Northland news in brief: International Rally of Whangārei canned; and SH1 delays possible

The 2020 International Rally of Whangārei has officially been cancelled, with hopes it will return next year.

Facing continual border uncertainty at being able to run an international event for 2020, organisers Rally New Zealand have cancelled this year's International Rally of Whangārei.
Originally scheduled to run May 8–10 as a combined FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) event, it was postponed just prior to New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown.

With much of the planning in place organisers were hopeful a new date could be set once border measures allowed for international travellers.
However, chairman of the organising committee Willard Martin said the decision was inevitable given the growing uncertainty around offshore travel.
"As optimistic as we all have been, including the supporting Whangārei District Council, it was clear any decision we made to run would be met with unknown challenges – particularly around the international border control," he said.
A provisional date of May 14 to 16 2021 has been set as a return to action on the roads around Whangārei.

Council survey on voting
Far North District Council is asking residents to help it choose how the mayor, councillors and community boards are elected.
A two-week long survey, which began yesterday, is asking residents to choose between two voting systems – First Past the Post (FPP), the current system, or Single Transferable Voting (STV).

The council is required to decide which voting system will be used for local government elections every three years. Councillors will use the non-binding survey results to help them decide which option to use in the next election. If they decide to change to STV, that will be the voting system used for the next two elections in 2022 and 2025.
The survey runs from July 6 and closes at 4pm Tuesday, July 21. Go to www.fndc.govt.nz/democracy to find out more about the two voting options and to complete the survey.

Road work on
Northlanders travelling to and from Auckland early next week may experience delays. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says State Highway 1 north of Warkworth will be reduced to one lane during overnight work for two nights from Sunday, July 12.
Road crews will be removing gum trees from the road side near the Total Span building, about halfway between Kaipara Flats Rd and Christine Place on SH1.
Stop/go traffic management will reduce traffic to one lane between 7pm and 6am. The work is expected to be completed by Tuesday morning, weather permitting.

Dedicated car dealership
Keith Andrews has expanded its operations and its expertise under the Mercedes-Benz (MB) badge with the development of a brand-new, dedicated dealership in Whangārei – the only site of its kind in the MB network north of Albany.
The new dealership is opposite Keith Andrews' heavy commercial dealership on Rewa Rewa Rd, Whangārei.
It contains all-new, state-of-the-art parts and service centre features eight bays for passenger cars, vans and utes; more than 2500 genuine MB parts in stock and light commercial sales also operating from the site.

Man left isolation
There was one new case of Covid-19 reported in managed isolation in New Zealand yesterday.
The man who has tested positive for Covid-19 is a man in his 30s. He arrived in New Zealand on July 3 from New Delhi, India. There was an incident where the man left his managed isolation facility, the Stamford Plaza, and went to the Countdown supermarket on Auckland's Victoria St West.
The case brings NZ's total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 to 1187, and there are now 23 confirmed active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, all in managed isolation or quarantine.