Northland news in brief, another Lotto win and SH11 closed at Lemons Hill

The Lotto balls fell well for one Northland punter, with a second division winner sold at New World, Kerikeri.

A Lotto ticket sold in Kerikeri was one of 15 nationally which each won $17,247 with Lotto Second Division on Saturday. The winning ticket was sold at New World Kerikeri. Meanwhile, three Lotto players from Auckland and Hastings took home $333,333 with Lotto First Division. The lucky numbers were 04, 05, 11, 16, 36, 40 with bonus number 02 and Powerball number 04.

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The NZ Transport Agency closed State Highway 11 at Lemons Hill, between Kawakawa and Opua, to all traffic from Friday night, at least until tomorrow morning, thanks to the gloomy weather forecast. A geotechnical engineer was to assess the slip yesterday afternoon. Northland system manager Jacqui Hori-Hoult said it might be possible to open it again for limited periods. "We appreciate that school holidays have come to an end and that more people will want to use State Highway 11 (this) week rather than go via the detour route, but we won't put the safety of our crews and motorists at risk," she said. "It's better that we provide certainty now about the road being closed until Tuesday morning so people won't be disappointed or inconvenienced. It's better they know now and can plan their journeys, allowing the extra time that the detour requires."

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Kaitaia Riding for the Disabled's 2018 garden safari will take in gardens from Waipapakauri to Houhora over the weekend of November 3-4. Prospective stallholders, and anyone else wanting to know more, are invited to contact Irene Knowler on (09) 406-2022.

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The Chinese national charged with three counts of careless driving causing injury, arising from a two-car crash on West Coast Rd, Waipapakauri Ramp, on April 13, will now appear before the Kaitaia District Court on May 15. He was originally scheduled to appear on Friday last week.

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Whangarei fire crews were called to a suspicious fire in Kensington on Saturday night. A fire communications spokesman said crews were alerted to a toilet block fire, outside the old Countdown building, about 9pm last night. He said the blaze is being treated as suspicious. In a separate event on Sunday morning, one person was assessed by ambulance following a stove top fire in Hedley Pl, Raumanga, about 4.30am. The fire was out when crews arrived.

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