Northland news in brief: Mangamuka Gorge road reopens for light vehicles

NZTA contractors will open SH1 through to Mangamuka Gorge for light traffic during the Easter long weekend. Photo / Peter Jackson

The road on State Highway 1 through to Mangamuka Gorge would be open to light vehicles over Easter.

NZTA will open the road between 8am and 7pm from Good Friday to Easter Monday with light vehicles travelling in each direction in one-way convoys every 15 minutes.

Heavy vehicles will have to keep using the SH10 detour route.

NZTA's Jacqui Hori-Hoult said if the Easter convoys worked well and there was demand, NZTA would look to open the road to convoys on most weekends after Easter.

"Motorists will have to approach the convoys with some flexibility as they won't run to a strict timetable. It will depend on how many vehicles turn up on the day.

"People might miss getting on the end of a convoy and have to wait up to twenty minutes for the next one."

Downpours predicted

Periods of heavy rain is forecast for Northland from around 11am today

until 2am tomorrow.

MetService says thunderstorms are possible and that rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria in some areas.

The warning follows a slow-moving front that lies over the North Island.

Feedback to council

The Northland Regional Council is urging ratepayers to have their say on its 10-year Long Term Plan before the consultation period ends on April 16.

The LTP is designed to meet new central government requirements, boost regional resilience and realise the North's collective potential in changing times.

A series of 'Have Your Say' events around the region finished in Kaitaia last weekend after earlier visits to Whangārei, Kerikeri, Otiria, Waipū and Dargaville last week.

Further information about the LTP is available online from www.nrc.govt.nz/futureplan.

Check your passport

The Department of Internal Affairs is encouraging people to renew their passports now to avoid the rush when quarantine-free overseas travel opens.

Currently, more than 400,000 passports have expired which can be renewed online at www.passports.govt.nz. Step-by-step instructions are available on the passports website to guide you through this process.

DIA is currently running a campaign to let customers know that their passport has expired.

The cost of an adult passport is $191.

Advice for artists

Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet, co-founder of fashion house, WORLD and IHC Art Awards Ambassador, will spend tomorrow morning with artists at The Papermill in Whangārei ahead of the opening of the IHC Art Awards in Ma.

She will share her knowledge from 10am to 12.30pm and encourage artists with intellectual disabilities to enter the awards.

The IHC Art Awards are open to all New Zealanders with an intellectual disability, age 13 or over, regardless of whether they use IHC, IDEA Services or Choices NZ.

The artworks traditionally cover everything from sculptures, installations and textile art, to painting and drawing.