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Did you know that your local fire station provides a FREE home safety check and will install (pre-purchased) smoke alarms for you? With most fire fatalities due to people inhaling toxic gases and smoke from fires while asleep, there is no excuse for not having a working fire alarm in your home.

Jason and Linda from NZ Fire Service were first up at our ‘Safety at Home’ evening on Tuesday 12 August, and enthralled us with stories and statistics from their fire investigation work. They said despite advertising, education and common-sense, of the 4000 NZ Fire Service callouts last year, 80% didn’t have working smoke alarms.

Further sobering news followed: a video which showed it takes just one minute for a fire at home to reach 250 degrees, and another minute to reach over 700 degrees! If you’re ever in a fire, you need to get out as quickly as you can. Forget about your stuff: “possessions can be replaced. People can’t”.

Further advice from NZ Fire Service:

• Modern photoelectric smoke alarms are preferable and last longer (10 years) than ionisation smoke detectors. At around $40 they are also more cost-effective than replacing the 9V batteries on older alarms.
• Get your electric blankets tested every year to ensure they’re not a fire risk.

For more information and to contact your local fire station, see the New Zealand Fire Service website.

Next up was St John Ambulance. With just half an hour upskill our audience in all things first aid, they gave us some excellent advice:

• Before going to help someone, ensure your own safety first.
• If someone is unconscious, always call an ambulance. Perform CPR at ratio of 30:2 breaths to chest compressions – “30:2, no matter who”.
• If there is bleeding: elevate the area and get the patient to apply pressure if they can.

If you’d like to book a first aid course, see the St John website.

After the presentations, residents enjoyed a chat over a cuppa and homemade baking. Ruth’s oaty cookies and Lynda’s Weet-bix slice proved especially popular.

Thanks to all who attended, particularly NZ Fire Service and St John Ambulance for sharing your wisdom with us!

This event was kindly supported by

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Our area is in danger of missing out on funding unless more people make submissions on the Orākei Local Board (OLB) draft plan. Numbers in favour of projects are just as important as numbers objecting. If the proposed projects don’t get enough support, funding will be allocated to other areas of Auckland.

OLB has made it extremely simple to have your say with a brochure outlining key points of the plan. Simply fill in the page at the back, tear it off and post it back for free. These brochures were delivered to mailboxes in July. If you missed out, visit the Orākei Local Board office in Meadowbank Mall to pick up a copy.

Otherwise, see the Auckland Council’s ‘Shape Auckland’ website to see the full draft plan and make an online submission.

The deadline is August 6, so move quickly!

If you’re a dog owner you’ll need to renew your dog’s registration by August 1, otherwise you’ll risk paying a hefty penalty fee.

Auckland Transport is seeking feedback by July 31 on its proposed solutions to our region’s parking issues, including Park and Rides, standardising parking charges in town centres, and availability of parking on arterial routes.

To see the document and have your say, visit the Auckland Transport Parking Discussion Document.