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The Mahurangi Magazine

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About Mahurangi Action Incorporated

Established in 1974 as Friends of the Mahurangi
Umbrella organisation for Coastal Art
Jade River: A History of the Mahurangi cover

Locker’s Lifetime’s Pleasure: Friend of the Mahurangi Ronald Locker wrote his tribute to the ‘river’ as payback for the lifetime’s pleasure it gave him. The book’s cover features Henry Winkelmann’s photograph of the 1901 Mahurangi Regatta. publisher Mahurangi Action

In 2009, after years of failing to attract a willing treasurer, the group lost its status as an incorporated society. To address this deficiency, Mahurangi Action was incorporated on 7 December 2011, with Michael Gordon as the inaugural treasurer.

Styled ‘Mahurangi Action, established 1974 as Friends of the Mahurangi’ to signal the imperative for action, the new name is also aimed to both be more inclusive and to be better aligned with the Mahurangi Action Plan. The issue providing urgency to form Friends of the Mahurangi in 1974 was the plans by the then Warkworth Town Council for a wastewater treatment plant. Like the severely overloaded septic tank it was to replace, the system would discharge into the Mahurangi River, just below the town.

Many, and particularly founding member Wilfred AllanWilfred ‘Wilf’ John Davy Allan, considered the council’s plans inadequate to restore the water quality at Warkworth and protect, long-term, the oyster farms downstream. Meanwhile, founding chairman John Male had been discussing formation of a ‘watch dog group’ to protect harbour’s landscape and to back a moratorium on further marine farms, which he had sought while serving as a Rodney County councillor. Not wishing to be seen as just another protest group, Friends of the Mahurangi revived the Mahurangi Regatta, in 1977—it had lapsed during World War Two.

Today the organisation works closely with the harbour’s marine farmers to help resolve the issue of derelict oyster leases and towards improving the harbour’s water quality.

In 2001, Mahurangi Action published Jade River : A History of the Mahurangi, which was written by member Ronald Locker as “a kind of payback for all the pleasure the river has given me.”

The organisation is energetically involved in the Auckland Regional Council-initiated Mahurangi Action Plan, the principal aim of which is to address the harbour’s elevated sediment accumulation rate.
 

Mahurangi Action milestones mark some significant achievements

1974
Founded, as Friends of the Mahurangi
1975
Tribunal recommends Warkworth wastewater be excluded from the Mahurangi River
1977
Revived the Mahurangi Regatta
1987
Supported Mahurangi West-led campaign that saw off plans to build a road to Te Muri and park up to 4000 cars behind its beach
1991
Conducted poll on aspirations for Mahurangi in 25 years
2001
Publication of Dr Ronald Locker’s 416-page Jade River : A History of the Mahurangi
2002
Successful High Court defence of the public’s entitlement to access Jamieson Bay
2004
Scotts Landing – Scott Homestead boardwalk
2005
Mahurangi Regatta Ball, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Warkworth’s founding
2006
Revival of the Mahurangi Regatta Prize-Giving Dance
2004
Leading role in supporting Auckland Regional Council’s Mahurangi Action Plan
2007
Mahurangi Magazine goes online
2007
Establishment of first scientifically designed trials demonstrating that forestry-style nursery methods could slash the cost of raising indigenous plants
2010
Leading role in developing Mahurangi Action Plan: A strategic plan for the catchment 2010–2030
2012
With property holder, establishment of the Mahurangi Farm-Forestry Trail
2015
Warkworth Sediment Improvements Pilot Phase I
2015
With Friends of Regional Parks, establish the Mahurangi Coastal Trail Trust
2016
Preservation of car-free Te Muri, forever
2016
Culmination of 42-year bid to see council commitment to exclude Warkworth wastewater from the Mahurangi river and harbour
2016
First Mahurangi Regatta held with new, long-term principal sponsor, Teak Construction
2017
Submitted only proposal—for two local boards to replace the current Rodney Local Board—deemed a reasonably practicable option to Auckland’s governance arrangements
2017
Initiated, supported by Mahurangi Matters, the Warkworth Town Hall Talks
2018
Initiated, with philanthropist member, Mahurangi-based green-lipped mussel reef restoration research project
2019
Initiated, with the Mahurangi River Restoration Trust, ‘Up the Mahu!’
2019
Provided snug harbour for chart—Coastal Heritage Art—competition for schools
2020
Route for Mahurangi Coastal Trail across Te Muri Estuary determinedstrictly, a Ngāti Manuhiri – Mahurangi Coastal Trail Trust achievement with Ngāti Manuhiri
2021
Pulled off another best-ever, covid-19-wary-to-boot Mahurangi Regatta