From ways to celebrate Christmas, to Napier water restrictions, to NGO’s new EV van, to community service awards, to new HB Airport leaders, to silt recovery award, to Waipawa getting its market back, here are some announcements of note you might have missed.

Christmas in Hastings

Hastings has plenty on offer in terms of ways and events to celebrate the holidays.

Santa’s Grotto, Christmas carol options, Fiesta of Lights and more.

Here’s a full list and schedule of what’s happening.

Napier moves to Level 3 water restrictions

Napier is currently using between 500 and 570 litres of water per person per day — more water per person than most other places in New Zealand. After a dry winter and weeks of warm weather, water use in the city is out-stripping supply. This time last year the usage was closer to 400 litres per person per day.

The city will move to Level 3 water restrictions immediately while its neighbour Hastings remains at Level 2. Hastings is assessing this level on a daily basis due to ongoing dry weather and high demand.

Level 3 Water Restrictions mean a total ban on using sprinklers. Hand-held hoses can be used on alternate days and only between 6am and 8am, then 7pm and 9pm.

The need to limit water use, especially over the next week, is exacerbated by issues with one of Napier’s water bores, which provides drinking water to the city. One of the pumps that runs the system has malfunctioned and new parts are being brought in to fix it. Level 3 water restrictions will remain in place until all water sources are back online and daily water use comes down to acceptable levels to ensure the system can manage demand.

Nourished for Nil gets EV van

Meridian’s Community Decarbonisation Fund recently awarded grants totaling almost $1.6 million to 24 local projects around NZ to help these community groups achieve their electrification plans, reduce emissions and operating costs, and ensure more money is available for their work and reaching those in their community. 

Our local Nourished for Nil was one of the grantees, receiving $61k toward an EV delivery van.

Says Nourished for Nil founder and CEO Christina McBeth, “This generous grant will help us to reduce the use of diesel-powered vehicles, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increase our capacity to collect surplus food from our generous donors, which reduces the amount of food waste going to landfill.

“Our wonderful Nourished for Nil team are looking forward to driving the new van when they’re collecting donated food for us to distribute to our community.”

See nourishedfornil.org for times and locations of food distribution services.

Hastings community service awards

The Hastings District Council has given Mayoral Awards to 11 outstanding individuals “who have in the course of their roles have gone above and beyond in their commitment to our district and people”.

Said Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, “These people have shown enormous dedication to support others and make Heretaunga Hastings the best place for our people. We are blessed to have so many outstanding people who give so much.”

The awardees are: Jack Jensen, Pitsch Leiser, David Forbes, Storm Harrison, David Todd,

Craig McDougall, Herman Godinet, Ngahiwi Tomoana, John O’Sullivan, Geoff Keighley and Alistair Jamieson.

Details on their contributions here.

New leadership for HB Airport

The Airport has appointed both a new Board Chair and a new CEO.

Jon Nichols took the reins as Board Chair. Jon has been on the Airport Board. His background is in finance and commercial growth initiatives with over 30 years’ experience. His current directorships include Ngawha Generation, Top Energy, Eastland Generation and Unison Networks. Jon is also the independent chair of risk and assurance at Maungaharuru Tangitu Trust. 

Christchurch Airport senior executive Nick Flack is the newly appointed CEO, commencing in his new role from 3 February 2025.

Airport Chair Jon Nichols says that the Board is delighted to have secured such a high calibre candidate. “Nick comes to Hawke’s Bay with a proven track record of leadership within infrastructure organisations including aviation, shipping, and logistics. We are looking forward to having Nick on board and taking our airport into the future.”

Most recently, Nick has been General Manager Planning, Assets and Safety at Christchurch Airport. Prior to this he held management positions at Lyttleton Port and Centre Port. He was a finalist in the Deloitte Top 200 Awards in the young executive category in 2022 and has consistently been recognised for his leadership and executive skills.

HB silt recovery awarded

We’ve heard heaps about silt removal since Cyclone Gabrielle, and a massive effort has been mobilised to complete the job of removing some 2.4 million cubic metres of it, with only 15 jobs left.

A joint initiative of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Hastings District Council, the Silt Recovery Taskforce, led by Darren de Klerk, demonstrated exceptional teamwork and industry collaboration in managing silt and debris recovery across Hawke’s Bay. 

It established silt sites, worked closely with landowners, contractors, central and local government, local officials and broader impacted regional councils and industry, all sharing learnings with industry groups.

The taskforce achieved notable outcomes, including:

• Supporting over 50 community meetings and direct engagement with affected landowners.
• Repurposing materials like orchard posts, concrete, and green waste for future use. Almost 12,500 broken orchard and vineyard fenceposts found new homes.
• Sharing expertise with national groups such as Wasteminz, Waikato Civil Defence, and the Gisborne District. 
• Developing innovative solutions, including land recontouring, topsoil creation, and recycling water tanks.
• Establishing zones and networks of contractors both supporting the Silt Taskforce and landowners individually.

The Taskforce has received the Collaboration Excellence Award at the Association of Local Government Information Management Awards, recognising local government staff who are effectively collaborating regionally or nationally with other councils to deliver projects. The award also recognised efforts made to build partnerships and manage relationships.

Four Square Waipawa reopens

After being destroyed by fire in May 2021, Four Square Waipawa has been rebuilt and is open for business. The new store is bigger and better than ever, say local owners Graham and Rachel Williams. For over three years, the Williams family operated out of a small pop-up shop next door while the replacement store was being built. Now, the new store with its 560 square metres of retail space.

For Graham, the new store represents more than just a fresh start. “The reason I carried on, even after the fire, is because I love what I do. Meeting customers, hearing about their kids, having a chat – I love it. Plus, training staff and seeing them go on to pursue their dreams is awesome.” 

Rachel shares the passion for the community. “My main goal is to deliver the best for our locals- great prices, quality products, and exceptional service. The support we’ve received after the fire and while operating from the pop-up shop has been overwhelming. Waipawa is an amazing, supportive place.”