around the roundabout and some of it sloshed out." The callout, one of many in recent days, cements Kaitaia's position as the busiest brigade in the Far North.

Supreme Pie awards deferred

NZ Bakels has deferred the 25th Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards until next year, a decision made out of respect for the baking sector.
The 25th Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards will now take place on August 1, 2023.
NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel said: "While bakeries are working incredibly hard to get back on their feet after two years of Covid, there are many other factors impacting on their businesses, very much as it is in any business right now. And while we look forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary of the largest and longest-running food competition in New Zealand, it is only prudent that we give our bakers some time to adjust to the changes that the pandemic and unrest in Europe have created.''
The postponement will give Northland bakers another year to perfect their pie recipes.

High-tech aquifer survey

Aerial electromagnetic (AEM) surveying of the Aupōuri aquifer will go ahead in November this year. The Te Hiku Water Study project team - which represents iwi, the community, landowners and councils - confirmed arrangements for a combination of aerial surveying and drilling of groundwater bores to build a better picture of the aquifer and help identify the best ways to balance environmental protection, the increased demand for water and events such as droughts. AEM involves flying over the land with a loop system suspended beneath a helicopter. Transmitters on the loop send electromagnetic signals underground and sensors measure the behaviour of the returning signals. The project idea came from the Te Hiku community and is now part of water studies in the Northland region being conducted by Aqua Intel Aotearoa (AIA), a collaboration between Kānoa - the delivery arm of the Provincial Growth Fund, and GNS Science. Co-funding is provided by Northland Regional Council, Far North District Council, Ngai Takoto and Te Aupōuri.

Māori/Pasifika link-up for FNDC

The Far North District Council has signed a kawenate (relationship agreement) with Amotai, a national organisation connecting Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses with buyers of goods and services. Amotai holds a national database of Māori and Pasifika businesses ready for work and helps councils and other organisations engage with them. Outgoing chief executive Shaun Clarke said the agreement would boost the council's efforts to generate social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits from the goods and services it procured.