Good news, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has deemed the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy as essential services.

Take part in the big New Zealand Easter egg hunt and make this Easter extra special. All you need to do is colour in the egg provided, or design your own, and stick it in a window that faces the street so that everyone can have the change to hunt for eggs this weekend.

Email your finished eggs to primeminister@parliament.govt.nz, or share them on social media using the hashtag #NZEggHunt. Click here for more information.

Meanwhile, around the country and in our district, police will be ramping up visibility in communities and on the roads including operating checkpoints over the Easter period, making sure people are safe and complying with the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 restrictions.

"We know many New Zealanders may have been planning to catch up with friends and family this weekend, or travel to traditional holiday destinations but we urge anyone who was planning to do this – please change your plans and stay home," says Police Commissioner Andrew Coster. "Travelling to the bach for a holiday is not essential travel and it is not permitted."

"If people are here on the Coromandel now, they’re here to stay, but remember, this is not our usual Easter holiday," says our Mayor Sandra Goudie. "We’re all in this together so please be kind, get involved in the big New Zealand Easter egg hunt, refrain from finger pointing and leave it to police to deal with breaches."

If you suspect a breach of the guidelines, you can report them online here. (Don't ring 111 as that is for emergencies only).

Supermarkets - Stay calm, be prepared and get support

New Zealand supermarkets will close on Good Friday but can open on Easter Sunday. Check with your local store as the hours may differ across the district.

Please continue to follow the guidance under the Alert Level 4:

• Keep trips to a minimum. Do not go in to buy only one or two non-essential items, like a chocolate bar or soft drink.
• Be kind to essential workers and other people in the supermarket.
• Do not shop if you are sick. You must self-isolate at home and ask someone else to pick up essential supplies.
• Wash your hands before and after you shop
• Bring clean reusable shopping bags
• Send only one person from your household. You may need to take young children with you if there is no carer available, or you can contact the services listed below to have a local shopper go for you.
• Come prepared with a list so you can get in and out as quickly as possible
• Shops will be doing their best to limit the number of shoppers – helping you keep 2-metres away from others
• Only touch what you intend to buy
• If you can, use a contactless payment method – like payWave, PayPass or Apple Pay

For some people, online delivery is the only way they will be able to access essential food and groceries. If you or someone else in your household are physically able to go to the supermarket to get food (and are under 70 years old, not a single parent household and do not have any chronic illnesses), please do this in person, so that the online deliveries can be reserved for those who rely on it as their only way to get food.

We can help: If you are struggling to get food, groceries, medication or other household goods and services in our District, please call 0800 800 405 between 7am-7pm.

Our local services are also able to offer with support such as shoppers, food parcels, hospital travel assistance and more:

• Coromandel Independent Living Trust
• Whangamata Community Services Trust
• Thames Community Centre
• Whitianga Social Services

It is okay also for friends, family, whānau or delivery drivers to drop off food and essential supplies. However, they should leave these at the door and not come inside.

Countdown Priority Scheme for Disabled People:

Disabled Persons Assembly (DPA) NZ are a pan-disability organisation and are happy for people with any type of disability to use their code when using Countdown's online shopping platform. If a disabled person would like to use DPA’s code, click here to register free as a DPA member.

Business Support - Webinars this week

Te Waka have partnered with various organisations to provide a webinar series to support our local businesses:

• Creating business continuity online panel presentation: 11am, Thursday 9 April

Click here to register and more information.

Update on Council services

Dogs - Remember, this long weekend from Friday 10 April - Tuesday 14 April between 9am-6pm, dogs are prohibited on the main beach.

Treat your pets as part of your bubble:

• Have your dog on lead at all times
• Maintain a 2-metre distance from others
• Keep your walks to your local neighbourhood
• Pick up your dog’s poo, please carry bags with you
• Make sure your property has somewhere to keep your dog safe, secure and under control (and in the shade) where they will not be a nuisance to neighbours
• Ensure your dog is registered and wears a registration tag at all times

Thames Coastal Path - To maintain safe two-metre "social distance" on the narrow stretch of the popular Thames Coastal Path along the seawall at Moanataiari, we're asking cyclists to use the adjoining Fergusson Drive instead please. We're also asking that walkers and mobility scooter users use the Coastal Path going north and keep to the Fergusson Drive footpath going south. This is for everybody's safety to keep all our "bubbles" intact.

