Ratepayers to fund Samoa trip for Hastings mayor and council CEO

Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle and Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst.

The Hastings mayor and Hastings District Council CEO will visit Samoa later this month on a ratepayer-funded trip.

The trip is aimed at strengthening relationships with communities that supply RSE workers to the region, and the mayor says the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme workers are set to play a big part in helping the horticulture industry recover from Cyclone Gabrielle.

The council has budgeted $10,000 to $12,000 for the trip but is yet to book the tickets and accommodation.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and CEO Nigel Bickle will enter into an official friendship agreement with the Samoan district of Falealili during the trip, which will be from May 22-25.

Last season, 150 workers from the Falealili district on the island of Upolu were employed in the Bay.

“Our horticulture industry has been seriously impacted by the cyclone – the devastation hit at the worst possible time as they prepared for harvest and the impact on their businesses and the regional economy as a whole is enormous,” Hazlehurst said.

“The RSE workers have already played, and will continue to play, a big part in supporting the sector’s recovery, and this friendship agreement will help to foster new relationships and strengthen those we already have.”

The two leaders from Hastings District Council will visit the island of Upolu.

Hawke’s Bay is the largest RSE-employing region in New Zealand. Thousands of RSE workers travel to the region each year to work in horticulture and viticulture.

Hazlehurst and Bickle will also attend the WE Business Summit 2023 and be joined by iwi and industry leaders at that conference.

Hastings councillors voted unanimously in support of sending their two leaders to Samoa during a meeting on Thursday.

Longest-standing Hastings councillor Kevin Watkins said: “I think it is a perfect fit, and it is exactly what friendship cities were set up to achieve.”

Bickle has previously been awarded an honorary title from a high chief, Tuatagaloa Joe Annadale, who lives in the Falealili district.