BayBuzz Jul/Aug 2013

INSIDE HAWKE’s bay POLITICS SPORTS

PARK Promises Kept?

JUL /AUG 2013

INCLUDING GST

agribusiness

GIANT STIRRING TURNING

STRAW INTO GOLD VOICES

David Trubridge, Roy Dunningham Kay Bazzard, Shona Jones Keith Newman, Mark Sweet Claire Hague, Anthony Vile Paul Paynter, Jessica Soutar Barron Brendan Webb, Nicole Masters

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Gay Marriage Coming to the Bay

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772253

262009

by mark sweet

FROM THE EDITOR

Fresh Faces.

Fresh Thinking.

Fresh Start.

BY ~ tom belford

Over the two-month lifespan of this edition, we will learn who will be candidates for our 2013 local elections. The official window for declaring is 26 July to 23 August. Who will emerge? And what qualities in candidates might one seek?

environment and natural resources and defy sustainability.

Elected officials without baggage, not needing to defend past policies, and able to provide fresh perspective and wider experiences, can identify better outcomes and pursue them more vigorously.

One certainty is that virtually all incumbent officeholders will re-stand. Out of Hawke’s Bay’s 49 councillors, perhaps a half-dozen or so (Eileen von Dadelszen, Liz Remmerswaal, Neil Kirton, Kathie Furlong, Tania Wright, Margaret Twigg) will not stand.

With that belief in mind, I support term limits for elected officials – three terms or almost ten years in the same office is plenty of time to make a public service contribution, without becoming addicted to the ratepayers’ teat. I’d like to see new candidates pledge to limit their terms of elected service, and then find other ways to contribute further to the community.

Granted, a few incumbents have just recently begun public service and arguably voters will benefit if these individuals bring increasing experience to bear.

Likewise, I support full amalgamation of the region’s five councils, as proposed by A Better Hawke’s Bay. Not as a solution in itself, but as a means to an end.

But too many incumbent councillors are well past the gold watch stage … many like Alan Dick, Christine Scott, Kevin Watkins, Tony Jeffery and Faye White would be standing for a fifth term; some like Kevin Rose, Mark Herbert and Dave Pipe running for a sixth term; Cynthia Bowers for a pacesetting seventh term. Nice people one and all.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours monitoring council meetings (I refrain from using the word ‘deliberations’).

And could write a book about the duplication of effort and expenditure, patch protection, back-biting and conflict over priorities I’ve seen that hold back our region from its better aspirations. If the stakes weren’t so high going forward, it would be a comic book.

But how much of them is enough, when sheer longevity and name recognition confers advantages that squeeze out fresh faces and fresh thinking?

Of course, if you are wildly enthusiastic about the present direction of Hawke’s Bay, then you need look no further than the ‘stay the course’ hands of the established veterans.

And no doubt ‘steady hands’ will be the claimed virtue of these perennials.

On the other hand, if you’re a voter who’s not thrilled with the state of Hawke’s Bay today, or where it seems to be pointed (horizontal at best, not up), then you might want to be taking note of who is standing, urging fresh faces to stand … maybe even thinking about getting off the sidelines and standing yourself (remember, August 23rd is your filing deadline).

It will come as no surprise to BayBuzz readers that I believe Hawke’s Bay is reclining, if not declining, under the ‘steady hands’ of our political veterans.

But I surely don’t believe that sleep-walking or muddling along need be our region’s fate. Just as I don’t believe we need to clamber aboard growth paths that bleed our

We simply must re-boot Hawke’s Bay governance – reorganise our public sector to better plan for the future and more wisely use our limited financial and natural resources. I’m optimistic that the needed reorganisation will occur next year.

But both ingredients are needed for change to occur.

A new structure overrun by old faces will be infected by the habits of the past.

And conversely, fresh faces thwarted by existing counterproductive structures and processes will soon become dulled, disillusioned … and co-opted by council staffs quite content with the status quo.

Change is scary. But it’s what Hawke’s Bay needs this election year. Not a warm bath of reassurance from the old hands.

ISSUE No.13 : JUL / AUG 2013

THIS MONTH Hawke’s Bay clergy await gay marriage.

Political campaigns begin under the shadow of reorganisation. Is the Regional Sports Park delivering on its promise? Vast HB potential for Mäori agribiz. More right brain thinking required. Senior activists going strong. Charter schools. HCAG doing well. A path to better urban design.

FEATURES

6 Gay Marriage Coming to the Bay It’s the law. But is the Bay ready?

Mark Sweet talks to clergy.

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INSIDE HAWKE’S BAY POLITICS, CIRCA JULY

By Tom Belford Local campaigns taking shape.

Reorg savings projected.

Mayors challenge Regional Council on dam financial risks.

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TURNING STRAW INTO GOLD

By Nicole Masters The best investment for water storage is in the soil.

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THE REGIONAL SPORTS PARK … PROMISES KEPT? Is the Regional Sports Park living up to its sales hype?

Verdict appears mixed. By Jessica Soutar Barron

VET ADVANCES HIGHLIGHT RURAL DISADVANTAGE

By Keith Newman Although technology is transforming the role of the rural vet, Keith Newman discovers lack of access stymies Hawke’s Bay farmers

This publication uses vegetable based inks and environmentally responsible papers. The document is printed throughout on Sumo K Matt, which is FSC® certified and from responsible souces, manufactured under ISO 14001 Environmental management Systems.

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MAori AGRIBUSINESS GIANT STIRRING Ngäti Kahungunu drives visionary plan to get Mäori primary producers thinking beyond the farm gate.

By Keith Newman

jul/aug 2013

contributors > JESS SOUTAR BARRON Jess is a wordsmith and project manager whose past gigs have included time with Sky TV, Hastings District Council and Band, as well as three years as a communications manager with the Metropolitan Police Service.

She also produces Fruit Bowl Craft Jam and Pecha Kucha in the Bay.

IDEAS & OPINIONS

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

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try it from the right David Trubridge

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MANAGING COLLECTIVELYOWNED MAori LAND Shona Jones

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A GOVERNMENT SOLUTION SHOULD NEVER BE ‘PLAN A’ Paul Paynter

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CHARTER SCHOOLS …

LET’S DITCH THE NOISE Claire Hague

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BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES: PERSONAL ACTIVISM AND POSITIVE AGEING Kay Bazzard

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ALL READERS OF THIS ARTICLE TAKE A BOW Roy Dunningham

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A HAWKE’S BAY URBAN DESIGN PANEL

KEITH NEWMAN Keith is a journo with nearly 40-years’ experience across mainstream and trade media.

He’s won awards for writing about hi-tech, produces Musical Chairs programmes for Radio NZ and has published four books, one on the internet in New Zealand and three others on New Zealand history.

MARK SWEET Napier-born, Mark worked overseas in Hong Kong and Scotland, before returning to Hawke's Bay, and establishing Pacifica restaurant. Re-creating himself as a writer, Mark's first novel Zhu Mao was published in 2011, and an extract from his next novel, Of Good and Evil, has been shortlisted for the Pikihuia Awards, and is due for publication early 2014.

Anthony Vile

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FIVE INTO ONE Brendan Webb

THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVOLUTION: RE (JOY)CE! Ewan McGregor ISSN 2253-2625 (Print) ISSN 2253-2633 (Online)

THE BAYBUZZ TEAM > EDITOR Tom Belford Senior writers Jessica Soutar Barron, Keith Newman, Mark Sweet, Tom Belford columnists Antony Vile, Brendan Webb, Claire Hague, David Trubridge, Des Ratima, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Elizabeth Sisson, Kay Bazzard, Paul Paynter, Phyllis Tichinin, Roy Dunningham, Tim Gilbertson editor’s right hand Brooks Belford photographyTim Whittaker creative, design & production Steff @ Ed art assistant Julia Jameson advertising sales & distribution Tracy Pope & Trevor Howes Online Mogul business manager Bernadette Magee printing Format Print

TOM BELFORD Tom’s past includes the Carter White House, building Ted Turner’s first philanthropic organization, doing heaps of marketing consulting for major nonprofits and corporates.

Tom publishes BayBuzz and writes an acclaimed blog for professional NGO fundraisers and communicators in North America and Europe.

All BayBuzz magazine articles are available online. Visit BayBuzz at: www.baybuzz.co.nz

Letters to the Editor We encourage readers to criticize, expand upon or applaud our articles as you see fit.

Each of our magazine articles is published online – www.baybuzz.co.nz – where you can always comment … at any length and as often as you like.

But we are also happy to publish a limited number of readers’ letters here. You can email us at editors@baybuzz.co.nz or mail us at BayBuzz, PO Box 8322, Havelock North.

Beware of Witches Paul Paynter makes a clumsy dig at homeopathy, Mäori medicine and herbal supplements in his ‘Beware of Witches’ article March/April 2013.

He ignores the increasing number of double-blind randomised trials that show the action of homeopathy is more than placebo and he lightly dismisses a long history of successful use of herbal, Mäori, and homeopathic medicines.

In July 2013 North and South magazine also attempted to fudge the science behind homeopathy. Tauranga homeopath Clive Stuart raised a complaint with The NZ Press Council, which was successfully upheld.

Both articles are clumsy attempts at witch hunts, a medieval practice once used to brutally suppress many women who were doing what women do so well, caring for the sick and injured.

In a world of antibiotic resistance and frequent epidemics, we need to utilise all the systems of medicine that we currently have available to us, since to rely on

Land Issues Undermine Te Aute Learning Legacy Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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I had the privilege of spending time last year as Acting Principal of Te Aute College. I loved every minute of it, relishing in the spirit, the song, the history and the sharp intellect of the boys, the commissioner and some of the staff.

The College is unique, a national treasure that, despite having been badly neglected, has survived. Shabby Ministry treatment, poor financial governance and too many principals in the last two decades, have combined to impact the school. (A visitor, comparing the buildings to other similar integrated schools, would be excused if they drew the conclusion that some form of educational funding apartheid had been applied.)

just one system is, like all monocultural practices, doomed to failure.

Mr Paynter ignores the extraordinary science that is coming out of the study of quantum physics. Canadian homeopath and physicist Judyann McNamara said: “The chemical-mechanical medical model is too limited a context for a growing number of discoveries.

This paradigm shift away from this outdated medical model, and towards a quantum model of living processes is the long awaited opportunity for homeopathy to take its place in the scientific community.” (NZ Council of Homeopaths Conference, Napier, 2011) We are at the cusp of an extraordinary shift in our medical thinking and homeopathy is an essential part of that health system. It is time the witch-hunters dissolved into the dark ages so we could get on with making homeopathic medicines available for those that need them.

Angela Hair

The signs of this are evident in the poor state of many of the buildings but they have not dampened the core spirit that resonates and abounds.

In spite of these barriers, the College continues to produce young Mäori male leaders who inspire their whänau, hapü, iwi and the nation.

The College, with the introduction of an innovative 21st century approach to learning, Töku Moemoeä, will build on the existing strengths, and is poised to enter a new period of strength and growth.

Land Issues Undermine Te Aute Learning Legacy Mark, your input to this discussion is welcomed. Apart from the issues mentioned in your post, i.e. some of the staff not being as “sharp” as others, “shabby” Ministry treatment, poor financial governance, did you leave a list of suggestions for the Trust Board? I did a spell of relieving teaching at Te Aute some years ago and was very unimpressed at the lack of Ministry support, in particular with the difficult task of reorienting the troublesome students that had been literally “dumped” on Te Aute without any additional trained staff to assist with behaviour management in either the hostel or the school.

The ERO reports in particular, seemed to blame the overworked staff for not mitigating the impact of the misguided/uncaring WINZ and MinEd policies. At that time too, the Trust Board seemed to regard the boarding and school fees paid

by WINZ and other agencies as essential, without caring a toot about the impact of the attached students on the school. At least one of the hostel buildings had been made uninhabitable by their destructive attentions. It is to be hoped that the many prominent “old boys” deliver the message at the highest levels that the school should be saved and as you say Mark, it is time the Government and Church actually committed to repairing the damage they have wrought.

Ian McIntosh

It’s time for the Ministry and Church to rectify past neglect and ensure that the College is physically supported so that building and resources match the learning that happens.

More Comments

Mark Cleary

www.baybuzz.co.nz

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GAY marriage coming to the bay

Just because they're now legal, doesn't mean Hawke's Bay churches are ready to perform same-sex marriages.

Mark Sweet talks to clergy.

Gay marriage in the Bay

Gay pride flag march down Ponsonby Road as part of the Auckland Pride Parade

“All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer.”

Robert Owen "Christians are going to take control of this country," declared Hastings-born Sir Keith Hay in 1985.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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He, and former Napier mayor Sir Peter Tait, were leaders of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, who amassed 800,000 signatures on a petition opposing decriminalisation of sex between men.

MP Fran Wilde had a bill before Parliament.

Hay and Tait were Baptists, proudly calling themselves, 'bible bashers,' and they followed the lead of Pastor Lloyd Rankin whose objection to law change was: “… it would lead to homosexuality being actively promoted as an acceptable, normal or alternative lifestyle. It would undoubtedly lead in time to the recognition of homosexual 'marriages,' allowing innocent children to be adopted by such couples.”

Twenty-seven years later their worst fears were realised with the passing of Louise Wall's Marriage Amendment Act, giving same-sex couples equality in marriage.

Over coffee I talk with Paul Davison, minister at the Hastings Baptist Church, to find out if things have changed in nearly three decades.

He says, "It's the same issue over the past 30 years in terms of moving from prohibition, to permission, to promotion of homosexuality. But our thinking has become clearer in the last 20/30 years. We see people having homosexual tendencies, or desires, in the same way that I might have adulterous desires, or I might want to pinch things, but I must conform my life so I'm not a thief, I'm not an adulterer, and I'm not a homosexual."

So the progress made by the Baptist Church?

"In the past I don't think there's been a distinction between those two states."

Two states?

"There are all sorts of people who will struggle through life with what I call disabilities: faults, sin, desires. So there's a difference between a practising homosexual, and someone who selfidentifies with that as their orientation,

but doesn't (practise it)."

I'd like to say, “But Paul, practice makes perfect.” Instead I ask, "So, can a homosexual be part of your congregation."

Paul replies, "The Christian view is, 'Yes, that might be my orientation in life, but I will live within the restraints of sexual fidelity', and so that excludes homosexual behaviour. I'm not saying you have to be reprogrammed, or something, but you have to work through the difficulties of life, and other people have other difficulties … no better or worse."

And the ‘slippery slope’ fear seems as potent today as it was before, when Paul says, "There will come a time when the Human Rights thing will say, 'You're discriminating against homosexuality.'

It won’t be about respecting the last bastion holding out for Christianity."

As we part, and I watch Paul walking back to his church, I can't help thinking of John, the first Baptist, who ended his life with his head served up on a plate.

Father Peter Head, based at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Napier, is reluctant to use the word sin. He prefers failure.

That's because, "The Church has always taught that the sexual (genital) expression of love is found, according to God's plan of creation, uniquely in

marriage, that is, in the permanent union between a man and a woman.

Consequently, the church does not put a homosexual partnership on the same footing as a heterosexual marriage."

But Father Peter is at pains to point out that, "When faced with failures, the church exercises its pastoral sense: it does not in any way reject those who are confronted with failures regardless of who the person is, whether heterosexual or homosexual."

And although excluded from marriage in the Catholic Church, Father Peter says, "Catholicism teaches that homosexual people must be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity."

In their submission, the Presbyterian Church opposed the Marriage Amendment Act on the grounds they uphold “the traditional Christian understanding of marriage as the loving, faithful union of a man and a woman, grounded in Scripture.”

However, unlike the Baptists and Catholics, they gave qualified support to decrimalisation in 1985, but still they affirmed that “homosexual acts are sinful."

Sally Carter, Minister at St Paul's in Napier, will not be drawn into a discussion on Scripture, because she says, "I serve a congregation which holds

Gay marriage in the Bay

Sally Carter, Presbyterian

a hugely wide range of views, and my job is to be the minister to my congregation, and at the moment that involves me not speaking publicly, personally, about the doctrinal issues."

Talking with Sally I realise she is deeply committed to the process of working through the issue with her congregation and the wider church.

"The way we work is that the democracy extends right into the parish.

We're governed by a body of Elders, of which I am one, among equals. In our last meeting of Elders we didn't meet to make a decision. We were there to gain an understanding of one another’s points of view, and to decide how we would approach the conversation with the congregation as a whole, and then see where that led us in discerning how we move forward."

Paul Davison - Baptist

“...there's a difference between a practising homosexual, and someone who self identifies with that as their orientation, but doesn't (practise it).” paul davison I sense a degree of frustration from Sally that she can't express her own point of view at this stage in the process, but she does say, "Our real challenge is how to relate to postmodernity, because modernity has given us a heritage of expecting Scripture to provide clear answers, but postmodernity, which we're encountering with the next generation,

Tony Franklin-Ross - Methodist

is perhaps not expecting to treat Scripture in quite the same way."

Sally's talking about historical context in biblical interpretation, and admits, "The mind of the church moves slowly."

Jenny Dawson, Bishop's chaplain in the Anglican Diocese of Waiapu, has no reservations in expressing her opinion.

"I started the millennium by blessing a couple of young lesbians on the beach at Camp Bay near Christchurch, because that's how I wanted to start the millennium."

For Jenny, the turning point came during the Law Reform debate in 1985.

She was attending a forum about being Christian and gay.

"Someone asked this gay man, who'd been with his partner for 26 years, 'Aren't gay people more promiscuous?’”

Continued on Page 10

» Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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Parliament Acts on Same-sex Marriage

In April, New Zealand became the 15th country (plus 13 states in the US) to give legal sanction to same-sex marriages.

The new law will also allow gay couples to jointly adopt children for the first time, and takes effect 19 August 2013.

This continues a legal path that began with the Homosexual Law Reform Act of 1986 ‘decriminalising’ male homosexuality, followed by the Human Rights Act of 1993, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and continued with recognition of civil unions in 2004.

One assumes that the legal change reflects a cultural evolution in New Zealand as well. However, over the

He carefully replied, “If your relationship wasn't recognised by your community would it encourage you to faithfulness?”

Jenny says, "I knew then this is what I had to support."

And now she is sympathetic with fellow Anglican priests who have said they won’t do any weddings until they can marry anyone who asks.

