My Hastings ISSUE 3 MAY 12
Keep up with what’s happening in Hastings District
IT’S WHO WE ARE
meet one of our amazing volunteers
WHAT’S ON
Help us plant a Facebook Forest
FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS MONTH
FLAXMERE PARK
FIND OUT HOW WE ARE REVIVING ThIS SPACE
OUT WITH THE OLD ...IN WITH THE NEW RHYS ARRIVES IN TOWN
find out more details on page 4
ART IN THE CITY CHECK OUT WHAT’S ON AT THE HASTINGS CITY ART GALLERY
VIEW YOUR PROPERTY ONLINE VISIT OUR NEW LOOK WEBSITE
RECYCLE YOUR OLD TV DETAILS ON PAGE 3
News what’s going on in hastings
Upfront There has been much public debate recently on the necessity to improve the economic performance of the region in order to be a strong force in an increasingly competitive business environment. Hastings is recognised as being the industrial powerhouse of Hawke’s Bay and Council must ensure that the infrastructure is available to support the future development of industry. Council will lead the development of infrastructure to ensure greater economic performance and sustainable industrial growth well into the future. Economic development is vital if the standard of living of our residents is to improve as signaled in the recently released draft Long Term Plan.
Council is working on encouraging businesses from around the country and the world to relocate to Hastings with new industrial developments planned in Irongate and on Omahu Road. Planning and public consultation has also begun on developing better transport links with the Whakatu Industrial Park. Economic development is vital if Hastings is to grow and prosper in the years to come. We must continue to improve our infrastructure, as with industrial growth comes new jobs which translates into greater prosperity for all the community. Until next month,
Facebook fans invited to plant a forest PICTURED: Angela Atkins, Hastings District Council’s Waste Minimisation Planner at the Omaranui Landfill where the forest will be planted
Do you want to help give a bird a home and do something positive for the environment?
Like our Sus’d Hastings District Council Facebook page and we’ll plant a native tree at the landfill to create the Sus’d Facebook Forrest. Or, if you’d like to plant the tree yourself and learn more about where your rubbish goes, join us on
One of the continuing major success stories for Hastings is Heinz Wattie’s. The giant multi-national company has shifted the production of tomato sauce, beetroot, sauce toppings and some canned meals from Australia to Hastings, which will add around 30,000 tonnes to the annual production of the local plant. To cater for this new production, Wattie’s has increased its warehouse capacity at Whakatu with two major building projects completed in the past two years.
Saturday 26 May at 10am at the landfill. Bring a spade or shovel and we’ll take you on a tour of Omarunui Landfill to show you how your rubbish is disposed of and help you plant your tree. On the tour you’ll see how 1.5 million tonnes of rubbish from the region has changed the landscape over the past 23 years, what’s required to contain our rubbish and what we can do to protect our
environment from any harmful side effects of rubbish disposal.
So make a note in your diary, plant a tree and learn all about waste while checking out the amazing views. Sus’d was formed by council to give you the knowledge and tools to enhance our environment and in turn save yourself some money. Visit www.facebook.com/susd.
It’s who we are There are 358 people living in Hawke’s Bay that work for us. This month we talked to Flaxmere resident Dorinda Williams (who doesn’t work for us ‘technically’ but volunteers her time).
Local art at its best Have you called in to the Hastings i-Site recently? Apart from being a onestop-shop for ideas and suggestions on what to see and do in Hastings, you can view local art at its best. Each month the i-Site showcases pieces from local artists. This month sculptor, Maggie Taylor from MT Pots is showing her work. Maggie creates original unique,
zany and quirky brightly coloured garden art from her garden shed like pots, bird baths, platters, plaques and bowls. Every piece she creates is individually sculpted and painted. In the past we’ve featured work from David Trubridge, Joyleen Bailey and Nikki Grove. If you’re a local artist and want to display your artwork at our Hastings i-Site, call in or phone 0800 HASTINGS.
For six and a half years, 60-year-old Dorinda, who works full time and has three grandchildren under the age of five, picks up rubbish during her morning walk in Flaxmere. Filling up to three rubbish bags a morning with litter, averaging 1,000 bags a year, Dorinda says although that may sound like a lot, it’s gotten better. “I believe the community have become slightly improved as to how they dispose of rubbish; some have even cleared their properties and made them look a bit tidier. I hope my example has given them
this instinct to be more community and healthy minded.’’ So how did it all start? Six and a half years ago during a visit to her doctor, Dorinda was told she needed to bend a bit more for greater flexibility and to strengthen her bones. Having always walked at 5.30 every morning before work, at the risk of ‘looking silly’ stretching while walking, she bent down to pick up a piece of rubbish from the footpath. And from there, it all began. While most of us are still asleep at 5.30 in the morning, council’s rubbish team are up starting their collection for the day. Soon after Dorinda started picking up rubbish she was approached by one of our workers with gloves, rubbish bags and eventually a litter picker to make her “job’’ easier.
