25 April 1, 2015 Mahurangi Matters mangawhaifeature

coastalheritage FEATURE

Historic Village moves into Mangawhai Community ParkThe first of four historic Mangawhai buildings was relocated to the Historic Village in the Mangawhai Community Park last month.The old Mangawhai Anglican Church, which was originally a school, was moved from its home next to the Anglican Church to the park opposite the Mangawhai Museum on Molesworth Drive.It will be joined by the old telegraph station and post office, currently behind the former museum in the village, and the old Tara Road school.Mangawhai Community Park chair Jim Wintle says they would like to open the Historic Village by summer, and collaborate with the museum to make it part of the visitor experience and school tours.“This is the very first stage of the Historic Village. It is a significant day. It’s the end result of a lot of work and support from the community,” he says.The first step will involve weekly working bees to restore the old church with wall strengthening, exterior facial work and fixing up the porch. “We are going to breathe new life into the building and make it strong so it can stay here for another 100 years.“It’s always important to keep a bit of

local history alive. It would have been a shame to see it made into kindling for someone’s fire.”Long-time Mangawhai resident 88-year-old Beth Smith has many memories of the building and says it’s important for descendants and future residents.She started at the school as a 10-year-old in the 1930s. Her mother, Mrs Nelson, helped initiate turning it into a church in the 1950s. Her sister, Margaret Bull, was the first person to get married in the church. Beth

says she looks forward to more of the building’s history being recorded as part of the Historic Village.The village is one of many community projects that will be part of the 32 hectare park in the next five years. It includes an arts centre and sculpture trail near the Historic Village, the Mangawhai Activity Zone, the new St John building and the New Zealand Fire Service. Mr Wintle says there will also be walkways and cycleways connecting the park. After many years of development, the

park plan was officially adopted in November 2014. Mangawhai Community Park has been identified as a premier reserve in Kaipara District Council’s Long Term Plan 2015/2025. Council has allocated $100,000 a year for the next five years to the park from its development fund.The land was purchased in 1979 by Kaipara District Council and adjoins the Mangawhai Golf Club, between Mangawhai Heads and Mangawhai Village.

The church, which was originally a school, was the first building to move to the Historic Village opposite the Mangawhai Museum.

The old church was no longer needed after a new Anglican Church was built.

26 Mahurangi Matters April 1, 2015 mangawhaifeature

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New ramp to ease bottleneckA second boat ramp and extended pontoon will be installed at Mangawhai Heads after Easter to help relieve congestion over summer.The $30,000 upgrade comes after years of fundraising from the Mangawhai Boating and Fishing Club. The latest fundraiser is the annual Easter fishing competition and catch of the day fish auction on April 4.Club president Buck Buchanan says during busy seasons, holidays and long weekends, there can be up to 350 boats a day. Currently there is only one way in and out, which causes a bottleneck and safety concerns, with club members actively directing traffic.“It’s diabolical over summer, especially the two weeks from Christmas,” Buck says.The new boat ramp will be built on the north side of the pontoon, with 15 cubic metres of concrete. It will only be used to launch boats. Boats coming in will be retrieved from the existing boat ramp on the south side of the pontoon.The pontoon, originally installed six

years ago by the club, will be extended another 6 metres into deeper water, to make it 56 metres in total.The current L-shape of the pontoon will remain, so boats can still tie-up and unload, and is also used by children for fishing.The work required two consents, obtained by the Harbour Restoration Society. One for the turnaround area and start of the ramp from Kaipara District Council, and the rest of the ramp below the high water mark from the Northern Regional Council.Work starts after Easter and should be completed by June, with minimal disruption. The current ramp will be put to one final test this Easter weekend for the 11th annual Easter fishing competition, an open competition that attracts locals and visitors. It includes prizes for open and ladies heaviest fish species and junior heaviest fish. A pre-competition rules and briefing night will be held on Friday, April 3 from 6.30pm at the club on Alamar Crescent. Fishing starts on Saturday April 4 at 6am, with weigh-in between 3pm to 4pm. Reserve day is Sunday April 5.

Online: Watch a video of Mangawhai Boating and Fishing Club president

Buck Buchanan and Harbour Restoration chairman Trevor Downey explaining the changes to the Alamar

Crescent boat ramp.

