Challenging Times! For the first time, I am writing this column while holding elected office as a regional councillor. So the first order of business is to thank the 7,256 […]
Now the Real Politicking Begins
The billboards are down. Tom Belford reviews the results and looks at the political controversies ahead.
Destination Hawke’s Bay: Or Is It Napier or Hastings?
Our fragmented tourism industry needs more than rural charm, art deco memories and clinking wine glasses to thrive.
Bloody Hard Decisions
Major healthcare challenges ahead. A conversation with DHB Chair Kevin Atkinson.
On the Hustings…
I suspect most BayBuzz readers know by now I was a successful candidate for the Regional Council in the recent elections. Campaigning – if one is serious about it – […]
District Plan Review… A Balancing Act
It’s dry, heavy reading, but the draft Hastings District Plan, now in public consultation, will guide development for the next ten years.
“I reject the status quo.”
The local government elections have been and gone. The weeks-long barrage of photoshopped billboards, endless junk mail and media coverage from candidates is gone for another three years. For all […]
On-Farm Water Storage…A Better Alternative for CHB?
“Is it wise to put all our eggs in one dam basket?” That’s the question asked by some farmers who would like access to irrigation water, but are concerned with […]
Digital tourists dig deeper
Among the flotsam and jetsam of web sites vying to represent Hawke’s Bay to locals and visitors, Keith Newman finds a sense of cohesion finally emerging. The first port of […]
The Best Years of Our Lives: Does a farmer really ever retire?
During their working lives they are asset rich and cash poor while having to work incredibly hard physically and in the process acquire a huge range of skills. They really […]
High Water Mark
The water in the great dam looked like black glass in the moonlight as the sentry stood on the parapet above, gazing toward the flickering fires of Waiparus, a hamlet […]
Bloody Minded Opinion
Well, Tom has asked for an article on ‘Creativity in the Bay’. Let’s be straight up here – I’m no authority on anything and I barely ever leave my shed […]
Hastings CBD: A Revitalisation in Motion
Hastings CBD is widely thought of as the ugly sister to Napier’s art deco tourism glory, but it’s not. She has certainly faded from the boom times in the 1960s […]
Celebrating Rural Education
I was fortunate enough to be asked to speak at a national conference of Rural and Teaching Principals held in Napier recently. The impact that these educational leaders have on […]
The Right People, With The Right Attitude
At a time when most Napier citizens want doggedly to maintain the status quo, the 2013 local body elections delivered the biggest makeover our council has seen since four councillors […]
Becoming the ‘greatest little village in the world’
Sometimes it seems that Havelock North is a victim of its own success. There is a long held view that Havelockians are rich and come from privileged backgrounds. However, NZ […]
I’ve been elected!
It’s official … I’ve been elected to the HB Regional Council! My final count is 7,256 votes to Rose’s 7,195 … a margin of a mighty 61 votes. You can […]
The fat lady hasn’t sung!
Just a quick update on election returns for the Hastings constituency of the HB Regional Council. As you might have heard, the preliminary votes announced Saturday afternoon by HBRC were […]
Oil & gas in Hawke’s Bay
Commendably, Lawrence Yule and the Hastings Council are hosting a Hawke’s Bay oil and gas forum on Friday. It seems to me there are several layers to the oil and […]
Isn’t it odd?
Down in South Canterbury, the Hunter Downs Irrigation Scheme is proceeding. According to NZ Farmers Weekly (30 Sep 2013), this scheme would service 200 to 300 landowners, with an irrigation […]