"Actually, I don't get asked to do a lot of weddings," says Jenny. "But if I was vicar in a parish with a pretty church, like St Luke’s in Havelock North, it would be a real issue. And I would be saying to heterosexual couples, 'I’m sorry but I can't officiate your wedding until May next year when the church okays we can marry anybody’."

May 2014 is when the General Synod next meets, and the expectation is an

past year opinion surveys have placed support for same-sex marriage at 49% to 63%, indicating significant opposition to gay rights persists. Nevertheless, legislators have acted, voting 77-44 in favour (including local MPs Craig Foss and Chris Tremain), with major party leaders joining in support. Said John Key: “In my view, marriage is a very personal thing between two individuals.

And, in the end, this is part of equality in modern-day New Zealand.”

On the other hand, Conservative Party leader Colin Craig called the legalisation of same-sex marriage a "failure of democracy", and warned "the day of reckoning" would come.

endorsement of same-sex marriage equality.

In the meantime, Jenny says, "It's important to Bishop David (Rice) and many of the leadership that we don't jump ahead of the process and that we allow the church to do its work."

And what is that process?

"We've asked the church to provide a service, a liturgy, for the blessing of samesex relationships. And as soon as they do, we know they've okayed it. Let it sit on the table until General Synod next year.

That's our process, and the whole church is staying together on that."

When the Marriage Amendment Act comes into law on 19 August, Trinity Methodist Church in Napier, and its minister, Tony Franklin-Ross, "Are happy to perform marriages between same-sex couples on site."

Gay marriage in the Bay

Peter Head - Catholic

“For heaven's sake, if we can bless battleships and tractors, we can bless people.” jenny dawson – anglican "But in fact it's society's agenda. A hundred years ago churches weren't talking about homosexuality, culture wasn't talking about it. It had no place, so it wasn't top of the conversation. It's a cultural agenda and the churches are responding to it."

In its submission on the Act, the New Zealand Bishops Conference defined marriage as, “that of a public, committed, permanent and loving relationship between one man and one woman”.

Father Peter Head says, "Due to what the definition of a marriage is according to the church, I do not think there would be a time for same-sex couples to marry with the blessing of the church."

At the other end of the discussion the Methodist Church is facilitating adaption to cultural change. "If a couple choose a minister to perform their civil union or marriage they are taking a faith-based Continued on Page 12

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

And what process has led to this decision?

Tony gives some background.

"In Methodism we had a split in the '90s when the question of gay or lesbian ordained ministers arose, and in the end, after a very fractious and painful period of debate, the church finally decided it would allow gay and lesbian people into ordained ministry. And there was a division, and the Wesleyan Methodist Church arose."

The Wesleyan website say they formed in 1997, “to coordinate the work of evangelicals who could not live with the increasingly radical liberal theology of … acceptance of ministers living in sexual sin”.

Tony Franklin-Ross doesn't seem perturbed about the split. "That sliced and diced things, and those who couldn't live with it, walked. Some parishioners still struggle, but as a whole the Methodist Church has maintained its more liberal perspective."

I'm interested to know how the Methodist Church made its decision to support same-sex marriage.

"The National Methodist Church issued a pastoral letter taking the same policy it did over civil unions. That is, allowing

parishes to make up their own mind as to whether they will have same-sex marriages permitted in their church buildings. It's a parish-by-parish decision."

Consultation with the congregation of Trinity has taken place. As Tony explains, "The pastoral letter was announced and the contents explained. We sought feedback, and the Parish Council last night confirmed the same attitude to same-sex marriage as civil unions."

However, a further step has been taken in Methodist democracy, because now, "If a parish is willing to have same-sex marriages happen in its church, but the incumbent minister is not comfortable, then it can invite a minister from another parish who is happy to perform the ceremony, and visa versa. If a minister is happy to perform and the parish is not, then the minister may seek to use another Methodist church that is accepting."

I'm not surprised to learn that the liberal attitude of Methodists is deeply rooted in the congregation.

Part of Trinity's mission statement, written over ten years ago, is “being a welcoming vhurch family for all people, irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation or culture”.

"That might have been easier to write at the time without knowing they'd have to stand up for it so quickly," says Tony.

"Now, I think it's become part of the ethos, and sits there, undergirding the parish."

The churches are responding in their different ways to the Marriage Amendment Act. At one end of the spectrum the Baptist Church is defensive. "The church gets hammered, 'you're always anti-gay’," says Minister Paul Davison.

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Gay marriage in the Bay

decision. The purpose of asking for church involvement is faith statement, and the legal aspect is way down in the minds of those asking. It's a celebration and affirmation of their relationship."

In between, the Presbyterian Church is struggling with the issue, and unlikely to endorse same-sex marriage anytime soon.

But for many Anglicans the time can't come soon enough.

As Jenny Dawson says, "The process

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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around the Act is that it's all moved slightly quicker than the church, which is a shame, because it would have been fabulous to see the church being prophetic on this issue. When I say it would be good to be prophetic, I know our bishop, David Rice agrees. He's taken a position where he wants to see Waiapu being very open, very welcoming, and for heaven's sake, if we can bless battleships and tractors, we can bless people."

Gay marriage in the Bay

A Personal Perspective from Mark Sweet There was a knock on the door one night. Chris and I were cuddled up on the couch watching TV. A policeman asked if he could come in, and his companion followed.

They were responding to a complaint.

My first thought was our out-of-control Doberman had nipped the postman.

But no. Someone had reported us as 'suspected homosexuals’.

This was in Haumoana in 1978.

I remember they apologised for having to 'do this' but I was too shocked to respond. It was Chris who told them they had no right to intimidate us, and pointed out they would have to peep through the window for proof of our law breaking.

Then, the maximum sentence for manon-man sex was 12 years imprisonment.

I worked in a government department at the time, and early on told a senior colleague about myself. Graeme advised I keep my private life to myself. And that suited me. I was well used to keeping myself safe.

Leaving New Zealand, I ended up in Hong Kong, without checking what the attitude was to 'queers’.

Six months into the job I'm drinking at Dateline Bar when it's raided by the Special Investigation Unit of the Hong Kong Police. A Chinese cop asks what I'm doing in a bar frequented by homosexuals. Duh! He takes my details, and a few days later the commissioner calls me into his office. He's English.

Burma campaign. Very posh. By now, I'm as aware as he is that homosexuality is a tender topic in Hong Kong.

A young Scottish cop exposed by his rent-boy lover threatened to reveal big names who liked the same. He committed suicide by shooting himself four times in the head. Go figure.

I know the Maclennan case was ripe

Sam was a 'local' and showed me a side of Hong Kong the commissioner would never see. His old gay uncle had finger nails inches long to prove he never did manual work, and he was attended by two young men, and an old woman, who Sam said was his Aunt. And he smoked opium.

A visit back to Hawke's Bay and the Homosexual Law Reform debate was underway.

“Get back to the sewers from where you came”, shrieked MP Norm Jones.

Later, a man I insulted at a party, hit me with a fence batten and beat me to the ground. I ended up in hospital. He'd come into the kitchen, and grabbing his crotch, told the girls he wanted some pussy. I told him he was the pussy. And he said I'll get you, you poof, and he did – multi-bruising, cracked ribs and crunched pelvis. Probably, he'd have attacked me even if I wasn't a poof, but it hurt all that more.

Back in New Zealand, civil unions became law in 2004, and the children born in the year of the Homosexual Law Reform Act were 18 years old.

Next stop Glasgow, with a red-headed Englishman.

That year, I worked with restaurant employees this age, and never witnessed gay prejudice. I don't think Peter's reply to Callan's asking, “Do I look gay?” counts. “Look gay? Mate, you drip gay”, was his reply. At one point half the staff were gay; young and old, different ethnicities, and sexual preference wasn't an issue.

One night a barman refused to serve Andy, not because he was gay, but for his accent. We'd stumbled into a Catholic pub, and his was the voice of the oppressor. Nice change. Quick exit.

Now with the passing of the Marriage Amendment Act, I wonder how different my life might have been, if marriage had been an option in 1978, when I was young, and in love.

Welcome Home.

The passing into law of Fran Wilde's Homosexual Law Reform Act on 8 August, 1986, was well overdue.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Outside work we had a big circle of friends, and a supportive family, but still there was the time we were followed out of Vidals and punched up for being 'queers’, and 'watch your backs' was a common refrain.

in the commissioner's mind when he praised me for my work, but politely ordered I keep my private life, well private, especially from the 'locals’.

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Inside Hawke’s Bay Politics, circa July by ~ TOM BELFORD

More candidates tipped to stand in 2013

In this update, who’s in and who’s out as local campaigns shape up, Winder Report 2 projects significant savings from reorganisation, and the mayors get nervous about the dam.

Campaigning Underway On July 26th, the official window will open for political wannabes to declare their candidacies for local body elections.

That window will close on August 23rd.

Already the jockeying has begun in earnest, particularly in the Hastings and Napier mayoral contests.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

14

Hastings mayoralty On the surface, the Hastings race, with Mayor Lawrence Yule seeking a fifth term, seems like a snooze. Not because Yule is invincible (he won 54% of votes cast in 2010), but because he looks to be facing two primary candidates who are likely to split the ‘change’ vote – Councillors Wayne Bradshaw and Simon Nixon.

Nixon won 32% of the vote in 2010 and two other candidates, both Mäori (Des Ratima and Peter Nee Harland), together picked up the remaining 14%.

Both Bradshaw and Nixon present themselves as far more cautious than Yule about spending ratepayer dollars, and both criticise Yule for being a part-time mayor distracted by his Local Government NZ presidential duties.

At present, the casual punter would have difficulty distinguishing between Nixon and Bradshaw. A closer observer might say that Bradshaw does more homework and has been more engaged with the community. Be that as it may,

the standard jab of Yule supporters regarding both of his opponents is …

What are they for?

For his part, Mayor Yule, seems most focused on salvaging the ‘regional’ in Regional Sports Park (this time with an international hockey turf), and championing reorganisation. He presents a more affirmative, activist look than Nixon and Bradshaw, prepared to use his office and the resources of the council to ‘make things happen’ for the community.

Too bad Hastings voters will be denied the opportunity to see how the two styles and philosophies fare in a simple manoa-mano contest.

Napier mayoralty With Mayor Barbara Arnott stepping aside (complemented by the resignation of NCC Chief Executive Neil Taylor), Napier is about to undergo the political earthquake of 2013. So far, candidates for mayor include Councillors John (Bertie) Cocking, Bill Dalton, Michelle Pyke and Rob Lutter, plus Tamatea Intermediate School principal Roy Sye and Christmas in the Park organizer David Trim.

Cocking, Dalton and Pyke are proven vote-getters on a Napier at-large basis, and there are only about 18,000 mayoralty votes up for grabs (based on 2010 returns). Arnott received 13,515 of those votes last time, against Pyke’s 4,476.

The ‘change’ candidates in this pack are clearly Sye and Pyke. Sye, with a base in the education community, also has the strong support of a group of business leaders dissatisfied with the Arnott regime, as well as other leaders committed to reorganisation.

Pyke, although an incumbent, speaks for a part of the community that (with the exception of Maxine Boag) has not had a voice at the council table. A Sye-Pyke ‘change’ alliance perhaps?

Regional Council With three of nine incumbents departing so far (von Dadelszen, Remmerswaal and Kirton), the Regional Council is guaranteed new faces in October, unlike 2010 when all nine incumbents were reelected. The main action will occur in the Hastings and Napier constituencies, where vacated seats exist.

In Napier (with three HBRC seats), environmentalist Paul Bailey and Transparent Hawke’s Bay leader Pauline Elliott are expected to stand. Both are strong critics of present HBRC direction.

The Napier open seat created by Neil Kirton’s departure will undoubtedly lure other contenders into the race.

In Hastings, voters can expect plenty of choice. Incumbents Kevin Rose and Ewan McGregor are expected to stand again; 2010 challengers Tom Belford and (quasi-incumbent) Murray Douglas are tipped to compete again as well.

And former Labour MP Rick Barker has announced his intention to stand.

In a new twist, the Hastings constituency of the HBRC is now split into two wards – an urban ward with three seats, and a rural ward with one seat. What is not clear is where various candidates will decide to stand.

For example, one might think the Hastings incumbents – Rose and/or McGregor – both of whom present themselves as protectors of rural Hawke’s Bay from the urban green horde, might choose to run in the new rural ward. Of course, as urban retirees, they would face the risk of a candidate with stronger rural credentials emerging. Perhaps better to face the ‘devils they know’ in the urban ward!

The changed make-up of the Council could also affect the choice of the next HBRC chairman, as councillors elect one of themselves to that post. Chairman Fenton Wilson’s 1,322 votes in the

Wairoa constituency earned him 46% of the vote in 2010, enough to prevail over three other contenders. Should Wilson be fortunate enough to win over divided opposition in 2013, he’ll still be at the mercy of the new HBRC councillors to retain his chairmanship.

Given the emerging candidate lineup, voters for Regional Council will be choosing whether they want to see the HBRC operated as an economic development agency or as a steward of the region’s environment and natural resource base.

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“According to Winder 2, full amalgamation as proposed by ABHB could deliver over $10 million per year in net savings once initial transition expenses were met.” plans, such as more strategically planned facilities and infrastructure development.

Winder 2 points out that such changes – whether to capital expenditure, borrowing strategy or service levels – would be political decisions to be made by any new council.

Nor do these projected savings reflect the savings in time and resources that would benefit businesses, community organisations and individuals who must interact today with multiple councils in their day-to-day affairs.

Second, Winder 2 also notes that the savings actually achieved might not translate directly into rate reductions. If, for example, full amalgamation began producing annual savings in excess of $10 million, new councillors would still need to decide how to allocate those savings – they could be allocated to curbing rates (or debt) or to enhancing services and infrastructure, or some combination. Again, a political decision to be made by any new council.

Third, Winder 2 deals a blow to shared services (as did Winder’s initial report), the fallback of status quo advocates, commenting: “There is Continued on Page 16

»

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Reorganisation The amalgamation front has been quiet lately, but that’s about to change.

First, more definitive projections of potential reorganisation savings are now available. And second, reorganisation options are being narrowed by the Local Government Commission.

On June 26th, the long-awaited Part 2 – Prosperity Report prepared by consultant Peter Winder (Winder 2) detailing potential savings from reorganisation was released. This report calculates the transition costs and ongoing savings that might be expected from each of three possible reorganisation scenarios for Hawke’s Bay. Scenario One asumes the ‘One Council’ plan proposed by A Better Hawke’s Bay, which consolidates all five of the region’s councils. Winder projects that this reorganisation would cost $18.4 million to implement, while returning net savings of $59.3 million by the end of fiscal 2021/22.

Full amalgamation as proposed by ABHB could deliver over $10 million per year in net savings once initial transition expenses were met (most of these

would occur in the first two years in each reorganisation scenario).

Says ABHB Chairman Rebecca Turner: “The ongoing compound benefit of $10 million annually will be immense for our HB region. Of course there will be upfront transition costs, but these will be recovered inside two years from the savings. And the other benefits coming from unified regional leadership, a regional vision and the simplification and consistency of policies for business and the community are unquantifiable!”

Scenario Two envisions consolidation of the four territorial authorities, while leaving the Regional Council as is. This approach would cost $14.2 million to implement, while delivering net savings of $48.2 million in the same time period.

Scenario Three envisions consolidating the Napier and Wairoa councils, and Hastings and CHB councils (using the Tutaekuri River as a boundary between north and south), and leaving the Regional Council as is. This approach would cost $13.6 million to implement, while delivering net savings of $16.1 million in the same time period.

There are a number of key points to take into account in considering the projections of Winder 2.

First, the savings discussed are those gained exclusively from operating efficiencies – such as consolidated procurement and implementing best business practices across all activities – and reducing personnel and “backroom overhead”. Winder 2 assumes that the existing Long Term Plans of the region’s five councils would be rolled out exactly as projected … but managed more efficiently.

Thus the savings do not reflect any potential programmatic changes in those

15

inside hawke’s bay politics

Comparison of Combined Local Authority Expenditure and Transition Costs by Scenario Years

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2015-22

296,300

300,610

302,758

296,694

350,671

301,857

2,147,196

285,963

290,220

292,132

286,125

340,023

291,260

2,087,868

Combined Total Expenditure from LTPs (Uninflated) ($000s) Totals

283,861

287,720

296,763

298,305

Totals

Combined Total Expenditure by Scenario ($000) Scenario A

283,861

287,720

303,338

302,145

Scenario B

283,861

287,720

302,068

301,085

287,972

292,064

294,204

288,203

342,120

293,339

2,098,986

Scenario C

283,861

287,720

302,393

300,135

293,472

297,588

299,728

293,697

347,646

298,847

2,131,113

Combined Total Net Savings by Scenario ($000)

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

14 16

Scenario A

0

0

-6,575

-3,840

10,337

10,390

10,627

10,569

10,648

10,597

59,328

Scenario B

0

0

-5,305

-2,780

8,329

8,546

8,555

8,491

8,551

8,518

48,210

Scenario C

0

0

-5,630

-1,830

2,828

3,022

3,030

2,997

3,025

3,010

16,083

potential for savings in overheads and back office systems through shared services. However, to date there has been little progress on a scale that would be required to deliver the potential saving in overheads identified in some of the reform scenarios considered here.”

Defenders of the status quo will need to counter the reality that Winder has observed and, in effect, make the case that ratepayers should continue to pay $10 million more per year than they need to for local government.

The Regional Council, in its zeal to protect its existence, has sought to minimise the savings from reorganisation, and indeed initially released incorrect figures to the media, for which it had to apologise. Ultimately, it is ratepayers (actually, voters) who will decide whether saving $10 million per year in council spending is an appealing prospect.

So clearly the availability of these financial projections will sharpen the reorganisation debate.

By December, the Local Government Commission (LGC) is expected to have narrowed the options to only two. I’m willing to wager a major consolidation along the lines proposed by A Better Hawke’s Bay, versus the status quo.

Mayors worried about the dam In May, Mayors Yule and Arnott stepped forward and expressed their concerns about conflict of interest and financial risks surrounding the Regional Council’s proposed $600 million dam for Central Hawke’s Bay. In a joint letter sent on behalf of the Hastings and Napier Councils to HBRC Chairman Wilson, the mayors voiced concern about some regional councillors and HBRC CEO Andrew Newman holding dual roles both on behalf of

HBRC and its regional investment company (and advocate of the dam project), HBRIC. The Regional Council has ordered up legal advice on the conflict issue, due in July.

