BB#48-Jul-Aug-2019

N 48 • JULY / AUGUST 2019 • HAWKE’S BAY UP CLOSE, IN DEPTH

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Inside: New Culture Section

Jul/Aug

Climate emergency! No more denial HB social bureaucracies crush people Improve your gut health Fresh election candidates emerging E-waste mounting & toxic Future-proofing our libraries

48 BayBuzz July/August 2019 Rental disaster in Hawke’s Bay. Solar uptake creeps ahead. Local body candidates profiled.

Electronic waste mounting. Political update on Port, climate emergency. First-class research at EIT. Māori participation in local government. What future for HB libraries? Philipp Meier artworks in steel.

Tylee says ‘buy local’. Music’s primordial appeal. Improve your gut health. Kippenberger seeks winter inspiration.

Cover Photo: Bridget Freeman-Rock and Nils Rock. Photo: Florence Charvin. Above: Climate change march, Napier. Photo: Tom Allan

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Bee in the Know 8 Zoe Shore

10 Did You Know?

Improving your Hawke’s Bay IQ.

14 Events / Lizzie Russell

Features 24 Trapped in a Rental Rat Race / Bridget Freeman-Rock Rental availability, prices and culture suck.

88. Philipp Meier. Photo:Tom Allan

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Following The Sun / Keith Newman Solar uptake just creeping ahead; commercial installations lead.

38 Political Update / Tom Belford ‘Hot’ local races. Climate emergency. Port IPO. Provincial Growth Fund goodies.

44 Election Action / Sophie Price Profiling Damon Harvey, Will Foley, Jerf van Beek, Hinewai Ormsby, Martin Williams and Nichola Nicholson.

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Social Agendas For Our Councils As proposed by Heretaunga Women’s Centre and Napier Pilot City Trust.

64 EIT Excelling In Research / Rosheen FitzGerald Original, practical research at EIT winning acclaim.

56 Changing a System That Confounds and Crushes / Tom Belford In HB, the system to help our most needy and vulnerable is broken.

Ideas & Opinions

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Electronic Wasteland / Keith Newman E-waste is toxic and accumulating in Hawke’s Bay.

Food Trends and Gut Health / Tom Belford Are you stocking up on the ‘good’ bugs?

80. Matariki. Photo: Florence Charvin

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Caveat Suffragator – Voter Beware! / Andrew Frame Clean water. Pool choice. Ward politics.

A ‘business’ candidate…why?

74 Representation or Tribalism / Paul Paynter Where is Māori participation in local governance headed?

76 Taste Pure Nature / John Loughlin Building a global ‘meat brand’ for New Zealand.

Culture 80

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Exploring HB: Matariki / Bridget Freeman-Rock

Plucking At Your Sweet Spot / Jess Soutar Barron

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Future-Proofing Our Libraries/ Kay Bazzard

What’s For Dinner? / Alexandra Tylee

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Philipp Meier: Steel Tailor / Lizzie Russell

Winter Inspiration / Mary Kippenberger

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 3

Follow us at: baybuzzhb

Featured Contributors

Articles online at: baybuzz.co.nz Bridget Freeman-Rock and Lizzie Russell We first met at a live poetry reading. We liked each other’s poems. In the years since, our interests and professional lives have been intersecting, offering different opportunities for creative collaboration (a lot of conversations, a lot of coffee). We are both active in the arts in Hawke’s Bay and are long-time BayBuzz writers, and enjoy working together to discover hidden gems and ways of looking at Hawke’s Bay’s culture, community and art. We have taken up the curatorship of the refreshed Culture section with the view to shine a light on some of the generative, subversive, participatory threads of life in Hawke’s Bay.

Editorial enquiries editors@baybuzz.co.nz Advertising enquiries Mel Blackmore mel@baybuzz.co.nz 021 911 098 Reach BayBuzz by mail BayBuzz, PO Box 8322, Havelock North

The BayBuzz Team EDITOR: Tom Belford ASSISTANT EDITORS: Bridget Freeman-Rock; Lizzie Russell SENIOR WRITERS: Rosheen FitzGerald; Bridget Freeman-Rock; Keith Newman; Sophie Price COLUMNISTS: Kay Bazzard; Andrew Frame; Mary Kippenberger; Matt Miller; Paul Paynter; Jess Soutar Barron; Pat Turley; Alexandra Tylee EDITOR’S RIGHT HAND: Brooks Belford PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Allan; Florence Charvin ILLUSTRATION: Brett Monteith DESIGN: Unit Design Max Parkes; Giselle Reid DISTRIBUTION: Mel Blackmore ONLINE: Mogul, Liz Nes BUSINESS MANAGER: Bernadette Magee PRINTING: Format Print

ISSN 2253-2625 (Print) ISSN 2253-2633 (Online)

This document is printed on an environmentally responsible paper produced using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) pulp sourced from Sustainable & Legally Harvested Farmed Trees, and manufactured under the strict ISO14001 Environmental Management System.

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Photo: Florence Charvin

BayBuzz Regulars Tom Allan Tom Allan is Hawke’s Bay born and bred. He’s a designer, photographer and videographer, and yoga practitioner. When Tom’s not behind the lens, he runs Studio Ossian, a co-working space in Ahuriri.

Florence Charvin

Kay Bazzard Kay began writing as a late career move shortly after moving to Hawke’s Bay in 1999 with a focus on the arts and culture. Her other passion is figurative clay sculpture.

Sophie Price A journalist now for almost two decades, Sophie has worked both in Australia and abroad as an investigative political reporter and an all-round newspaperwoman. Settling down in New Zealand with her family, she now calls Hawke’s Bay home.

