KiwiRail is buying two new, large, rail-enabled ferries (click here) to replace the current three-ship Interislander fleet. This is an investment in a future that is not only ours but also New Zealand's.
Our ferries play a crucial role linking the north and south of the country but the Aratere, Kaiarahi and Kaitaki are all reaching the end of their useful lives.
Every year 800,000 passengers cross the strait on nearly 4000 sailings. The ferries also transport the equivalent of a queue of freight trucks 1200km long and a train with 500km of wagons carrying goods for supermarkets and commodities such as grain, gas, wood products and aluminium....
"Big Brother" is not overseeing the safety of citizens when it comes to flood control.
22 February 2019
By Patrice Dougan
Piha residents (click here) who had their homes damaged in a major flooding event last year will be asked to develop their own evacuation plans to deal with future emergency events.
The plans could potentially work alongside more drastic large-scale engineering options - such as a $45 million tunnel to take the Piha stream straight out to sea, or the building of two dams - which have been presented to Auckland Council this morning.
In a media briefing on the two independent reports by consultants Tonkin+Taylor into three floods at the west Auckland beach last year, councillors said "community resilience" will be a key part to ensuring lives are saved if and when future flooding occurs.
Glenesk Rd in Piha flooded three times last year. April saw the worst flooding, with 80.5mm of rain falling in four hours, resulting in a catastrophic surge in the stream that swallowed roads and houses. Flooding reached a depth of 2m in some parts of Glenesk Rd, causing residents to flee, and extensively damaging 24 properties....
The flooding in the North Island has been horrific.