The mayors’ additional concerns went to the now uncertain, but major, financial risks inherent in the scheme, and their potential impact on Hastings and Napier ratepayers.

Regarding risks, they said: “…we believe that a thoroughly prepared risk analysis report (single document) would be helpful to all parties including the Council itself. This would be consistent with the best practice advocated by the Office of the Auditor General in Local Government capital works planning …

“It is a fact that these projects carry large single factor and multi factor risk elements including the bottom line risk of cost overruns of both capital and operating that could fall entirely on current and future ratepayers of the region.”

And regarding specific financial information: “…we suggest that further work be undertaken in the area of feasibility (the big picture financially), insurance, certainty and sensitivity analysis around pricing, cost overrun risk and uptake lag … “…without further assurance around the financial modelling there is an inevitable risk for the ratepayers that is larger than any other single financial risk that we are aware of or can reasonably forecast.

Unless this work is completed in a manner that brings confidence to the community, the project itself (regardless of its merits) runs a serious risk of being fatally flawed in its process.”

The mayors, speaking for their councils, then offered to directly fund a peer review of the issues they had raised.

Chairman Wilson’s response was

“ … we suggest that further work be undertaken in the area of feasibility (the big picture financially), insurance, certainty and sensitivity analysis around pricing, cost overrun risk and uptake lag … ” mayors yule and arnott re the proposed chb dam essentially: Thank you for your letter mayors, but full speed ahead. His letter asserted that there is “plenty of time” to address the issues and that “we will take further advice on all issues”. He did not comment at all on the mayors’ proposal for an independently prepared risk assessment.

The mayors are now preparing terms of reference for an independent assessment they will commission directly if necessary.

Both Yule and Arnott stress that they are “not opposed” to the dam; however, nor can they support it without far more substantial investigation of the economic case and financial risk situation.

[You can view the full correspondence at www.baybuzz.co.nz/archives/6808] So, while plans proceed to consider the environmental aspects of the Regional Council’s plans for the dam and Tukituki management through a Board of Inquiry appointed by the Environment Minister, here in our own backyard, the economic assumptions underpinning the entire scheme are facing more and more skeptical scrutiny.

One might argue that HBRC has got the cart before the horse … spending millions on environmental defense of a dam that might not hold water economically in the first place.

inside hawke’s bay politics

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So the base savings numbers have rigour, even if I consider them understated. In the UK, a number of councils have not changed structure politically, but have put staff from two or more councils under one CEO and management structure. Over two years they have generated operational savings of 10% and at year four reached 20%. Even if you look at just the rating income of our councils, the savings in Winder 2 are only around 7%. So with political and management will, there is further upside.

The value of ‘independent’ advice is just that … it is independent. I am informed that great efforts were made to limit potential options for savings in the collection of data for this report. These

efforts were made by the staff who claim they are operating efficiently and no change is needed. Maybe they are saying this because their political masters are forcing their hand, or maybe they simply believe it. Either way they are wrong.

Equally staggering are the constant untruths bandied around by antiamalgamation advocates. A simple phone call to Auckland Council CEO Doug MacKay will confirm annual savings of over $200 million since the Super City was formed. Doug MacKay is one of New Zealand’s top businessmen, who came from Fonterra before being tasked with setting up the new Auckland Council. He is known to be brutal but thorough in his quest for excellence and savings. I completely back his view on what has been achieved in Auckland.

Peter Winder identified leadership as the principal thing holding the region back. I completely agree with him and it is most gratifying that a new structure can actually save us significant money as well.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

The Winder Stage Two report, showing potential savings of around $10 million per year from a single council structure, aligns perfectly with a very similar report done by highly qualified consultant Graeme Nahkies in 1999. The savings predicted then were $8.5 million, without Central Hawkes Bay and Wairoa.

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The Regional Sports Park ... Promises Kept?

BY ~ jessica soutar barron

The political landscape over the next three-year term will potentially feature two substantial landmarks: the Ruataniwha dam project and a referendum on the amalgamation of Hawke's Bay. Lessons to benefit future decisionmaking on both issues can be found wrapped up in a neat bundle from the past called Nelson Park.

In one fell swoop in November 2006 Hastings District, through a public referendum, sold a community asset to a large format retail developer, initiated

a major public project centralising sport and recreation facilities, sweetened the deal with a multi-million dollar commitment to creating more greenspace in the central business district, and raised the profile of, and promises about, social capital.

Now, seven years later, what have we learned from Nelson Park? What became of the last big tasty pledge made to Hawke's Bay? Did the 14,500 voters who said Yes in the referendum get the goodies promised on the packet?

The promise: sell Nelson Park, use

the money ($18.6 million) as partial funding to build a Regional Sports Park (RSP) – $11.35 million ended up going in this direction – and with the change develop urban pocket parks (one done, one pending) and the William Nelson Skatepark (now underway after a few hurdles).

The RSP was a $50-60 million project set out in three stages. Stage 1: move the track and grandstand. Stage 2: build new facilities for netball and football.

Stage 3: a building for indoor sport of some kind.

Continued on Page 20

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sports park Councillor Wayne Bradshaw

» GymSports was the initial hot contender

for use of this space. The regional aspect of the RSP came in through a proposed velodrome, now off the table as Hawke's Bay subsequently missed out on its bid to deliver this nationally significant facility.

Two thirds of the way in, Hastings District Councillor Wayne Bradshaw is watching the RSP with interest as it tries to deliver on the big promises of 2006.

"To promote a $50-60 million project of which only $19 million was going to be provided by the Council … some would say visionary, but I would say delusional," says Bradshaw.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

20

Social Capitalists Part of the deal was social capital. That was the ‘sizzle that sold the sausage’. It was for the greater good we would be ticking Yes on the referendum voting paper. It would be Yes to getting our lazy behinds off the couch and into action, Yes to building strong community connections, Yes to becoming a more active, able and healthy community. And where would all this improvement take place? The RSP. Wayne Bradshaw understands the importance of social capital in the community. "I agree with the concept – active people, active communities is great – but I believe you are going to get better accessibility and affordability when the activities are done within the communities themselves," he says. "We've got the parks, we've got the community that wants to be more active and I think we'll get far more positive outcomes if we do it within communities."

So what happened to all that social capital we were going to accumulate – a new kind of wealth to make up for any shortfalls in the proposed budget?

We don't know because no one has tried to find out. Research is yet to take place around how our health and wellbeing outcomes are improving thanks to the RSP. Bradshaw: "We were over-sold on it and if there were any benefits to come out of it in social capital then I would really like to see the results of the measurements. If you base a project on certain improvements then you should be measuring them."

Netball and athletics have had small increases in participation since moving to the RSP, but there are not the throngs of people building up their social capital that we imagined there might be. We've built the bones, but there's nothing left in the pot to drive participation, or measure its outcomes.

Lawrence Yule is the multi-hatted

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Mayor of Hastings and chair of the Regional Sports Park.

"We've done some of that stuff around measurement, but we haven't got the financial where-with-all to look at it closely," Yule says, careful to point out he's talking as RSP chair rather than HDC Mayor.

"There has already been some social capital gains in terms of events. There are huge things going on that are in their infancy and to promote that costs a lot of money. We just don't have spare money to do that at this stage."

Colin Stone, CEO of Sport HB and a member of the RSP board, agrees measuring success has been a challenge.

"Collectively we have found it difficult to facilitate good, reliable measurement for the sports sector. Important, reliable baseline information is critical for local authorities to anchor their decisions against.

It's been frustrating for all concerned. I do believe progress is now being made, albeit slower than we would like."

Still, Stone sees a direct correlation between sport and social capital. "I call sport the superglue of Hawke’s Bay because it’s a great way of bringing

communities together, to celebrate together, to seize the opportunity together, to suffer trials and tribulations.

That stuff is difficult to measure but it’s inherently important to Hawke’s Bay," he says.

Tale of two sports hubs Jock Mackintosh is the CEO of the Regional Sports Park. He has a public relations background and was originally hired to give Hastings District Council communications advice around the time the RSP was first conceived.

Mackintosh has been in play since the place was just a set of drawings.

He's nurtured it along and he's proud to be part of it now that it's up and running. He reports to the RSP Trust Board, and they in turn go to Hastings District Council for funds, rather than Mackintosh working directly for the Council. In many ways he's out on his own, 'chief cook and bottle washer': managing a complex and ongoing building project, fundraising, presenting at local and central government meetings, marketing the place, dealing with users, looking after gear, managing

sports park Regional Sports Park ... Is there more to come?

“We were over-sold on it [RSP] and if there were any benefits to come out of it in social capital then I would really like to see the results of the measurements.� councillor wayne bradshaw tim.co.nz

the park, finding ways to use it.

On the other side of town, the Sports Centre on Railway Road is Hastings' 'other' sports hub. With three full-time staff and tucked safely under the wing of the management structure of HDC, the place is packed with activity. It's within walking distance from at least ten schools and from the markings on the floor it's obvious how many codes use this space.

Alongside basketball and badminton, there's futsal, volleyball and netball, gym and figure skating.

Social connections are also being made here through use by church and youth groups, ethnic groups have celebration meals in the meeting room, which is also used for first aid and driver training, and weight watchers. Green prescriptions run a number of programmes from

here. There are tumbling tots and active seniors based here, holiday and after school programmes, netball and basketball academies, and during the day schools without gyms use the facilities.

Where Sports Centre manager Opal Taylor and her team have a slightly shabby but well loved building they squeeze every last drop of space and time out of, Jock Mackintosh has a flash looking facility that's mainly empty.

The codes that looked after themselves when located at Nelson Park (athletics) and Sylvan Road (netball) still look after themselves. Netball participation has grown 20% at secondary school level, only 6% at primary school level. But the programmes and connections that lie at the very heart of social capital need some loving.

Continued on Page 22

Simply, the Best

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

The Designer Series

There are some glimmers of that alluring social capital. Waitangi Day and Matariki both see strong crowds using the RSP. The centre of the athletics track has been cleverly used for kapa haka. A storage bay has been reconfigured as a crossfit gym. Blo karters use the carpark on Sundays.

Mackintosh is so keen to get people involved in what's happening at the RSP that he packs his crossfit kit into a trailer and trucks it out to Flaxmere. Turns out transport and accessibility are indeed key when it comes to participation.

The RSP's distance from council in terms of management could also be seen as an issue. Where the Sports Centre is a community facility and therefore directly

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sports park Sports Park ceo Jock Mackintosh

Referendum triggered change

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November 2006: Hastings District Council holds a public referendum to decide whether to: • Sell Nelson Park for a large format retail development and apply the net proceeds of the sale to the establishment of a replacement all-weather athletics track, together with a 1,000-seat covered grandstand and associated facilities, as part of a regional sports and recreation park on land owned by the Council in Percival Road; and, • Purchase and develop public open space in the Hastings Central Business District (CBD) to the value of at least $3 million.

24,000 people voted. 62% said Yes.

» accountable to HDC, the RSP is a separate entity and so lacks the transparency that comes from being directly under the council umbrella.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

22

What about the dollars?

Through June 2012, the RSP has cost $20.26 million to develop, including $11.35 from Nelson Park proceeds and HDC loans of $6.5 million. Private donations (chiefly from Higgins and Hastings PaknSave (Smith family) make up the balance.

Annually, the RSP costs Hastings ratepayers $513,000 in debt interest and repayment, and another $200,000 plus for operating support.

Jock Mackintosh: "The income we receive from HDC is $214,000 per year.

This is mainly based on what council previously paid for existing facilities. In addition we raise approximately $200,000 annually. The balance of our income comes from users.The end result is we make about $100,000 surplus each year.

This money builds up as a reserve and is available for facility maintenance."

Much of the RSP and day-to-day running costs are covered by corporate sponsorships and philanthropic individuals. The codes themselves pay only a fraction of the costs associated with running the facility. "As a rough rule of thumb, sports tend to pay across the country about 10% the cost of providing the sport," says Mackintosh.

This year HDC has promised $1.5 million to the RSP: $850,000 for football changing rooms, lights for one football field, enhancements to netball courts, weather shelters at the netball courts and limestone track additions and $663,000 for a potential hockey turf (an international turf is estimated at around $3.5 million).

Future thinking To support its existence (and selfdesignation as a ‘regional’ facility), the RSP has always had in its plan a lynchpin facility of national significance.

Originally it was to be a velodrome, but a bid for that project was unsuccessful and when it failed a $1 million injection from Napier City Council was withdrawn.

GymSports has also been central to the plan, but this has now been put on the back burner.

Currently work is underway to secure a relationship with Hockey NZ that will see an international pitch built at the RSP. This is yet to be finalised, but either a domestic (one pitch) or an international (one and a half pitches) capability will be built at the site. Sport HB, the RSP and HDC are all gunning for a tier one international hockey facility, which would be the only one of its type on New Zealand.

Lawrence Yule: "We're doing that so we can secure a multi-year agreement with a significant number of teams coming into Hawke's Bay. It might only take the turf

out of action for about a month every year. The rest of time our own players, at all levels, can use the turf."

Alongside Hastings District Council's earmarked $663,000 for the hockey facility, Hawke's Bay Regional Council has promised $2 million if the turf is an international one and all parts of the hockey community support.

Jock Mackintosh is presenting figures to HBRC in September, at which time he hopes to have secured a firm commitment from Hockey NZ. Hockey is a growing sport in Hawke's Bay, especially at that all-important grass roots level. There are 2,200 hockey players here; 85% are school kids.

According to Colin Stone, the average turf should cater for 800, and Hawke’s Bay has two at Park Island. Building a turf at the RSP is common sense.

Other than hockey, there is still the planned-for RSP indoor sport building, which as yet has an undecided resident code or codes.

Hastings District Council has $2 million flagged for the RSP in its Long Term Plan for 2018, at which time it'll decide what is the best use of the funds.

Wayne Bradshaw is concerned that we need to be mindful of Hawke's Bay's population base in the future, and focus our assets on providing affordable, accessible programmes and facilities that match that picture.

"The future shape of our community

sports park Hockey turfs have inspired turf warfare is grey and young, Mäori and Pacific, low fixed income, high social costs and a shrinking middle. You look at that and you've got to think: you can't keep doing what you've always done. What do we need to tweak? How do we need to change it? What do we need to do differently?" he asks.

With foresight and lateral thinking, that type of flexibility is still possible in terms of what any 2018 Stage 3 build at the RSP might look like. However, with the facility a drive away for most people, and a costly construct to maintain and develop, social connections and increased community-use are still fragile.

Colin Stone believes the RSP has not yet maximised its potential.

"Unfortunately there is not the economic drive around to be able to raise however many millions it still needs."

But trying to build facilities that can cater for more than one sport or more than one activity is fundamentally important according to Stone.

"It needs to be a destination that people come to as more amenities and facilities get built. It just takes time," he says. "We actually ended up building a $50 million facility in one of the worst economic eras of our lifetime so that has certainly made life a lot tougher."

"If the region can find the right

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projects whereby it resonates with the people we can achieve great things."

Making connections There's something else at play here: connectivity at a regional and a governance level. The sports mix includes many voices: three major councils involved in ensuring social wellbeing needs are met, facilities are used and ratepayers get bang for their buck; Sport HB looking after the codes and participation; HB Tourism wanting large, high profile sports

events to come here regularly and often.

Whether those voices are listening to each other is another thing entirely.

Yule: "One of the RSP objectives is to get community uptake of facilities. Every time we seek to do something we make sure it's good for the local people and that it also brings opportunities for the region. But what needs to happen is a far more joined-up process that makes it less competitive. At the moment it's Continued on Page 24

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

23

sports park Colin Stone, CEO, Sport HB

“It needs to be a destination that people come to as more amenities and facilities get built. It just takes time.”

tim.co.nz

colin stone

» fragmented and competitive rather

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

24

than collaborative."

Hastings councillor Ru Collin has recently called for development of a strategic plan to manage parks and facilities across the region, with local authorities taking more ownership of delivery and outcomes.

Colin Stone agrees. Past plans have been criticized as putting too much onus on Sport HB and not enough on councils.

In this way councils become disengaged with the plan (Opus International 2012 report). "The parts of the strategy that Sport HB had direct influence over had been relatively successful, but those areas where regional stakeholder buy-in and support was required, had not gained the same level of traction."

Now we have in place a Regional Sports Council consisting of council political and officer representatives as well as reps from sport and recreation organisations, the RSP and Pettigrew Green Arena. Colin Stone is the chair. The group has signed up "to achieve a more healthy, active and vibrant Hawke's Bay community."

"Generally speaking we have a sports sector that is probably a lot more united than it's ever been before," says Stone."I think we have got a maturing of our sector; understanding their battle is not against each other. It's ensuring kids in particular choose to be active and choose to participate in sport and active recreation as opposed to having sedentary life styles."

"The challenge we still need to be nimble enough and have enough resources to work with codes that go into crisis and need our support," Stone explains.

One such example is touch rugby: "We put a lot of resource in the last three years into touch in Hawke’s Bay," says Stone. "It's not a code targeted by Sport NZ but it's very important to Hawke’s Bay and it's a sport that’s really struggled for all sorts of reasons."

Touch is an interesting story when it comes to garbled communication and a lack of collaboration. Five RSP fields were used for a touch tournament in late summer this year. It meant 400 players

participating each week. Hastings District already has a number of touch fields and they are underutilised. On the 34 touch fields that can be accommodated elsewhere in the District, there was only one senior and one junior module in the last year. "All other booked modules folded due to lack of entries and participation." (Email from Hastings District Parks and Grounds Officer.)

Lessons?

The promise of social capital benefits was the sizzle that sold the RSP sausage.

Now we've bought the sausage but the sizzle is not yet forthcoming. The lesson: Even the most elephantine of projects can seem like a sweet deal when packaged up in a PR campaign.

Hefty chunks of cash can seem achievable at the beginning of a project, but as the project specifications, desired outcomes and economic environment change, budgets and funding can

tim.co.nz

Skate park, a benefit of Nelson Park sale

evolve too. And there will always be new projects, so focus and funds can be swept away before the job is done.

