Far North news in brief: Truck leaves road; power cut compo and film workshops

This truck left the road and slipped into the ditch on SH10, heading from Awanui to Kaitāia on Tuesday morning.

SH1 crash

State Highway One was closed on Tuesday after a truck left the road. Police said the single vehicle crash was on the Awanui-Kaitāia straight at 8.12am.

The truck and trailer ended up in a ditch and while no injuries were reported, police are investigating the crash. Police said the scene took some time to clear, as heavy haulage equipment had to be called in to lift the truck from the ditch. SH1 was reduced to one lane before it was temporarily closed in the afternoon, when the truck was towed.

Power outage

About 4000 customers in Taipa experienced a power outage due to a Top Energy network fault about 9am on Monday. A company spokesperson said the outage had nothing to do with the Transpower fault and an investigation was under way.

Filmmaking workshop

Fancy yourself as a budding Jane Campion, Francis Ford Coppola or Quentin Tarantino?

If so, you can find out if you have what it takes at two upcoming filmmaking workshops in the Far North.

Aspiring scriptwriters and story tellers can attend the free July School holiday Youth Filmmaking Workshop in Kerikeri. The four-day workshop, for 14-18-year-olds from July 15-18, will teach about the filmmaking process, how to turn ideas into a script, how to write a scene and how to act for the screen. Led by writer and director Michael Bennett (The Gone, In Dark Places) the youth workshop at the Turner Centre will be preceded by a one-day adult scriptwriting workshop on July 14.

For the youth workshop details go to https://script-to-screen.co.nz/far-north-youth-filmmaking-workshop/.

For the adult workshop go to https://script-to-screen.co.nz/far-north-adult-scriptwriting-workshop/

Power cut compo

Consumer NZ says Far North residents who lost power during last week’s widespread outage may be eligible for compensation.

“The Consumer Guarantees Act says electricity supply must be of an acceptable quality,” said Jessica Walker, campaigns manager at Consumer.

“We understand that people may not be eligible for compensation if a severe weather event or natural disaster causes a power outage, but this is different.

“It’s now been disclosed that last week’s outage was caused by catastrophic human error, which we think means impacted residents have a strong case for claiming compensation for any consequential losses. Consequential losses could include something like a fridge or freezer full of food that spoiled because your appliance lost power,” said Walker.

For more info go to https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/northland-power-customers-your-rights