Northland news in brief: Givealittle page for family forced from home; and sister city plan canned

A Givealittle page has been set-up for a Whangārei family forced to move out of their Morningside home, above, after it started to crack.

A Givealittle page has been set up for a Whangārei family facing a massive repair bill to fix their badly damaged house. More than $1000 had been raised for Anthony and Marian Stringer in just three hours by mid afternoon yesterday for their family home of 16 years on Manuka Place, Raumanga. The couple noticed cracks in the driveway of their family home, only then to wake and discover a crack running through the living area of the house and unable to open their front door. A Whangārei District Council senior building inspector last week moved the family to a motel after their house was deemed structurally unsafe. Engineering reports on the land surrounding the house is expected early next week. People can donate at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/save-the-stringers-family-home?fbclid=IwAR0k1C_HLkJ87-wIWp4mcjoMOBIrG4pUhpAwddRL1Opvujk1xIzdcAVQq2M

Sister city on hold

An invitation to the Far North to form a second sister city relationship with China has been put on hold until after the local elections. Chaozhou city, in Guangdong province, has invited the Far North District Council to sign an MOU about a becoming sister cities when Chaozhou representatives are in Auckland later this month. At their August 29 meeting, however, councillors decided it was better to leave the decision to the new council due to be voted in on October 12. The Far North already has a sister-city relationship with Liaoning Province in China's northeast. A staff report stated the investment value to date of the Liaoning link had been low, partly due to trade restrictions, but Chaozhou was in a special economic zone near Hong Kong with greater opportunities for trade. The council budgets a total of $41,000 a year for all sister city activities with an extra $5000 for attending the sister cities conference.

Meet the candidates

The Whangārei Heads Citizens Association is hosting a 'meet the candidates' event tonight. The meeting, at McLeod Bay Hall,from 7pm to 9pm, is for the Whangārei mayoral candidates and the Whangārei Heads ward candidates.

Green Paper welcomed

Refining New Zealand welcomes the Government's Green Paper endorsement of the importance of hydrogen for New Zealand's economy and future energy needs. The oil refining company is the country's largest producer of hydrogen. It announced in July it wanted to build New Zealand's largest solar farm to manufacture zero carbon green hydrogen for refining, transport fuel and export. Chief executive Mike Fuge said Refining NZ would do what it could to accelerate hydrogen, solar and wind power in line with the Green Paper's vision for its impact on New Zealand's future fuel needs, economy and to address climate change. Fuge said Refining NZ is on track to meet its long term target of being the world's lowest-emission refinery.