Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
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A move has begun to develop a tropical fruits demonstration farm in the Gisborne district with the initial focus on the potential for commercial banana production.
Northland-grown bananas have been at markets in Northland for some time and the rising interest in their production led to the formation of the Tropical Fruit Growers of New Zealand (TFGNZ) group.
That group has begun to explore and experiment with tropical fruit production in Northland with bananas as their first focus.
The group has offered their expertise to the Te Nahu whanau Tai Pukenga Trust based in Papatu Road at Manutuke.
“Looking for diversification, the trust has researched the establishment of a tropical fruits demonstration farm on that land,” said trust programme manager Trevor Mills.
Mr Mills said growing bananas on a commercial basis provided a better shorter-term commercial return than other horticulture crops like citrus and grapes.
“The Northland banana growers are getting $5 a kilo for their fruit. They have sweetness and taste that imported bananas cannot provide. The total value of imported bananas consumed in New Zealand is now over $150 million a year.
“As a result of their research, the TFGNZ group reports a possible return of $20,000-$30,000 a hectare after about a 30-month period from planting to harvesting.”
| A FreshPlaza.com release || September 12, 2017 |||
Mainfreight has just opened a new air and ocean branch in Milan (Italy). The new facility is a continuation of the company's steady expansion across Europe, allowing Mainfreight to offer high levels of customer service and quality by controlling the supply chain end to end.
From the new Milan office, the local team provides a full spectrum of air and ocean services, including customs clearance.
Mainfreight, located in New Zealand, is a 3PL+ logistics service provider backed by a powerful global network for customer-specific and preferably integrated warehousing, transport and distribution solutions.
In Europe, the company operates from offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Romania, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the UK. (mw)
| A Mainfreight release || September 11, 2017 |||
IPWEA is the professional organisation providing member services and advocacy for those involved in and delivering public works and engineering service in Australia and New Zealand.
Previously known as the Institute of Municipal Engineering Australia (IMEA), the organisation is expanding its traditional local government engineering focus to the broader public works and thereby covering all tiers of government as well as the private sector, where we have over 30% of our membership. Almost all of Australia and New Zealand's professional consultancy firms which specialise in public sector infrastructure including roads, water, power, rail, ports and airports - are members of IPWEA. Our private sector members bring thought leadership, innovation and a commercial focus to IPWEA's industry leadership.
The evolvement of IPWEA maintains the traditional expertise of local government engineering but by broadening the base of expertise and experience, adds a new dimension to public works professionalism in Australia and New Zealand.
| An IPWEA release || September 10, 2017 |||
Building inspection pass rates are improving, but the substitution of inferior building products is still blighting the construction industry writes Alexia Russell for Newsroom
Cheap, inferior alternatives being used in housing projects as substitutes for code-compliant products are the number one bugbear of Auckland Council's inspectors. The inspectors say they are picking up most of the problems, but the work required to remedy such situations is holding up the city's much needed home-building programme. Tradesmen, on the other hand, believe a lot is being missed and they're sick of seeing products that have potentially disastrous repercussions further down the line, entering the country.
A highly successful recruiting drive in Canada by the council will help the situation. There are now has 12 new, fully-trained building inspectors on the job after a trip on which Auckland Council Building Control General-Manager Ian McCormick sheepishly admits selling the country as a package by showing them lots of pretty pictures.
The current building boom means the council's facing a situation where it invests heavily in staff training, only to see those people lost to desperately-needed project managing jobs in the industry.
McCormick says without a doubt the biggest problem for him at the moment is site supervision - having competent people guide and support increasingly complex builds, and engage and manage a host of subcontractors and specialists. "We are finding in the industry that too often project managers are having to run many jobs concurrently, racing from job to job," he says. "Project managers are going into jobs more complex than in the past, and in some cases are struggling."
Continue to read the full article here on Newsroom || 11 September 2017 |||
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Fonterra’s Maungaturoto manufacturing site in Northland, New Zealand has recently become home to a rare Australasian Bittern.
The Australasian Bittern, or Matuku as they are known, is a large, heron sized bird. They are rarely sighted because of their secretive behaviour and camouflage technique and are usually most active at dawn, dusk and through the night.
Long serving utilities operator at the site Gary Sosich said he had seen the rare bird while doing routine checks on the site’s stormwater diversion system. He then realised that there was two of them, indicating that there may be a breeding pair living in the wetland. Maungaturoto Environmental Manager Steve Gale says, “It’s positive to see our stormwater treatment wetland is supporting biodiversity. It’s a credit to the stormwater management system we have in place.”
“The bittern population in New Zealand used to be abundant, but there is now thought to be less than 1,000 left due to habitat loss. It’s encouraging to see that our constructed wetland is a comfortable home for them and somewhere that they feel safe.” The bird is an indicator of wetland health, due to their dependence on the presence of high quality and ecologically diverse habitats with a rich food supply
| A Fonterra release || September 9, 2017 |||
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has announced New Zealand will provide $11.5 million for aviation security in the Pacific, to support trade, tourism and the safety of the travelling public, most of which are New Zealand citizens.
"Pacific island countries must meet global aviation safety and security standards, and this funding will provide passenger and baggage screening equipment that will help them to meet those standards," Mr Brownlee says.
"The aviation package of equipment and training will benefit nine countries over the next five years, and builds on our existing $2.5 million programme to help Pacific island countries to meet their international aviation regulatory obligations.
"As aviation security requirements are regularly increased, upgrades to security processes and screening equipment are necessary.
"The new security package will be provided to signatories of the Pacific Island Civil Aviation Safety and Security Treaty, which include Niue, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Nauru," Mr Brownlee says.
New Zealand's aviation support to the Pacific is implemented by the Civil Aviation Authority New Zealand in cooperation with the Pacific Aviation Safety Office.
| A Beehive release || September 8, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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