Port Waikato cut off after shock checkpoint shift
Photo / NZ Herald Tue, 16 Feb 2021, 12:37PM
A mayor is calling for a small Waikato seaside community to be part of Auckland s lockdown after it was cut off from essential services and supplies when a checkpoint unexpectedly shifted yesterday.
Residents at Port Waikato face a challenging two-and-a-half hour return drive on a single-lane gravel road with no cellphone coverage to get food and petrol and access medical services after a checkpoint was moved, cutting them off from their closest town.
While the settlement is in Waikato and at the lower alert level 2, the closest town is just 30km away at alert level 3, Tuakau, which is also in Waikato.
Covid 19 Coronavirus: Government agency to hand out food parcels after checkpoints cut off Port Waikato
15 Feb, 2021 11:54 PM
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Police man a checkpoint at Klondyke Rd, preventing Port Waikato residents from travelling into nearby Tuakau without permission. Photo / Facebook
Food parcels will be handed at Port Waikato after residents found themselves facing a 160km round trip on a dangerous road to get supplies after a surprise lockdown border change.
The remote seaside north Waikato settlement unexpectedly found itself cut off from its nearest town, Tuakau, yesterday afternoon when police announced a new checkpoint at the intersection of Port Waikato-Tuakau Bridge Rd and Klondyke Rd.