21 January | Red heavy rain warning

The sealing season which commenced in October is well underway, with pre-seal repairs required to enable the 2025/2026 reseal programme progressing well. 

Communities across Kaipara are now home to 28 new official New Zealand citizens. 

Summer holidays are fast approaching! During this time critical council services continue, with some changes due to staff availability. 

Last month, civil defence-trained KDC staff joined a region-wide exercise, simulating a tsunami scenario.

Northland’s Mayoral Forum acknowledges central government plans for a major review of the way the nation’s local government is structured – but says any eventual outcome must have what is best for Taitokerau at its heart.

October kicked off sealing season with pre-seals completed on West Coast Road, Pouto Road, Baylys Coast Road and Colville Road, and reseals on Kai Iwi Lakes Road are underway.

Kaipara District’s new Council has officially taken office.

Over Labour Weekend, KDC staff were deployed to Invercargill. 

Join us as we welcome the newly elected Council for Kaipara at the official swearing-in ceremony and inaugural meeting. 

Aranga Beach is more ready than it’s ever been to welcome visitors this summer, with new and brightly coloured public toilets installed and open for use.   

Official results for Kaipara District Council are now available.  

The preliminary results for Kaipara are now available.

The progress results for Kaipara are now available.

The adoption marks a significant step toward establishing a regionally controlled water services entity.

The roading team have completed 20 slips over the last nine months. Pahi Road (pictured) is well underway.

We have some major works happening on roads around the district this month.

The Government has established a new council performance measurement framework to give communities greater visibility of the performance of their local council. 

Kaipara District Council has adopted a new document that explains local government legal obligations to Māori.

A total of 32 candidates are confirmed for Kaipara District Council’s local elections on 11 October.

The council controlled organisation will deliver drinking water and wastewater services from July 2027.

Complaints about wandering dogs fell by 65% and dog attacks are also down 43% over the same period.

More than $33,000 has been allocated through the Sport NZ Rural Travel Fund and Creative Communities Scheme – Arts Funding.

The Report offers residents an overview of the challenges, opportunities, and priorities facing the district ahead of the local elections.

Nominations for candidates seeking election to the Kaipara District Council open Friday, 4 July.

The platform is designed as a central hub, positioning the district as an ideal place to visit, live, work, and invest.

Exceptional individuals and organisations have been honoured at the Citizens and Environmental Awards

Whangarei, Kaipara and Far North district councils have agreed to establish a Northland-wide council-controlled organisation (CCO) to deliver drinking water and wastewater services from July 2027.  

Dargaville residents were asked to urgently conserve water ahead of the Kings Birthday weekend, when reservoir levels started to drop due to a break along the town's raw water pipeline. The event prompted emergency repairs for this first and three subsequent leaks, round the clock water deliveries from Kaipara and neighbouring districts and a coordinated response.

Did you know that a whopping 55% of journeys take place on just 16% of the KDC road network?

Council has adopted new Fees and Charges for the 2025/2026 year at its May meeting.

Success! The last houses around upper Hokianga Road are now getting water, thanks to the dedicated work of the crews to get the booster pumps on Sunday.

Kaipara District Council has reviewed its Development Contributions Policy and is seeking feedback on the proposed changes.

Community members in Dargaville are being told to prepare for further surface flooding in the township over the next couple days. 

Update Friday 18 April, 8:57am

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has confirmed it will contribute up to $435,000 to Kaipara District Council towards clean-up costs from the Mangawhai tornado.

The past few weeks have been tough for many in our community.

Over the weekend a team of Taskforce Kiwi deployed two field teams to support the Mangawhai tornado recovery.

A team from New Zealand Red Cross was on the streets of Mangawhai on Thursday and Friday visiting residents affected by Sunday’s tornado.

Residents can drop off tornado-damaged waste free of charge at the Hakaru Transfer Station this weekend - 1 and 2 February

Contractors are removing building debris and tornado damaged items piled on berms in the most affected areas of Mangawhai, as the cleanup from the tornado event continues. 

It’s been a rough couple of days for many in the Mangawhai community, and some may only be starting to feel the emotional impacts of Sunday’s tornado event now.

Kaipara Civil Defence Emergency Management continues to respond to the impacts of the Mangawhai tornado.

A suite of recovery and resilience projects underway in Kaipara District is set to benefit from more than half a million dollars in central government funds.

