Community Probation & Psychological Services operates community work in Dargaville, Kaitaia, Kaikohe and Whangarei. Find contact details for all locations in the Tai Tokerau Area
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Excerpt from Community Works Issue 3, June 2005 |
Offenders in Northland are helping to restore a once-famous feature of Kawakawa - its scenic vintage railway.
It's five years since the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway chugged down the town's main street carrying tourists through the countryside to Opua.
It was shut down by the Land Transport Safety Authority in 2001 and has been sadly neglected - until recently. BOIVR Trust deputy general manager Murray Third says the group is determined to get the train running again but it's going to take a lot of hard work and fundraising.
Murray's a former locomotive worker with 'railways in the blood'. He has no delusions about how much elbow grease and fundraising will be needed to get the tracks, engines and carriages out of mothballs.
The free labour in the form of Community Work gangs has given the trust a real boost, says Murray. The work they're doing is invaluable. I see at least five years work for them here, including widening the track cutting and improving drainage.
Offenders have already spent hours clearing overgrowth from the tracks between Kawakawa and Opua where the train once carried sightseers tourists in open-air carriages.
Murray says when it's been too wet to work outdoors the gang's been helping to sand down old rolling stock in preparation for painting.
Eventually, the trust hopes to see diesel locomotives and passenger-carrying jiggers back on the track. A return to steam-powered train remains the ultimate goal.
Community Work Supervisor Darkie Beazley says the train project is demanding work for the crew and they're doing a good job. He's pictured here with Murray and two work party offenders on the tracks near Kawakawa.