Communication across councils and with partnership agencies is fundamentally important from the outset of major projects, right through the process and onwards.

Communication with the public, who at the end of the day, pays for the establishment and upkeep of such projects is also essential … but here an allegory about leopards and spots springs to mind.

Other lessons? Building facilities does not build community. Community requires joined-up thinking, connectivity and collaboration. The RSP was sold to the community with a promise of improved social capital. In the grand scheme of things it was never about sport. It was about growing participation in activities that bring people together.

And on that, the verdict is still out.

Sponsoring insight into smart farming in Hawke’s Bay

Turning Straw Into Gold by ~ Nicole Masters, agroecologist

Better, shinier, newer, different; we as human beings do seem enamored with change.

Often this change can involve short-term solutions to solve the very problems we created in the first place.

For example, New York in the early 1900s found the solution to ‘polluting’ carthorses was to replace them with automobiles. More recently, to combat

the negative effects from fertilisers, DCD, a nitrogen inhibitor, was applied as a band-aid until it turned up in milk and in waterways suppressing natural nitrogen cycles.

Finding long-term robust solutions to the complex issues facing our planet requires far more than a shortterm substitutional approach. There is a growing call for a redesign and transformation in how we tackle all aspects of society, including farming.

Management practices which reduce soil biology and soil carbon create more

Soil health is key to health of entire farming operation

vulnerable systems; both climatically and economically. Research is showing when push comes to shove farmers who are already using ‘alternative’ or ‘less’ traditional practices, such as holistic management or biological farming, are more flexible and better able to adapt.

For me, this summer really highlighted the advantages from thinking outside the box. In Hawke’s Bay we expect summer-dry conditions. But the dry and cold spring lead to the driest six months on record since 1952, conditions which dragged on well into autumn. Flying in

Holistic Planned Grazing The efficiency of natural cycles; decay, carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients are maximised through careful planning, optimum stock densities and ongoing monitoring.

Top left – post grazing, shows how much feed is left behind and the concentration of manures. The approach can take between 2-4 years to shift the diversity of pasture. Pasture quality is improved over time.

Bottom left – dense active litter layer maximizes groundcover, which insulates the soil as a buffer against temperature extremes and water loss. This cushion layer also reduces livestock pugging and erosion.

Bottom right – one week post grazing, litter layer protects seedlings; plantain, clovers and grasses quickly appear.

With no bare soil, weed pressures are reduced.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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and out of Napier it struck me how farms looked so markedly different; some were reduced to a dull grey dust, whilst other neighbouring properties still held a tinge of green under tall yellow grasses.

The view inspired me to call some of those farmers and find out what they’ve been up to. The simple message that came back was clear. Although it’s been dry, these successful farmers are all focusing on strategies to work with whatever nature throws at them. Placing an emphasis on building their soils to hold more moisture and nutrients,

maintaining groundcover, feeding soil microbes and good grazing management.

These farmers have come through the drought with a positive attitude, talking about the ease of management, increased production and profit, reminding me a little of the tale of Rumplestiltskin … turning straw into gold!

Mob stocking Malcolm White, Association of Biological Farmers (ABF), runs 270ha up the far end of the Puketitiri Road. He identified the severity of the drought early

in the season, and proactively responded using a method known as ‘mob stocking’.

Against the usual farming ‘norms’, Malcolm put all his stock – cows, calves, yearling ewes, hoggets and lambs – into one mob or ‘flerd’. They spent two days in a paddock and with 50 paddocks in the rotation, the stock didn’t return for around 90 days allowing the farm to grow grass while it could.

This method has many benefits – optimising the spread of nutrients from animal waste, trampling organic matter, and leaving a surprising amount of pasture

smart farming in Hawke’s Bay

In midst of drought, 7 January 2013, Dean Martin’s cattle thrive with holistic grazing

“I believe that the most cost-effective strategy would be educating farmers around methods to increase the water holding capacity of their soils directly.” nicole masters

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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cover. The cover protects the soil from the hot drying sun, outcompetes weeds and effectively creates an in-situ form of compost, delicious. And as I’ve heard from many a wise farmer “grass grows more grass”. Last year a visiting US holistic grazing practitioner argued that “for every blade of grass trampled, two will grow back”. This is supported by other farmers in Hawke’s Bay now using the practice.

The only downside to a season that “would’ve been a breeze” says Malcolm, was the challenge of getting enough water to supply the demand for 15,000 litres to one trough in five hours!

Highlighting there’s always more to learn and improve in farming businesses.

Up the Napier-Taupo highway, Dean Martin, also an ABF committee member, has been honing his holistic grazing system for over 15 years, only returning to pastures after 90 days of growth in summer. “Droughts are inevitable,” he says, yet this year he has run the same stock numbers as last. The concern Dean has is that most farmers rotate sheep too fast, naturally selecting for short rotation grass species. When longer grazing rotations are adopted, there is a lag in quality until the species shift towards those better suited to taller grazing. The minute the rains came his dry northerly faces sprung away, with no regrassing or additional costs, which Dean’s agent commented “nobody else around here is doing that.”

Over summer, nitrogen levels naturally build up in soil. Grazing this first flush can have animal health implications, and nipping the new growth can damage plant recovery. When the rains came Dean moved stock into a sacrifice area and fed supplements for two weeks before starting his rotations again.

Steve Erickson, near Waihi, stated that this summer was the best thing for his farm, as plant roots were encouraged to delve even deeper into the soil in their quest for water. These deeper plant roots provide multiple benefits – access to water, nutrients, feeding microbes and deeper deposits of essential carbon.

Better soil holds more water In my view, active carbon is highly under-rated in this country; a major factor that can really buffer a farm in times of stress. Techniques that focus on soil health and soil biology are better adapted to hold on longer during dry spells and bounce back quicker when rains do come. Research shows that biologically managed systems have increased nutrient and water storage, improved soil structure and resilience to climactic extremes. Soil carbon acts like a giant sponge; a 1% increase in organic carbon (30cm depth) can increase the soils ability to store water by 144,000 litres/ha, roughly a bucket of water per m2.

In soils with mineral and microbial

imbalances, compaction, and low carbon and groundcover, when the rains finally come, instead of seeping in, water will often move across the surface, taking sediments and nutrients such as phosphate into waterways (see slaking test image). Biological farmers I talk to report the dramatic change to how water functions in their landscapes.

From the air, observing the dried up evaporation dishes cleverly disguised as dams, it certainly made me reflect on the effectiveness of any large water-holding scheme when the rains stop. I personally believe that the most cost-effective strategy would be educating farmers around methods to increase the water holding capacity of their soils directly.

Dean mirrored the general consensus I’ve heard from other farmers around the proposed dam scheme: “It’s just too expensive, production will increase, but then you’ve got to work harder and end up worse off.” Dean has calculated that it takes 750 litres to produce a kg of dry matter. At the proposed 25c for 1,000 litres and the costs for infrastructure it’s just not adding up. “The best investment for water storage is in the soil.”

Note: If you’d like to get in touch with any farmers in your area, get in touch with the Association of Biological Farmers: info@biologicalfarmers.co.nz

smart farming in Hawke’s Bay

The Slaking Test erosion and improving water efficiencies. Samples are taken from areas under different management (but same soil types). Compare an undisturbed roadside (on left), to a soil only 10 meters away (right.) The soil on the right was being overgrazed with high fertiliser inputs.

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New Zealand loses an average of 11 tonnes of topsoil/ha/yr. It’s happening under our feet unseen, every day. This flow can be halted through good biological practices which build, not degrade our natural capital.

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

This simple test only needs a clear vial of water and a basket to help suspend a handful of soil. Soils with low biological activity ‘slake’ or collapse under pressure as water rushes into soil pore spaces. Good biology create passageways and glues which hold soils together, reducing

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Try it from the right by ~ DAVID TRUBRIDGE

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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In the 1920s, the early Modernists at the Bauhaus Art School in Germany believed that better objects make better people.

Such idealism has since been successfully drowned out by commercialism, to be replaced by an insatiable acquisitiveness for more stuff. Nowadays we just try to make our homes ‘nice’, but at least that has a positive effect on our mood.

But what if there is more to this? What if our surroundings not only affect our mood but also the way we think? Our understanding of how the brain works has come a long way in recent years, propelled by neuroscience which has linked individual actions, thoughts and emotions to different regions of the brain by observing the resulting neurone activity.

In addition, the study of stroke patients who have lost the use of one of the brain’s two hemispheres has given a clear picture of how these two halves work. For a long time it remained a mystery why we should have almost two separate brains, which seemed a massive

over-investment. But now it seems that, while each hemisphere has evolved to operate in a very different manner, they actually work in tandem.

Using the right hemisphere we think spherically, empathically, connectively, implicitly, understanding nuance and metaphor, embracing uncertainty. With the left hemisphere we think linearly, rationally, abstracted, explicitly and decontextualised, using only the familiar.

With the right we engage with people and have a sense of care; with the left we control and engage with machines.

Through the right we gather information and understand the new; the left sees only what it already knows.

Neither side is ‘better’ than the other; we are at our most fully realised when they are in balance. We evolved to respond to perceived threats in three steps: awareness through connection in the right (of a threat, say); decontextualised analysis in the left; response decision back in context with the right.

Too much left brain thinking The problem with the contemporary world is that we are becoming more and more reliant on left hemisphere thinking. It is kind of feedback loop where much in our society reinforces and hence encourages further left thinking. On its own, the left hemisphere is a self-referential hall of mirrors that, within its own world, believes it knows all the answers, but in reality can know nothing new. It allows no empathy or caring, using logic to justify self-interest, so is immune to the suffering of others.

It can be argued that many of the ills of our society stem from such an imbalance in our thinking processes.

In the creative world, over-reliance on the left hemisphere means we shut ourselves off from new insights and instead resort to novelty, to irony, and to a derivative shuffling of others’ existing elements or forms – all of which are sadly too prevalent in contemporary art and design.

“The problem with the contemporary world is that we are becoming more and more reliant on left hemisphere thinking.” david trubridge who can see trees while working are happier and more productive, but they are also more empathic, caring and community minded, even if the trees are seen only in large photographs.

Because it is within their power, designers have the opportunity (even the duty I would add, like the medical profession with its Hippocratic oath) to help enforce change by designing better spaces and objects for our homes, workplaces and most of all those awful boardrooms. Modern companies like Google understand this and have created a loose openness in their workplaces which encourages creative thinking. Is it too much to ask the same of governments and multinational businesses who have so much control over our lives?

If this seems to you to be too ‘airy fairy’, too much like limp new age thinking (which it emphatically is not), then you are only meeting it with your left hemisphere which will not ‘get it’.

And because it does not get it, because it is beyond its experience, it will dismiss it as irrelevant.

In fact I believe that our future depends on this: if we don’t regain the sense of empathy and care for the environment which gives us life and which comes from the right hemisphere, then we are doomed to exploit the land and each other in the rationally justified world of uncaring, left hemisphere thinking that comes out of boardrooms.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

The important thing is that if we know what is going on within our heads we can start to control and direct it, rather than the other way round. Our brain is an immensely powerful tool, but we are not using it to its full potential if we rely more and more on left hemisphere thinking. This is actually changing the way we are and not for the better.

Left-headed boardrooms I recently saw a picture of a boardroom meeting. A long rectangular table receded in perfectly symmetrical perspective with evenly spaced men in similar grey suits lining each side, arms at their sides. In front of each sat a white pad, all of them neatly aligned to the grid of the table. The rest of the table was empty, as were the bare walls behind them. Everything about this image reinforces left hemisphere thinking: the grid, the uniformity, the closed inward-looking cell, the hierarchy of the man at the head. If they are there to look for a creative solution it will be a disaster. Their left hemisphere process is subliminally being encouraged, and the result will be that they only come up with whatever they already know, rigorously justified by a self-referential logic, and with little emotional care for the consequences.

What scares me is the fact that all the important decisions of where our region, our country, our world is going are made in such boardrooms by the captains of industry and government. Is it then any wonder that there is such a disconnect between us and those who control our lives? They are making these crucial decisions in an environment that totally reinforces left hemisphere thinking – a self-referential hall of mirrors that believes totally in its own logic and that denies empathy or caring, either for people or the environment.

Knowing the way our brains operate, there is little doubt that our immediate environment directs the way we think, as it does the way we feel. Maybe the best place to encourage truly caring and creative thinking is not in an office at all, but sitting in a circle in a woodland?!

Here all the linear, decontextualised attributes of the left are denied, and we are surrounded by an enveloping, complex web of patterns and sounds.

Recent research has proved that people

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Ngahiwi Tomoana Chairman, Ng채ti Kahungunu Iwi Inc

MAori agribusiness giant stirring Keith Newman discovers a visionary plan to get M채ori primary producers thinking beyond the gate will require youth to re-engage with their rural roots and trustees of disparate landholdings to operate collectively.

“There is a revival of interest in farming across the country and we want it to take hold in our rohe (region) and give it an igniting spark by being more cooperative among ourselves.” ngahiwi tomoana

tim.co.nz

Continued on Page 34

»

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Re-energising the Hawke’s Bay Mäori economy may be like attempting to wake the sleeping giant Te Mata O Rongokaka. In the giant’s shadow Mäori grew a wide range of produce and such vast fields of export wheat at the dawn of the 1850s, that missionary-politician William Colenso dared not tell his peers “lest it be thought improbable”.

There’s a groundswell of opinion that the land-based regional economy remains dormant, largely because the current approach to job creation, training and land ownership is stifling Mäori entrepreneurialism.

However, greater collaboration around smarter land use and broader involvement in the supply chain from the paddock to the plate could deliver higher value exports and resurrect a Mäori agribusiness powerhouse.

Hawke’s Bay’s principal iwi, Ngäti Kahungunu, is leading the charge by ‘footprinting’ an investment strategy that it hopes hapü around the region can leverage, including those who have settled or are about to settle Treaty of Waitangi claims.

“There is a revival of interest in farming across the country and we want it to take hold in our rohe (region) and give it an igniting spark by being more cooperative among ourselves,” says Ngahiwi Tomoana, chairman of Ngäti Kahungunu Iwi (NKII) and the National Mäori Economic Development Taskforce.

He believes it’s time for Mäori to step up and plan for a future where they can lead the local economy out of the doldrums and add some employment virility. “Hawke’s Bay is not going anywhere without Mäori being involved, but unless we start moving today we will be left behind in ten years’ time.”

Even without the Treaty settlements, which could inject up to $300 million into the billion dollar local Mäori

33

MAori agribusiness Peter MacGregor, AgITO’s strategic relationships manager for Mäori farm training

» economy over the next four years,

Tomoana believes there’s sufficient critical mass for a collaborative primary industry strategy.

This will require a fresh approach to Mäori education to ensure a new generation engages in the full spectrum of land-based opportunities, and for Mäori landowners to play a more strategic role in what happens to their product.

Foreign investment will be needed in partnership with Mäori, to develop land and supply chain resources and support a “cultural pathway” into international markets.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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Beyond blue sky mining The Ngäti Kahungunu vision may have been dismissed as mere blue sky thinking until May, when NKII announced serious ‘skin in the game’ with the $16 million purchase of the 3,680 hectare Tautane Station, south of Porangahau.

Together with Ngāti Kere hapü, which owns neighbouring farms (8,498 ha), the collective holding is over 12,000 hectares, right up there with other big stations on the western and eastern boundaries of the Ngäti Kahungunu rohe, which runs from Wairoa to Wairarapa.

Tautane, one of the last big Hawke’s Bay stations, enables NKII to diversify from its fishing investments and reclaim heritage land. The 12 kilometre coastline property is ideal for developing aquaculture and growing the agricultural base.

“In the end our people decided it was about food. We can’t manaaki (care and protect) our people from commercial properties so we needed to look at something that would be productive for a long time,” says Tomoana.

The iwi was pleasantly surprised at the confidence the banking sector showed when it got to choose from eight of the best Mäori financial minds to help broker the deal.

Eyebrows remained raised when NKII immediately signed a ten-year lease for the iconic sheep and cattle breeding operation to Taratahi Agricultural Training New Zealand. Taratahi will manage the business and expand its highly regarded training facilities to up-skill Mäori who will ultimately run the station, revitalise other land holdings, and be part of further iwi land acquisitions.

NKII is pursuing further training opportunities with Massey and Lincoln University, Te Aute College and local Mäori schools including Hukarere and St Joseph's.

tim.co.nz

Tomoana is convinced the way forward is for Mäori farms to work together, leveraging “agri-science, hort-science, aqua-science” and engaging in the full spectrum – from raising the raw product to processing, packaging, branding and building export relationships.

“When we occupy that whole value chain from earth to the girth; fence posts to marketplace and meeting and greeting, people will come home from Australia, for example, and want to be part of that,” says Tomoana.

Mãori managers needed Peter MacGregor, AgITO’s strategic relationships manager for Mäori farm training with 30-years’ experience in senior government roles, says there’s “a buzz” around the region about working together.

Many, including the smaller scattered farms are already in discussion, sharing information and looking at how they can help each other. “You just need the right spark to get the conversation going.”

Talk of a Mäori farming renaissance was encouraged by the fact the Pettigrew Green Arena was jam-packed for the 80th Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Mäori Excellence in Farming Award, won by local Mäori-owned Tarawera Station, which runs over 30,000 head of sheep and cattle.

Before the hype gets out of hand though, a reality check is needed.

Although there are about a million stock units on Mäori farms within Ngäti Kahungunu territory, most are run by non-Mäori, including the finalists and winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy, and those on the periphery of Tautane Station.

The largest concentrations of Mäori

“... there’s ‘a buzz’ around the region about working together ... you just need the right spark to get the conversation going.” peter macgregor land include over 60,000 hectares spread over six blocks near Kuripapango on the Napier-Taihape Rd and along the NapierTaupö Rd at Tataraakina, at Tarawera and between Napier and Wairoa.

However, the majority of Mäori holdings in the wider Hawke’s Bay district are in smaller fragmented blocks, which tend to be underused because of water issues and size. Unless blocks are close to existing agricultural or horticultural contractors they’re mostly considered unattractive.

Achieving scale and “grabbing as much of the supply chain as possible”, is where the value is, preferably in collaboration with other hapü groups, says Shona Jones, coordinator of the Hawke's Bay Mäori Business Network.

