Northland news in brief: Passenger cut from wreck; free First Aid training; and vegan pies

Part of the aftermath of a serious two-car crash on Broadway, Kaikohe, on Sunday thought to have been caused when one vehicle tried to overtake on the busy commercial street. Photo / Supplied

A passenger with suspected spinal injuries had to be cut from a car after a crash on Kaikohe's main street. The two-car smash occurred about 2pm on Sunday near the lower end of Broadway as one vehicle was believed to be overtaking another on the busy commercial street. The road was blocked for more than an hour and the patient was taken to Whangārei Hospital. Earlier, just before 7pm on Saturday, emergency services were called to State Highway 12 west of Kaikohe when a Subaru Forester left the road at a slight bend near Jordan Rd, hit a culvert and flipped end-over-end, coming to rest on its wheels on the verge. Kaikohe fire chief Bill Hutchinson said the driver refused treatment despite what appeared to be a nasty head wound and was instead picked up by another motorist before police or ambulance arrived. An elderly gentleman, who had been mowing the grass where the car crashed, had a lucky escape when he went inside for tea moments earlier.

Free first aid training

Kaipara District Council is working with St John to offer free first aid training for volunteers in the community. Five places are available for a level one course today at the St John building, 191 Molesworth Dr in Mangawhai. All participants will need to provide evidence of Covid-19 vaccination. Those interested can contact Gail Fotheringham at gfotheringham@kaipara.govt.nz.

Vegan Pie Awards

Waipū cafe Logan MacLean will find out on Friday if it's vegan pies are among the best in the country. This year's Vegan Pie Awards- run by the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand - are being held on Friday and Logan MacLean has entered pies in five of the eight categories - sweet, cafe boutique, steak, chicken and vegetable. The cafe will be hoping to go one step further than previously in the awards. In 2019 its Cock-a-Leekie chicken and leek pie came second runner-up in the Vegan Chicken category.

Refinery petition

An 18,000-signature petition calling on the Government to declare Marsden Pt Oil Refinery a nationally strategic asset and to compulsorily buy all shares will now be presented to Parliament later this week. The petition, organised by Whangārei-based Social Credit leader Chris Leitch was to have been presented to Parliament on Saturday by Whangārei-list MP and National Party interim leader Dr Shane Reti. However, circumstances meant this was not possible and it will be presented later this week, Leitch said.

New graduates in North

Northland's thin blue line has been bolstered with two new graduates from the NZ Police College. Fifty-nine new constables of Wing 348 graduated from the Police College, in Porirua, last Thursday. Two of the new officers will be stationed in Northland, including Constable Matthew White, who won the Police Commissioner's Award for Leadership from Wing 348. They will start duties on December 6.

JP service moves

Justice of the Peace services in Whangārei have moved from the Whangārei courthouse to Rust Ave from today. Since the JPs are unable to operate from the Whangārei Law Courts under Alert Level 2, they have moved to 22 Rust Ave, above Northland Pathology.
Between 12 and 15 JPs will take turns rendering their services to the public between the hours of 9.30am and 1.30pm, Monday to Friday.