Students from kura kaupapa in Kaikohe, Kaitāia and Whangārei perform a haka.
Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ

It was not your typical council information evening.

It was more like a multimedia show sprinkled liberally with slick video presentations, rousing waiata by a combined schools cultural group, non-stop puns, and a dash of self-congratulation tempered with admissions of things that still need fixing.

It was the first ever State of the Far North address, delivered at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri on Tuesday night.

Far North mayor Moko Tepania addresses the crowd.
Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ

Mayor Moko Tepania told the audience, a who’s who of business, iwi and community groups, the key aim was reconnecting with Far North residents.

“Tonight is an opportunity to share the new direction this council is taking to respond to a number of significant challenges, and to be transparent about it. The theme of this address is the Road to Recovery, so I’ll be going over what we’re recovering from. It’s a lot,” he said.

Challenges that had like the district “like a juggernaut” since 2019 included a record-breaking drought followed immediately by Covid lockdowns, and 10 major storms between July 2022 and February 2023.

The damage inflicted on Far North roads by Cyclone Gabrielle in particular was immense.

“We were left with 175 slips to repair at an estimated cost of $41 million. Around $1m equals a 1 percent rates rise, so without changes or help, that would mean a 41 percent rates increase.”

Paying for roads was difficult even at the best of times in the Far North, which had one of the biggest road networks of any district in the country – a massive 2700 kilometres – but just 28,000 ratepayers out of a total population of 71,000 to pay for it.

The evening was also a chance to introduce councillors, community board members and council staff to the public.
Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ

Despite that, Tepania said the council had managed to keep the average rates increase for the current year down to 4.5 percent, the lowest in the country.

He put that down to new and innovative ways of doing things, plus a $5 million dividend from council-owned company Far North Holdings.

The mayor also laid out the challenges in bringing wastewater, drinking water and stormwater infrastructure up to scratch, with just under $170m earmarked for upgrades in the next three years.

He was upfront about the failures of the district’s sewage treatment plants, saying the council had been “yellow-carded” by the Northland Regional Council four times in recent years for breaching consent conditions.

“A key piece of mahi for me is how to stop flushing our toilet into our kitchen. We need to find permanent alternatives to discharging treated wastewater into our beautiful streams and harbours, particularly the Hokianga Harbour.”

More than 200 people turned out for the State of the Far North address at Kerikeri’s Turner Centre.
Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ

Tepania had some bouquets for central government, including Waka Kotahi’s help paying for local roads, and the $100m-plus the agency was pumping into reopening State Highway 1 through Mangamuka Gorge, south of Kaitāia.

He also had some brickbats, notably for the uncertainty caused by changes to Three Waters legislation, and moves to impose binding referenda on Māori wards at councils around the country.

That was one of the issues driving the current national Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, he said.

An update on Mangamuka Gorge, which has been closed on and off for the past four years, drew one of the biggest cheers of the evening.

“Thankfully, Hana Kōkō [Santa Claus], or whoever’s heard my prayers, the gorge is now set to reopen on Friday the 20th of December,” he said.

There were also promises of an announcement next month securing the future and a name change for Kaitāia airport, which has long been in limbo due to a dispute over land ownership, and a breakthrough on Kaitāia’s troubled Sweetwater project.

The plan to draw water from the Sweetwater aquifer, to supplement the drought-prone Awanui River, has so far cost the council more than $17 million without delivering a drop of drinking water for the town.

Tepania said many promises had been made about the scheme in the past, but in December it really would start supplying water.

A rousing performance by a combined kapa haka group, Te Aho Matua, made up of students from three kura kaupapa around Northland, opened the evening.
Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ

While the mayor insisted he was just the frontman for the council’s 400-odd staff, Tuesday night’s event really was the Moko show.

The only other performance to take the limelight was a rousing set of waiata by a kapa haka group made up of students from three kura kaupapa around Northland.

Afterwards, Tepania said he was delighted with the turnout.

“Our goal as an organisation was to use this as the springboard to reconnect with our communities, and showing the incredible importance that we place on partnership. I didn’t know that we’d have anyone turn up on a random Tuesday but we did, 205 people, and not just anyone, but key movers and shakers in the Far North.”

The impetus for the event came from chief executive Guy Holroyd, who said wherever he went the council had a “bad rep” – so he wanted something done to improve the council’s connection with Far North residents.

The idea for a state-of-the-nation-style address came from a council staffer who had worked for mayors in Arizona.

Audience members spoken to by RNZ were positive about the event.

Andrea Panther, of the Kaitāia Business Association, said her town had been particularly hard hit by storms and road closures in recent years.

She said the presentation was fair in that it covered every part of the Far North.

“I thought that was an amazing presentation to remind is of the awful challenges that we’ve had, and how we’ve come through, and the positive outcomes that are planned,” she said.

Lisa McNab, of Te Hiku Iwi Development Trust, was also effusive.

“I’ve come away very excited, much more informed. The reminder of where we’ve come form, where we need to go, I thought it was great.”

Perhaps the most important critics in the audience on Tuesday were the mayor’s mum and dad, but they too were impressed.

Te Aroha Tepania gave her son, known in the family as Mokopedia for his knack of soaking up knowledge, 10 out of 10.

“He was brilliant. But I take my hat off also to the staff that worked behind the scenes. They’re the ones that put it all together.”

The State of the Far North address is expected to become an annual event.

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