Follow the links below to archived news items on Helensville and the surrounding area.

2001 Articles

Council moots arts centre for Helensville (Dec 19, '01)
Preschool to keep doors open (Dec 17, '01)
Water quality problems may be over (Nov 30, '01)
War declared on Kaipara mosquitos (Sept 28, '01)
Community cleanup astounding success (Sept 28, '01)
$50,000 grant for museum shift (August 15, '01)
Water, sewerage to get upgrades (July 16, '01)
Money allocated for riverside development (June 22, '01)
Helensville, Rodney populations on rise (June 2, '01)

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Council moots arts and crafts centre for H'vle (Dec 19, '01)

    Rodney District Council's planning department has suggested an ambitious project to create a Helensville-Parakai enterprise centre for the arts.
    Planning project manager Sam Marshall says turning the area into an arts and crafts mecca could provide the catalyst for growth that Helensville needs, and help prevent it's economy - hampered by slow population growth and high unemployment - falling behind those of other Rodney towns.
    The area's historic buildings, burgeoning antique shops, natural hot pools, and rail access to the newly restored railway station already combine to create a unique destination, and an arts centre could complete the picture.
     The Council sees a centre for the arts as providing a commercial outlet for the many local artists and crafts people, as well as creating a tourist attraction. They have picked the area between the planned Historic Village and the main street as a potential location. This would complement the Helensville riverbank project, which is planned to link the Historic Village with the main shopping area via a riverside walkway.
    The success of such a venture would depend on funding and both council and community support. The feasability of the project should be established early in the new year.

Preschool to keep doors open (Dec 17, '01)

    Helensville's Preschool will stay open.
    The Commercial Road facility was to close after members voted 10-9 at a special meeting in November to shut the doors permanently. The preschool's financial viability was threatened because of a falling roll and declining parental support.
     However, a group of concerned parents have managed to raise enough support to form a new committee, which last week voted 15-2 to keep the preschool running.
     New licence committee chairman Sean Grant says the preschool's main priorities will be to find new staff, improve facilities and increase membership. They aim to be open in January, 2002.
     Two new teachers are needed, and initially parents will share the administrative duties. Hours may be extended, and other avenues - such as child pick-up and drop-off and providing lunches - will be investigated.
     Helensville Preschool currently has around 10 members; the previous committee found in a review last June that 16 children were needed each week to allow the facility to survive.

Water quality problems may be over (Nov 30, '01)

    Helensville and Parakai's water quality problems may be solved.
    For the past year a machine called an Aquasonic has been trialled in Helensville's Mangakura dam. Costing the same as a 40 watt lightbulb to run, the machine kills algae in the water and prevent its buildup.
    Reports from the machine's trial show reduced algae levels, and it is hoped the result might be an end to the foul-smelling water which has plagued Helensville and Parakai residents in hot weather.
    Rodney District Council has approved similar trials elsewhere.

War declared on Kaipara mosquitos (Sept 28, '01)

   Ground surveillance from Helensville to north of Shelly Beach has begun in the war against the southern salt marsh mosquito.
    A Hawkes Bay company, BioSecure, has 12 staff members inspecting coastal habitats for the mosquito, which is an aggressive biter and has the potential to spread the Ross River virus.
    The $2 million programme, also covering the Mangawhai area, will see BioSecure complete detailed surveys of the spread of the mosquito, and develop a spray programme to control the pest. The spray programme is pending a government decision on whether to carry out full eradication; resource consents for spraying have already been applied for.
    The survey covers a total of 2710 hectares, with teams being taken to the sites by helicopter. Public meetings to discuss the findings and gather feedback are expected to be held in Helensville an at Waioneke School, South Head.

Community cleanup astounding success (Sept 28, '01)

    An astounding 100 wrecked cars were among the gigantic pile of trash collected in Helensville's inorganic collection last week.
    A team of 100 volunteers, taking part in the first such collection in Rodney District since 1988, gathered up hundreds of tonnes of other unwanted junk, along with an estimated 120 cubic metres of organic waste.
    The rubbish was sorted and piled up near the western entrance to Helensville. It will be disposed of at the Redvale landfill, where Rodney Council is waiving dumping fees.
    Workers also began the task of cleaning up the Kaipara river bank, a task expected to continue for several months (see earlier article).
    Part of National Clean-up Week, the hugely successful community event is being hailed by Rodney District Council compliance manager Geoff Ward as the future of inorganic rubbish collections in the district. He says the days of council-funded collections costing ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars are over, and community-based initiatives are the way to go.

