January 9Black Barn Back for instalment number 3, Nest Fest is a boutique independent music festival which offers a terrific party in the Havelock Hills, while also promoting and celebrating sustainability and global love. Just the ticket for the post-New Year period. This year’s line-up includes Silicon, MELODOWNZ, Wax Mustang, King Sweeties and loads more. […]
Posted inEvents
NZ Stockcar Champs
January 14 – 16Meeanee Speedway Gather the family and head to Meeanee for some noisy, action-packed fun. On the Saturday evening 30 competitors over three heats will race for the 2020/21 New Zealand Stockcar Title. meeaneespeedway.co.nz
Posted inEvents
Six60
January 23Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds NZ’s biggest band is back on tour. This summer they’re bringing more top Aotearoa talent with them, with different line-ups for each concert. Here in Hastings they’ll be joined by Shapeshifter, Kings, Maimoa and Nouri. Bound to sell out, so get in quick! ticketmaster.co.nz
Posted inEvents
Botanic Beats
January 14Napier Botanical Gardens Picnic party! Napier’s very chilled out and family-friendly free summer concert in the Botanical Gardens is a tonic. Project Prima Volta headline, and there’s food and coffee available for purchase throughout. eventfinda.co.nz
Posted inBusiness/Economy, HB councils, HB Recovery, Spending
Business Hawke’s Bay … jilted girlfriend?
Business Hawke’s Bay today announced that the organisation is considering closing its doors. The reason given: inadequate financial support from the region’s five councils. Leaders of the five councils who presently fund BizHB to the tune of a (some would say) paltry $300k per year responded with hardly a sniffle, suggesting that what BizHB might […]
Posted inThe Buzz
Meet Napier City Council’s new CEO
NCC today announced its new chief executive, Dr Stephanie (Steph) Rotarangi, who will begin in February, assuming an uneventful managed isolation, as she is a Kiwi returning from Victoria, Australia. She has heaps of high-level crisis management experience, indicating a significant degree of political sensibility. That will stand her in good stead in Napier! Without […]
Posted inCommunity, Companies, Food & Drink, Spotlight
It’s beer o’clock in Havelock
Treachers Lane in Havelock North has welcomed a Hawke’s Bay favourite to its neighbourhood, with Giant Brewing opening its new public house. While housed in the old Subway site, the building has been completely gutted and undergone a gorgeous refurbishment, to become what brewer and director Chris Ormond calls a “modern pub”. “For the past […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Issues, National politics
Aiming for a green recovery?
Globally, the world’s governments have announced over 13 trillion (US) dollars to be spent on recovering from the Covid pandemic. Here in New Zealand, it’s tough to be precise about the recovery commitment because buckets of economic development money were flowing out of key budgets like the Primary Growth Fund well before we heard of […]
Posted inHDC, Housing, Social
Safe as houses
December marks a year since the Hastings Place Based Plan pilot to tackle the housing challenges in the district was launched, and it looks like progress has been made. The holistic programme was launched by the government in 2019 to help families into safe, dry, warm, affordable homes. The project is not limited to only […]
Posted inCommunity, HDC, Waste
Feed those big bellies!
HDC aims to squash waste. Here’s their story. Solar-powered Big Belly Bins have arrived in Hawke’s Bay, ready to compact picnic rubbish in Hastings’ three busiest parks. Three of the litter bins are on trial in Hastings District Council’s premier parks; one each in Flaxmere Park, Cornwall Park, and Havelock North Village Green. The smart bins […]
Posted inArts, Community, Spotlight
Fire, extreme heat and glitter
On Tuesday morning this week, a bit of magic happened in the garden of local ceramics artist, Sophie Lankovsky, with a raku firing of clay artworks that she and I had made in our respective studios. Raku firing is always a fascinating process; it is unpredictable, in that one never knows what the process will […]
Posted inIssues, NCC, Poverty, Social, Wellbeing
The cost of pokies
With Napier City Council about to propose a draft Gambling Venues Policy for public consultation, it’s worth knowing that expenditure on pokies is increasing in Napier. From March 2015 to March 2020, gaming machine proceeds (GMP) – expenditure or player loss – for Napier increased by 17.7%. New Zealand increased by 5% and Hastings by […]
Posted inHBRC, Issues, Maori
Councillor Ormsby deserves support
HB Regional Councillor Hinewai Ormsby has absorbed a heap of attack from the Maori community for her position advocating robust public education and consultation prior to action being taken regarding the possibility of dedicated Maori seats on HBRC. Those attacking her wanted Councillors to mandate the seats by their own vote for the next local […]
Posted inAgBiz, Environment, Issues
Nestlé embraces regenerative agriculture
As the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé estimates that around 60% of its own emissions come from agriculture or linked activities like land use. Recently the company committed to halving its emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050. Nestlé says it works with 500,000 farmers directly and another 4.5 million farmers […]
Posted inClimate, Energy, Issues, WDC
Biofuels for Hawke’s Bay?
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has a research programme underway called the Wood Fibre Futures project. The point of it is to identify more profitable and environmentally-useful ways for NZ to exploit its harvested timber than simply shipping out logs and minimally-milled timber. Personally, I would like to see NZ produce its own paper. […]
Posted inBusiness/Economy, HB Recovery, The Buzz
Economic recovery mode for HB
The region’s economy is coming back, but hasn’t made up the ground lost during lockdown, according to the latest Quarterly Economic Monitor from Infometrics. And once again, Hawke’s Bay’s strong primary sector is insulating the region from the worst economic effects. “Long term trends of strong consumer spending, brisk house price inflation and record consenting […]
Posted inLifestyle, NCC, The Buzz, Water
Christmas Special on gondolas
Big opportunity for Napier residents! Huge pre-Christmas savings are being offered by both Firman Marine and EuroCity Marine on gondolas, freshly imported from Venice. Said Brian Firman, “What irony, our boats needing to arrive by ship. I never thought those containers would arrive in time for Christmas, given all the disruption in global shipping lately. […]
Posted inCommunity, Social, Spotlight
Dress for Success empowering women
Hawke’s Bay women will soon be able to access the tools, skills and clothing they need to reach their professional goals, with the opening of nonprofit organisation Dress for Success. An affiliate of this successful global operation is due to open this summer in Napier – the eighth New Zealand site to be approved for […]
Posted inBiodiversity, HDC, Issues
Aviaries, zoos, aquariums
I’ll admit to being vexed by the animal captivity issue. On the one hand, these exhibitions of captive animals — zoos, aviaries, aquariums — are for many people the only exposure they will ever have to ‘exotic’ creatures, with the possibility that visitors — especially children — will somehow through the experience develop a sense […]
Posted inCommunity, Lifestyle
Green Flag Awards for Hastings Parks
Three of Hastings District Council’s parks have again been awarded international Green Flag award, several of the 24 parks across New Zealand to receive the flags this year. Cornwall Park, Flaxmere Park and Havelock North Village Green have all kept their prestigious status for a second year in a row, after receiving their first Green […]