She, says it’s critical for each Treaty settlement group to make wise investments if they are to get value for their own communities; working alone means it’ll be “a big ask” to expect any impact for the wider community.

Much tidying up to do Rather than settling for fragmented pockets, some hapü clusters would be better off with cash to invest in expanding existing properties or buying “more advantageous” assets; although working together for the greater good through “a cooperation of the willing”

MAori agribusiness Shona Jones, coordinator, Hawke's Bay Mäori Business Network

“Achieving scale and grabbing as much of the supply chain as possible is where the value is, preferably in collaboration with other hapü groups.” shona jones

tim.co.nz

could be “quite powerful”.

Paul Apatu, director and manager of Hastings-based Apatu Farms, concedes Mäori-owned land in the region is a hugely untapped resource … but changing that is a complex business.

For a start, he says, you would need to determine where the land is, how much of it is not being used to its full potential and what it’s capable of.

While scale and diversity offer wider opportunities, there’s “a lot of tidying up

to do”, including how you deal with the challenge of multiple ownership.

“It’s about who will drive that land use operationally and from a governance level and having the appropriate skills. A lot would benefit from capital expenditure but who’s going to provide that and make those decisions and what is the tenure of that investment?”

The real story for Mäori agribusiness, suggests Apatu, is around cultural buy-in from consumers through retail items that

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Continued on Page 37

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» Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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can be labelled and sit on a shelf such as a bottle of wine, an item of clothing, a pot of honey or a health remedy.

It’s also about playing to your strengths. Apatu Farms is one of the biggest onion producers in the country and has diversified into livestock, transport and more recently viticulture.

The company, owned by brothers Paul, Mark and father Ken Apatu, make the maximum use of about 2,428 hectares on the fertile Heretaunga Plains, where they run around 20,000 lambs, 3,000 ewes, 1,500 cattle and grow a vast acreage of produce.

Apatu Farms strengthened its market leverage two years back when it acquired a 50% interest in Auckland-based Harvest Fresh, a global exporter of produce.

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MAori agribusiness

Attitude change overdue for educators and workers Education and training institutions in Hawke’s Bay need to change their attitude and approach to young Mäori if they want them to be part of an agribusiness engine driving our local economy forward.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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The education system is failing Mäori by churning out people it claims are only good for picking in the orchards or working as milking shed or factory fodder, says Ngäti Kahungunu chairman Ngahiwi Tomoana.

“They say it’s a Mäori problem but it’s not, it’s a New Zealand problem.”

Peter MacGregor, AgITO’s Mäori strategic relationships manager, says only about 18% of Mäori agribusiness trainees in Hawke’s Bay are Mäori and 50% are involved in the wool industry, mostly shearing and wool handling.

He says all three finalists in the Ahuwhenua Trophy had 50% or less Mäori staff ratio, and the winner, Tarawera Station located along the Napier-Taupö Rd, has been trying to increase that for over a decade.

From the earth to the girth: Mäori-branded food products, like Bio-Farm milk from Te Waka Kai Ora, can bring more revenue to Mäori farming enterprises.

With help from AgITO, it’s establishing an associate trustees programme with Colenso College to encourage interest in farm management and being a trustee.

recommends and the reality of the present system unless training and education infuses Mäori relevance that makes people want to learn.

MacGregor’s job in AgITO is to train-up Mäori for senior roles in agribusiness positions. A new on-farm programme, often involving clusters of properties, is showing positive results with specific courses designed to get staff back on the pathway to learning.

He says kaupapa Mäori schools and charter schools present an opportunity to change this perception so young people are inspired to take the first step by realising there are diverse career paths along the agribusiness spectrum.

The latest Labour Market Mapping Report released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs, simply regurgitated the cliché that Mäori need to improve their skills to rescue the flagging Hawke’s Bay economy.

Hawke’s Bay’s population comprises 28,090 Mäori; 18% of the overall population, with those under 20-years of age growing faster than the rest of us.

As well as identifying the lack of skills, the report suggested Mäori use Treaty of Waitangi settlements to invest in the region’s economy.

Tomoana suggests there’s a great disconnect between what the report

“If they knew the business was iwi owned, and they could end up selling product in China or England or New York as part of that economic activity, they might be more willing to be part of that.”

Currently, he says, everyone’s treating this generation as labouring fodder. “That’s why they end up bringing in overseas people.”

MacGregor, wants to see successful young farmers, encouraging Mäori men and women into agribusiness careers.

“They need to realise farming is not just about moving sheep around the paddock and milking cows; there’s applied science involved in forestry and even in fencing, rather than just digging a hole and whacking in a post.”

MAori agribusiness Waipukurau's Te Moana Sidney was finalist for Ahuwhenua Young Mäori Farmer of the Year

“When we occupy that whole value chain from earth to the girth; fence posts to marketplace ... people will come home from Australia.” ngahiwi tomoana

» That gave it stability through the

supply chain, rather than ad hoc supply when the season begins, and more strategic placement in retail programmes.

Paul Apatu says success depends on risk management, exposure and financial returns per hectare and enterprise. You have to keep looking at ways to remain competitive and innovative by up-skilling and using science and technology and “new genetics and techniques to ensure you’re operating in a sustainable, competitive and profitable manner”.

Indigenous branding The $35 million Miraka milk processing plant near Taupö, owned by five Mäori trusts and incorporations, is applauded as a model for Hawke’s Bay Continued on Page 38

» Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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MAori agribusiness

Harvesting trees at Kairakau Lands Trust

» hapü. The factory, established in 2011,

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

38

takes 80% of its milk from non-Mäori farms and exports all its milk powder to China and other markets.

“If Mäori can replicate this model in other industries, whether it’s red meat or whatever, then I think we’re on the right track,” says MacGregor. If you can train up future generations and build trust and strength “it will make huge inroads; it’s a great opportunity to grow Mäori agribusiness.”

Currently, says Ngahiwi Tomoana, too many Mäori trusts wave their product goodbye at the gate or lease their farms and take no part in activity on the farm. For those who do farm their land “there’s no cohesion and forward marketing plan, no pan-procurement or purchase processes — everyone’s operating in silo thinking.”

What’s been missing, he suggests, is a value proposition that appeals to all the players. “We’ve studied this as an iwi and we’ve said we’re going to be in the marketplace and in the production houses but unless we invest in this business it’s not going to happen.”

NKII wants to do away with the middleman; rather than cutting out Fonterra, Beef & Lamb, Dairy

New Zealand or other representative export agencies, that means partnering with them.

“We can use the Fonterra pathway with our own brands alongside, just like we’re doing with Sealord where we’ll soon have our own brand on the box – it’s about mutual benefit and being part of the whole.”

Cultural commerce Tomoana, who’s also on the New Zealand-China Council, headed a 40-strong Mäori delegation for Prime Minister John Key’s Chinese trade delegation in July last year, including a kapa haka group.

This proved to be an important “cultural pathway to commerce” opening doors that went beyond selling product.

“The Chinese deputy premier addressed his initial comments to John Key then spoke directly to the Mäori delegation as if we were brothers.”

Treasury, having previously showed no interest in promoting the Mäori economy, then asked for a day-long workshop. There’s now more acceptance of ‘Mäori Inc’ which Tomoana hopes will translate into co-branding of primary produce and greater access to resources for Mäori.

Continued on Page 40

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MAori agribusiness Historical photos from Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington

Complexity of ownership complicates investment in Auckland flew in for AGMs, while others in the nearby town don’t offer to help. “They keep telling aunty and uncle ‘carry on, you’re doing a good job’ but they don’t see they’re struggling.”

In some cases where owners are “scattered to the four winds”, he’s seeing trustees forced to lease because rates and infrastructure costs are out of hand and it’s too much for them.

Heitia Hiha and Tamihana Nuku accept Ahuwhenua Mäori farming award Most Mäori farms are run by trusts and incorporations who have to deliver on cultural and legal obligations alongside productivity and profit, particularly when they’ve been in a family for generations.

As well as returning dividends, rent or royalties to owners, they may be required to support the local marae and training and health programmes. They struggle with decision making, particularly if multiple owners are generationally and geographically distant.

He cites one board of trustees with an average age of 80-years old; nephews

While succession planning is a huge challenge for farming in general, MacGregor says it presents an opportunity for a more collective approach, not only from owners of farm blocks but from the government, industry and related agencies.

He’d like to see the Ministry of Primary Industry, Beef & Lamb, Dairy New Zealand and other organisations, including AgITO, collaborating to support Mäori agribusiness by designing programmes to help owners and clusters of farms, move forward.

Mäori group with corn harvest , probably in the Christchurch region

Mäori land trusts and their boards also need to engage with the various networks and resources to ensure they have the right skills, and access to information and resources.

As Mäori Business network coordinator Shona Jones says, complex relationships around ownership need to be resolved before land use is considered, and that will require “strong leadership from within the local iwi and the drive to do something innovative and different” if there are to be mutually beneficial outcomes.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

While well-organised trusts get on with the business of farming and improving productivity and continue “grunting along”, AgITO strategic relationships manager Peter MacGregor, says many Mäori don’t engage with their properties and have no succession plan to relieve ageing trustees.

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Mäori group at a farm in Win

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Mäori women harvesting kum

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MAori agribusiness

» Now he’s pushing for greater

recognition of the Mäori economy in Hawke’s Bay, including a cohesive Asian strategy to work more closely with Business HB and other groups on building new export markets.

“Every farmer and his dog is running off to Asia then bumping into each other after meetings or swapping business cards on the plane, rather than synchronising at home.”

NKII is also looking for joint venture investment partners with the right mix of firepower and cultural values to help develop the local market in exchange for guaranteed access to Mäori product.

“There’s not enough investment in New Zealand to develop our lands and resources as fast as we’d like.”

Tomoana favours the Sealord model, where both partners foster the relationship, resulting in strong economic returns and a margin above fluctuating commodity prices.

“We market our products as specialised taonga or gifts from our whenua and culture to China or France or anywhere. It’s a people-to-people market, not just product-to-market; that’s our point of difference.”

Don’t underestimate us A major obstacle in moving Mäori agribusiness along is the ongoing dispute

with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) over water rights and the lack of consultation around economic development.

In what was possibly a momentary lapse of reason, HBRC announced an amalgamation alternative earlier this year embracing the whole of Ngäti Kahungunu territory without consulting the iwi.

NKII was again left scratching its head when the council assumed it would be a major investor in the Ruataniwha water storage project without full consultation.

When it said ‘No’, all the region’s hapü backed away and the council appeared genuinely shocked.

Tomoana says HBRC hasn’t shown good stewardship of existing resources, so the iwi is loathe to allow wider responsibilities. A refusal to allow the iwi to share its water rights and interests to help Twyford orchardists during the drought didn’t help.

NKII says it’s not there just to protect water resources but to have a say in economic development from those resources, which bring in about $250 million annually to the region. It holds regular meetings with the Crown to clarify water rights, but HBRC doesn’t want to know.

Tomoana says NKII wants evidence HBRC has “the kaha or guts” to sort out the hard stuff, including stewardship of

the Ngaruroro River, before rushing off to the next thing. “The dam is a lazy option.”

NKII has asked the council for a six month taihoa (pause) on the Ruataniwha dam to clarify its options on the aquifer and water reticulation out into the Bay. “To say they are anti, is giving them too much credit, it’s ignorance and complete indifference which is worse — they can’t see the value…we don’t even figure.”

Tomoana says if Mäori are involved, the country and the region can expect accelerated economic development, but if they’re ignored, “we’ll just jam on the handbrake and see you in court.”

The message is, don’t underestimate the influence of Mäori in agribusiness.

And while critics suggest hapü are at odds with each other and can’t agree on post-Treaty investments, Tomoana, says that’s “a Päkehä perception of what Mäori negotiations are… We talk all the time.”

So the sleeping giant is rousing itself, working toward kotahitanga or unity of purpose, brand and purchasing power, and beginning to flex its muscles with a shared vision, to “take back the whenua”.

Tomoana says iwi and hapü are sensing this is their time, and are eager to operate under their own power and mana. Rather than going to Hawke’s Bay Inc and asking what can you can do for us, “we need to tell them what we can do for them”.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

40

Mäori group and logs, Wairoa Historical photos from Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington

No one grows more onions than Apatu Farms

Mäori girls shelling toheroa

Mäori student in deep-sea fishing school

Tree harvesting at Kairakau Lands Trust

Managing Collectively Owned Mäori Land by ~ shona jones

Ma te huruhuru te manu ka rere – It is the feathers that enable the bird to fly.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

42

There’s movement locally in the Mäori agribusiness sector.

Tautane Station, recently purchased by the Kahungunu Asset Holding Company, is a strategic asset returning to iwi hands to hold and manage on behalf of the wider interest group, but also paying due respect to the special interest of local hapü who originally held mana whenua over the lands which form Tautane Station.

Also, last Friday the 2013 Ahu Whenua Award, a prestigious farming prize sponsored by the BNZ and others, was awarded to Te Awahohonu Forest Trust, a Mäori land trust in Hawke’s Bay which manages 21,000 ha of forestry and sheep and beef farm, including Gwavas Station.

The judging process for the awards is rigorous and intensive and the result is that receiving the award is a significant acknowledgement of the collective skill, experience and expertise required to govern and manage a large Mäori land asset successfully.

There is no short answer to the question of what is required to successfully manage

collectively owned land. Leadership, drive, strong governors who look for high quality information to support their commercial decisions, strategic working relationships and timely access to the right tools, services and resources. All these things offer an excellent start.

The Mana Whenua Project Team is a locally based team (Shona Jones and Chan Collin) which has been successful in attracting a Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) project to Hawke’s Bay. The project has a wider support team which includes Dr Nick Roskruge from Massey University and several local Mäori land trusts.

The purpose of the project will be to develop and test decision-making tools which are fit for purpose within the context of Mäori land ownership. What does that mean in plain English? It’s about having the right tools for the task at hand.

The task at hand is assessing where the problem areas are for an individual land trust and developing practical solutions to address the issues.

Why is something different needed for Mäori land when there’s already plenty of information out there for agribusiness anyway? Because there are major differences in the ownership and use of Mäori land when compared to General land. And it’s ideal to have tools which are

fit for purpose and the environment in which they will be used.

Fit for purpose means the tools are a good fit for the type of client or case you’re working with. You wouldn’t use a dental drill to break up concrete or a felt tip pen for signwriting. Why does Mäori agribusiness need tools that are different to any other business? Isn’t Mäori business the same as any other business?

Yes and no.

Yes, the same factors are at play when it comes to pasture management, livestock policies, animal health, market fluctuations and managing farm staff. But there’s another layer of issues that have to be managed, over and above the usual range of things that appear in any given farming operation.

Instead of Mäori land-based business operations being accountable to a small family of up to half a dozen owners, there are often hundreds of owners. Indeed, the award-winning Te Awahohonu Forest Trust has 1,150 owners. If a trust has been set up to manage the lands, the trustees will likely be drawn from amongst these owners. Ideally, they will have good governance skills and experience and knowledge of agribusiness but this is not always the case. Individuals who make excellent trustees for land blocks tend to

At Lake Runanga with the locals

“Instead of Mäori landbased business operations being accountable to a small family of up to half a dozen owners, there are often hundreds of owners.”

Robert MacDonald who manages the farm on behalf of his family agrees that owner operating is not an easy option.

“We rely on having good advisers around us on all aspects of the various businesses and we take their advice. For my part, my role is to be the link to the family owners and to be looking at what’s good for them as a group. If we can use our land in a way that’s not only good business but has other benefits for owners, such as generating training, employment or housing, it’s a better result for everyone.”

The Sustainable Farming Fund project that the Mana Whenua Team will manage runs for three years from July 2013. It will develop and adapt decision-making support tools fit for use with Mäori land trusts and incorporations. The project will work with trusts as a cluster to promote information sharing and collaborative working arrangements.

to adjoining landowners. And water is a prized commodity in a drought-prone growing region.

Fortunately, Hawke’s Bay has some examples of Mäori land trusts and incorporations successfully working their own lands. One of these is the Waimarama 3A6B6B Incorporation based at Te Apiti Road in Waimarama. The 602 ha property incorporates Hakikino, the 16th century fortress operating as a successful tourist attraction, a native tree nursery and a sheep and beef farm. The Incorporation’s land was also part of a working project several years ago that produced GIS data to support land utilisation.

Why should you subscribe to BayBuzz?

BayBuzz delivers depth. With insider perspectives. Range of viewpoints, strongly presented. Issues and topics that matter.

Shona Jones is affiliated to Omahu Marae. She has a background in Law and Policy and for the last ten years has managed many local service projects including the Mana Whenua Project, which works with land trusts on governance and land utilisation issues. Shona is a past Chair of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and a former trustee on the Eastern and Central Community Trust and the Lottery HB Community Committee.

For more information on the project, contact Shona on 027 288 9911 or email: hinemanu@xtra.co.nz

From a BayBuzz reader:

“Articles are always well presented, clearly articulated and carry a substance that is refreshing.”

BayBuzz is only available on annual subscription or for $5 per issue. Subscribe now at www.baybuzz.co.nz!

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

be over-worked and in demand.

There’s also the risk of challenges from owners through the Mäori Land Court. Because of this, trustees tend to adopt a conservative low-risk approach to the management of lands, largely avoiding debt and with a preference for passive use such as leasing to croppers or neighbouring farmers. Because the Hawke’s Bay economy relies heavily on primary production, we have local growers who are constantly looking for land. The rents achievable for owners are very much dependent on whether there is water on the block and good access. Landlocked land is often leased

43

“We must conquer our desire for hero worship.”

A Government Solution Should Never Be ‘Plan A’ by ~ paul paynter

The scent of local body elections is in the air, and candidates are emerging.

It’s time to reflect on what you want from your local body politicians.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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Many voters will have some small matter that irks them – a wonky footpath, funding for their sports club, or the need to better regulate the activities of their neighbour’s Jack Russell. That’s how most look at politics.

Sadly politics has descended into a lolly scramble, where many vote for the politician who promises the most. But somehow voters need to look at the big picture rather than their personal desires.

Before you can sensibly elect a government or council you need to consider the nature of mankind, the nature of politicians, and the nature of government.

The nature of mankind Throughout the ages mankind has had an insatiable desire for hero worship.

