Editorial: We plan to stand up for our readers

The Summer Cycling Carnival was a huge success.

The first couple of weeks of 2016 have certainly been eventful.

Not all of it has been good news, with terrible tragedies including drownings and car crashes

But there has also been some things to celebrate in the Bay, where, despite the unpredictable weather, a lot has been happening.

Congratulations to the Napier City Council for an excellent Summer Cycling Carnival, which was well organised in the face of stiff early challenges like the strong winds over the weekend.

There are more fantastic events to come this year including the Tremains Art Deco Weekend, Horse of the Year, the Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts Festival and the Food and Wine Classic, to mention just a few.

It is good to be able to cover events like these because they highlight all that is good about our province.

Part of Hawke's Bay Today's role as this region's daily newspaper is to be the voice of the people.

We believe we do that by highlighting issues, good and bad, that affect our readers.

This year we plan to continue to do this.

We will be standing up for the people of Hawke's Bay.

We will be holding our elected representatives to account for their actions. We will tell you how public money - your money - is being spent.

Later this year, the local government elections will be held and we plan to give them full coverage. We will assess the candidates and tell you what they stand for.

We will also remind you what the incumbents have (or haven't) done for you.

It will be up to you who you elect, but in the meantime Hawke's Bay Today will stand up for you.