Kaipara District Council activated their Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) as a precautionary measure yesterday, after a Transpower tower fell near Glorit and blanket power cuts rolled across most of Northland, with no initial confirmation of when they could end.

Kaipara District Council contractors Ventia have completed another significant road repair, this time in Maungaturoto.

A new online mapping tool developed by Northland’s three district councils shows the latest repair plans for the remaining slips still affecting district roads following severe weather events that hit the region during 2022-23.

Kaipara is set to benefit from $2.6 million recently announced by the Government to boost resilience and reduce the risk of major flood damage.

A shortened Long Term Plan with a focus on recovery was approved by Kaipara District Council earlier this week.

A new collaborative project has arisen from the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, which aims to build Northland’s resilience to future adverse weather events by tackling the problem of fallen and at-risk trees.

Council staff and contractors have been working on solutions to repair or replace Devich Road bridge, which was damaged in the 24 February extreme weather event.

The Kaipara District Mayoral Relief Fund gave out a total of $532,443.94 to residents and ratepayers in the Kaipara district.

A huge shoutout to the Paparoa Cyclone Response Fundraiser Committee for their generous donation towards the Kaipara District Mayoral Relief Fund.

February’s extreme weather events have impacted roads across Kaipara. Our roading network has suffered significant long-lasting damage, and many issues will not be a simple fix. 

A number of agencies are offering support for those affected by February's extreme weather events.

In the leadup to the reopening of the eastern Brynderwyns detour route (Kaiwaka/Mangawhai/Waipu), authorities have confirmed that restrictions will again apply to truck and trailer units.

If your home was damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle and you need support to find temporary accommodation, the Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) can help you.

In a controlled opening, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will re-open SH1 at the Brynderwyn Hills for northbound vehicles only from 8am tomorrow morning (Wednesday 1 March).

Contractors working on the Lang’s Beach bridge on Cove Road have encountered further challenges, delaying the reopening of the bridge until Wednesday morning.

I am not sure anyone would have believed me had I said we would have to contend with another extreme weather event during the on-going aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Authorities in Northland are advising travellers to stay up-to-date and amend their plans if necessary as key local roads damaged in Friday’s heavy rain around Mangawhai and surrounding areas will remain closed until midweek and in some cases, longer.

Everyone has now left the overnight accommodation centres at Campbell Park Christian Camp, Moir Point Christian Camp and the community-led centre at St John's Hall in Kaiwaka.

UPDATED: 2.18PM Thursday 02 March 2023

Kaipara District continues to respond to the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson has established a Mayoral Relief Fund to help support those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.

After February's extreme weather events, you or someone you know, may be feeling upset, exhausted, overwhelmed or uncertain. You don’t have to manage this on your own, there are free resources available to support you during this time.

A number of Kaipara homeowners have had their houses stickered in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Media release from Northland Civil Defence.

Yesterday I was able to witness first hand some of the hard work that has been happening across the district to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Our Rapid Response teams made good ground yesterday, conducting welfare checks on our isolated and hard-to-reach Kaipara communities, many of which are still without power.

It’s a relief to see river levels dropping with the steady fine weather. There is still some flooding in areas around the Northern Wairoa, which we are still monitoring. We expect these to return to normal by Tuesday.

After having no occupants overnight we have closed the Civil Defence Evacuation Centre at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and relocated the team to other areas of the response.

UPDATED: 2.17PM Thursday 02 March 2023

A number of our staff have been diverted to emergency services relating to Cyclone Gabrielle. Council services will continue but some with limited capacity so please be patient. We will continue to keep you updated.

You now have until Friday 03 March to dispose of flood-damaged green waste and items free of charge at Dargaville and Hakaru transfer stations. Both transfer stations are operating normal hours during this time.  

When you see the sun come out and the wind has dropped, it could be difficult to believe what we have experienced in the last few days.

In the early hours of this morning Awakino River on the northern outskirts of Dargaville breached its banks. 

It’s been a tough day, especially for parts of Dargaville, with Awakino River and some of Ruawai now being evacuated. By 7pm, high tide, we expect to have evacuated everyone from areas we think are vulnerable.

Now that the weather conditions have improved and we have passed the last couple of high tides we feel it is safe for those who have been evacuated to return home.

This article will be updated with information on Kaipara District Council services during Cyclone Gabrielle. 

A precautionary state of emergency has been declared for Northland as at 4.30pm Sunday 12 February, for an initial period of seven days, as part of the regional response to Cyclone Gabrielle.