We want to create someone to look up to – a great leader, superior in mind and

morality. Sometimes it has been royalty or papacy; more commonly these days presidents and prime ministers, whose opinion the media seek on every subject.

Those disinterested in politics look to pop stars, Hollywood actors, newsreaders, the sporting elite or complete nobodies like the Kardashians.

This is extremely distressing since many of these people prove to be dim-witted and unbalanced individuals.

Take the recent furore over Israel Dagg referring to one of his rugbyplaying counterparts as a ‘fag’. This is low-grade offending as far as rugby players are concerned, but still there was much advice offered as to how All Blacks should behave. “They need to recognise the responsibility they have as leaders in New Zealand society and the influence they have on a whole generation, not just young people, but they represent all New Zealanders now,” decreed new National MP Louisa Wall.

Now, rugby culture might have improved slightly, but you still don’t have to delve too deeply to find blisteringly foul language, sexual misconduct, rampant drunkenness and violence. I’d suggest we ignore Louisa and not use them as leaders and role models for our nation. Let’s just appreciate their

athleticism on the rugby field and accept that they are otherwise quite plausibly boofheads.

Politicians are only slightly better, probably due only to the onset of maturity. Their recent misdemeanours are not hard to recall – drunkenness, fraud, speeding, drunk driving, false expense claims, misappropriation of funds … you name it.

Of course all these ‘heroes’ quite like the adulation and, realising they’re really no better than the rest of us, don monkey suits that border on ridiculous.

The latest pope has been a revelation in ditching the pompous papal garb for the simple white cassock. I just wish our mayors would do the same and forego the cat fur and mayoral chains nonsense.

My point is simply that politicians are no better or wiser than most other professions. They are no different to you and I, even if they often look and sound better. They have hairy thighs, dandruff and troublesome haemorrhoids. In fact next time you are greeted with the warm handshake and salesman smile of a politician, think ‘haemorrhoids’ … it will help you keep things in perspective.

We must all work hard to conquer our desire for hero worship.

Mankind’s second delusion is that, if

foolishly cry to government to fix them.

If your issue is child poverty, run down swimming pools or boy racers, the easiest way to solve the problem is to demand government fix it, or give an interest group the money to do so. For example, often queuing up at council meetings are sports clubs. Making $200 on a sausage sizzle ain’t nothing compared with what you can get from council, with a good pitch.

One sports club told me recently, “Council have told us not to worry about investing in new facilities. They say eventually they’ll accommodate us at the sports park.”

The nature of government Governments aren’t naturally good at anything. They are slightly less competent than the private sector.

Communist countries are, or were, a good example of this. Their wealth grew much more slowly than in the West, and the only good examples of old school communism left, Cuba and North Korea, are trapped in a time warp.

Now, capitalism and the private sector are not perfect. They make a hash of things quite often; just slightly less often than governments do. Failure is a useful part of our lives and essential to the function of economies.

Governments are less successful than the private sector for several key reasons.

They’re not putting up their own money; they’re obsessed with being popular and re-elected; and, as stated above, they

aren’t our best and brightest.

All this leads to the very rational conclusion that you shouldn’t want them to do very much.

Why then did Helen Clark’s government give councils powers of ‘general competence’ so they could broaden their scope? You should only want your politicians to do what the private sector won’t do, or can’t be trusted to do. Like, making sure the water supply is good. Hang on, if governments are more likely to make a hash of things than the private sector, do you really want them looking after the water supply?

What we’re actually nervous about is the private sector controlling the water supply, not administering it. The same goes for health care, schools and road construction. It’s access we worry about, not who does the job.

What we really want is for government to protect us from shoddy private sector operators, and to ensure we have basic access to the necessities that underpin our society – roads, water, power, etc.

This all boils down to regulation. The job of governments, local and central, is to draw up good laws and regulations to enforce them. So what grade would you give them on regulation for, say, power reform, the environment, building regulations, financial regulations, transport infrastructure, or dog control. If you’re like me you’ll dish out a few ‘Fail’ grades there.

Continued on Page 46

»

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

governments would only do their job properly, we’d live in a veritable utopia – a great education system, wonderful healthcare, low unemployment, low crime, all owning our own homes and a nil death toll on the roads. Politicians are sincere in their part of the folly and are forever telling us a good deal of this is possible, with them in power, with a few minor tweaks and a lot of patience.

For generations this mutual folly has led to great euphoria as a new champion is elected to power … and then disappointment as they fail to deliver.

With a few rare exceptions governments cannot fix the problems of the world. Get on as best you can without them and don’t waste too much time lobbying them.

One of the worst culprits here are Mäori. Sure they have some fair complaints, but Mäori have appeared at the wrong end of the health, education, crime and wealth statistics since statistics began, and government initiatives have made no progress on these matters. And they’re not going to. Ever. The smartest Mäori have realised that and made a fist of things on their own.

A government solution should never be Plan A (but politicians so want to be Plan A). If there are any problems in life, people

The nature of politicians All their Plan As notwithstanding, politicians are usually not that bright.

Ronald Reagan, who wasn’t that bright, once said: “The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.” Matt McCarten said it more bluntly recently in the NZ Herald: “Sometimes I despair at the stupidity of some of the people who run our country.” He went on to give prime examples from both sides of the house – most notably Peter Dunne, considered one of the brightest until recently.

There are two types of politicians: well meaning do-gooders and egotists.

I prefer the egotists. All political parties are led by egotists and all mayors I know of are egotists – and that’s OK. Note the spectacular success of the Greens since they made the transition from Nandor and the Earth Mother, both well meaning do-gooders, to Russel Norman and Mateira Turei – both clearly egotists.

Egotists always get more done.

The problem with egotists is they want to do cool, popular things, as this might just make them cool and popular.

“With a few rare exceptions governments cannot fix the problems of the world. Get on as best you can without them and don’t waste too much time lobbying them.”

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politicians suck

»

There is an alternative framework that is much more popular than the one I propose – particularly amongst politicians and most economists. They say that government can empower businesses and the community and work with them to provide better outcomes.

They can choose the projects that they see benefit the country and back them – as in the SkyCity convention centre deal.

History provides some evidence that this is indeed the best approach. It happens to a significant degree in China, where communism is all but dead,

replaced by state-sanctioned capitalism.

Regular travellers to China are bemused as to how this works, as they can often build several new office blocks, only for them to stand empty after construction.

State-sanctioned capitalism is essentially fascism. The fascism that led to Mussolini was originally a left-wing concept not so far from what China has today.

The other example of where statesanctioned capitalism was a triumph was Germany. Indeed Hitler might have won the Nobel Prize for Economics, with Germany’s economic model adopted around the world,

if they’d called time in 1939.

A great economic miracle occurred between 1933 and 1939. In 1933 the German unemployment rate was 33%, many banks and businesses had collapsed and the suicide rate was more than three times that of Great Britain. Successive governments collapsed before they could make much difference.

Shortly thereafter a new government, both powerful and durable was established. In six short years it righted the economy, lowered unemployment to 1.5% and gave the nation its pride again. The government even offered workers cheap holidays – a very popular initiative. Such were that government’s achievements that most of the German people were ready to follow the Nazis to the end of the world – and they did.

Now I’m not suggesting we’re on our way to fascism quite yet, but both communism and capitalism are nudging in that direction.

It begs the question though … do you want a really powerful, really successful government? Personally I’d rather bumble along in a free society, where government just provides basic regulation and stays well out of our lives in every other respect.

So what do you want your local body politicians to do? It’s worth thinking about, eh?

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

46

w w w. H a w k e s B a y R a c i n g . c o. n z

BRAIN

FOOD Speaking of food, here’s a menu of stimulating reading on why New Zealand farm produce is best, especially if it remains GE-free: Where Corn Is King, a New Regard for Grass-Fed Beef

Not stimulated enough?

Go to baybuzz.co.nz/brainfood and try these articles and speeches. Guaranteed to stir your juices!

Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years New York Times Impact of Shale Gas Development on Regional Water Quality Science, magazine of American Assn for the Advancement of Science

New York Times

But still some hope ...

A 40-year Plan for Energy A TED Talk by Amory Lovins

Or, are they all moving/investing here?

Asians Dominate NZ Immigration NZ Herald Foreign Direct Investment in New Zealand KPMG report, June 2013

Still hungry?

Food Companies Seeking Ingredients That Aren’t Gene-Altered

Latest Hawke’s Bay Job Analysis

New York Times Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food New York Times Why Do GMOs Need Protection

Life After Oil and Gas Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times

Dreaming of exporting to China?

Mark Bittman, New York Times Growing with China

In the bad news department:

Tony Alexander, BNZ’s chief economist

Heat-Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears

China’s Rising Consumer Class

New York Times

McKinsey & Company, June 2013

Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment What’s Behind PISA … the Global Measure of School Performance?

A TED Talk by Andreas Schleicher Andreas Schleicher

TechFocus

Vet advances highlight rural disadvantage Although technology is transforming the role of the rural vet, Keith Newman discovers lack of access means most local farmers are missing the online revolution.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

48

Although Hawke’s Bay Veterinary Services loves the new fibre optic network linking its four regional offices, it’s frustrated it can’t keep the bulk of its clients in the fast information loop, because they can’t get cellular network coverage or even decent internet access.

While lightspeed links have enabled the company to engage in high speed video conferencing, remote diagnosis and other innovations, its 26 veterinary surgeons are flying blind on many farms and have to wait until they’re back in the coverage zone or office to restore connections or download critical data.

Vet Services chief executive, Ian Walker, says it’s ironic, considering the importance of agriculture to the overall economy and the fact that 25% of the sheep population is along the East Coast, that you can’t get decent cellphone coverage.

He says, 75% of the geographical area Vet Services services is without coverage and the satellite option is too expensive.

“It’s a real issue.”

Initially, says Walker, the cellular carriers didn’t believe such a vast area isn’t covered by their networks … “Then you basically get the message that if there’s no money in it for them then they’re not interested.”

Despite those constraints, Vet Services, which has had a 24/7 call-out policy since 1949, is determined to keep ahead of the technology curve in order to be more responsive, even if it means sticking to the landline to make phone calls and send emails.

Instant information essential If it’s got four legs – whether it’s a pet rabbit, kitten or puppy, an exotic species, a stud ram, bull or stallion, a herd of milking cows, beef cattle or deer – then Vet Services is in its element. To do its job, the company is heavily reliant on its computer systems.

It needs to be online all the time to keep up with the play, for record keeping, stocktaking, debtors and creditors and

tim.co.nz

Vet Services CEO Ian Walker and Stuart Badger, senior vet clinician health records, making full use of about 45 computers between its four offices in Dannevirke, Hastings and Napier, all connecting back to the head office server in Waipukurau.

“We need to do business right now; to have information available instantly, whether that’s electronic diaries, records of who comes into the clinic, animal histories and radiographs so we know what’s happened previously,” says Walker.

Vet Services continues to invest in sophisticated diagnostic tools and make the maximum use of its full surgical, X-ray, endoscopy and scanning facilities, ultrasound pregnancy testing and comprehensive laboratory service.

Walker had been eyeing up fibre optics ever since it first became available but it proved too expensive until recently. “The providers were just being too greedy in what they were changing.”

Not so long ago, backing up critical

databases over the copper telephone lines took up to two hours and didn’t start until after midnight to prevent interference with their daily data processing.

Then Walker got Hawke’s Bay telco NOW to walk him through the options, ultimately settling on a customised mix – Telecom providing voice services and InspireNet the fibre link in Dannevirke, Chorus in Waipukurau, and Unison’s GPON (Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network) fibre to link its Napier and Hastings offices.

Dedicated fibre network Those different services are now woven into a dedicated wide area network (WAN) for data and voice communications; office servers back-up in real time to the central office and all the phone lines are aggregated over a separate link using IP Voice, enabling free internal calls through a virtual PBX exchange.

Vets help best practice In November last year Vet Services won the 2012 Westpac Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, with judges saying the business had a clear customer service focus, was innovative and strived to deliver valuable programmes to assist clients in their businesses and with their pets.

Walker says the award had a lot to do with the structure of the company, its governance, response to staff and customer service. “Technology is a big part of that, the flow of data into our laboratories, for example, goes straight into the computer system, there’s no paper involved now.”

Most of the call-outs these days are not the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff when there’s an injury or emergency, but helping farmers improve livestock health and productivity through pro-active animal production services.

That includes working with herds of sheep, cattle, dairy cows and deer and horses – artificial insemination, vaccinations and assisting with lambing and calving. Vet Services mobile ultrasound systems, for example enables vets to scan the tendons in animals or look at their heart valves on the farm; when BayBuzz called, nine of them were deployed scanning sheep.

“We’re in a unique situation where we have the ability to convert good science into practical and profitable on-farm solutions,” says Walker.

But there’s still that irritating constraint felt by farmers across the region that they’re not able to fully participate in a technological revolution that has the potential to transform farming, because they can’t use mobile communication.

Walker cites the move toward electronic ID of individual farm animals and monitoring what is happening on a particular property, or having them run across the scales so their tag is read and weight recorded.

Getting up-to-date weather or market reports, banking or accessing national

databases of critical farm information is not a reality with low-grade internet connections.

And it’s not as if the internet is some kind of optional extra or luxury, as these services often have to do with the nation’s biosecurity, such as notifying the appropriate authority when animals are shifted form one farm to another so their electronic ID follows them.

This kind of record keeping is increasingly part of international ‘gate to the plate’ requirements so it’s known which farm certain sheep and beef came from. “If you can’t get access to the technology and the providers don’t see the value of changing that, what do you do?” he asks.

While the Government is helping to fund fast internet to rural schools and some farmers can “parasite off that”, it’s still only a partial solution. And asking farmers to pay for additional cellphone towers or relay stations isn’t going to sit well.

To some, Google’s visionary balloonbased network being trialled in the South Island, can’t come soon enough, but in reality is still experimental and likely to be years away.

Technology has come a long way in the 65 years Vet Services has been in the game. “When I came to live 25 kilometres from Waipukurau in 1989, we still had a party line. And until recently we only had copper; now we’ve got cellphone, wireless and fibre,” says Walker.

That’s alright for the townies but he remains concerned at how the farming community, not all of them in the backblocks either, are missing out on an economic game-changer.

“The imagination could run wild, you could be out at Wimbledon with access to a client’s data, be able to determine pricing, enter data, produce an invoice, swipe their card and get it all done and paid for there and then.”

Like he says, there’s much scope for improvement.

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

It’s been a big investment to shift to fibre, but Walker believes the business case is sound with payback coming through reduced cost in phone line rentals, increased speed, greater efficiency and the ability to deploy a range of new services.

Once everything’s bedded in there will be opportunities for further savings, including the ability to use cloud-based virtual servers to replace separate servers in each office delivering desktop applications.

Traffic now hums along at between 50 and 100 megabits per second, ideal for example, for a multi-clinic video conference system.

Previously, weekly meetings were held at each clinic on different days which meant someone had to attend each of them, particularly if it involved sharing specialist knowledge. “A lot of that information had to be repeated. Under the new system we’re coordinating meetings using big screens and cameras so a topic only needs to be discussed once.”

The same technology is also being used for remote analysis or consultation. “Being able to communicate with universities, laboratories and other vet professionals has always been a high priority for us and now that’s much easier.”

Vet Services is also rolling out digital radiography. “We can set up an X-ray and send it to Massey University or Auckland or Australia instantaneously and have a horse or dog expert look at that on-screen while we talk to them.”

While IT is always expensive, Walker says it can also bring great value, for example the $100,000 per unit for digital radiography which replaces the old developing tanks and the use of chemicals.

“We get to play with the image more quickly, it’s clearer with more well-defined images of tissue, and because it’s easier we tend to use this equipment more. You can have an image on screen in front of you in 20 seconds.” There are also portable systems for field work, provided there’s access to a three-pin plug.

49

tim.co.nz

Charter Schools …

Let’s Ditch the Noise by ~ claire hague, EIT Deputy Chief Executive

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

50

Charter Schools continue to occupy considerable airtime in New Zealand, and the recent passing of the legislation that allows ‘partnership schools’ (as they are called in New Zealand) to be established has reinvigorated the noise.

From my perspective, most of it seems to be political noise depending at which end of the spectrum you sit. If you’re at the ‘Right’ of the political spectrum, charter schools are a way to free education from the shackles of current state education models. They will allow private enterprise the opportunity to improve educational choice and outcomes for today’s parents and students who may be dissatisfied with the current schooling system.

If you’re firmly ‘Left’ of the spectrum, charter schools are a dangerous tool of the Right, serving to undermine state education and the values it stands for.

These schools devalue education with the introduction of a business focus and the potential to employ untrained, unqualified teachers. They don’t need to teach the

New Zealand curriculum and they are not subject to the same review processes as state schools, which means they enjoy unfair autonomy, and risk poor quality that they may not be held accountable for.

In addition, speakers on both sides of the debate have been able to dredge up plenty of examples of charter schools that have worked (the Right) and been a disaster (the Left). Similarly, ‘research’ has emerged either supporting the idea that charter schools in other countries have targeted the underprivileged in order to improve their educational outcomes, or showing that such schools can screen out young people unlikely to succeed academically in order to make their statistics look good.

All of this is simplistic of course and detracts from the real question that New Zealanders should be asking. Is the current schooling system able to cater for all our children now, and into the future?

The clear evidence is that it doesn’t at the moment. Mäori and Pacific children are still lagging way behind Päkehä children in terms of educational outcomes in this country. Given that Mäori and Pacific will make up a rapidly increasing proportion of our schools and emerging workforce within the next decades, according to demographic data published by various agencies, what are we doing about that?

Sadly, some people would argue not a lot.

They would say that with a few exceptions, state schools still in most cases look pretty much the same as they did 100 years ago, except our kids take buses rather than horses to get there. Whether you agree with

that or not, currently we have 79,000 young people in this country who have left school and are not engaged in education, training or work (the NEET rate); many of them reside in our region. The NEET rate for Hawke’s Bay plus Gisborne is about 20% of youth aged 18-24 years.

