March 2024 Newsletter

Katie Mclaren, Community Development Advisor (Social)

Creative Communities Scheme Funding for local arts is now open. For more information, please visit our website. Funding closes 4pm Monday the 18th of March.

Katie Mclaren, Community Development Advisor (Social)

Citizens are invited to attend Public Commemoration Services held in the Hauraki District on Thursday 25 April 2024.

ANZAC Services and Parades in Hauraki

Paeroa

6am - Paeroa RSA Dawn Service, Cenotaph, Primrose Hill

9am- Parade from Marshall St (outside RSA) to War Memorial Hall, via Belmont Road and Normanby Road

9:15am - Civic Service at the Paeroa War Memorial Hall

Waihī

6.00am - Waihī RSA Dawn service, in the memorial area behind the Waihī RSA

8.00am - Wreath laying, Waihī Cemetery

9:00am - Gilmour Reserve, Waihī (Waihī Heritage Vision and Tunnelling Company)

10:45am - Parade from Waihī RSA to Waihī Memorial Hall, via Seddon Street

11:00am - Service at Waihī Memorial Hall

Ngātea

6.00am - HPC Dawn Service, Hauraki Plains College

11.00am - Parade from Hauraki RSA to Ngātea War Memorial Hall via Pipiroa Road

11:15am - Civic Service at Ngātea War Memorial Hall

Kaihere/Patetonga

9am - Service at Kaihere Hall

Kerepēhi

5:30am - Dawn service and Parade, Kerepēhi War Memorial Hall 

Please note: The RSA website www.rsa.org.nz has further information about ANZAC services and parades throughout New Zealand.

Julie Stephenson - Community Employment Liaison

Gr8 Job Hauraki has continued making good progress toward our 2023/24 target and have already achieved 32 placements since July 1, 2023. Our target is 38 before June 30, 2024.

We are finalising preparation for our Rangatahi Leadership programme, which will be delivered by The Good Day Matrix in our three secondary schools during terms 1 & 2. We have completed a survey capturing the voice of our rangatahi to help clearly identify the focus for the workshops. Hauraki Plains College are completing their programme in term 1, and we are about to finalise dates for Paeroa and Waihi. This programme is designed to unlock potential for our rangatahi as they prepare themselves for the future.

We thought it would be a GR8 idea to share a couple of our recent success stories – our favourite thing to do!

Jamie started his electrical apprenticeship with Carl & Lorraine McDuff and the team earlier this year and Gr8 Job Hauraki has been excited to share Jamie’s journey. We were able to provide Jamie with a start-up tool kit which will be a great help on the job. Jamie is ‘absolutely loving’ his work. When asked what he loved the most, without hesitation he answered, ‘the team culture’. He will be starting night school in Hamilton once a week in 2024 to advance his apprenticeship and has a great attitude toward reaching his dream career. Best of luck Jamie – it seems a day in the life of an apprentice is pretty good.

Diving into his future!

Never underestimate the desire to chase your dreams. Josh has successfully enrolled and been accepted into a Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction with Dive Zone Whitianga. Gr8 Job Hauraki, also, supported Josh to book, sit and pass his full motorcycle licence. Mahi tika ana (well done) Josh.

Josh reached out to Gr8 Job Hauraki with the goal of obtaining sustainable mahi and was open to do anything he could to be successful. His ultimate wish is to be a search and rescue diver. We want to acknowledge Josh for his dedication to the process and proactive attitude. His engagement, consistent communication and appreciation made it a pleasure to walk alongside Josh on his journey to reach his goals. We wish Josh all the best as he dives into his future!

Lou Beer, Event and Business Support Coordinator

Alongside changes to household waste collections, there have also been changes to how event organisers need to think about waste.

Bringing large numbers of people together creates a lot of waste – mainly food and drink containers but also cardboard, plastic wrapping and others. In the past, the majority of the waste has headed to landfill, but HDC now has recycling bins available for hire (the bin colours align with national guidelines) with liners for ease of disposal or event organisers can use the expert services of the Hauraki Recycle and Reuse Centre (HRRC), who supervise the bins to prevent contamination and provide education at the event.

At the recent Highland Games, with an estimated 4,500 people in attendance, HRRC calculated that 57% of the event waste was diverted from landfill, which is a great step and well received by those attending “We just went to the Highland Games in Paeroa and omg their rubbish and recycling was INCREDIBLE!"

This is great to hear, and we continue to look at ways to reduce waste through behavioural change. You can help - next time you go to an event, think about taking re-usables – a keep cup, a water bottle and cutlery are all readily available and easy to take along.  

Lou Beer, Event and Business Support Coordinator

On Valentine’s Day, entrepreneurs, start-up business and existing small business owners put the romance on hold to start the Elevate Hauraki course. This is a collaboration between Soda Inc, Hauraki District Council and Gr8 Jobs Hauraki and is designed to give attendees the knowledge, tools and frameworks to set up strong business foundations to launch their business and take it to the next level.

