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Not strangers to building a new house Maggie and Steve Bygate are truly enthusiastic when they describe how much they like Navigation Homes ProNav App Smartphone tool that they were able to utilise during their recent build in the Paerata Rise community. “It made it just so easy, we were able to ask questions, see information, follow progress and approve costs all in real time.…

For design and build team Jana and Kieran Tod who make up the dynamic dyo from JK Design creativity is everything. A locally based interior design and build company, JK Design offers a new approach to building projects whether they be new builds, renovations or a refresh of interior furnishings. “We use our skills and creative design style along with your personality and…

Edgar swiftly moved to Boston with a manuscript verse, an unrealistic quest to become a great poet and to find adventure. Although he needed work, he spent his first few weeks making last minute revisions to his poetry in preparation for publication and within the following month he was able to achieve the former when he met a young printer, Calvin F. S. Thomas who was eager to…

The Christmas season is a time to celebrate being with family and friends. It can however sometimes isolate members of our community, especially our senior members, who are without a strong network around them or who’s usual network of friends return to their own families outside of the area. For a number of years now, locals, Amanda Mitchell and Carole Inight in conjunction with…

Right now, in New Zealand, a quiet revolution is taking place. It isn’t technological, or a change to the education system, or a new and widespread understanding of an holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Rather, it involves the steady, systematic, and stealthy overturning of more than eight centuries of established rights and freedoms that New Zealanders have inherited…

Regular readers of “elocal” will think I have a fixation about house prices. I’ve written on the subject twice already this year, most recently just two months ago. But several things have prompted me to write on the subject again. First, despite all the hand-wringing about the unaffordability of housing, and the political commitments to make housing more affordable, house…

This debut novel by local author Kirsty Powell is highly recommended. The Strength of Eggshells is the story of Kate, a six-foot-tall rural girl with an uncertain heritage. It is firmly set in New Zealand, and the locations in the story (including Kingseat, Waikaretu and Clarks Beach) are instantly recognisable and vividly described. Seeking answers to her past, Kate sets off…

A South Auckland author who mixes sci-fi with satire has released his fifth book, tackling the topics of the day including corporate culture, immigration, environmental concerns and the election of Donald Trump. Keith Fenwick of Totara Park, Manurewa, said his books – following the exploits of a Northland farmer named Bruce who is abducted by aliens - are “a bit like The…

Massive change lies ahead for voters in the Hunua electorate. Boundary alterations ahead of the 2020 and 2023 general elections will see the electorate’s name changed to Port Waikato, and its area shifted south and transformed from urban to rural. Hunua MP Andrew Bayly’s seat will be severely impacted by the proposed changes – of all the electorates, his is probably the one…

There is a well circulated expression of opinions including demands, rejections and mostly avoidance from the political parties who are inclined to view this subject as related to votes and this appears to nullify their ability to provide sound and meaningful policy and meaningful policy with hesitancy of involvement. The New Zealand population have been active in the last decade…

Cast your mind back to the late eighties/early nineties at Champion Dragway (now Meremere Dragway), a new class of quarter mile drag racing was sweeping the nation – WILD BUNCH! This class essentially took the street appearing two door saloon car and stuffed it full of supercharged methanol fuelled drag racing goodness. Crowd appeal was huge as these cars were something people…

The appointment of Mark Holt as Head Coach for the Senior Teams is an exciting one for Franklin United. Here is the statement I made in the club release last week; “Over the last year we have recognised the need to keep aligning our senior team activities, philosophies, culture with our academy operations and when he has been in NZ, Mark has contributed heavily to the academy. We…

There are very few of the older generation who have not heard of a de Havilland Mosquito. But few have had the good fortune to see one in the air, although many enthusiasts have seen them as static displays, essentially museum models. No matter when or how you see the Mosquito, you cannot help but be impressed by the beauty and grace of the aircraft. Geoffrey de Havilland and his…

Last issue, we read of a family being slain in cold blood in the Bay of Islands, and the first test of British justice. Now it’s Part 3 of New Zealand’s Bloody History, the Battle of Pukekohe: our town turned to battleground. In September 1863, the British army charged down the Great South Road, and Ngāti Pou marched north, and in the middle was the scene of the pluckiest and…

Go in the draw to win one of three $100 Papakura shopping Vouchers which can be spent in Papakura Town Centre! 12 shops or places in Papakura town centre have a Christmas bauble with a special number on it located in their shop window. Follow the clues to find them. Fill in your answers & put your entry form in the box instore at the last shop on the hunt or at Santa’s grotto…

In the past few years at my acupuncture clinic, there has been an increase in patients coming in for treatment of shoulder pain. Mostly has gone for some western medical therapy such as taking anti-inflammatory, physiotherapy and local steroid injection. However they seem to be the unlucky ones where those treatments did not able to relieve the shoulder pain and improve the range…

The Cypress shelter belt has been used for decades for wind protection and boundary privacy. Thousands of properties throughout the country would have planted these trees as juveniles and seen them grow up to a height where they start to become trimmed and maintained. Some are kept as low hedges bordering lifestyle blocks and garden areas, and others were left to grow to their…

There is plenty of choice locally in Pukekohe when it comes to finding a building company who are willing and able to build a house for you, complete with all the bells and whistles. But it takes a special builder with whom you can create a relationship worthy of a friendship that results in a stress free, exact build that you and family can call home and create a mountain of…

One of the main headlines this morning on the New Zealand news sites that I frequent each day reads “Why you won’t see Judith Collins nude this summer.” Another screams “'Sick' life-sized doll suggests scary future for office workers.” I suppose it makes a change from the 20 or so stories about the Rugby World cup, however it makes me somewhat embarrassed for my own profession…

Every year we celebrate the attempt by a group of English dissidents to blow up the English parliament over 400 years ago. Every November the letting off of fireworks results in a flood of claims to ACC, sends horses through fences and terrorises cats and dogs, keeps fire brigades busy battling blazes and has insurance companies running for cover. Why do we do it? Well,…