Featured
- HB councils agree to discuss reorganisation
Faced with the choice between designing their own reorganisation plan or having the Government impose one, our five councils this week made the… Read more: HB councils agree to discuss reorganisation
Environment
- CHB solar shines
Construction is set to begin this spring on Hawke’s Bay’s first utility-scale solar farm, located on the Ruataniwha Plains of Central Hawke’s Bay. Joint venture partners CHB consumer-owned Centralines and Lodestone Energy confirmed the $50 million project is moving into delivery, with the farm is expected to be operational from late summer 2027. The solar… Read more: CHB solar shines - Te Mata Park’s ‘Schools for Trees’ international winner
Te Mata Park Trust’s Schools for Trees programme has been named a winner in the Green Flag Award International “Best of the Best” Awards. The Green Flag Award is recognised as the international benchmark for parks and green spaces. The programme won the award for Best Local Community/Grassroots Project, placing it among just four winners… Read more: Te Mata Park’s ‘Schools for Trees’ international winner - Calls for a dam reset
[Editor: CHB District Council meetings are supposed to be video-streamed. This meeting on the important topic of water storage was not. Hence we have published this account provided by an attendee.] A group calling for a public reset and an honest conversation about the Ruataniwha Dam 2.0 proposal recently met with Central Hawke’s Bay district… Read more: Calls for a dam reset - Skink Squad aims to save endangered beach dweller
There’s a Skink Squad in Hawke’s Bay on a mission to save one of the region’s last known native colonies. The squad is made up of experts from Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay, the National Aquarium NZ, Department of Conservation, Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Acting general manager of the aquarium Joe Woolcott said… Read more: Skink Squad aims to save endangered beach dweller
Culture
- Losing our cultural capital
[As published in May/June 2026 BayBuzz magazine.] In the most recent New Zealanders and The Arts report, following Cyclone Gabrielle, community members shared their views … “The recent weather event was a big disaster for Napier and Hastings, but the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival played a vital role in bringing the communities morale up.” “It… Read more: Losing our cultural capital - Pipi was our friend
[As published in May/June BayBuzz magazine.] Alex Tylee on twenty years of food, colour and the art of creating a beautiful world. There’s a thread running through Alex Tylee’s life … through the farm kitchen of her Hawke’s Bay childhood, the birth of Pipi in Sydney, through a little coffee shop in Greytown, then a… Read more: Pipi was our friend - Home for 90,000 taonga officially opens
A pōwhiri to mark the completion of Amokura Hawke’s Bay Museum took place on Friday 1 May, with opportunities for the public to see inside the new building available on 10 May. While Amokura is not usually open to walk-in visits, booked tours on 10 May will give people a chance to see inside the… Read more: Home for 90,000 taonga officially opens - HB Music Gala
NZ Music Commission is supporting the Hawke’s Bay Music Industry Gala for a third year when the event is hosted at Toitoi on Tuesday 5 May, marking the start of NZ Music Month in the region. Held on the Opera House stage at Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, the gala is a… Read more: HB Music Gala