Naming herself the “Flaxmere Voluntary Environmental Worker”, Dorinda says she does it for the love of her community, and getting outside in the fresh air each morning is a great way to start the day. “I don’t look for rewards,’’ says Dorinda, “I look for good health and longevity. I am now in my 60’s still working an eight hour day. I have three grandchildren under five so I need to be actively healthy to keep up with them. I might add the four and five-year-olds have also been out on the streets with me picking up rubbish!’’ We’re so lucky to have a resident like you Dorinda helping us to keep Hastings beautiful. For more information on how you can keep your neighbourhood beautiful, visit www.keephastingsbeautiful.co.nz
Brand new website
We recently relaunched our website www.hastingsdc.govt.nz where you can search for detailed information on properties in the Hastings District. You’ll find rating information, government valuations, rubbish and recycling days plus maps of property boundaries and drains. With the ability to pay your rates and parking fines online, we’ve designed the site to be informative taking you through the building process step-by-step and making new forms (and more) available all at the press of a button. More payment options will soon be available online.
New life breathed into Flaxmere Park If you’re anything like us, you’re super excited about the thought of Flaxmere Park being transformed into a family-friendly place for young and old.
equipment in the park. That will be followed by a splash pad, additional playground equipment, toilet facilities and walk and cycle paths around the perimeter. New seats, rubbish bins and picnic tables are also to be installed.
When we were designing the park we asked the Flaxmere community to give their feedback. You told us you wanted the park to be easily accessible, that there were more footpaths and cyclepaths and that the overall design would ensure that the park became a safer place to visit for the whole family.
Councillor Henare O’Keefe says, “The redevelopment of Flaxmere Park will continue to enhance and promote the true beauty that is Flaxmere. Our focus is on family and the park has the potential to become a centre for family life”. The new park will be open by Labour Weekend in October 2012.
We have taken your ideas and begun work on installing the new fitness
And with the popularity of smart phones growing we have made the site is easy to use on your mobile.
Hastings City Art Gallery A GUIDE TO What’s on IN MAY
The Hastings City Art Gallery is currently showing some world-class exhibitions - check them out for yourself.
Multiply: Reinvigorating Repetition until 8 July main gallery & foyer
Recycle your old TV Did you know Hawke’s Bay is one of the first places in New Zealand to ‘’go digital’’? If your TV won’t receive the signals required for digital television, chances are you’ll be looking to dispose of it. You can recycle your old TV at the Environment Centre from now for a small cost.
These are disassembled at a New Zealand recycling plant. The bulk of these components are then sold to New Zealand recyclers for re-use. The Environment Centre is located at 220 Russell Street, Hastings. The region will go digital on Sunday 30 September 2012.
Sus’d tip of the month Got old paint to get rid of? • Find out about the Resene Paintwise Recycling programme. • Resene paint is recycled free of charge • www.resene.co.nz/paintwise
This exciting group show features the work of established New Zealand artists Elizabeth Thomson, Wayne Youle, Brett Graham and Rohan Wealleans, alongside emerging stars Gregory Bennett, Ngaahina Hohaia and Tiffany Singh, and international artists Ottmar Hörl and Finn Magee. Curated by Judith Anderson, the exhibition looks at the use of the multiple as a device for exploring themes of excess and sustainability, and conveying rigorous political and cultural narratives.
Te Taniwha 26 May - 19 August Holt Gallery
Joyce Campbell’s richly-detailed ambrotype and daguerreotype photographs, and historian Richard Niania’s contextualising stories, represent an ongoing collaborative project which draws on the mythology, history and ecology of Te Urewera.
The project traces the search for two great serpentine water species: the Taniwha and the giant longfin eel, in an exploration of the landscape and mana whenua’s ancestral relationship to it.
Rhys Darby: This Way to Spaceship Tuesday 1 May 8pm HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
Landmarks History Talk TUESDAY 8 MAY 5.30PM HASTINGS LIBRARY SPEAKER: BYRON BUCHANAN SUBJECT: THE HISTORY OF THE STORTFORD LODGE HOTEL
Dickens’ Women THURSDAY 24 MAY 7.30PM HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
RaboDirect Club Road National Championships
Big Daddy Wilson Accoustic Duo
3-6 MAY HASTINGS
SATURDAY 5 MAY 8pm BLACK BARN VINEYARD
Laughing Samoans
The Comedy Convoy
The Best of British
saturday 12 may 8pm HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
thursday 17 may 8pm HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
WEDNESDAY 23 MAY 11am HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
Menopause The Musical WEDNESDAY 2 May 8pm HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
Celtic Divas SATURDAY 26 MAY 8PM PLAYHOUSE THEATRE
Boomers Behaving Badly SATURDAY 26 MAY 7.30PM HAWKE’S BAY OPERA HOUSE
Meet your councillors
What’s On! For more information about events in Hastings District visit www.visithastings.co.nz.
If you wish to contact a councillor, please visit www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/councillors
MAYOR LAWRENCE YULE JP
DEPUTY MAYOR CYNTHIA BOWERS
COUNCILLOR HENARE O’KEEFE JP
COUNCILLOR JACOBY POULAIN
COUNCILLOR JOHN ROIL
COUNCILLOR KEVIN WATKINS
COUNCILLOR MARGARET TWIGG JP
COUNCILLOR MICK LESTER JP
COUNCILLOR ROD HEAPS
COUNCILLOR RU COLLIN
COUNCILLOR SANDRA HAZLEHURST
COUNCILLOR SCOTT HENDERSON
COUNCILLOR SIMON NIXON
COUNCILLOR TANIA KERR
COUNCILLOR WAYNE BRADSHAW
HASTINGS DISTRICT COUNCIL 207 Lyndon Road East, Hastings 4122, Private Bag 9002, Hastings 4156 www.hastingsdc.govt.nz TE KAUNIHERA O HERETAUNGA