Northland news in brief: Whangārei girl receives great support as she battles rare disease, farmer pleased with repairs to SH10 outside his Kaingaroa paddock

Far North farmer Paddy Gleeson is happy that repairs to SH10 outside his Kaingaroa paddock, that saw three vehicles in a week spin off, seem to have worked with no more vehicles leaving the road over the weekend.

Boost for Carrie

Whangārei 12-year-old Carrie has received great support as she battles a rare genetic disorder, atypical Friedreich ataxia. The condition leaves the bubbly girl with limited mobility, neurological pain, low iron and vision limited to about 1m. She needs to get to Melbourne where doctors specialising in Friedreich ataxia can run tests and work out a possible treatment plan. After Carrie’s story featured in the Northern Advocate and Herald on Sunday, generous readers donated more than $4000 to a Givealittle page set up by her mum Laura. An anonymous donor has also offered to pay for the flights, as a way of sharing their blessings. Laura said the response has been overwhelming. The extra funds will be used for Carrie’s other treatments, such as hydrotherapy.

Medicine surcharge

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora is reminding the public that as of July 1 there will be a $5 charge for each new prescribed medicine unless you fall into one of the following groups - aged 13 years or under, a community services cardholder, aged 65 years or over or hold a prescription subsidy card. The $5 charge does not apply to repeats on the same prescription form. If you or your family receive 20 new prescription items within a year, you can obtain a prescription subsidy card. With this card, you won’t have to pay any additional prescription charges until February 1 of the following year. Ask your pharmacist for more details. Prescription charges written by private specialists and private dentists remain unchanged at $15 (for adults) or $10 (for ages 14-17). However, these charges are reduced to $5 if you have a high use health card or if your oral contraceptive was prescribed by a private specialist. Additionally, they remain free if you have a community services card.

Taipa outage

About 4000 customers in Taipa experienced a power outage due to a Top Energy network fault on Monday morning around 9am. Several people in the settlement reported the loss of electricity at their homes, which lasted 51 minutes. The company spokesperson said the outage had nothing to do with the Transpower issue and was a fault in their own network. An investigation is now under way.

Paddy pleased

Far North farmer Paddy Gleeson is happy that repairs to SH10 outside his Kaingaroa paddock seem to have worked in keeping vehicles on the road when wet. Gleeson had three vehicles in a week, including one towing a boat, go into his paddock during wet weather. And once the Northland Age got on to NZTA/Waka Kotahi with his concerns the roading was resealed last week. Gleeson said there had been no vehicles leaving the road, despite some foul weather over the weekend, so it appeared the repair job had worked. “Don’t worry I’ll be back on to you the next time another one comes into the paddock,’’ he said.

Dog registration

July 1 is the first day for Far North dog owners to pay their registration fee and receive their blue dog tags. All dogs must be registered and people can renew registrations until August 31 at the discounted rate, and can register their dogs at anytime after that, but at the new fee.

Drought relief

The Government is providing more financial support to drought-stricken farmers and growers in many parts of the country to help with essential living costs. ”Rural Assistance Payments have been made available in 38 districts affected by dry conditions to help eligible farmers and growers whose income has taken a hit,” Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston said. The payments have been made available until November 10, when farmer incomes are expected to lift. Farmers from the Far North, Whangārei and Kaipara can now apply for this assistance from MSD. Any farmers or growers who are struggling should contact their Rural Support Trust to talk about the range of support that is available and get help, if needed, to apply for a Rural Assistance Payment.