Far North news in brief: Student’s career dreams take off; council counts vandalism costs and surgery success

Kerikeri High School prefect Braeden Leung at the wheel of the flight simulator at Merlin Labs, in Kerikeri

Student highflyer

Kerikeri High School prefect Braeden Leung is flying high, not only winning a university scholarship but also receiving a prestigious award. The Royal Aeronautical Society Award was to be presented to Leung in Parliament last week. It recognises his work developing flight simulator software for the Kerikeri branch of US company Merlin Labs. Separately, he has been awarded a $10,000 Top Energy engineering scholarship to help cover the costs of his first year at university. Leung plans to start a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechatronics at the University of Canterbury next year. Mechatronics combines mechanical systems, electronics and computer technology to create smart, automated devices

Sign vandalism costs

Far North District Council is counting the cost of a surge in vandalism targeting NEW speed limit signs.

New speed limits have been rolled out in stages across the district since 2019. The changes have only been made following extensive public consultation with affected communities and have so far affected district roads around Kāeo, Waipapa, Waimate North and Ōkaihau, followed by Kaitāia-Awaroa and Broadwood-Kohukohu in 2021. The most recent changes have occurred in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa catchment. Following each change to speed limits, there has been a surge in the destruction of road signs.

Tanya Proctor, head of infrastructure strategy says destruction of road signs endangers the lives of other road users and does not alter the legal requirement to obey road rules.

In 2020-21, it cost ratepayers close to $40,000 to repair signs targeted by vandals in the Bay of Islands Ward and more than $20,000 to repair signs installed along the Kaitāia-Awaroa Ahipara-Mangamuka route in 2022-23.

Surgery success

Hokianga father-of-five and detective constable Owen Pihema has undergone surgery in Sydney to remove his rare cancer. He has goblet cell adenocarcinoma of the appendix, a cancer so rare it affects just one person in two million. Because of the rarity of the disease, he decided to have specialist surgery done by expert Professor David Morris at Sydney’s St George Peritonectomy and Liver Cancer Unit, funded with the help of donations. The surgery was performed last week without complications, and he will stay in Sydney for recovery and chemotherapy.

Lotto win

A ticket sold in the Far North was among 12 nationally that each won more than $16,000 with Lotto Second Division last Wednesday night.

The ticket, sold at Four Square Paihia, won its holder $16,460. A ticket sold at Pak N Save in Whangārei also won that amount.

The winning Lotto numbers were 10, 22, 24, 25, 31 and 36 with the bonus number 39 and Powerball number 1.

New KBA committee

Kaitāia Business Association voted in a new committee at its recent AGM.

Voted in as chairman again was Josh Kirby (Farmers Kaitāia), with deputy-chair Angela Phillipps (Building Safer Communities). Treasurer is Sandy Gillespie (Harrison Gillespie Accounting) and the executive committee is David Aydon (Far North REAP), John Stewart (Nettl Kaitāia), Carolyn Saulo (Taha-a-wai ki Kaitāia), Rose Vazey-Roberts (Te Runanga o Ngāi Takoto), Sheryl Hansford (Northland Planning & Development), and Shirley Neho (Kaitāia Civil Construction).