29 January 2023: HDC have sought expressions of interest for a new beach access Update: after some reflection I suspect the expressions of interest were to hire someone to run consultation meetings. Horowhenua District Council are having an ordinary Meeting on 01 February 2023. …

26 January 2023: New water safety signs installed I noticed today two similar but different water safety signs Horizons Regional Council have put up. One at the footbridge has advice about swimming in estuaries. The other was by the south track to …

26 January 2023: Strathnaver Drive street sign replaced A recent visitor drew my attention to the broken street sign at the intersection of Sarah Street and Strathnaver Drive. I reported it to Horowhenua District Council and the sign has now been …

26 January 2023: Balanced beaches: birds, babies, bikes, boats Our community is in for a big discussion soon about vehicle access to Waikawa Beach. The article below is longer than usual but covers quite a bit: what the law says, what different Councils allow, …

24 January 2023: Toilet block closed for repair, 24 January 2023 Update, Wednesday 25 January 2023: the toilet block has been reopened. Unfortunately sometime overnight thieves broke into the toilet block at Hank Edwards Reserve, stole crucial plumbing items and …

23 January 2023: Articles about vehicles causing problems on beaches These news articles below have recently come to my attention. Three of them were published in the last few weeks. We may have had a problem here at Waikawa Beach when in January 2023 two lads in a …

22 January 2023: Spinifex to rebuild the beach On Sunday 22 January 2023 about a dozen people gathered to plant another 200 or so spinifex plants provided by the Horowhenua District Council. There’s an intensive effort going on to protect the area …

22 January 2023: We’re all moving east round here We’re moving east — about 4 cm so far this year. That’s thanks to a slow-slip earthquake on the Hikurangi subduction plate boundary offshore the North Island’s east coast. We tend to think of …

20 January 2023: Learn about the Ō2NL Expressway On Saturday 28 January 2023, Waka Kotahi are hosting presentations from technical specialists about the upcoming Ōtaki to North of Levin Expressway discussing: The RMA consents process Design of the …

09 January 2023: Watch out for baby Oystercatchers That area between the two ends of the north track off Reay Mackay Grove, where all the new dunes are growing, is a very special spot. Pied stilts recently produced 3 chicks there. At the moment 3 …

29 December 2022: Miratana track mulched for summer A thin layer of mulch has been added to the Miratana Track off Manga Pirau Street, presumably to help stabilise the sand and give better purchase for vehicles.

29 December 2022: Recycling Station in place for December 2022 The Recycling Station has been placed in Hank Edwards Reserve again for a few weeks. After a few days some segments have already filled up! This year a sign has been added to try to relieve the noise …

20 December 2022: Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway opens 23 December 2022 Waka Kotahi have finally said: The Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway will be fully open to traffic on Friday this week, 23 December [2022]! It’ll help alleviate holiday queues and delays on SH1. …

15 December 2022: Sold: 4 Sand Dune Grove Listed around 13 October 2022 this property has now sold. That’s around 8 weeks on the market.

08 December 2022: Horowhenua property values up by 52% since 2019 Newly-released rating revaluations for the Horowhenua District are now available and have revealed a total capital value of $15 billion, a 52.8% increase since 2019. Source: New rateable valuations …

07 December 2022: Toilet block official opening 3 pm Saturday 17 December 2022 The fence is gone, the doors are open: the toilet block at Hank Edwards Reserve is finally open for use. Next comes the Official Opening, at 3 pm on Saturday 17 December 2022. You’re all invited! …

02 December 2022: Release of bud-galling wasp permitted The invasive pest plant Acacia longifolia, more commonly called Sydney golden wattle, is a problem on our coastline. Back in December 2021 Horowhenua District Council advised that they would remove …

02 December 2022: New Tsunami Safe Zone marking A new Tsunami Safe Zone road marking, a blue line, has been painted near the intersection of Waikawa Beach Road with Takapu Road. This is about 1 Km closer to SH1 than the previous line that was …

30 November 2022: Higgins clear stormwater drains, November 2022 It was good to spot a Higgins truck today, with a worker pumping out stormwater drains.

28 November 2022: Should we have the summer recycling station? Are you visiting, or living in, Waikawa Beach this summer? [Council] provide a temporary recycling station at Hank Edwards Reserve during the summer period (mid-December to early January) to ensure …

27 November 2022: Vehicle and horse access to Waikawa Beach, update November 2022 Vehicle and horse access to Waikawa Beach, update November 2022 In November 2021 Horowhenua District Council received a petition about access for vehicles and horses to Waikawa Beach. See 2021 …

28 October 2022: Distance Riding event 03 December 2022 The annual Distance Riding New Zealand DRNZ horse event will be on Saturday 03 December 2022. There will be horses on the beach between 11 am and 3.30 pm. Source: Kezna Cameron