Northland news in brief: bridge carpark upgrade and KidsTRY this weekend

Work on upgrading the Bascule carpark by Te Matau A Pohe bridge in Whangārei, above, has begun. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Preparation for the upgrade of Whangārei's Bascule car park by Te Matau A Pohe bridge has begun. Fences have been set up to let people safely detour around the site while the area is paved. A total of 63 new car parks and eight camper van parks will be created along with planting. In about a month's time, the car park will be closed for two months. All together the job by Robinson Asphalt will take three months. While the work is going on campervans can park at Cobham Oval, except during events. The Hatea Loop will remain open with a diversion past the area. The council has no plans to charge for parking at the site.

iSITE entrance upgrade

Work has started on upgrading the vehicle entrance into the Whangārei iSITE at Tarewa Park. The entrance will remain open but at a reduced width while the work is taking place. Once the contractor has excavated the full width of the crossing there will be six steel plates in position providing a seven metre wide vehicle crossing while work on the site continues. Work will be ongoing over the next three months. Whangārei District Council asks that drivers and pedestrians take care in this area and thank them for their patience.

Clarification

Clarification: In Monday's From The Mayor's Desk column by Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai the letter "d" was inadvertently left out of the word complicated during the pre-press production process which may have made the sentence clumsy to readers (page 9 column 2, second to last paragraph). The original copy provided said: "Our staff are spread across two different sites, which can make the organisation of a 'simple' meeting anything but simple." Our apologies to the mayor for any distress caused by this error.

Vigil for mosque shooting

A prayer vigil will be held at the Baha'i Centre at 480 Kerikeri Rd from 10am this Sunday for the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their families. All welcome.

Prisoner release programme

A pilot programme will see selected prisoners training and working in the forestry sector as part of the One Billion Trees Programme, forestry minister Shane Jones and corrections minister Kelvin Davis announced. The pilot – jointly developed by Te Uru Rākau and the Department of Corrections - will involve up to 15 prisoners from the Northland Regional Corrections Facility employed to plant seedlings as part of the 2019 season. They will also work towards an NCEA Level 2 Qualification as part of the programme. The pilot will be located in Northland, where Crown Forestry joint ventures require planters for the upcoming season. Mr Davis said this pilot expands on the successful release-to-work programme already in place in New Zealand prisons.