Hawke’s Bay news in brief: Napier courthouse closed this week

A firefighter enters Napier courthouse as crews deal with a sprinkler activation which flooded part of the building on Friday, October 13.

Courthouse still closed after sprinkler set off

The Napier courthouse will remain closed for the rest of the week after a sprinkler activated, flooding part of the building, last Friday.

The Ministry of Justice said that hearings were taking place at the Hastings courthouse while damage was assessed and repaired.

Register now to receive your power dividend

A power dividend payment of $240 will be paid in 2023 from Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers’ Trust to all power consumers in the region who are connected to Unison Networks.

All power consumers in Hawke’s Bay who were connected to Unison’s electricity network on September 30 will receive one payment per connection, with a maximum of three payments for any one customer.

The $240 after-tax payment will be made to every power account holder in Napier and Hastings who is registered for direct credit.

The online registration portal is now open and power consumers who register before 5pm on November 16, can expect to receive dividend payments from Friday, November 24. Any registrations after November 16 will be paid on later dates.

If you have not registered yet or details have changed in the last 12 months you will need to register the correct information to receive payment.

If you registered last year it is recommended that you check bank and address details are correct through the portal.

Consumers who were disconnected due to Cyclone Gabrielle or had a change in address will be entitled to payment through the new connection.

Welcoming the godwits

The bells of Waiapu Cathedral in Napier will ring out across the city at 1pm this Sunday to welcome back to Ahuriri Estuary the bar-tailed godwit or kuaka, which make an incredible 12,000 kilometer flight across the Pacific to roost in the wetlands for summer feeding.

“We are joining in with the celebration of the return of these amazing creatures from their epic journey as they herald the start of summer and remind us of the value of our beautiful wetland for them to feed and rest in,” says Di Woods, Dean of Waiapu Cathedral.

Godwits have started arriving at Westshore in the Ahuriri Estuary. Photo / Lynne Anderson

Waiapu Cathedral started their new tradition last year, following the practice of the Nelson Cathedral which has welcomed the birds with bells for some years. Keith James (and perhaps one of his trainee bell ringers) will make the kuaka peal this year.

The 1pm peal will mark the start of the local guided walk through the Ahuriri Estuary lead by Bernie Kelly of Birds NZ and the Ahuriri Estuary Protection Society. They will provide scopes so people can get a closer look at the birds. Details of the walk are on the Birds NZ Facebook page.

The guided walk will meet at the Beach Inn, Meeanee Quay, Westshore on Sunday, October 22 at 1pm. The event will be cancelled if there is wet weather and interested people should RSVP to aeps.hb@gmail.com

Short film mural gifted to Hastings, installed in Albert Square

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, Rachael Stone, Glen Colechin and HDC CEO Nigel Bickle with an art installation in the centre of Hastings for short film OPIA. Photo / Luca Broome Photography

An enormous and eye-catching piece of artwork made for a local short film took its place in the centre of Hastings on Sunday.

The three-panel mural given to the city was painted by Hawke’s Bay artists Glen Colechin and Rachael Stone during the filming of short film OPIA last August.

Created by emerging Hastings-based screenwriter Cosmo Calman and crewed entirely by local screen industry professionals, OPIA is a short film about an unconventional love story which blossoms against a backdrop of street culture and graffiti art.

The artwork depicts the two lead characters, Mantra and The Stranger, played by Maia Bassett, an award-winning dancer and tutor at Hastings’ Rezpect Academy and Noah Kaio, last year’s head boy at St John’s College.

Hastings District Council CEO Nigel Bickle and Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said they were excited to support the development of the local screen industry and the Eastern Screen Alliance (ESA).

The film was shot across Hastings and supported financially and with materials by locals and businesses.

ESA deputy chair and creative director of Dream Big Daniel Betty joked they couldn’t have made a more local film if they tried.

“What’s incredibly important here, (and OPIA is just the start), is that we’re proving Hawke’s Bay has the breadth of talent required to bring our local stories to both national attention and to the world,” Betty said.

“And local businesses have an important part to play by supporting these projects, because when they’re visible to a national and global audience they capture the attention of new investors, and producers and serve to bring valuable work into our region.”

Additional bus services between Napier and EIT

Eight additional services will be added to the Napier-EIT section of Route 12 next week.

They will be offered in the mornings and afternoons, Monday to Friday, to accommodate school students and provide additional capacity for all users until the end of the school year.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Policy and Regulation General Manager Katrina Brunton said the additional services were in response to feedback from the community.

“While we continue to work through ongoing driver availability issues, we’re happy to be able to offer this solution until the end of the school term while we continue to reinstate our services around the region.”

Four of the additional services to route 12 from Tuesday, October 24, are 7.00am Napier to EIT, 7.30am EIT to Napier, 8.00am Napier to EIT and 8.30am EIT to Napier in the morning.

The other four in the afternoon are 3.00pm Napier to EIT, 3.30pm EIT to Napier, 4.00pm Napier to EIT and 4.30pm EIT to Napier.

The GoBay website will be updated before these new services and passengers are encouraged to keep an eye on the GoBay Facebook page for the latest information.

Man in a serious condition after crash near Ōtāne

A man in his 70s is stable after a crash in Central Hawke’s Bay which left him in a serious condition on Sunday evening.

A police spokesman said police responded to a single-vehicle crash at the intersection of College Rd and State Highway 2, Otane, at 6pm on Sunday.

A St John spokesperson said ambulance officers treated and took one person in a serious condition to Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

A Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay spokeswoman said a male in his 70s was stable in hospital as of Monday morning.

Firefighters tackle large vegetation fires across Hawke’s Bay

Wildfire season has kicked off as firefighters brought multiple large vegetation fires across the region under control late Sunday.

Firefighters raised the second alarm of their five alarm levels in response to a large shelter belt fire in a gully near Ashley Clinton in Central Hawke’s Bay about 4.50pm on Sunday according to a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman said three pump appliances, two rural pump appliances, three tankers, two rural tankers and a couple of four-wheel drive appliances responded to the blaze. Firefighters contained in about two and a half hours and left it to smoulder overnight before returning Monday morning.

She said while the exact size of the fire was not recorded, it began at about 200 metres long and was likely “quite large”.

The spokeswoman said a second fire involving tree stumps on fire about 5.30pm in Mangaorapa was brought under control by firefighters, who responded with three pump appliances and one tanker, in about two and a half hours.

She said no specialist fire investigator had been requested for either fire.

A 100-metre by 15-metre vegetation fire in Kereru, Hastings district, was reported about 10.30pm and was brought under control by firefighters in three and a half hours before being left in the hands of the property owner.