Northland news in brief: FNDC appoints interim CEO; more Northland fighfighters off to the Canadian fires

The rare matuku-hūrepo/Australasian bittern released in Kaipara. Photo / DoC

A rare matuku-hūrepo/Australasian bittern was released into its wetland habitat at Lake Rotokawau, on the Poutō Peninsula of the Kaipara Harbour last Friday, following a successful rehabilitation at Auckland Zoo. Te Ākitai Waiohua, Te Uri o Hau, DoC, and Auckland Zoo worked together to transport and release the juvenile female. The bird was found severely emaciated and dehydrated in a residential backyard in Pukekohe, south Auckland. Under the zoo vet team’s careful care, it gained weight from just 468g to a healthy weight of over 950g. Te Ākitai Waiohua, one of the iwi from the area of where the bird was found, gifted the name Te Awanui relating to a body of water in Pukekohe. Colin French, Pou Kaitiaki of Te Uri o Hau, said they used to be abundant on the entire Poutō Penisula but development wiped out their habitat, wetlands and lakes.

Driver in hospital

A Kerikeri woman is in Auckland City Hospital after a serious crash on State Highway 10 on Thursday night. The woman’s car left the road near Pakaraka about 9.45pm, just missed a power pole and travelled about 30m along a drain before hitting rocks and rolling. The car came to rest upside-down. Police, St John Ambulance and Kerikeri Fire Brigade responded. The driver and sole occupant, who was thought to be in her 50s, was transported to Whangārei Hospital by ambulance and transferred to Auckland by helicopter on Friday morning.

Deployed to Alberta

Two more Northland firefighters have been sent to help fight wildfires in Canada. They are among 24 Fire and Emergency NZ , Department of Conservation and Forest Protection Services staff deployed to Alberta. The third deployment will land as the first batch of 25 firefighters leaves for home. A drought through Alberta has lingered since their autumn, with fire activity starting early and more than 20,000 people evacuated from their homes and oil and gas production affected because of shifting fire conditions.

Warrant to arrest

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Northland man who failed to turn up at court on charges of assaulting a doctor and a volunteer firefighter at Rāwene Hospital last month. Te Tikanga Atutolu, 23, of Rāwene, had previously appeared in the Kaikohe District Court on May 30 on two counts of assault relating to a late-night incident at the South Hokianga hospital. A patient was also injured in the fracas. Atutolu was granted bail but failed to return to court for a follow-up hearing on June 20. He also faces new and more serious charges. He is now charged with three counts of common assault, one of assault with intent to injure, and two of threatening to kill.

Interim appointment

Farn North District Council has appointed an interim chief executive to oversee council operations while the organisation works through the recruitment process for a permanent CEO. Former chief executive Blair King resigned after just 11 months into the job. His shoes are being temporarily filled by Bay of Islands resident Guy Holroyd, who has extensive experience in international finance having worked in London for almost two decades before returning to New Zealand in 2008. He is currently CEO of Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust, a role he was appointed to in 2021. Holroyd will take up his position as interim chief executive following a pōwhiri at the council’s Kaikohe Chambers on June 26.

Arson charges

A man accused of an arson attack on a Kaikohe women’s gym has again appeared in court. The 39-year-old man, who has interim name suppression, was arrested shortly after the fire on May 24. He appeared in Kaikohe District Court on Tuesday this week charged with wilfully damaging property with explosives or fire. He is due back in court on July 4. Earlier on the night of May 24 he had been made to leave a residential rehab centre because he was intoxicated. It is alleged he then walked around the block and set fire to Influence Kaikohe, a gym set up in 2019 by Rhonda Zielinski for women too self-conscious to use a regular gym. She has since set up a temporary gym at the rear of the same building. Zielinski also runs the rehab centre.