Proudly Napier - January 2023

Word from our Mayor Kirsten Wise

Kia ora koutou.

2023 began with a cyclone heading towards us and all the preparation that goes with ensuring our community are ready for whatever happens. We could literally see the storm coming across the sea and it brought impressive swells, high winds and plenty of rain. What it didn’t bring was any issues we weren’t prepared for, or weren’t able to handle.

It’s an “all hands on deck” situation when wild weather is forecast. It takes our depot team in hi-vis and work boots out in the field clearing grates and culverts. It takes our logistics and data analysis staff looking at forecasts and planning for a number of scenarios all at once. It also takes some help from community to make sure gutters and drains are kept clear and road use is left to essential travel only.

Pulling together for the greater good is a theme at the heart of local government. This is especially important when external forces are influencing our actions and our priorities.

The start of this year symbolised much of what we’ve been through over the past few years and much of what we will meet in 2023 with external influences informing our decision making and our need to pivot and refocus. COVID-19 and its impacts, the labour market, and rising costs of living have all affected our workforce, our work programmes and our priorities, as well as our use of resources.

Heading our way are more changes that we will need to navigate. We will respond in the way we do to environmental impacts: keep strong connections with our community, communicate often with our partners, use the skills and experience we have within our teams, analyse our options, adjust and refocus.

The biggest external impacts on the horizon this year are the reforms affecting local government’s core business. Three Waters Reform, Resource Management Act Reform, Civil Defence Emergency Management Reform and the proposed reforms to local government itself will have large and longlasting effects on what we do as a council.

Even in the introduction of these there have been significant challenges to our ability to navigate through them. Timing and the time given for consultation have hindered our ability to truly hear the voice of community and share that with central government. There’s been an acceleration in the process that has brought the storm in faster than forecast! We have had to move quickly to respond, and use everything we have to try and mitigate any negative effects for our people and our region. Adapting is our new normal and it has set us up well to manage whatever external forces head our way.

On the bright side, we have a new Chief Executive joining us in March and I am very much looking forward to working with her. Together, we will be looking at what’s heading towards us, at the talent and tools we have in place to manage it, at those integral relationships with mana whenua and other partners, and most importantly with our community.

Say kia ora to our new Chief Executive

Louise Miller

Louise Miller takes up the position of Chief Executive of Napier City Council on Monday 13 March.

Her most recent role was as Chief Executive of Kaipara District Council from September 2018 until October 2022. Since then she has been travelling in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Mayor Kirsten Wise says she is thrilled with Louise’s appointment and looking forward to working with her. “We have a work programme ahead of us that will require a high calibre of talent, commitment to our shared goals and a future-focused mindset. These are all attributes Louise has and nurtures in others.”

Louise is an experienced senior leader in local government having held key positions at Tauranga City Council and Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire, England as well as in Kaipara. She holds degrees from the University of Leicester and the University of London, and is an experienced leader of transformational change. She was chair of Taituarā Workforce Committee until late last year and has been awarded the Taituarā 2021 AskYourTeam Melbourne Business School Leadership Scholarship. In announcing the prize, judges noted: “Louise clearly exemplifies what it means to be a local government leader with strong experience and authenticity.”

Now a councillor for the Nelson Park ward, Juliet rallied her neighbours and worked with Council to get the right solution to their traffic challenge.

The new Latham Street crossing helps make the street safer for pedestrians and cyclists, especially important for those heading to school, and home again.

Some parents have been so worried about their children they won’t allow them to walk to school, Juliet says. “The new crossing has had another positive effect, encouraging motorists to slow down so people living on Latham Street feel more comfortable reversing their vehicles out of driveways.”

The new crossing is just west of the intersection with Morris Street. Kerb build-outs complement the crossing island installed between the two lanes. This means people are able to wait in the middle of the road, lessening the amount of time they are exposed to traffic, and meaning both they and motorists can see each other more clearly.

Other areas that will benefit from improvements to the transport network over the next couple of years are Carlyle Street, Tennyson Street, Kennedy Road, and Lee Road.

The city’s playgrounds are overseen by Team Leader Parks, Reserves and Sportsgrounds, Jason Tickner, and his Parks team. They’ve been working hard on upgrades for some playgrounds and community consultations and planning for others.

Jason gives the low-down on what’s happening: "Anderson Park Playground and Peter and May Harris Playground (Marine Parade) are still the big hitters with the kids, but we are also developing awesome playgrounds within walking distance of local neighbourhoods."

What's new? There are new playgrounds in Parklands (2019) and Te Awa (2021). The Maraenui splash pad was opened last year, which is an awesome new facility for this suburb.

What's changing? Last year the Roberts Terrace Reserve playground in Onekawa and Essex Street Reserve playground in Tamatea were upgraded. This year the Westshore Beach playground and Riverside Park playground will be upgraded. Community engagement on the upgrade of Gleeson Park playground will begin this year.

What's coming? Park Island will be getting its first playground, and a possible new playground for Taradale West is being considered.

Napier mum Juliet Greig kicked off a new project, and a new step in her own life, when she started a petition to make roads safer in her neighbourhood.

ROBERTS TERRACE PLAYGROUND

WAIMAKARERE DRIVE PLAYGROUND

ROBERTS TERRACE PLAYGROUND

MARAENUI SPLASHPAD

With 26 playgrounds in Napier, every kid has a great place to play that’s not too far away!

Rachel Haydon, General Manager of the National Aquarium, explains that it is an achievement for kororā to breed successfully in captivity.

“Most of our kororā are rescued birds unable to survive in the wild. It is brilliant to see some of our birds become parents.”

