Heavy rain warning, Community Board meetings and more weekly updates

• $8,747 for three driver licence programmes to support 36 young people to get their licences.
• $7,395 for CAPS Hauraki to run a free Children’s Day event in Victoria Park on Sunday 1 March. The grant will go towards a mobile rock climbing wall, mechanical surfboard, dunking tank, basketball challenge, sausage sizzle and facepainting. The event is expected to attract around 2,000 people.
• $2,268.50 for Thames SPCA to give out vouchers for free desexing operations and microchipping to 10 cat or dog owners who cannot afford the cost.
• $495 for Thames Tumbletots to hire Thames Civic Centre for its movement skills programme for crawling babies and toddlers. 

Previous grants totalling $25,859 had been allocated in August 2025 towards Thames Museum employing a professional fundraiser, traffic management for the Steampunk and Santa Parades, a first aid course for sport and recreation coaches, and as support for the Wings and Wheels event in January (which had to cancelled).  

A total of $65,493 is left in the fund, open to application by community groups. Members also approved the following funding priorities: community safety, children and youth, and promoting Thames and Thames tourism providers.   

Thames Urban General Purpose Reserve 

Members were presented with the annual report on the reserve funds which come from leases of Council-owned farms on the Hauraki Plains. The reserve funds totalled $996,535 at the end of the financial year on 30 June 2025.   

The fund has enabled the fitting out the new Thames Information Centre ($49,976 over the past and current financial years) and the installation of Miners’ Gate sculpture ($20,000) on Thames’ southern entrance.   

In addition, an initiative to install under veranda LED lighting to improve community safety in dark areas of Pollen Street shopping area is about to get underway on the first five properties who’ve agreed to a lighting upgrade. $20,000 has been set aside from the Thames Urban General Purpose Reserve (TUGPR) for improving lighting under verandahs so it is safer at night. 

Civic Centre lease to Age Concern  

A lease was approved for Age Concern Hauraki-Coromandel to continue occupying part of Thames Civic Centre at 200 Mary Street until 30 June 2029, with the option to renew until the end of June 2030.

View the agenda and recording here

The Board: 

• Heard from representatives of the Coromandel-Colville Business Association in the public forum asking the Board to support installing a town clock on Samuel James Reserve that had been handmade by the late Cyril Strongman. The request was added to the Board’s action schedule. 

• Supported a request from the Coromandel Independent Living Trust to exercise its Final Right of Renewal on the lease of the premises at 100 Pound Street, Coromandel. The Final Right of Renewal will be for a period of five (5) years, from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2031. 

• Approved a recommendation to grant a Licence to Occupy and allow the construction of a privately owned access bridge within the Council Road Reserve at 720 Hauraki Road, Coromandel. The bridge will not restrict public use of the road. All design, consenting, construction and ongoing maintenance costs will be met by the applicants, at no cost to Council. An amendment was made requiring Council to ensure wetland planting is completed as proposed in the application. 

• Endorsed a recommendation to initiate a statutory road stopping process to remove the ‘road’ status of a portion of unformed road reserve adjoining 398 Colville Road, Oamaru Bay (Lot 18 DPS 7432). The undeveloped land does not serve any other properties or public areas and is not required by Council for any current or future roading purposes. Council will engage a registered valuer to determine the market value of the road parcel. All associated costs, including valuation, survey, legal and processing fees, will be met by the applicant. 

View agenda and recording here

At its first meeting of the year the Board had a busy public forum with speakers from a wide range of community members and groups including Matarangi Ratepayers Association, Matarangi Boat & Fishing Club, Grey Power Mercury Bay and Mercury Bay Art Escape.  

The Board: 

• Nominated Mercury Bay Community Board Deputy Chair Kim Abrahamson to serve as a member of the Matarangi Community Trust Appointments Panel, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Rekha Giri-Percival. 

• Supported several Mercury Bay locations to be given 'Poppy Place' status in recognition of the military history associated with the sites. This included: Bongard Rd and Dakota Drive (Whitianga), Radar Road (Hot Water Beach), WW1 Memorial Forest (Kaimarama), Whenuakite Memorial and Bravo ’61 Memorial (Rings Beach). It also approved $750 from its discretionary funding as a contribution to the project. 

• Declined a request for $2,880 of discretionary funding assistance from Grey Power Mercury Bay Inc. for two people to attend the 2026 Grey Power Federation AGM in June. The Mercury Bay Community Board has a Discretionary Fund of $55,512 for the 2025/2026 financial year. To date $12,278 has already been allocated from this budget, leaving $43,234 available for allocation. The Board noted the cost didn’t need to be funded by ratepayers, and associations in general would expect to pay their own attendance costs. 

• Received the ‘Multi-use Layout and Safety Improvements for Omaro Recreation Reserve - Matarangi' report dated 16 January 2026, which recommended that the Board support the Omaro Reserve Concept Design prepared by local landscape architect Chloe Watts. After discussion, it resolved to defer the decision until its April meeting. An amendment was also made to request that staff do further work including a final recommendation to be discussed with key stakeholders that would include costing.

• Recommended that Council approves the Deed of Assignment of Lease from The Scout Association of New Zealand to the Whitianga Community Menz Shed Trust for the Premises at 90 Moewai Road, Whitianga. It also recommended the approval of a new sublease between the Whitianga Community Menz Shed Trust and the Whitianga Lions based on their existing sublease with The Scout Association of NZ. A previous sub-lease was approved between The Scout Association of New Zealand and the Whitianga Lions by Council on 3 August 2021. The Board noted that Menz Shed Trust was a large group with well-established financial support, and was agreeable to the transfer. The current lease expires in 2028. 

View agenda and recording here