Category Archives: Local Issues

Articles concerning local community issues in Laingholm and surrounding Waitakere Ranges area.

Wastewater Overflows in Laingholm

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Many Laingholm residents are now aware that Laingholm Beach is unsafe to swim due to poor water quality resulting from fecal contamination. The Council web site www.SafeSwim.org.nz lists Laingholm Beach under the category “Long term water quality alerts – we recommend you don’t swim at these spots”. Action definitely needs to be taken by Watercare and Auckland Council, but the purpose of this article is to look at our individual contribution to the problem and look at how our everyday actions at home may be contributing to the contamination of Laingholm Beach. Continue reading →

Civil Defence: Recent Outage Stats + Preparedness for Busy People on a Budget

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MAJOR EAST AUCKLAND POWER OUTAGE AFFECTS 185,000 PEOPLE

This month Auckland experienced a major power outage due to a fire at the Penrose electricity substation. All suburbs in the Eastern half of the Auckland isthmus were affected. 85,000 households and businesses (185,000 people) lost electricity. Almost a half of these households and businesses were without electricity for between 1 and 2.5 days. Most shops and businesses closed due to not having electricity. At the height of the outage 128 cell towers and 7 telephone exchanges were down and traffic lights on 140 road intersections stopped working. 49 wastewater pumping stations lost electricity resulting in 4 wastewater overflows into the environment.

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Attention Property Owners: New “Smart” Electricity Meters

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Electricity meters on many New Zealand homes including homes in the Roundabout circulation area are being replaced with the so-called “Smart” or “Advanced” meters. Compared to a standard electricity meter, a smart meter is essentially a surveillance device with a microwave transmitter. It collects detailed real-time information about your electricity usage and transmits it to your electricity provider through the air using the cell tower network.

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Auckland Unitary Plan – Implications for Laingholm

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From LDCA: We will be making a submission on the Draft Unitary Plan, in relation to the implications for Laingholm, and also Auckland as a whole.

This updated rulebook will replace district plans and define rules for property owners – about what can and can’t be done on your property. The plan has passed its pre-draft phase and is now in the draft stage with full public consultation in progress. Since pre-draft, the rules about fencing transparency have been removed, natural protection overlays have been simplified and overlay mapping accuracy was improved.

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Cellular Broadband for Huia and Cornwallis – A Closer Look

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I am concerned about Huia and Cornwallis Residents and Ratepayers Association’s support of Vodafone’s construction of a cellular tower at Awhitu Peninsula to provide cellular broadband coverage to Huia and Cornwallis. The positive aspects of having fast internet access are widely understood. The intention of this letter is to point out the less widely understood downsides and health risks associated with the chosen cellular broadband technology.

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