Supervisor of Birds at the National Aquarium, Becs Cuthbert says many penguins are injured by dogs, cats and seals or by hazards in their natural habitats. Martin came to Penguin Cove after a predator attack while Burny had her feet burnt by a beach fire that wasn’t fully extinguished.

“Napier has a large kororā urban population, with many nesting along the coast from Napier Port to Westshore. It should be something we are really proud of and that means respecting the kororā habitats.”

One of the ways humans can help the species is for dog walkers to ensure their pets stay on lead during kororā nesting season, from July through to February.

The events season in Napier and in wider Hawke’s Bay has been full on with plenty of rescheduled and new events all hoping to make the most of summer!

My favourite part of the season is seeing everyone out and enjoying themselves. It’s been great to see promoters and organisers willing to schedule events in Hawke’s Bay and to back Napier as a viable events destination. Promoters are always looking for new venues and we have trialled Tremain Field and McLean Park over the last year successfully for gigs. It will be exciting to see what’s next with those venues.

Napier offers promoters good venues with support in all sorts of ways to make their event a success. We are in discussions with promoters all the time about new opportunities – so hope to see more new events over 2023.

In Napier, we have a range of events that happen every summer from gigs at Church Rd and Tremain Field to cricket camps for kids who base themselves here while they play matches throughout the region. There’s many people who visit Napier over the summer to be part of these annual fixtures. It’s great to see the crowd favourites like the Night Fiestas up and running again and to see large crowds out for New Year’s Eve at The Soundshell and for the Christmas Parade.

We’re proud of what we’ve achieved this season but there’s always opportunities to do even better next year. The Ironmāori Toa event, in the first weekend of December, might have been missed by some people but this will grow and it is a really special event for the region. Coming up in 2023, I’m really looking forward to Fatboy Slim on 28 January at Tremain Field, Art Deco from 15-19 February and three Mission Concerts! A big event for our city will be the Warriors playing their first game at McLean Park on 27 May.

If you’ve been to an event in Napier this season – and there’s a high chance you have – you will have seen folks with bin bags and ‘litter nippers’. This is the team from Closed Loop who service about half our events here. Their job starts with picking up every tiny piece of rubbish at an event and carries on right through to sorting and sending waste off to various recycling centres. Depending on what it is – glass, cans, different grades of plastics – it all gets sent somewhere managing to keep up to 80% of waste away from landfill. One of the ingenious things they do is help NZ-company saveBOARD turn used beverage containers into particle board. Closed Loop are heroes in the waste space and it’s great to have them on board at our events. We love Napier because it’s beautiful and our environment here is one of the reasons people like to visit. Keeping our spaces and places free from rubbish and managing our waste in clever ways is an important part of looking after Napier.

Three baby kororā recently hatched at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. The trio are the offspring of Martin and Burny, Betty and Mo, and Captain and Flip, residents of the National Aquarium of New Zealand’s Penguin Cove.

Events Manager Kevin Murphy

Squishy Eric

NAPIER

It’s the site of the infamous Tin Town (above) that was hurriedly erected in the days after the quake as a temporary central business district. Two weeks after the city was destroyed, a moratorium was placed on the rebuilding of any business premises until further notice. This was because city leaders wanted to allow time for the rational planning of a new Napier CBD. Some businesses had already re-established themselves, but there was concern hasty rebuilding would result in shoddy buildings and the urgent need to clear debris would be hindered.

Tin Town was opened on 16 March 1931 with 22 professional offices in Memorial Square and 32 temporary business premises in neighbouring Clive Square. Applications for shops were far more than the number available so occupants were selected by ballot. The Memorial Square structure incorporated the undamaged Women's Rest Rooms, which are still there, and almost surrounded the Cenotaph. At Clive Square, the bandstand was swallowed up by Tin Town, built in corrugated iron, which became a hub for the community.

As well as hosting live performances, lectures and events, the theatre makes for a wonderful cinema. Every month Sunday Cinema shows three films in a row so you can enjoy a full day of movie madness! There are also art, independent and festival films shown regularly. Throughout the year, full festivals take over the theatre. The Scandi Film Fest is one such festival. From 9-12 February it’ll be a Scandinavian invasion as a whole weekend of programming is dedicated to films from half a world away! The MTG Century Theatre is a modernist masterpiece designed by architect Guy Natusch. It was built in 1977 as a concert chamber to commemorate Napier's first century as a city.

Over the next couple of months there are many films on show at Century Theatre. For more details visit mtghawkesbay.com

27 Jan: Come Back Anytime

2 Feb: Mao’s Last Dancer

3 Feb: Never Forget Tibet

9-12 Feb: Scandi Film Festival

19 Feb: Sunday Cinema

2 Mar: Artsbests: Frida Viva la Vida

8 Mar: Big Bike Film Night

12 Mar: Sunday Cinema

Ocean Spa is coming under the umbrella of Napier City Council on 1 February.

It will then be closed for a short time while urgent work takes place. The café and gym will both reopen fairly soon but the rest of the complex will remain closed for 8 weeks. What’s happening behind closed doors is essential remedial maintenance and upgrades. Much of the work will take place in areas the public won’t see but will be essential for hygiene and safety reasons. To all Ocean Spa customers, members, staff, supporters and fans: thank you for your patience and understanding – we are as keen as you are to see this much-loved facility open and ready to welcome visitors again soon!

FutureFit

Did you know one of the most majestic places to watch a film in Napier is MTG’s Century Theatre?

The 92nd Napier Earthquake Memorial Service takes place at Waiapu Anglican Cathedral, Browning Street, Napier at noon on Friday 3 February.

Enjoying Night Fiesta in Memorial Square is a fitting way to remember the 1931 Earthquake on 3 February.