From major HB conservation bequest, to Whakatu Works history, to new exhibitions of Toi Māori, to John Woodham sculpture, to EIT funding win for RSE worker training, to Pan Pac business awards, here are some announcements you might find noteworthy.
Major conservation bequest for HB
The Department of Conservation is passing on a generous bequeathment to conservation into the management of Eastern and Central Community Trust Incorporated (ECCT).
The $13.753 million is earmarked for Hawke’s Bay-based predator control and revegetation projects. This will see approximately $500,000 of grant funding available for distribution in the first funding round in 2025.
The money was donated with the goal to fill the bush and trees with birds.
“In practice, this means supporting projects that protect and enhance our ecosystems, and reduce the negative effects of predators on new plantings and existing tree cover,” says Alice Heather, Lower North Island Operations Director for DOC.
Georgina Morrison, Chair of the ECCT, says: “The environment is a key priority under ECCT’s 2023-2030 Strategic Plan,” says Georgina, “and this aligns perfectly with our vision of creating more sustainable, vibrant, and equitable communities.”
Community groups, private landowners, iwi, and agencies throughout Hawke’s Bay can apply for the funding. Applications will be assessed by an expert panel, including DOC, community conservation representatives, and iwi.
Applications are expected to open in June 2025, with funding released to the successful projects in October 2025.
More information will be posted by April on the ECCT website.
Whakatu – The Farmers’ Works
Ewan McGregor – retired farmer, tree grower, former HB Fed Farmers president and vice-chair of the Regional Council, historian – has authored a history of the Whakatu meat works and the local industry surrounding it.
It is 38 years since the shock closure of the Whakatu Freezing Works, which at its peak employed around two thousand workers. The closure of the Whakatu works was a key turning point in the region’s evolution, with major social consequences.
But the book is about much more than the plant.
As the media release notes: “But meat processing does not just start at the work’s yards and end at the freezing chamber. Also covered is the raising, picking and transport of the prime animal, the transportation of the product to the port and its subsequent shipment. The book, then, while focused on ‘Whakatu’, is about the wider Hawke’s Bay export meat industry from its origins, and through to the post-Whakatu era, with its profound changes and challenges in adjusting to the sustained fall in sheep numbers and the dramatic changes in the global market.”
A core chapter in the Hawke’s Bay story.
To purchase the book, use this order form.
Two new exhibitions of Toi Māori at Hastings Art Gallery
This summer, visitors to Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery can immerse themselves in two new exhibitions of Toi Māori, which explore contemporary storytelling. Expect to see glittering surfaces, intricate designs and artworks made with new technologies and unconventional materials.
He Pānui: Te Ara Hihiko and In Good Relation: Maioha Kara both open on Saturday 23 November.
He Pānui is the work of local collaborators Jacob Scott (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Āti Awa) and Jason Kendrick. Te Ara Hihiko, the name the duo give their collaborative efforts, refers to “the creative pathway” and operates at the intersection of art, design, architecture and craft.
This exhibition explores how traditional artistic methods, such as whakairo, can be carried forward using new technologies and reused materials. It includes works with a new plastic product made from recycled commercial fishing nets, which takes on the appearance of pounamu, and rimu panels from old colonial homes. The designs are made in a computer application and programmed to a CNC router which cuts the digital design into wood.
Maioha Kara (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Tipa, Te Ātihaunui-a-Papārangi, Tūhourangi, Te Whānau a Hinetapora, Kuki Airani) is an emerging artist based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington.
In Good Relation is an exhibition of new and existing work. Kara uses whakapapa as a lens to reveal the connections between people, te taiao, and the very beginnings of creation.
Her work taps into a vast archive of geometries, forms and materials that trace these connections. Like Scott and Kendrick, Kara also uses digital design software and CNC routers which are programmed to cut into the wood.
John Woodham sculpture at Birdwoods
Haumoana’s John Woodham, has been creating large sculptures from ‘other people’s throw away objects’ and transforming them into things of beauty. He describes himself a ‘A whimsical fabricator of the Found’.
You might have seen John’s work at the Wildflower Sculpture Exhibitions.
His sculptures are now being exhibited at Birdwoods through March. This show opened to coincide with the Holly Hospice Trail and a percentage of the sales goes to the Hospice project and to Birdwoods.
Here is a preview of works at the exhibition.
EIT scores major RSE worker training contract
EIT has been awarded a contract to provide Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers with education and training opportunities over the next five years.
The programme offers opportunities for RSE workers to develop meaningful and transferable skills that support the sectors that work in and deliver tangible benefits to the participating Pacific countries.
Paul Hursthouse, EIT’s Director – Business Relationships and Transitions says: “EIT has a proven reputation of providing top-quality education and vocational training across all tertiary levels. EIT is part of the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti communities with strong links to the primary sector, and looks forward to delivering training to RSE workers across New Zealand. We are a trusted education provider with a proven track record.”
Commenting to BayBuzz, Hursthouse added: “We are contracted to provide 150 courses for per year across NZ. As we are the new provider, MFAT have allowed EIT to initially concentrate on the Hawke’s Bay, Nelson / Marlborough and Bay of Plenty regions. The intent will be to expand to the other Hort Regions e.g Central Otago and Northland later next year.
“We are currently reviewing the content of the previous courses and will be working with key stakeholders as well as the labour sending countries to more accurately determine the content of the ‘new’ courses going forward. We envisage delivering these courses in February 2025.”
Pan Pac business awards
Over 200 nominated companies were appraised for the Pan Pac Hawke’s Bay Business Awards 2024.
Here are the winners, announced Friday, awarded in conjunction with te HB Chamber of Commerce:
People’s Choice: Mamasdonuts Hawke’s Bay
Resilient Business: Golflands and No. 5 Café and Larder
Outstanding Social Impact: Quality Roading and Services
Best Emerging Business: H₂Ortigator
Excellence in Business: Tūpore Infrastructure
Excellence in Sustainability: RossAi
Supreme Business Award: Tūpore Infrastructure
Leader of the Year: Henare O’Keefe
More details on these winners and the other finalists here.
NO RSE TRAINING. as kiwi get no employment. as they r used like slavery poor rse, mayb. english everywhere now or slowly, as theres alot of communication, bt progress comes later for commonsense is not in everybody. garden will always be made somewhere, there no good garden shop in napier.