Northland news in brief: Record fair back; and Air Force helps with conservation projects

Record hunters get ready to pay for their vinyl finds at last November's Whangārei Record Collectors Fair. The event is on again at 116 Bank St on May 21.

Vinyl records have always been in demand and Northland vinyl junkies can get their fix at the next Whangārei Record Collectors Fair later this month.
Organised by Indigo Records, with support from Creative Northland, the fair will be held again at 116 Bank St on May 21, from 10am.
There will be the usual crates of second hand vinyl on offer covering virtually all musical genres. DJs from Radio Beagle will also be spinning the discs on live sets during the day. Mask rules apply.

Air Force helps with conservation

Efforts to improve the Piroa/Brynderwyn (Mangawhai/Waipū) High Value Area (HVA) are to get help from an unexpected quarter, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, this week.
Piroa-Brynderwyns Landcare is a collective of more than 30 community-led conservation projects aiming to restore biodiversity in the Brynderwyn ranges and environs.
The collective works across a HVA spanning more than 22,374 hectares, which is home to three threatened and 11 regionally significant plant species, as well as 10 threatened and five regionally significant fauna.
A high number of indigenous plants, the native Hochstetter's frog, and longfin eel also inhabit this area. Its diverse forest habitat attracts kaka, tomtit, bell bird, New Zealand pigeon and fern bird populations, and red-crowned kakariki are occasional visitors from the Hen and Chicken Islands.

Covid case numbers

NAD_positive_cases_04-05

There were 266 new cases of Covid-19 notified in Northland yesterday.

That is up from the 141 on Monday and 139 the previous day.

The latest cases include 124 in Whangārei District, 118 in Far North District, 24 in Kaipara District.

There are 1550 active cases in Northland, with 20 people in hospital in the region having the virus. In total 29,747 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Northland.

Shareholder meeting
Channel Infrastructure, the company formed with the closure of the Marsden Pt Oil Refinery, will hold its annual shareholder meeting next week.
The meeting - held online - will be on Tuesday, May 10, from 2pm. Channel Infrastructure is a refined fuel import only company after crude oil refining ended on the site last month.

Stop weeds spreading

Duck shooters and eel fishers are being asked to do their bit to stop the spread of an aquatic weed, hornwort, in Poutō's precious lakes. The Northland Regional Council said hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) was thought to have been eradicated from Poutō lakes but was discovered in the last two years in Lake Tutaki, Lake Karaka and Lake Egg. Councillor Jack Craw, Biosecurity and Biodiversity Working Party chairman, said the lakes were on public and private land used by duck shooters and possibly eel fishers. Both groups are asked to clean their gear, boats, and nets before moving between lakes. Hornwort can quickly grow to fill shallow lakes - flipping them from a clear water to an algal dominated state. The regional council is working with the Department of Conservation, landowners and mana whenua to eradicate hornwort from the three affected lakes before it spreads.

Learn from circus performers

Young people are being given the chance to learn from the best circus talents for free at this month's Youth Circus Festival in Waipū. Circability Trust is hosting the second annual free festival at Coronation Hall from May 13 to 15. The festival promises some of the country's top circus performers to share their artistic flair with all circus fans via free community performances and workshops. Organisers say the event has been carefully tailored to the needs of students with disabilities and is inclusive for all young people aged 12 to 24. More details are available from circability.org.