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New ramp to ease bottleneckAfter living a nomadic existence without a base in Mangawhai, the St John ambulance service will finally have its own home in May.The new $850,000 station comes after five years of planning and fundraising. It will have two ambulance bays, a training room, accommodation and living quarters with a full kitchen and bathroom, a library and office.The 367m2 building, on 2500m2 land in the Mangawhai Community Park on Molesworth Drive, is in stark contrast to what they are used to.“It’s amazing just having a place to call our own. We won’t know ourselves. We are absolutely thrilled and the community will benefit hugely from

this,” says station manager Kay Carey.After sharing with the Mangawhai Volunteer Fire Brigade in Wood Street they were forced to move out of the top floor of the station in 2013 when it was deemed unsafe. They then shared a portable building at the back of the fire station with the brigade. Their equipment was stored in a small cupboard inside the station. The ambulance was parked in the home driveway of whoever was on duty.Kay says the new station was urgently needed for their current service, but it is also designed for future growth. It is getting busier each year, with about 60 call-outs over summer.

They hope having visibility in the community and the space to train will help attract more volunteers. They currently have 14 volunteers, but need about 50 if they want to provide a fulltime service in the future. They also hope the accommodation will attract ambulance officers from other stations during weekends and busy periods in the summer holidays.St John district operations manager Tony Devanney says they are building for the future population expansion in Mangawhai and Bream Bay.“It is exciting to finally see it come to fruition. It has been a long road to get to this point with a number of different people involved along the

way,” says Tony.The money was raised from the Mangawhai St John Opportunity Shop in the past five years. Further funds have come from the Bream Bay St John Area Committee, which also serves the Mangawhai area. “It is the generosity of these dedicated volunteers, as well as local organisations that has made this project possible.”The new station is due to open in mid-May. In the next few years, the Mangawhai Volunteer Fire Service plan to be neighbours again and build a new station next door to create an emergency service precinct at the Mangawhai Community Park.

Mangawhai St John get purpose built headquarters

Watch a video of station manager Kay Carey take a tour of the new Mangawhai St John building construction site.

Kay Carey

28 Mahurangi Matters April 1, 2015 mangawhaifeature

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Volunteer Sandy Reardon keeps up with her crochet in quiet times, but on busy days she admits groups of up to 40 into the Mangawhai Museum.

Helpers keep museum aliveAnother 10 volunteers have joined the Mangawhai Museum after a recent volunteer drive.They will be part of the team of 65 volunteers who help run everything at the museum from the front of house, cafe, shop, collection management, education groups, exhibition display, grounds and building maintenance.Museum manager Emma Gray is the only full-time staff member, along with two part-time cafe staff and the museum board. Emma started in January this year, a month after the new museum opened, and says she could not do her job without the volunteers.“Volunteers made this museum happen and they keep it going. I deeply appreciate all they do, so my job is ensuring they are happy. If we have happy volunteers, we have a happy workplace.”

She says some volunteers work up to four days a week, and others help out when they can in busy periods. They have no expectations on how often people should work, and take any help they can get. The volunteers receive initial training and up-skilling where needed.Volunteer Sandy Reardon works front of house, greeting and admitting visitors two mornings a week when she is not helping her husband with their Mangawhai Fishing and Tackle business. She joined to give something back to the community she has lived in for the past seven years.“It’s another way to meet people in the community. It makes you feel connected.”Emma says the museum is always keen to hear from more volunteers. Info: info@mangawhai-museum.org.nz

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Busy start for new museumMangawhai Museum has had a steady start since opening in December and a number of special exhibits are opening soon.Museum manager Emma Gray says there have been over 2000 admissions, averaging about 40 people a day.“Weekends have been extremely busy, but we are also steady through the week, which is great,” she says.“We are getting group bookings from schools and other community groups, which is promising.”Emma is from Auckland but has been living in Kaiwaka for the past two years and was manager at Bennetts Cafe in Mangawhai before taking on the role.“I’ve always been interested in history and it’s fantastic to be involved with the museum.”Mangawhai Historical Society chair Christine Bygrave says she is very pleased with the response from the public.“It’s all working out very well. It’s quite different to what people expect. I think a lot of people think museums just have a lot of old stuff, but our museum is much more than that. It tells great stories of the area and the local people.“It’s lovely to see children enjoying the museum too.”There will be a special exhibition for Anzac Day.

“It will be an opportunity to share the stories of Mangawhai folk who were involved in the world wars, and we will have some memorabilia on display and will be making poppies.”Next month there will be an exhibit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Niagara, which hit a German mine while carrying more than eight tonnes of gold“We have the bell from the Niagara on display but we are hoping to get other artefacts and go into greater depth on the story, with help from Keith Gordon who has the salvage rights to the ship and wrote a book about it.”People can join ‘Friends of the Museum’ and pay an annual fee to visit the museum any time and be notified of special events and exhibits.

Museum manager Emma Gray says

she has always been interested in

local history.