$50,000 grant for museum shift (August 15, '01)

   The Helensville and District Historical Society has received confirmation of a $50,000 grant from Rodney District Council toward the cost of relocating the Pioneer Museum and other buildings to the new Pioneer Village.
   The museum, Helensville's historic courthouse and other buildings are to be moved to a new, specially-designated site at the Helensville Riverside Reserve in Mill Road.
    The Society has already signed an agreement to lease the land from the council, and is currently checking the formal deed of lease before signing it. The 33-year lease (with another 33-year right of renewal) will give the Society access to 9518 sq.m of land. The Society also has a 10-year first option on an adjacent parcel of land.
    The council surveyed the land - formerly Helenville's rubbish tip - for the village project in late May. Society president and village project manager Fred Hendon says the annual rent will be just $1.
   Test drilling of bores, needed to determine the depth required for foundation poles, will begin soon. And plans are being formulated to determine what order buildings will be moved onto the site.
   A special sub-committee of the Historical Society has been established to raise funds for the project. Some donations have already been received, including $3000 from the Parakai Licensing Trust and $4500 from the Kaipara Trust.
    The 'major' sources of donations, such as the ASB Charitable Trust and the Lotteries Commission, can now be approached with a signed lease in hand.
   The project involves resiting several of the town's historic buildings - including the Pioneer Museum and Old Courthouse - at the new location, along with landscaping and other developments. It is hoped the village will become a major visitor attraction for Helensville.

Water, sewerage to get upgrades (July 16, '01)

    More than $700,000 has been allocated by Rodney Council to be spent on Helensville's water and sewerage systems over the next year.
   The Helensville sewage treatement plant will receive a $250,000 upgrade, while a further $254,000 will be spent on maintaining the town's sewerage facilities.
    The council has set aside $25,000 to investigate an alternative water supply for Helensville. But in the meantime it will spend $172,000 improving the quality of the town's often-criticised water.

Money allocated for riverside development (June 22, '01)

   Rodney Council has set aside $20,000 in its annual plan for development of the Helensville riverside.
    This follows a water-borne tour of the area in late April by Mayor John Law and other elected officials and council staff.
Mr Law got a first-hand view of the eyesore that is the the Kaipara River behind the Helensville shopping and industrial precinct, along with the council's four western ward councillors, council parks and planning staff, and invited local residents.
    The aim of the trip was to show Mr Law and the councillors the mess that has accumulated behind the shops and old dairy factory - old motor vehicles and railway carriages, industrial rubbish, stacks of old timber and other trash.
    Helensville's Mainstreet organisation, Kaipara New Horizons, proposed several years ago a plan to improve the area with a walkway and landscaping. These plans were put on hold with the previous council's political problems.
    The Riverside Enhancement Project currently involves New Horizons, the Helensville Historical Society, and Ratepayers and Business Association representatives.
    The plan includes a landing at the end of Creek Lane and landscaped walkways leading off in both directions, as fas as the yet-to-be-relocated Pioneer Museum at the Riverside Reserve. A "wishlist" includes water taxies linking Helensville, Parakai and shelly Beach, riverside festivals and regattas, revamped parking and new public conveniences.
    The move to improve the town's riverbank would dramatically improve Helensville's attractiveness and increase its potential as a visitor destination.

Population on the rise (June 2, '01)

    The population of Helensville - and the whole Rodney District - has shown significant growth over the past five years.
   Provisional figures released by the Department of Statistics show Helensville's population has grown to 2232 - a rise of more than 10% on the 1996 census figure. The population for the area the town serves - including Parakai, South Head and Reweti - has grown to 6246.
    Overall, Rodney District's population rose by 14.5% to 77,001. That was the third-highet growth rate in New Zealand. In terms of actual numbers, only one other district - Tauranga - beat rodney's increase of 9741 (Rodney is now the second most populous district in the country).
   Factors contributing to the areas high growth rate include relatively low housing and property prices, close proximity to Auckland City, and improving services and amenities.