February 28, 2009
“I am tired of words, and literature is an old couch stuffed with fleas,” wrote poet, playwright and author Derek Walcott. The Hasting Festival of Writers is the perfect antidote to literary burnout-be it writers’ or readers’. Organized by Keith Thorsen of Creative Hastings and numerous collaborators, it features some of New Zealand’s and Australia’s [...]
February 28, 2009
This month’s article is the second in a series on the history of Hawke’s Bay wineries. Here, Mark Sweet continues the story of the Mission Estate’s early days. The man who introduced the first vines to Hawke’s Bay, Father John Lampila, a Catholic missionary in the Society of Mary, stayed only three years after establishing [...]
February 28, 2009
Katherine Edmond asks her brother about growing up and being a writer. Martin Edmond appears at the Hastings Festival of Writers, March 20 – 22 Ohakune, where we lived as a family for 13 years, features strongly in your writing. Why do you think you have such a strong sense of place about the town? [...]
February 28, 2009
In 2004 the then-Minister of Conservation, Marian Hobbs, granted a Water Conservation Order (WCO) on the Mohaka River. This protection took 17 years to achieve, instigated by the then Acclimatisation Society, now Fish and Game. “A water conservation order is the most effective way of ensuring the outstanding fishing, recreational and scenic characteristics of the [...]
February 28, 2009
“What’s so special about the Heretaunga Plains,” Tom asked me when we were talking about Hastings District Council’s Planning for a Sustainable Future document. The Council has identified the Plains as a priority for ‘protection of productive land capacity’. “Because they’re incredibly fertile,” I replied. “Yeah but why?,” he asked, “What makes them so fertile? [...]
February 28, 2009
In 1952 I moved to the farm – really just a block of bare land – my father had drawn east of Waipawa. Being almost entirely treeless it was pretty barren, especially in summer. After life on Napier’s leafy hill it was a culture shock. That has now changed, with a vista that is predominently [...]
February 28, 2009
So the HB Regional Council has a new Chairman, Alan Dick. Is this significant? Absolutely. The local paper has run a number of letters bemoaning the change in leadership, citing this as evidence of a council in disarray, driven by personal ambitions. Rubbish! As someone who follows the HBRC rather carefully and continuously, I applaud [...]
- Andrew Reyngoud on DAM(N)! A half-billion dollar water storage scheme
- Margaret Donnelly on WATER. What's all the fuss about?
- Elizabeth Sisson on 'Dump Council' campaign
- Paul Bailey on Cows in Karamu Stream
- Rob Pharazyn on Cows in Karamu Stream
- John J Harrison on 5 mayors in HB ... 'Yeah right' says Tui
- Anne Parker on Let's get Council meetings online
- Stuart Nash on 5 mayors in HB ... 'Yeah right' says Tui
- Kylie Fowler on Let's get Council meetings online
- Paul Bailey on Let's get Council meetings online
- ‘Dump Council’ campaign
- Cows in Karamu Stream
- Questions for HB ‘regional study’ director
- Let’s get Council meetings online
- 5 mayors in HB … ‘Yeah right’ says Tui
- Crucial Environment Court hearing underway
- Regional Council warns on pollution standards
- Democracy in action?
- 1+1+1 = 3 hours
- Councils’ reorganization survey results
