News snippets

Council approves $57m for a growing Hamilton
Projects catering for the needs of a growing city, including roading projects in the north of Hamilton, were approved by councillors at a recent meeting of Hamilton City Council.

An upgrade of North City Rd and an extension of Borman Rd have been allocated $8,126,000 and $2,183,000 at the meeting last Thursday. Upgrades to Hamilton’s water and wastewater treatment will also receive a financial boost, $28,746,000 and $18,356,000 respectively.

Residential and commercial growth is supported with two roading projects. The North City Road upgrade will help development of the Rototuna Town Centre as well as access to development land in northern Rototuna. Currently a rural-standard road, the 950m upgrade will bring the road to an urban standard. The first stage is through the town centre from Borman Rd to Bournebrook Ave. The second stage is planned from Bournebrook Ave to Kay Rd.

The second roading project is a $2.1M investment in extending Borman Rd from Hector Drive which will help with access to the new Rototuna High School once associated collector roads are established.

Think twice about those fires
A restricted fire season will be introduced for all areas of the Waikato from midnight 19 December.

Permits will need to be obtained from the Waikato District Council for all fires in the open air with the exception of fires in gas fuelled barbecues or similar outdoor gas appliances. These fires must not be left unattended until completely extinguished and must not be lit in windy conditions or close to flammable material or buildings.

Principal rural fire ffficer Gordon Bailey said the introduction of the restricted fire season is the result of the predicted El Nino weather patterns, with little rain and high temperatures contributing to a rapid increase in fire weather danger levels.

Applications for permits can be made by clicking here.

And watch that water!

Water restrictions are now in place following an increase in water use and expectations of the driest summer for decades.

Hamilton, Waikato and Waipa have all moved to Water Alert Level 1 – sprinklers between 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm, hand held hosing at any time.

Representatives from Hamilton City Council and Waikato and Waipa District Councils have been meeting to discuss action plans for summer under the combined Smart Water initiative.

Smart Water co-ordinator Sally Fraser is asking people to be smart with their water use.

“Water conservation is always important, but this summer could mean some special challenges. Everybody can make some small changes to their water usage that can save a lot of water each day. Together that makes a massive difference across the region.”

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Card thefts in Gordonton
Police are seeking a man who allegedly stole contact-less cards and used them at several locations around Hamilton, including service stations, says the NZ Herald.

The man, who was captured by CCTV wearing a distinctive cap, is believed to have entered a store on Gordonton Rd on November 1 and 8 and stolen handbags belonging to staffers.

“The victims’ contact-less credit or debit cards have been removed from the handbags and then been used at various locations around Hamilton, particularly at service stations,” said Sergeant Neil Fenwick of the Waikato Investigation Support Unit.

“Contact-less cards are frequently being targeted by opportunistic offenders and we ask people to be mindful of how vulnerable they can be. If possible we ask that these cards be secured away out of sight.”