That’s an unacceptable, incredibly sad waste of potential and a ticking time-bomb for our society that we can no longer put in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Interestingly, many iwi including Ngäti Kahungunu have publicly expressed interest in the charter school concept because of their desire to see more of their tamariki succeeding in education and transitioning into meaningful careers. Some key Mäori leaders in our community are very vocal about this – they are sick of seeing Mäori in short-term, labouring roles where they occupy positions that are the first to go in an economic downturn. With the treaty settlements gathering pace, iwi and hapü groupings are going to have much more firepower in terms of money and influence – and they will demand better educational outcomes for their young people than they are currently experiencing. If they can bypass the state system that currently fails too many Mäori, why wouldn’t they?

What about ‘partnership schools’?

In order to lift my head above this noise, I did some further reading about a partnership school model that I had heard about in the United States. Hear me out because this isn’t your traditional charter school model and I think we could easily achieve it within the current state system in New Zealand.

school to tertiary, to careers. The goal was always to apply the knowledge gained in the innovation to develop a model that could be used in state high schools regionally and nationally. Although business is an important part of the model, it was the city itself, along with tertiary organisations and secondary school leaders and teachers who were the key drivers in establishing the school.

If ever I want some inspiration for a possible future model for Hawke’s Bay, I google P-TECH (and I have used information from the various associated blogs, sites and articles for this BayBuzz piece) and see a wealth of evidence that a partnership model may just work if we focused on young people and the Hawke’s Bay region’s needs, rather than our own political views. Here is a school that links 15 year olds with a tertiary culture and foundation skills. Students experience a curriculum that integrates career goals, mentoring, guest speakers, workplace visits and internships. Industry advisors help the curriculum and assessments to continually evolve as the industry does. IBM also reserves places for graduates in their firm.

The school has to meet all the state requirements for courses and outcomes, but the pace at which students work is highly personalised, and mentors from the school, tertiary partners and IBM work with the students regularly on their individual education plans. While all students are expected to meet high school requirements and earn their associate degree in six years, some work at an accelerated pace for a shorter time.

The school day and the school years are extended beyond the normal state system to allow for all the individual support that

“Let’s drop the word ‘charter’ and work together to revolutionise our approach to teaching and learning within the new world that New Zealand [is] poised to enter.” is given as part of the model.

So … Is there a way that the P-TECH concept could be implemented within the current state system, and not just within the science and technology areas?

I believe the answer to that is yes – we could start planning for it in Hawke’s Bay tomorrow.

In Hawke’s Bay at the moment we have some wonderful visionary school principals, teachers and careers staff who I believe would be more than capable of the innovation that P-TECH represents, providing it didn’t unravel the core principles of New Zealand’s fiercely proud state school system. There are industry and community partners willing to support a model that would help all young people, particularly our Mäori and Pacific youth, become productive members of the Hawke’s Bay and indeed global communities and workforces.

There are tertiary organisations here and nationally based who would be very keen to help make this a reality.

Let’s drop the word ‘charter’ and work together to revolutionise our approach to teaching and learning within the new world that New Zealand and Hawke’s Bay are poised to enter. Our economy, our community and most of all our kids depend on it.

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In September 2011, the New York City Department of Education, The City University of New York (CUNY), New York City College of Technology (‘City Tech’) and the IBM Corporation opened Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) — an innovative public school spanning grades 9-14 (roughly equivalent to our senior secondary school and beyond, 15-20 year olds).

P-TECH has no entry criteria, so students from disadvantaged backgrounds with poor prior educational achievement are as likely to gain admission as anyone.

They graduate not only with a high school qualification, but also with an Associate in Applied Science degree in either Computer Science Technology or Electromechanical Engineering Technology awarded by their partner tertiary institution.

The education is fees free.

Students receive mentoring from IBM employees, as does the P-TECH principal. STEM subjects are the focus (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) along with core literacy and numeracy, and at the end of their six years at P-TECH the students will be ready to secure entry-level positions in the information technology field and/or complete their studies at university. The current makeup of P-TECH is 67% male and 33% female, and many of them will become the first in their families to gain a tertiary qualification. Attendance rates so far are spectacular at 95%.

The interesting thing about P-TECH is that it was apparently never planned as a standalone or charter school – it was intended to pilot a new way of transitioning students from secondary

51

THE BEST YEARS OF

OUR LIVES

tim.co.nz

by ~ K AY BAZZARD

Marie Dunningham

Isabel Morgan

June Graham

Personal Activism and Positive Ageing Standing up and being counted takes courage and a strong belief in the justice of your cause. Marie Dunningham, Isabel Morgan and June Graham have been doing this for much of their lives – and still are.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

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Over the decades, they have challenged the status quo and voter complacency by raising awareness of social injustices and environmental exploitation. They have questioned vested government and business interests; they are articulate, hard working and persistent; they network, read the research and sometimes do the jobs no one else wants to do.

Marie, June and Isabel defy the stereotype often applied to ‘seniors’.

It appears that for them age is irrelevant.

They travel to conferences, attend meetings and stand up in council chambers or parliamentary subcommittees to express their concerns and ideas.

NZ Order of Merit Isabel Morgan recounts how in the 1970s there were threats to the Ahuriri estuary from those intent on reclamation, dredging, marina proposals and motorway developments. “The threats and the need for resistance were unrelenting,” says Isabel. In 1981 she, with Forest & Bird Hawke’s Bay, established the Ahuriri Estuary Protection Society as an independent voice in the fight to save the estuary.

The momentum increased when a 1979 environmental study prepared for the city council by the estuarine research unit of the Zoology Department of the University of Canterbury was presented. The report described the estuary as “a unique wildlife

area with one of the greatest concentrations of water birds to be found anywhere in New Zealand in relation to its size”.

At that time there was limited understanding or appreciation of the environment and the negative effects of development upon the delicate ecological structures of water, land and sea. The society wanted to keep the estuary unspoiled and unchanged. By raising awareness it gained the support of local people and people around the country and was influential in having the estuary developments stopped or reconsidered.

More than 30 years later, the Ahuhiri Estuary Protection Society is still active in protecting and restoration work. It makes submissions to Napier City Council, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Napier Airport Authority, and organises rubbish cleanups, weed removal and planting days.

Isabel is active in the society working on city council reserve plantings, and school projects such as Enviroschool at Napier Intermediate.

She has been involved with Forest & Bird for many years and participated with the reintroduction of kokako and kiwi into the Boundary Stream conservation project and was recognised in 2007 with the NZ Order of Merit for conservation.

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“Older people seem to quietly withdraw, but perhaps that is because of health or social reasons,” but she has noticed that the more old people there are living together in a ‘retirement community’ the more insular they become.

I am a socialist Marie Dunningham was recently elected the new president of Grey Power Hawke’s Bay, having been its secretary for ten years.

She is a frequent presenter at council and district health board meetings. She is articulate with a sharp, hilarious wit and is a great believer in using humour to disarm and get her message across.

“Grey Power engages me intellectually as well as emotionally,” she says. “I take a very broad view … I think we [Grey Power] have a finger in every pie: town planning, the environment, retirement living, house design, transport planning, pensions, health, education, being out in the community, being needed and wanted. I think Grey Power should be represented on health boards and councils, we should go to environmental meetings and wave flags in the street.” She adds with a laugh, “Mind you, not all the committee agree with me.”

Her involvement with Grey Power requires keeping up to speed with anything which relates back to her constituency; the population of over-50s. She finds herself trying to sort out people’s problems.

Sitting on the table beside us as we talk is a book on tenancy law. “I have stuff lying about that must be read and it collects up into piles all over the place.” She is incredibly busy, seemingly relishing the excitement and challenges she is presented with, even though she frequently finds herself at odds with all kinds of people.

This does not faze her.

“I think Grey Power should be represented on health boards and councils, we should go to environmental meetings and wave flags in the street.”

Dunningham has been socially aware and active all her life. She recognises that she was serious right from the start, reading from an early age and discovering a book

by Karl Marx when she was 14. She and her brother found a book titled The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist in the school library, with a strong socialist theme on the lives of working class miners, how they were always at the bottom of the heap in a poverty trap. “I’ve never forgotten that book,” she declares, “I am a socialist and have been all my life. I was raised with a respect for the rights of the individual.”

As a young mother with four children she became very involved with the playcentre movement and later began nursing training at the age of 38, which broadened her interest to a wider age group and into other sociological problems.

“I rose to the top of a number of voluntary organisations because I was interested and I wanted them to work. All the groups I have belonged to are groups that are willing to rock the boat – that was the attraction for me.”

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Am I an activist?

June Graham returned to Hawke’s Bay in 2004, having lived in Tasmania and other parts of Australia for over 20 years. She felt disconnected and out of touch with her home town and began attending public meetings in order to understand how it all ‘worked’ and to find out what people were interested in. “I’m not naturally a political person but whilst I was living in Tasmania threats of coastal development had troubled me,” and she had found herself involved.

June sees herself as an ‘interested person’ rather than an activist, but says, “I suppose what I do could be construed in that way. When I attend political or public meetings, something may strike me as interesting or a bit odd, so I ask a question, I just want to know. The politicians often make obscure answers to avoid answering the question or use jargon, so I say, ‘I’m sorry but I don’t understand what that means.’ I don’t care if it makes me look stupid, at my age that doesn’t worry me.”

A drive to Wellington to make a presentation to a Parliamentary committee doesn’t faze June either; and she has served as a ministerial appointee on the East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservation Board.

But, she says, it is a struggle not to become cynical. She acknowledges that for her, getting older means she has less time left to question those in power, so she feels compelled to continue and she has become “quite outspoken”. It saddens her that so many people don’t read the local newspapers to keep abreast of developments – a healthy democracy needs informed and involved citizens.

She suspects that her friends think she is a bit weird to be bothering with politics.

53

tim.co.nz

The

Environmental Revolution Re(Joy)ce! by ~ Ewan McGregor

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

54

The darling of the Greens, Dr Mike Joy of Massey University, has been constantly dismissive of the growing environmentalism in this country over recent decades. He thus betrays a complete ignorance of our environmental history, reflected in this extraordinary statement: “In five decades New Zealand has gone from a world-famous clean, green paradise to an ecologically compromised island nation near the bottom of the heap of socalled developed countries.”

(The Herald 25/4/11) “Clean, green paradise” 50 years ago?

Really?

BayBuzz editor Tom Belford comes to a similar conclusion, expressing “…concern of where the unbridled zeal for growth at all costs is taking Hawke’s Bay”.

I disagree. The evidence of accommodating the environment in the context of economic growth is all around us. It may not be enough (although that’s a subjective judgement), but to deny its existence defies history. In fact, I’ll go so far as to pronounce it a revolution!

Over this period we humans, here and elsewhere, have for the first time been prepared to make serious sacrifices to (hopefully) enable the existence of life of generations yet unborn.

With the exception of soil conservation planting, public assistance to private environmental protection 50 years ago was virtually nonexistent, but there was plenty of encouragement for the land developer, both financial and moral. Indeed, right

up to the 1980s farmers were assisted through cheap credit and suspensor loans to develop marginal land, much of it environmentally unsuited to farming.

The environmental standards to which many of us aspire may be outpacing endeavour, and thus leading to a sense of disillusionment and even of failure.

But that’s no reason to conclude that no progress is being made. In fact, huge progress has occurred. Five decades ago there was little, if any, sense of environmental failure in the public’s mind as there was no serious environmentalism!

This was blissful ignorance.

For New Zealand, there has been no identifiable starting point of this environmental revolution, but there were hints of what was to come. Guthrie-Smith wrote his classic Tutira (1st edition) in 1921, seriously representing for the first time the ecological transformation of New Zealand since European settlement. The Royal Forest and Bird Society was founded in 1923. Following the ‘ANZAC Day’ flood of 1938 in Hawke’s Bay, the Soil and Rivers Control Act was passed (1941) setting up Catchment Boards; ours being formed in 1944. This was the first parliamentary act aimed at the environment. National parks were progressively established from the turn of the last century.

The revolution begins But it was around the 1970s that the revolution started to gather momentum.

In 1970 10% of the population signed

“The evidence of accommodating the environment in the context of economic growth is all around us.” the Save Manapouri Petition, which resulted in the abandonment of raising the lake in the name of generating a bit more electricity for the smelting of aluminium. This forced the hand of Government and was a real game-changer.

In the early 1970s urban wastewater standards were undergoing the first significant improvement, and in 1977 both the Environment Defence Society and the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust were formed. In the mid 1980s the Ministry for the Environment and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment were established.

In 1989 regional councils were established, and in 1991 the RMA was passed, followed by various other environmentally-related legislative initiatives, far too numerous to list. Circa 1994 native forest on public and private land (with few exceptions) was given legal protection.

I can identify ten general areas of significant environmental progress here in Hawke’s Bay over the last five decades; most, actually, over the last three.

10 areas of environmental progress in Hawke’s Bay in the last five decades.

Water Allocation Over the last decade we have crossed a threshold from perceived water abundance to scarcity. This has been caused by the escalating demand for industrial water (driven largely by the development of central pivot irrigators) on the one hand, and the growing community demand for more and better water for environmental and recreational motives. The Regional Council has the thankless task of rationing it and does not – and can not – please all users.

Wastewater Until about 1970, raw wastewater, whether from reticulated urban areas, industrial plants (freezing works) or dairy farms, was merely poured into the nearest water body. It could be the sea (‘Perfume Point’) or river (Tukituki). Then came oxidation ponds, or lengthy pipelines into Hawke Bay, but today these standards are insufficient. Meeting current community expectations comes at a high cost indeed, but must be met.

Soil Conservation

Just a couple of decades ago it would have seemed unthinkable for the Regional Council to ban, for instance, open domestic fires, historically the primary method of heating homes.

Landfill Getting rid of unwanted solid waste up to the 1980s was easy. You merely dumped it over the nearest bank, into an unused shingle pit (Roy’s Hill, over the aquifer) or a convenient ‘swamp’ (Pekepeka Wetland).

No longer. Go to the Omaranui Landfill and see the operation there. And go to Roy’s Hill now and have a look at what the Hastings Council and committed people are doing to convert what was once a festering sore into an 11-hectare park enhanced with natives.

Possum Knock-down This has had a huge impact on our native forest health, and hence birdlife.

It was assumed that there were 70 million possums in New Zealand, not that anyone counted them, but it seems like an impressive figure. They were, by the way, protected until 1946. Today you will see far more flattened pukekos on the road than possums. The result is indisputable; more native birdlife in our bush and urban environments.

Wetland Restoration This has been a great inspiration. Just look at the conversions of Pekapeka, the Karamu and Maraetotara from willowchoked waterways to the infancy of native restoration where the HBRC and

community are working together. Another in Havelock North is the Karatewhenua stream restoration, all done by volunteers.

And what about wetland creation at Puketapu and Lake Lopez?

Land Conservation Through the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust there are now around 14,000 hectares of private land in Hawke’s Bay voluntarily conserved under covenant.

Its iwi partner, Nga Whenua Rahui, has also facilitated bush protection. In addition, countless areas, especially along waterways, have been protected through stock exclusion on farms.

Endangered Species Protection Cape Kidnappers Sanctuary is a fantastic example of individuals of significant means working with volunteers to protect our biodiversity; no charge on the public. Behind a seven-kilometre predator-proof fence ($250 a metre) a team works continually to destroy predators (800 cats destroyed so far) to protect a range of natural or introduced native species. Last year there were introductions of tuatara and takahe, both believed to have been absent from Hawke’s Bay for centuries. This is an initiative of national, if not international, significance.

There are additional species protection initiatives in the region, especially the kiwi by the NCC and in predator controlled or proof areas in the Tutira district.

Criticising is easy. But then so is giving credit. Such provides encouragement to those who make the effort, and others who may respond and join the cause. Proclaim it! The environment will be the winner!

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This began in the 1950s, but today falls well short of what is needed, as repeated rain bombs demonstrate. But look at images of Hawke’s Bay’s rural landscape in the 1950s and see how treeless it was. For that matter, look at the urban landscape as well.

Air Quality

55

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Ben Pearce ~ Mirror ~ Image courtesy of Black Barn Gallery

All readers of this article take a bow by ~ ROY DUNNINGHAM

The redevelopment of Hastings Civic Square, which includes, of course, the Hastings City Art Gallery (HCAG), raises questions of just what is the role of a provincial art gallery.

McDonald, John Buck and Alan Lymmer had focused their talents on Henderson or the Hunter Valley instead of here?

A suggestion was made after EAST 2012 that the standard of locally based artists in that show suffered by comparison with the expatriates also shown. While there were several indifferent works included, for my money, four of the best works in the show were by locally based artists, Para Matchitt, David Trubridge, Wellesley Binding and Peter Baker.

It was suggested that local art was not as strong as ‘we’ think, whatever that may mean and whoever ‘we’ are. This may well be true but these things are all relative. Hawke’s Bay art is probably better than that of Eketahuna. Auckland is stronger than Hawke’s Bay, but Sydney is stronger than that of Auckland and London is stronger than that of Sydney.

For that matter New Zealand art is probably not as strong as we think.

Our local artists have much to offer.

The real point is, are there local artists whose work has something worthwhile to say and do they show a degree of professional commitment that would justify supporting them with exhibition space?

Well, absolutely yes. There is so much to find in their work.

We can enjoy Martin Poppelwell’s deconstruction of artistic conventions, the history content of a Chris BryantToi, the obsessively crafted work of Jo Blogg, the otherworldliness of Michael Hawksworth, and the ingeniously idiosyncratic creations of Ben Pearce, to name a few.

Most significantly, I can say after more than 40 years of surveying the

Benign climate?!

One writer suggested (tongue in cheek I imagine), that a benign climate like Hawke’s Bay is not conducive to intellectual creativity. Oh, dear. Goodbye to Gauguin in Tahiti, Hockney and

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Should it be primarily a venue for the encouragement of artists who live and work locally or should it be purely and simply a showcase for art even if it means the exclusion of ‘local artists’? Are these two functions compatible?

If the prime purpose is to further the development of local art and to highlight local stories and character, then how is this best achieved? Is there a part to be played by showing the best possible art from outside Hawke’s Bay? I believe that we can find a parallel in the history of the Hawke’s Bay wine industry. In the late 60s and early 70s I can recall some fairly dodgy local red wines that seemed OK at the time to my uninformed palate. (After all they did have alcohol!) Then one evening a good friend with a wine cellar (choose your friends wisely) opened a bottle of Pichon - Longueville from Bordeaux. It was a road to Damascus experience followed at a later date by a Chambertin from Burgundy and a Penfold’s Grange.

Life was never going to be the same again, the journey had begun.