It is exciting to meet and learn more about our local people and their aspirations and ideas. It is even more exciting to be helping them on their journeys and to see where this course can take them. We will update you in the next newsletter!  

Lou Beer, Event and Business Support Coordinator

Call for expressions of interest. Through the Regional Events Fund, seed funding for a signature event in the Karangahake Gorge/Waikino area has been sourced and we need you to make it happen. If you are keen to see an event take place and can offer skills, ideas or knowledge – please get in touch by email.

Lou Beer, Event and Business Support Coordinator

More and more customers are utilising websites for shopping and/or browsing but it can be hard for small businesses to keep up. For businesses in small towns, collaboration could be the answer and we want to explore this opportunity with you. If you are a local business owner and would like to be part of an online discussion about this at 6pm on 25 March, please get in touch by email. 

Lyn Randall, Community Advocacy Officer

In 2023 our community organisations, clubs and educational facilities successfully achieved over 2 million dollars in grants and sponsorship funding from external funding sources. This fantastic achievement is the result of our groups and volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes bringing together applications to support their valuable causes. These wins can come in many forms however, and a very recent success has been the granting of the ‘Brand for Purpose’ giveaway from the Mount Maunganui marketing & design company ‘Inkdrop’ to the Hauraki Repair & Reuse Centre in Paeroa. Following a notification of the giveaway on a Community Waikato Bulletin, I included the giveaway opportunity via my regular email to my database of groups in Hauraki. This was picked up by the Hauraki Repair & Reuse Centre and they threw their hat in the ring to be considered. The Hauraki Repair & Reuse Centre are certainly a good cause, a charitable trust who work with the community to reduce waste to landfill. Not only do they consider items that might previously have ended up at the transfer station and landfill, but they also regularly offer a variety of sustainably based services and workshops, so a worthy winner for sure and a great example of taking every opportunity for your organisation. You can find out more and follow any updates via the Hauraki Repair & Reuse Centre Facebook Page.

If you or your group are not currently receiving my funding opportunity emails and would like to be included, please send me an email confirming your name and organisation and I will add you to the list straight away. Email me at Lyn.Randall@hauraki-dc.govt.nz  

Lyn Randall, Community Advocacy Officer

The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 is a recent legislation requiring all Incorporated Societies to re-register by 5 April 2026 or they will cease to exist. There are some significant changes to the Act including governance, membership and dispute resolution to name a few. Although this may seem like a considerable undertaking, it provides societies with the opportunity to update their constitution and the rules by which they operate in line with modern law.

Recently Hauraki District Council provided free workshops in collaboration with local lawyers to discuss the changes. Whilst some groups have started to plan for re-registration, I do feel that there could be groups in the Hauraki District that may not be aware of the requirements or are unsure what it means for them. If this could be your group, then please don’t delay in reviewing the resources on the New Zealand Companies Office website. There are a number of guides available along with a ‘Constitution Builder’ template which will take you through the steps of producing a draft Constitution document. Whilst 5 April 2025 feels quite distant, you should consider that changes to your Constitution could need discussion at your AGM meeting and if so, this considerably reduces the number of opportunities for agreement by your group before the deadline.

If you have questions or would like to talk about what re-registering means for your organisation, then please feel free to contact me via telephone on 027 1800 2195 or email at Lyn.Randall@hauraki-dc.govt.nz. 

Rebecca Jenks, Community Development Advisor (Economic)

Te Waka completed its latest Business Sentiment Survey in November 2023. Thanks to all the Hauraki District businesses who participated! The more who take part, the more useful the findings are.

The survey reflects a Waikato business community whose confidence has rebounded with the election of a new government. However, concerns about the delivery of core government services remain high and political uncertainty is seen as a key barrier to growth. Waikato businesses continue to prioritise roading as the most needed infrastructure investment in the region, and there has been a strong increase in those citing renewable energy infrastructure as a priority, reflecting the key role renewable energy needs to play in enabling the Waikato’s transition to a low emissions economy.

Some of the insights include:

• Respondents’ net confidence in their own business has lifted back to November 2022 levels, with a net score of +9, up from -13 in April 2023. Of those surveyed, 45% are extremely (9%) or fairly (36%) confident about their business prospects over the next year, compared to 35% being fairly (29%) or extremely (2%) worried.

• Views on key challenges facing the New Zealand economy and priorities for the government are largely unchanged from the previous survey. The top five priorities are: Health, Inflation/Cost of Living, Crime, Education, and Housing Affordability.

• Top regional infrastructure concerns remain roading (60%), health infrastructure (54%) and affordable housing (41%), however, renewable energy has grown in importance to #4 on the infrastructure priority list (22%, up from 11% in April).

You can view the full report here.