Annual Plan - The consultation runs until 14 April, and after that we will be considering all requests, feedback and submissions before making any decisions about projects, spending and rates. Please read the consultation document on this page - tcdc.govt.nz/annualplan2020 - and send us a submission with your thoughts on what projects and services should take priority as we set the budgets for the 2020/21 financial year.

Having trouble making a submission? Feeling digitally challenged? Give us a call on 07 868 0200 and we'll talk you through it.

Kerbside rubbish and recycling: All rubbish and recycling must be bagged and placed in your recycling wheelie bin and will be collected FORTNIGHTLY. The fortnightly collection will occur on your normal recycling day in your normal recycling week. Click here for further details.

Kerbside collections tomorrow Thursday, 9 April:

• Thames South Rural

View the full schedule here.

There will be no Kerbside collections on Easter Monday (13 April), so collections across the district will be one day later that week.

Special Council meeting - To be held on Tuesday 21 April, from 9.00am. Due to COVID-19 this meeting will be held by audio link. A recording or a written record of the meeting will be published on our website following the meeting.

Water Services - Please call us to report any leaks on council property, no matter how small, so that they can be assessed and repaired quickly. We also ask you keep water usage to a minimum while maintaining the appropriate health standards. Conservation measures are still in place in some areas and being assessed daily. Until there is substantial rainfall, they are expected to remain in place – tcdc.govt.nz/water.

Fire Season - A reminder that our district is still in a Prohibited Fire Season (Total Fire Ban). checkitsalright.nz.

For updates on all other council services such as playgrounds, parks and reserves, boat ramps, freedom camping, roading, public toilets, consents, applications, rates and more see tcdc.govt.nz/COVID-19.

Get help, stay informed or contact us:

• Free phone 0800 800 405 for Waikato people struggling to get food, groceries, medication or other household goods and services available between 7am and 7pm daily.
• Being in lockdown makes us experience all sorts of things: anxiety, loneliness, fear. Need to talk? Free phone or text 1737.
• Check our website COVID-19 page for local information, daily updates and advice on how people can stay connected.
• Tune into the radio - We’re advertising with local radio stations any important updates and our Mayor Sandra has an interview with CFM on Mondays, Tuesdays with Gold FM and Thursdays with Coromandel More FM.
• Newspapers - Keep an eye out in the local newspapers that are still running as we are advertising Council information in some of those including the Waikato Times. The Mercury Bay Informer is still printing and will be in letterboxes and distribution points. All other local papers are all online for now. Tear out the Kerbside changes and stick it on your fridge.
• Call us: 07 868 0200
• Email: customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz
• Website: tcdc.govt.nz
• Follow our Facebook page
• Sign up for Email newsletters
• Make Online payments

Community Based Assessment Centres (CBAC)

“We are very pleased to have the first CBAC up and running on the East Coast," says our Civil Defence Controller, Garry Towler. "I encourage all residents on the South Eastern Ward (Whangamata, Onemana, Opoutere, Hikuai, Tairua, Pauanui and surrounds) who are concerned or anxious that they may have COVID-19, to go along and have a chat, then they can take you in for further assessment."

• Open 9am-3pm daily
• An essential service
• Please follow the signage and direction of traffic management staff
• This is a drive-thru assessment centre. Do not get out of your car
• If you do not have vehicle, please still enter at the main entry point as sign posted ‘entry’, (don’t cut through the site) and wait for direction while maintaining social distancing (2-metres) from staff and other vehicles
• Please be patient

All GPs can offer COVID-19 assessments too as well as the following primary care organisations who are offering extended hours:

Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki Thames:
8.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Sunday
210 Richmond Rd
Thames
Ph: 07 868 0033
Ph: 0508 835 676

Click here for more information.

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