Talking Point: Special projects planned for Hastings

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst

Summer in Hawke's Bay is never-ending, as the sun continues to shine, visitors keep flocking to our region and we harvest our bumper crops.

It was such a pleasure to see a massive amount of people out and about in Hawke's Bay for the long weekend. Events were packed and families headed outdoors to make the most of the warm weather.

Paymark figures out this week show March spending in Hawke's Bay rose 6.8 per cent compared to the same month last year. Transactions equalled $149.1 million. This includes the busy retail activity over Easter. It was great to see our city centres bustling with shoppers over the long weekend.

Many people also spent the long weekend getting in their garden. It was great to see hundreds of residents disposing of their green waste at the Henderson Rd transfer station, and using the recycling depots made available around the district.

Our family hosted visitors down from Auckland and we took them on a tour around our beautiful district.

We went to the Birdwood Gallery and Cafe and couldn't move amongst the masses of people. Just driving past the carpark of Splash Planet, we could see how busy it was.
Splash Planet experienced a great season with 4000 people enjoying the facility's last weekend of the season over Easter.

Council is currently reviewing Splash Planet and looking at opportunities to grow the experience and future use.

The Big Easy saw a record number of participants this year. Nearly 2000 people entered the 42km cycle event from Black Barn vineyards to Church Road winery. We proudly support this event, and I also encourage people to get on their bikes and use our hugely successful iWay programme.

More than 3000 people went for rides at Keirunga Park Railway in Havelock North over the weekend as well.

The 68th Easter Highland Games went off splendidly with dozens of pipers and more than 100 dancers involved. This is a wonderful Easter tradition in our city and always well attended.

The Farmers Market in Hastings was packed and cafes across the Hastings District were full to brimming. It was wonderful to see so many families out enjoying our parks and playgrounds.

We have a large number of special places in Hastings for recreation and play, such as the Havelock North Village Green development. Right now council is looking at how to improve what we have in our community.

Our draft Long Term Plan is proposing a number of special projects, including a significant makeover of Cornwall Park to become the district's next premiere playground. We also have a plan to support an outdoor water facility at the Regional Sports Park primarily for canoe polo, triathlon and swim safety.

We have a vision to create a vibrant and dynamic city centre which will attract even more people to our CBD. We want to create an attractive city where people want to do business, gather, socialise, live and of course shop.

We will add outdoor dining areas and attractive lighting to the city centre, as well as improving the central mall and Civic Square.

Through our LTP, we have a unique opportunity to make Hastings the best it can be, so our community and visitors alike have even more to enjoy and experience on weekends like Easter.

Our Long Term Plan public consultation opens tomorrow so make sure you go online to myvoicemychoice.co.nz to learn more, or read the document being delivered to your homes.

We really want you to help us plan for our future.

Sandra Hazlehurst is Hasting mayor.