Driving into history

The site of one of Hastings’ original motor garages will be transformed into quality inner city apartment living if the proposed 200 West Block development goes ahead.

The Hastings District Council is currently seeking resource consent for the proposed re-development of the Council-owned buildings at 206 Queen St West and 223 Heretaunga Street West. 

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says the development is a flagship project for the western end of Heretaunga Street that will add to the street upgrades and enhancements that are underway or starting soon.

While the proposal is to demolish the existing buildings, their heritage facades will be retained and the new design will reflect, in particular, the original Hawke’s Bay Farmer’s Co-operative garage entrance at 206 Queen Street, and incorporate the Art Deo and Zig-Zag moderne architectural elements of nearby buildings. 

The former garage and service station was built for the Hawke’s Bay Farmer’s Co-Operative Association in 1925. The  Farmers’ Co-op was one of the earliest businesses to enter into the motor industry in Hastings. 

The garage was one of a number constructed near the Association’s many branches. It incorporated a showroom, service station, and a workshop and was built around a frame of reinforced concrete, which meant it was one of the few buildings to survive the Hawke’s Bay earthquake and subsequent fires in 1931.

According to the Hastings CBD Heritage Inventory Project, “This building is significant as one of two major Hastings buildings associated with an important local company.

“The Hawke’s Bay Farmers Co-Operative Association was a successful local business and this building is a reminder of its importance to rural Hawke’s Bay and the local economy. The Association was based in Hastings and was the organisation’s garage. It represented the other half of the company’s Hastings’ operations, with its head office and department store nearby. This is probably the oldest surviving motor garage in Hastings.”

“This building has historic importance for our city, and this is proposed to be reflected in the new development that will honour that past, and enhance it for the future,” says Mayor Hazlehurst.

“We made a change to our District Plan in 2019 to make it easier to build residential accommodation in our city and it’s very exciting to make this happen.”

A new three-storey quality residential apartment building will be built at the Queen St end of the development with 18 apartments and private carparking for them. There will also be some public carparking provided as well.

A public pocket park adjacent to the apartments is envisaged to incorporate native plantings echoing the wetland that occupied the area before flooding in 1867 changed the landscape.

This natural environment will also be reflected in decorative elements in the laneway leading to Heretaunga St, using kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku and taniko patterns.

Council is keen to hear what the public thinks of the proposal and is providing more detailed information at a pop-up shop next to Michael Hill jewellers that is open Monday to Friday, October 10 to 28, from 10am to 4pm each day.

In the shop people can see the design concepts, learn more about the overall project and history, and have a chance to ask questions.

The Resource Consent for the work was publicly notified on Saturday, October 8, and people can make submissions up until November 7.

Go to https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/hastings/projects/200-west-block for more information, and to give your feedback.

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