Kaipara news: Soul Soup Kitchen aims to warm up bellies as well as hearts in Dargaville

Aidan Glover, 8, receives a cup of warm pumpkin and bacon soup from Soul Soup kitchen founder Isaac Pomare.

A new soup kitchen in Dargaville has been created to help people who are struggling financially but also those who might be in need of a little conversation for the soul.

Hence the soup kitchen has been called Soul Soup.

Its creator, Dargaville resident Isaac Pomare, said he saw a need in the community to feed the homeless and financially struggling but to also feed and support those who might be faced with loneliness and isolation.

"It's about providing friendship and companionship too."

Pomare, a Christian, said if anyone would like prayer as well then that's on offer too.

"In the Bible it says what good is it to have faith but no deeds. Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes or daily food. If you just say to them keep well my brother but do nothing about their physical needs, what good is that?"

The Soul Soup kitchen runs weekly on a Saturday and is based alongside the Northern Wairoa Boating Club carpark.

As well as soup. fresh fry bread is served up to locals.

Soup Kitchen volunteer Don McKenzie said they picked out this area because it was discreet.

"We want people to not be afraid to come on down and get a feed, there is no judgment here."

Soul Soup welcomes donations from the local community. Contact Isaac Pomare: 022 082 3046.

Dog control petition forces council to rethink dog control
A petition asking the Kaipara District council to employ a dog control officer in Dargaville to combat roaming dogs has resulted in a council rethink.

Cruiser the cat before being mauled to death by a dog in Dargaville.

Dargaville residents got together to start the petition after hearing about the large number of cat killings in the region and so far it has more than 450 signatures.

Regulatory manager Dean Nuralli says the KDC is currently in the process of investigating the most cost effective way of providing an efficient animal control service.

"This may mean that the service may be brought 'in house' in the future which may well provide for a more vigilant approach to dog issues as recently conveyed to council."

Dargaville resident Deborah Parkinson whose cat Cruiser died in a vicious dog attack welcomes the news.

"I've actually noticed a lack of wandering dogs over the past few weeks already, perhaps from the step up in the current dog control.

"If we have someone local to keep on top of that, it makes me happy to know our streets will be safer."

Animal control services is presently contracted externally to Armourguard.

"This contract is current until September 2019," said Mr Nuralli.

"Armourguard have recently carried out over 41 proactive dog patrols, carried out every night, attended to 33 complaints and this has led to several dogs being picked up and impounded."

In addition to this:

• Armourguard are currently undertaking door to door checks for unregistered dogs.

• Infringements will apply for any dog that is not and requires to be currently registered and microchipped.

• Likewise any dog that is identified as not being kept under control may be uplifted and impounded and the owner infringed for failure to control or confine.

• Infringement and/or prosecution will be undertaken provided that the dog/s can be clearly identified and evidenced as causing attack on any person or other animal.

To report a stray dog call: 0800 105 890.

Lack of 24/7 police patrols in Northland concerns politicians
Politicians are backing a Dargaville businessman's concerns about a lack of police patrols.

Dargaville business owners Don and Rose Wrigley spoke to the Northern Advocate last week saying there were not enough police officers operating in the area and this was to blame for a recent break-in of their business and other shops in the area.

Northland MP Matt King says the lack of 24/7 patrols "concerns him greatly".

"So much so, that in fact during the debate in the House last week I implored the Police Minister Stuart Nash to follow through on their campaign promises of 1800 new police."

New Zealand First has also spoken out on the issue, saying they are aware of the problems in Northland.

"Like many police stations across the country, this has come as a result of the constant underfunding that the police has experienced in the last nine years.

"Police funding was capped in 2009 and the total police numbers have declined ever since. This has happened despite an increase in our population rate and the increase of serious crime.

"New Zealand First has a firm stance of law and order and has been vocal about the state of our police in the regions.

"As a condition of our coalition agreement with the Labour Party, we have committed to 'striving towards adding 1800 new police officers over three years and to investigate a volunteer rural constabulary programme."

However, King said 1800 new police officers was not enough.

"To increase the police numbers by 1800 you actually have to recruit 3000 to cover natural attrition over that time.

"Our campaign promise was within three years to have Kaitaia, the Mid North and Dargaville with 24 hour coverage and a 19 per cent increase in police numbers for Northland, twice the increase the rest of NZ would have got.

"Unfortunately we are not on government and have no power."

Superintendent Russell Le Prou, Northland Police District Commander, said it was paramount that the community feels safe and there was a robust deployment plan to ensure police respond in a timely manner to incidents where an individual is at risk or there is a threat to their safety.

"The community can be assured that any risk or incident in Northland is monitored continuously by our District Command Centre and staff are deployed at all hours when deemed appropriate.

"Any member of the public is asked to call 111 in an emergency and we have staff rostered 24/7 to attend incidents across the Northland District.

"For operational reasons we are unable to discuss specifics around the operating hours of our stations.

"As previously detailed, we plan to extend the hours of operation at the Kaitaia station later this year. This is dependent on meeting our extra recruitment targets but at this stage we are on track to achieve this in September.

"The Mid North region is also planned to received extended hours of coverage sometime within in the 12 months between July 2018 and July 2019."

■ Email Rose — if you have news that you would like to share with Northern Advocate readers. Rose.stirling@gmail.com.