Student Evon Moir begins to make a clay box, with other students in the background, during one of the Mud For Beginners free clay making classes in Dargaville.
Mighty mud makers
Students are getting fired up about clay making thanks to free classes inspiring locals to connect with the artist within.
Student Jonette Bartlett said, "I enjoy getting dirty and playing with clay, it's my way of meditating, our tutor is also the best."
Fellow student Michele Barnsley agreed, "It's very therapeutic and I also like coming along for the chit chat."
Well-known local clay artist Yvonne Tana teaches the class of about 10 students, which kicked off in October last year.
Tana said she has been working in the field of clay art since 1989. But after a severe stroke in 2002, which left her almost completely immobile, she took a break for 11 years and only made a return to the art form she is so clearly passionate about in 2015, and just last year started teaching it.
"I love teaching adults because they give me companionship and they are pretty on to it as well."
So far students have made a variety of clay objects such as anchors, teapots, jugs, vases and boxes.
Teise Kivalu said one of the main reasons she joined the class was to make some unique gifts for friends and family.
The course is run by Sarah's Solutions with classes being free although conditions do apply.
For more information contact Sarah on 027 316 8330
House values flatten in Dargaville
Dargaville has seen record house prices in recent years, however values have begun to flatten in the past six months.
CoreLogic senior research analyst Kelvin Davidson said there was a boom from 2015 to mid-2018, "but over the last six months or so, values have flattened off".
"As for sales, we've recorded 111 over the past year, out of total dwellings of 1731 – so a turnover of 6.4 per cent, with median days on the market of 46.
"For comparison, in the year to December 2017, there were 93 sales out of 1721 dwellings, so a turnover rate of 5.4 per cent, with median days on the market of 59.
"So these stats are showing a more buoyant Dargaville market in 2018 than 2017, in terms of activity. However, with the rise in values that had already been seen by mid-2018, prices have run out of a bit of steam."
Furthermore Davidson said house sales have been strong in the past two years compared with 2014, but not as high as in 2016.
The latest data shows the average cost to buy a home in Dargaville is about $332,350, a far cry from the $195,900 seen in early 2015. This equates to a 51 per cent price rise in just three years.
Maternity unit – community consultation
Feedback is being sought on maternity services in Dargaville.
Advertisements have recently gone out asking women and their families who have an interest in maternity to help the Northland District Health Board (NDHB) plan for a service in Te Tai Tokerau that meets their needs throughout the entire childbirth experience.
Midwifery director and service manager – maternity services Deb Pittam said they are seeking feedback because they want to ensure they are meeting the needs of women in the region and Dargaville is one of several locations they will be visiting to gain feedback.
"We know that if women have a positive experience at this time it can have an empowering influence on parenting.
"As health professionals we often think we know what our clients need and in many cases we are right, but there are things we don't know and we need women and whānau to tell us so that we can look to tailoring our service to meet their needs.
"What would be fantastic would be to hear is not only what went well and what didn't go well but also to hear some ideas about what we can do as a service to improve both quality and accessibility."
In Dargaville all women who want or are advised to have their babies in hospital must travel to Whangārei because there are no facilities for planned birth at Dargaville Hospital.
Midwives employed by the DHB provide antenatal (before birth) and postnatal (after birth) services to the women of Dargaville who do not engage a community LMC midwife.
Pittam said that until recently, unless women engaged a midwife in Whangārei, they did not have the opportunity for continuity of care.
"Evidence shows that continuity of care has positive outcomes and we now have two midwives taking a community LMC caseload in the Dargaville region. It would be great to see more offering a service in the area.
"This is quite different from the other rural areas of Northland which have been well served in the most part with community LMC midwives offering continuity of care and where local maternity units offer birthing facilities, for example, Kaitaia, Bay of Islands and Hokianga Hospitals all have full maternity units."
A meeting date has been set for February 26 from 10am until 2.30pm at the Northern Wairoa Boating Club in Dargaville and lunch is provided. For more information contact sue.bree@northlanddhb.org.nz.
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