Northland news in brief

A teenager was flown to Whangarei Hospital after a dune buggy accident.

Community group Focus Paihia is calling for volunteers for a working bee at the Village Green from 9.30am this Sunday. The group plans to add topsoil, fertiliser and grass seed to areas in need of attention after a busy summer. Bring, if you can, a wheelbarrow, shovel, rake and safe footwear. Email info@focuspaihia.org.nz or phone 022 128 3805 if you can help.

Dune buggy rider injured

A youth has been flown to hospital after a accident while riding a dune buggy at the giant Te Paki dunes near Cape Reinga. The incident occurred about 4.50pm on Tuesday with the patient transported initially to a sports field by St John Ambulance, then airlifted to Whangārei Hospital by the Northland Rescue Helicopter. His injuries are not believed to have been serious.

Footpath replacement

Contractors from Broadspectrum will be working over the next six weeks to replace footpaths along Bank St and Rust Ave in Whangarei. Due to the location, they will try to complete as much of the work at night time to avoid disruption to businesses and the public. The contractors will talk to each affected business before starting work on their frontage and sites will be made safe each day. Broadspectrum recently completed the same works along Rathbone and Robert Sts.

'Heads' exhibition at gallery

Artist, poet and musician Peter Bradburn has a dynamic solo exhibition called "Heads" at MD Gallery in Rust Ave, Whangārei. In these works the Mangawhai artist has used graphite, gouache and acrylic pigment to transfer images of people that appeared in his head on to paper and stretched canvas. The unfiltered result is a series of disembodied bold or vulnerable, damaged, incomplete faces, some attached to torsos. The exhibition opened last night and runs until May 11, with Bradburn giving a talk in the gallery on Saturday. To see the images online: mdgallery.co.nz

Sustainable agriculture contest

Northland innovators have only days left to enter a national competition and business incubator programme with a sustainable agriculture theme. The NZ Aerospace Challenge is calling on creative minds to bring forward their ideas, prototypes or projects. The first stage of the process will match entrants with resources and skills, while the second stage, the challenge itself, will see someone win a $50,000 prize, resources and global connections to commercialise the idea. The ''ideas'' deadline is April 30, with full entries to be in by September 15. Contact jiveen.macgillivray@northlandnz.com or check out nzaerospacechallenge.com.