A more careful look at local wines revealed one or two that were quite decent, especially those made by Tom McDonald at Greenmeadows. Even more thoughtful comparisons revealed things like the 1976 McWilliams cabernet sauvignon being better than the 1977.

This was only 40-odd years ago and the important thing is the increasing part played by local winemakers in meeting the challenge of achieving higher standards, supported by an increasingly knowledgeable and discerning local market. How would the wine industry in Hawke’s Bay look now if people like Tom

local art scene that there are far more artists of interest here than ever before, so we must be doing something right.

The constructively selective curatorial practices of the HCAG and the Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery have been a major factor in this progress.

In a recent trip to Australia I enjoyed the work of the big guns like Sidney Nolan, Rosalie Gascoigne and Imants Tillers in the major galleries of NSW and Victoria, but in one or two smaller centres like Armidale I was pleasantly surprised by the vitality and distinctiveness of local artists not known to me.

Yes, Regionalism in art in the sense of artists reacting to local light and landforms may no longer be particularly fashionable, but artists in regions most certainly are still important, thank goodness.

The local scene may be viewed as a microcosm of what happened to New Zealand art over the 20th century.

For much of that time we looked to the northern hemisphere for artistic leadership. The permanent collections of our major art galleries are stacked with well meaning but largely irrelevant acquisitions of works by mediocre British academicians of that time. We looked to send our best artists overseas.

The poet William Pember Reeves wrote of the colonist in his garden being urged to “turn back to England, life and art”.

So talented artists like Frances Hodgkins and Raymond McIntyre moved to Europe and achieved modest success as European artists. Others, like McCahon, Angus, Woollaston and Hotere stayed here. They provided the seismic jolt that initiated the creative tsunami of New Zealand art in the latter part of the 20th century. The rest, as they say, is history.

Historically the best artists come from thriving art communities and a provincial gallery has a vital role to play in nurturing that community. This doesn’t mean an uncritical massaging of artists’ egos, but it can be achieved through dialogue with the art community and a critical curatorial approach that gives an incentive for artists to develop and extend their practice.

HCAG has, I believe, largely achieved this and is also achieving a growing national reputation as a worthwhile ‘Art Destination’. Most importantly Hawke’s Bay artists look upon it as their spiritual ‘home’.

57

Readers Take A Bow

Martin Poppelwell ~ Study for a willow ~ Image courtesy of Black Barn Gallery

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

58

“Hawke’s Bay art is probably better than that of Eketahuna. Auckland is stronger than Hawke’s Bay, but Sydney is stronger than that of Auckland and London is stronger than that of Sydney.”

Diebenkorn in California, Matisse in the south of France and the entire cultural oeuvre of Periclean Athens!

Without the stimulus of the best possible art from outside, local art could easily become complacent. Quality shows from outside such as Multiply, curated last year by Judith Anderson, set a standard for artists and viewers alike. It has been said that the most important ingredient for a well-written letter is the quality of the recipient. This applies equally to the art world and the importance of critical and well-informed viewers cannot be exaggerated.

All readers of this article take a bow.

Jo Blogg ~ All Things Bright and Beautiful

Readers Take A Bow

Judy Millar ~ Big Pink Shimmering One

So, how do I think that Hastings City Art Gallery should ply its trade?

Well, I would like to see it running more education programmes and mounting exhibitions which could be toured to other centres, thus raising our national profile. However, these would require extra resourcing that is not available in these financially restrained times.

Otherwise, I believe that HCAG has got the balance between the best of Hawke’s Bay art and art from outside our region pretty well right. Let’s build upon that.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

James Robinson ~ Taniwha/Dragon (Qi gong notes, spirit bones)

20 Years of Winners now at the HCAG represents some of New Zealand’s best art from the Wallace Awards. While there is nothing here really controversial, such as Dane Mitchell or Et Al, it is something of a ‘Who’s who’ in recent New Zealand art.

Notable inclusions are Judy Millar who represented New Zealand in the previous Venice Biennale; Bill Hammond who is arguably our most influential painter since the heyday of McCahon and Hotere; and James Robinson who, in my opinion is the best painter working in New Zealand at present. This show runs until Aug 11th and really should not be missed.

59

A Hawke’s Bay Urban Design Panel

tim.co.nz

A regional opportunity to lift the bar

Design review is a tried and tested method of promoting good design and is a cost-effective and efficient way to improve quality.

Architect Anthony Vile argues we need more of it in Hawke’s Bay.

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

60

Urban Design Panels currently operate in at least ten districts, both metro centres and provincial centres, throughout New Zealand. They have been credited with much success for getting urban design on the agenda nationally and locally, as well as being cost-effective mechanisms for providing independent recommendations to developers and to councils on the appropriateness of projects with significant urban design implications. They have accordingly become part of the urban development process.

The need for design panels has been driven by a culture that has historically placed ‘design’ and heritage issues on the backburner, and the free market and developer margins on the front.

Inspired by their success overseas, professional bodies, academics, enlightened councils and the Ministry for the Environment have lobbied for their inclusion in development processes for a number of years. A turning point in their establishment was the ratification of the NZ Urban Design Protocol in 2000.

The general lack of specific design controls in district plans, combined with the subjective nature of defining what ‘quality’

As provided in the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol: “Urban design is concerned with the design of the buildings, places, spaces and networks that make up our towns and cities, and the ways people use them. It ranges in scale from a metropolitan region, city or town down to a street, public space or even a single building.

Urban design is concerned not just with appearances and built form but with the environmental, economic, social and cultural consequences of design. It is an approach that draws together many different sectors and professions, and it includes both the process of decision-making as well as the outcomes of design.”

in the built environment means, has historically left consent planners awash in a sea of uncertainty regarding assessment of design. This is compounded lack of specific training in design or its critical assessment.

Consent applications can only be measured against the criteria established in the district plan and ultimately the Resource Management Act. If there are no criteria for assessment of design quality then obviously there is no means for local authorities to establish a base measurement.

Without clear definition in district plans, nor the appropriately trained urban design staff, ‘quality’ at the end of the day is whatever the relationship between a developer and a statutory authority decides it is. This can and has led to piecemeal and variable outcomes. Some developers care; some don’t. Some councils understand; some don’t. It’s as simple as that.

Of course design quality is less of a concern when a project is tucked away on a lifestyle block and is an individual’s prerogative. However, when a project intersects with public space, public good and quality becomes an issue. This then is the activation opportunity for design review panels, to be party to the process

of design assessment and to provide assistance to developers in achieving higher amenity outcomes.

panel that could provide consistency in design assessment and quality on a regional basis, simultaneously providing the scale necessary to provide a costeffective means of doing so.

Does a voluntary approach work?

The question arises whether a voluntary, non-regulatory method of achieving enhanced amenity outcomes works. I would argue it doesn’t. Either design and amenity need to be embedded in the district plans or an independent design panel needs to be established.

Such an instrument would need to be removed from the personal interests and politics of local development.

Appointment would be based on qualification to provide professional advice to both the private and public sector as and when certain triggers are activated. It would act in an advisory capacity, with the panel’s report given similar weight as other technical assessments such as engineering reports.

Meanwhile, the region’s focus becomes more urban. HDC states that “requirements for urban design are becoming more responsive to the activities of the development community” (HDC Annual Report, 2011/12), which for all purposes sounds like Auckland in the 80s. If we want greater amenity we should all be concerned that there is no best practice process to ensure just that.

Recent plan changes related to both Havelock North and Flaxmere CBD have picked up on the need for specific urban design-related criteria to be utilized, as well as the use of a design review process, but fail to provide the detail in how that might work.

Continued on Page 62

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61

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Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

Design panels in the Bay In Hawke’s Bay, local councils have been on and off the design panel wagon for some time now. HDC commendably is a signatory of the Urban Design Protocol and in principle understands the value of good design practice. But where the rubber meets the road, the process seems easily derailed by personalities, politics and lack of rigor.

Various policies and mandates established over the last 15 years have raised awareness in the development community, but not enough. The protocols and terms of reference for an “aesthetic design panel” that have been established, conveniently contain an “as and when deemed appropriate” clause, providing an easy out and leaving the district with no certainty of process or outcome.

The HDC Aesthetic Design Panel (ADP) currently appears to be in a dormant phase. It seems to have fallen out of favour based on providing views contrary to the council’s own regarding projects such as Hastings Opera House, Regional Sports Park, Hastings Farmers store, and the large format retail on the former Nelson park site.

“We believe the council is about to make a grave mistake,” a spokesman for the Panel, said when interviewed by Hawke’s Bay Today regarding the Nelson Park project in November 2007. In an article in 2010 the same paper reporting on the development of Farmers on Heretaunaga Street noted: “The ADP spokesperson, who did not want to be named, said: ‘Our report was already a compromise and while

they’ve made a few changes to the plans it’s only half measures’ … ‘The council is quite determined to have Farmers on Heretaunga St, even though it’s a completely inappropriate building for the main street’.”

Two issues are at play here. One is there is no rigor in process behind the ADP. Its very name is misguided in terms of what its role should be. It’s not about ‘aesthetics’; it’s about raising the bar on provincial urban design (see definition above). The other issue is having a limited pool of design professionals to draw on whose critical advice could be misconstrued as negative, as well as the potential for conflict of interest in a small community.

As such, there is currently a climate of fear regarding being outspoken on design issues in the design community, symptomatic of the need for systemic change.

Napier has no clear policy regards the use of an urban design panel, but through the district plan and active heritage advocates, such as the Art Deco Trust, the council has exercised much more control over heritage in the Napier CBD than Hastings has in its own. The design panel idea seems to be reserved for use on an ‘as and when needed’ basis. A specific ‘design group’ was established for developments in Ahuriri, but has seemed to be deemed irrelevant elsewhere.

At the regional council, pending Plan Change 4 – Managing the Built Environment – is in essence an urban design policy for the region promoting “more compact well designed and strongly connected urban areas.” The regional policy statement on urban development seeks to promote ideas of urban amenity as a regional issue. It might in fact represent an opportunity to establish a regional

027 600 7521 (Scott Taylor)

www.designbuilders.co.nz

A Hawke’s Bay Urban Design Panel

What is quality and why should it be considered different in a provincial setting?

The closest the RMA comes to defining the importance of good design is contained in the definition of amenity value as below:

“Amenity values are those natural or physical qualities and characteristics of an area that contribute to people’s appreciation of its pleasantness, aesthetic coherence, and cultural and recreational attributes.”

It is a definition that closely ties the meaning to people and place. It is an important concept in the world of development, district plans and of course the Environment Court. The search tool (within Adobe Acrobat) counts ‘amenity’ 1,079 times in the current Draft HDC District Plan; the word ‘architecture’ is mentioned a mere six, ‘urban design’ 128, ‘culture’ eight, and ‘community’ 595. So what does that mean and what are the results we can expect?

The district plan is the primary tool for delivering amenity value to the built environment. In Hawke’s Bay, HDC is in the midst of its legally required ten yearly review process. It has already been released as a draft document and been through a preliminary round of consultation and submissions. NCC is simultaneously reviewing some aspects of their district plan in order to align more strategically with Hastings. Some keys changes are afoot that relate to so-called intensification and

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

62

the ‘compact city’ idea – enabling ‘up and not out’ higher intensity land use in the residential sector.

There has been very little debate or public dialogue around any of the issues contained in the District Plan review. It will be interesting to see as the review progresses if the same degree of NIMBYism occurs as in Auckland (where 29,240 formal submissions were filed on the Draft Unitary Plan). This will be dependent on the manner in which constituents are consulted, what and how proposals and issues are communicated, and what level of interest in the democratic process the average punter has outside of the usual demands of living in the Bay. As part of this district plan review, perhaps then we should be taking the opportunity to borrow some of the experience from other regions and instigate at a regional level some kind of design review panel process that can add significant value to the region. It is not about adding cost or bureaucracy to the development process as some opponents will suggest. Rather, it is about using experts in their fields to help the region lift its game in a globally competitive market where the perception of amenity in the built environment attracts dollars. Bottom line.

Back in the 80s and 90s when Auckland was running amuck with developers and their shiny beamers, generating the bad rap and JAFFA monicker that has stuck, the then Auckland councils were not yet up to speed on urban design. Any development was good development.

A passionate group of academics and professionals alongside a sympathetic Ministry for the Environment put pressure on to establish NZ’s first urban design panel. It has been in existence now for ten

years. The quality of public projects and building we see across that region now is largely the result of the work of the panel in changing attitudes within both the council and development communities.

The same can be said for Queenstown.

Auckland’s experience suggests that some form of independent review process raises the bar, and that most developers and their design consultants are more than willing to respond to the challenge.

It’s time for Hawke’s Bay to embrace this as a process and a strategic challenge.

‘Best practice’ design review panels rest on ten key principles: 1. Independence – conducted by people separate from the scheme.

2. Accountable – records and explains advice and is transparent about potential conflicts of interest.

3. Expert – is conducted by suitably trained people who are experienced in design and know how to criticize constructively.

4. Advisory – it does not make decisions but acts as a source of impartial advice.

5. Accessible – its findings are clearly expressed and communicated.

6. Proportionate – it is used on projects whose significance warrants public investment.

7. Timely – it takes place as early as possible in the life of a design.

8. Objective – it appraises schemes according to objective criteria.

9. Focused – on outcomes for people ... it asks how this project can better meet the needs of the people.

10. Focused – on improving quality … constructively seeking to improve the quality of architecture, urban design, landscape infrastructure, town planning.

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Five into One

Bee in the know ~ jul/aug 2013

64

The three commissioners strode into the chamber and took their seats. The chairman nodded to the clerk, who had a pile of thick folders in front of him. The clerk announced that the folders were proposals for reorganisation of Hawkus Bay, a produce and grape-growing area to the East.

“Hawkus Bay?” frowned the chairman.

“Lawrencus country. Sheep worshipers and winemakers. Always been a rather dubious combination, if you ask me.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. He had known Lawrencus Yulus for some time. He recalled his dark curly hair, twinkling eyes and a smile like a usedchariot salesman. A man with friends in high places.

He looked down at the pile of folders.

“Do we have to read them?” he asked the clerk. “We already know what they’ll say.”

“The Napierions are terrified of being forced to get into bed with the hordes from Hustings. They won’t touch Lawrencus with a 40-metre barge pole and will bar entry to their city by ‘earthy types’, which includes farmers, orchardists and freezing workers, and anyone whose surname begins with the letter Y. “I hear the Warrior Queen herself is hanging up her whips and putting away her boots. The plotters are already slinking around her throne like wolves, including that peculiar fellow Bertus.

“And they tell me that Bullish Doltus has formed a group he’s called DAD – Don’t Attack Deco – to defend Napierion from an imposed merger. He claims it would be undemocratic if citizens did not get a vote on any amalgamation proposal. Spends too much time with the Greeks if you ask me.”

The clerk leaned forward with a folder marked Heretaungus Enlargus.

“What’s this,” said the chairman. “Not some sort of mail-order catalogue is it?”

The clerk smiled awkwardly.

“I think you’ll find this proposal from Hustings is a little more ambitious than the Napierions. Not surprisingly, Lawrencus wants the lot, from Wairorus in the north to the settlements of the Central Bay of Hawks to the south. And by wiping out the regional consul and getting his hands on their wealth, his coffers would no longer be mortgaged to moneylenders.”

The chairman nodded and rubbed his nose.

“That has Lawrencus’ subtle touch

all right. He knows that by crushing the fiefdoms in the city of Jafa in the north, the Senate knew the rest would be left fighting for survival. And I’ll wager that he won’t be able to resist the lure of being first to sit on the Throne of Heretuscany.”

The clerk opened a folder titled Hawkus Improvus.

“This is the proposal to amalgamate the Hawkus Bay councils into one body from a group calling itself A Betterforus Hawkus Bay, “ he said.

“They take the one-toga-fits-all approach. Cost savings would come from cutting staff in town planning departments and re-employing them on minimal salaries as chariot parking wardens.”

“What did Lawrencus think of that proposal?” asked the chairman.

The clerk slid out another folder.

“Enough to copy it, but there’s a problem.”

“Problem?” asked the chairman.

The clerk slid out a third folder with the title, Boldus Movus on its cover.

“It’s Fentus Fulsome, the regional consul chairman. He’s pushing for a pre-emptive strike on lands to the south as far as the Capital’s border. The whole plan is set out in this proposal. He’s got diagrams, maps and a picture of himself on a horse. It’s a very good likeness.”

“Great Jupiter,” said the chairman. “He must have been planning this for years.”

“No, Fentus said he wrote the proposal himself at 2 o’clock in the morning, after dreaming he was flying over green hills and lush pastures fed by a grid of canals.

They were linked to a huge inland sea set in the foothills of the mountains.

Farmers whistled happily as cattle waded in the streams.

“A voice told him ‘this land is your land’. When he awoke he drew a plan to invade the southern end of the island.

Then he drew a big dam and coloured it blue. He says he wants to turn the whole of the lower North Island into a water theme park, where animals graze on lush green paddocks fed by dams.”

The chairman frowned.

“Animals?”

“He did mention dairy cows,” replied the clerk.

The chairman furrowed his brow.

“I know his type. We call them Otter Men. They’re descendants of the great Otter Men Empire and wherever they settle, they start building huge dams. Just like otters. You can’t stop them.”

Throne of Heretuscany

“I bet Lawrencus is desperate to get his hands on the consul’s coffers before they spend the lot on the dam. But you can’t stop an Otter Man when he gets water on the brain.”

He looked up.

“I don’t think we need to spend any more time on this.”

“We can’t let the regional consul grab great chunks of territory just because the chairman has watery dreams about cows.

If that’s the best they can do then we can safely do without them.

“And the Napierions have been holed up inside their walls for so long they’ve lost track of time. Amalgamation would improve their dress sense at the very least.”

The clerk nodded.

“Which leaves us with the Lawrencus plan and the initial proposal, which are largely the same thing,” he said.

“In summary, they give no indication of the level of public support for amalgamation; the potential for savings seems largely unknown but minimal at best; it would involve setting up a one-stopshop bureaucracy in the region; it would put the people further away from decisionmakers; and probably removes their right to vote on amalgamation anyway.”

The chairman put his pen down and smiled.

“They tick all the boxes. So it’s five into one. Should have done it years ago.”

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