Gardening Greats

The public gardens in Napier remain beautiful and bountiful throughout the chilly winter months, thanks to the hard work of the Council gardeners.

There are two growing seasons for the flowers they use. Each summer and winter season 70,000 flowers are carefully cultivated in the Council nursery. They are destined for show in the Botanical Gardens, Clive and Memorial Squares, Centennial Gardens, and along Marine Parade.

A treat for onlookers is when the gardeners use their expertise on special floral features. Each unique design takes into account what’s on, what’s new and what suits the season. The latest design on Marine Parade, once fully grown, will clearly show support for New Zealand and the All Blacks campaign to win the Rugby World Cup later this year.

Each of the gardens have their own micro climate, special features and rich history. The Centennial Gardens, for example, was once a prison quarry. The now very well landscaped gardens were developed in 1974 to commemorate the centenary of Napier’s establishment as a borough and a city.

Our Napier Assist Āwhina Tangata team live and breathe their roles as city ambassadors.

Also known as ‘champions of Napier’, they’re out and about, interacting with businesses and public and provide a social connection for visitors to the city. They also work to de-escalate any issues and nuisance behaviour that might arise.

Pauline, one of the city’s first Napier Assist Āwhina Tangata Officers, says she loves knowing people feel comfortable asking her for help without judgement.

A prime example of this was when Pauline was running a personal errand at a Napier store after work recently, she was approached by a lady who was visibly stressed and frustrated.

“With the help of retail staff we learned that the woman was nonEnglish speaking so I used Google Translate to establish that she wanted to buy a calendar to send home,” Pauline says.

“We visited a few stores before finding the calendars she wanted. She was extremely grateful and kept repeating “thank you, thank you”. I would like to think that if a member of my family were in a similar situation that people would help them in the same way.”

Napier retailer, Sally Holyer, says Pauline went out of her way to help the tourist, despite her shift being over.

“A huge thank you to Pauline - you are a star!”

Portfolio

Māori/iwi partnerships

Elected Member

Mayor Kirsten Wise

Housing Cr Maxine Boag

Sport and Recreation Cr Graeme Taylor

Community Resilience Cr Nigel Simpson

Child Friendly City

Positive Ageing, Diversity and Accessibility

Arts, Culture and Heritage

Tourism and Council Facilities

Climate Change and Coastal Hazards, Chair Regulation

Economic Development, Chair Finance Committee

City Services

Environment and Sustainability

Transportation

Cr Juliet Greig

Cr Greg Mawson

Cr Ronda Chrystal

Cr Hayley Browne

Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan

Cr Sally Crown

Cr Richard McGrath

Cr Chad Tareha

Cr Keith Price

Butterflies take flight in Taradale

Taradale has a bright new addition to its town centre thanks to local artist Glen Colechin. Twenty old parking meters and 30 old road signs have been transformed into pots of butterflies bringing vibrancy to a disused part of the town centre.

Glen has been making art for many years working with a range of materials including metal, wood and clay. He’s also a fan of bringing new life to resources that are often seen as ‘waste’.

Using his resourcefulness Glen saw promise in the parking meters that were removed from Taradale when the new smart technology went in last year. He also saw the beauty in road signs that weren’t fit for purpose any more.

With a lick of paint and some clever thinking, the signs and meters are now two brilliant bouquets of butterflies tucked behind the Taradale Town Hall. Called Butterfly Kaleidoscope, the sculpture brings colour and surprise, rejuvenating an under-used space.

Cyclone Gabrielle

The generators will play a vital role in ensuring Napier City Council has improved resilience across its three waters services by adding strength, back-up and innovation. By adding these generators we can bolster our pump stations and have flexibility when we need it. One of the generators will be installed at our Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Wastewater Treatment Plant regularly has an inflow of over 400 litres of wastewater per second. In the event of a prolonged power outage, there is a high risk of spills and disruptions to the wastewater treatment process. During the cyclone, the plant’s standby generator became inoperable due to flood damage. Plans are being developed to elevate this new generator to minimise the risk of it being damaged by flood waters. It will safeguard the plant's ability to function and minimise the risk of environmental or operational issues caused by power disruptions. Some of the generators will be installed at Napier’s stormwater pump stations, while the smaller ones will add greater resilience to smaller wastewater stations. Our goal is to keep things running smoothly at the pump stations, even when the power goes out.

Tin Town Exhibition

Post-earthquake 1931 saw a shopping mall pop up almost overnight in Civic Square. ‘Tin Town’ is being celebrated at Faraday Museum of Technology with an exhibition running through to the end of October. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey from setting up refuge camps, through the design of Tin Town, to recreations of Tin Town stores.

Keen on volunteering?

The Faraday Museum of Technology on Faraday Street is a place where history comes alive through hands-on experience. Volunteers are what make this place tick, and the Faraday team is on the hunt for more people to fill vital volunteering roles.

They are looking for both Visitor Hosts and Technical Volunteers. If you think you’d thrive in an environment where people of all ages come to have fun and learn history the hands-on way, then give the Faraday team a call on 835 2338 or pop in to have a chat.