Hundreds of people packed the Havelock North Community Centre, all there to try and find a way out from under the mushroom cloud the community is under.
The meeting was called by Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who presented to the 400-strong crowd, along with Te Mata Mushrooms' Michael Whittaker and Iain Maxwell from the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
Each said they were there to try and find a way forward so the company and the community could co-exist peacefully.
"Somehow we have got to find a way through this," Mr Yule said.
Initial questions from the crowd centered around the odour issues and what was being done to address them.
