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In October 1986 a young Bohemian farmer from Puhoi, Allan Titford, entered into a contract to buy two adjoining, gently contoured freehold title farms at Maunganui Bluff, on Northland's west coast. Never in his wildest dreams did Allan Titford expect to …

If, as many predict, we will have to learn to live with Covid-19 for some years, we need to get our border issues sorted out. No, I’m not talking about our international border. I’m talking about the one down the road here on the edge of Auckland. I’m…

In late 2017, while on our second date, Topher and I had the idea to drive the planet. That evening we shook hands to agree that “one day” we would follow through with our big plan. In March the following year we arrived in Vancouver to pick up our Je…

Within six minutes of arriving at the hospital Princess Diana was dead. That places her time of death very close to the time Dr Jean-Marc Martino relinquished control to Dr Bruno Riou. In other words, Martino was in control of Diana’s care for 1 hour an…

As I’m standing in my kitchen looking at the groove worn into the floor from my endless trips to the fridge, I’m suddenly reminded that Spring is only days away. And this is great news, because at the end of a spring day, everyone should smell like swea…

A Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads and Fathers out there from the Papakura Business Association – we hope you have a fantastic day! ### Welcome to New Businesses into Papakura We welcome Bullseye Accounting who have opened up on the Great South Road…

The National Party’s candidate for the newly redrawn seat of Port Waikato is a committed electorate MP who likes getting stuck into issues affecting his communities. “That's one of the main reasons I got into politics – I always wanted to be an electorat…

And what an exciting one it is shaping up to be! The decisions made on September 19th have the potential to have long lasting effects for years to come and perhaps more than ever it is imperative that we all exercise our right to have a say in those deci…

I am very pleased to have been nominated as your National Party candidate for the Electorate of Papakura which now includes all the Pohutukawa Coast from Ardmore and Beachlands to Orere Point, Hunua, Happy Valley, Ness Valley; the farms and agricultural …

As millions worldwide struggle with the social, economic, and personal fallout from Government-imposed lockdowns, the pandemic is all but over in Sweden, which recorded only 66 deaths related to COVID-19 between 27 July and 27 August – less than 1% of th…

“A combination of FDA and TGA approved Ivermectin, Zinc and Doxycycline has shown positive results for COVID-19 and should be considered immediately to fight the pandemic,” says CDD Medical Director Professor Thomas Borody. Australia's The Centre for Dig…

In New Zealand, like in many other countries, the Government is claiming that it is ‘listening to the science’ when it comes to COVID-19. But when the scientific consensus is that no evidence exists to support such widely-adopted measures as school cl…

While the New Zealand government enforces severe lockdown measures in a bid to ‘stamp out’ COVID-19, there is a growing international endorsement of the public health strategy in Sweden, which has now recorded far fewer deaths per capita than the United …

On Friday 17 July 2020, Karaka Playcentre were extremely lucky to have Bunnings transform their wilderness area through the Bunnings community support programme. Bunnings is committed to participating in the communities in which they operate by contribut…

Today Parliament finished up. My thanks for all your support. It has been an interesting 3 years...

Kia ora, my name is Anahila Kanongataʻa-Suisuiki, I’m a List MP and the Labour candidate for Papakura. I was born in Tonga, grew up in Onehunga and now Papakura is my home away from home. I’m a team player, I chair the Labour Women’s Caucus and the Commo…

Not 48 hours after I sent what I thought was the final version of this column to the editor, events proved just how true the headline was: Todd Muller resigned as Leader of the National Party just eight weeks after he assumed the role. Twelve hours late…

elocal sat down with local independent candidate Ian Cummings and asked him why constituents in the Port Waikato electorate should vote for him on September 19th 2020. I am standing as an independent candidate for one reason and one reason only, you and …

We started our house hunting journey in early 2019. We were looking to downsize to our forever home away from the city. We couldn’t find anything we liked, having come from a fairly new house. It had been suggested we build but as we had not built befor…

The first thing you notice about the new Papakura Flooring Xtra showroom, is how much more there is to see and how much room there is to see it! Spanning an impressive 350sm, the showroom at 20 Elliot Street, is designed to fully showcase the extensive r…