Paul Paynter Paul Paynter is our resident iconoclast and cider maker.

Sometimes he grows stuff at Yummyfruit.

Keith Newman Keith is a journo with over 45 years’ experience across mainstream and trade media.

He’s won awards for writing about hi-tech, produced music programmes for Radio NZ and published five books, one on the internet in New Zealand and four on New Zealand history.

Hawke's Bay is the adopted home of French photographer Florence Charvin. Florence likes to photograph people and what they are passionate about.

10 ways you can help 1.

We all love lists. You’re reading ours! On what topic would you like BayBuzz to prepare a ‘Top 10’ or ‘Top 20’ of Hawke’s Bay list?

Email editors@baybuzz.co.nz

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Email editors@baybuzz.co.nz

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Do you know someone now overseas that you’d like to keep informed, even lure back to Hawke’s Bay? Best way is a $15 BB digital subscription.

Sign them up at www.baybuzz.co.nz/subscribe In politics and government, like elsewhere, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Is there somewhere you think BayBuzz should shine its spotlight? Email editors@baybuzz.co.nz Have you ‘Liked’ our Facebook page?

Check it out: facebook.com/baybuzzhb

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Are you an exceptional writer and keen observer of the Hawke’s Bay scene? Send us a writing sample.

Email editors@baybuzz.co.nz

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F R O M T H E ED I TO R TO M BEL FO R D

What We Ask of Local Candidates The election ‘pre-season’ is upon us, when candidates start to emerge (I am one of those) and we begin to see the agendas by which they should be measured.

Not all campaign issues are – at first blush – ‘local body’ issues, in that they might not appear within the natural mandate or jurisdiction of our local councils. Two examples …

Global warming and unresponsive social welfare bureaucracies.

What do our local councils have to do with global warming and climate change?

Well, as it turns out, plenty, if merely as consumers of energy, users of vehicle fleets and air travel, cycleway builders, providers of EV-charging stations, tree-planters and managers of waste.

Our Regional Council’s ability and responsibility to mitigate and protect against climate change is even greater.

As detailed more in my Political Update article, HBRC is taking proactive steps already with respect to oil and gas development, coastal protection, flood control, public transport including rail, EVs and solar, farming resilience and water security.

These and other initiatives are wrapped into a commitment to make Hawke’s Bay carbon neutral by 2040.

And now underpinned by a policy that: “Declares a climate emergency, recognising global warming to be an urgent and pervasive threat to human and ecological wellbeing.”

In the face of this threat, each elected official has a moral duty to lead, to help educate the public and to initiate policies and actions within their authority that move us toward a non-carbon economy.

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Every candidate for local office should be asked about their commitment to addressing global warming. And if the answers are dismissive or evasive, then write those candidates off as the dinosaurs they are.

Count on BayBuzz to hammer away on global warming (we've been 'on' the issue since 2007) and hold our local political and private sector leaders to account. As George Orwell wrote in 1984: “Until they become conscious, they will never rebel.” Fortunately our youth are both conscious and ready to rebel. What about the rest of us?

Back to our local candidates.

The second issue calling for local political leadership is the dysfunctional nature of Hawke’s Bay’s public social service agencies that are supposed to provide the safety net for our most needy and traumatised citizens. Make no mistake, one turn of events affecting our health, mental state, job situation might place any one of us in need of that safety net.

These agencies – the DHB, Education Ministry, Ministry of Social Welfare and others – are run by impenetrable, faceless bureaucracies accountable to other faceless bureaucracies in Wellington. Which means that responsiveness is mighty hard to come by, even for the most persistent and resourceful, especially in the midst of their personal adversity.

So, when the procedural runarounds, the buck-passing, the sheer paperwork eventually overwhelm the ‘clients’ of these agencies, these desperate individuals turn for help to their elected representatives, the faces they know. Again, a leadership challenge to our local elected officials, even though

they lack direct authority.

These situations seem to be multiplying in Hawke’s Bay, so BayBuzz asked two organisations in tune with our social challenges – Heretaunga Women’s Centre and Napier City Pilot Trust – to put forward in this edition the ‘social agendas’ they – and you, I hope – would like to see our council candidates (and eventual councillors) address.

And in support, BayBuzz has taken up the specific case of the appalling experience of a local woman and her seriously unwell son, beginning an ongoing probe into the systemic failures of our local social service bureaucracies. I urge you to read Changing a System That Confounds and Crushes.

There’s plenty more – candidate profiles, our rental housing crisis, solar status, e-waste, Māori representation, health and food, our cultural scene – to challenge and entertain you in this edition.

Enjoy!

Tom Belford tom@baybuzz.co.nz

Tom is a HB Regional Councillor. His past includes the Carter White House, building Ted Turner’s first philanthropic organisation, doing heaps of marketing consulting for major non-profits and corporates.

BEE I N T H E K N OW

Zoe Shore Zoe Shore manages eight acres of organic market gardens (part of Peter Alexander’s Norton Rd Organics) in Paki Paki. She and her co-workers, Kylie Arthur (left) and Chrystal Cook (middle), are hard at work by 7am every weekday – rain, frost or shine – producing a lush abundance of fresh food for the local and domestic markets.

Photo: Florence Charvin

Their current winter crops (30 different veg and herb varieties) include leafy greens, kales and collards, leeks, beets, parsnips, carrots and fennel bulbs. Smallscale, diversified, sustainable – this is the horticulture of the future.

Eight-year-old Sylvie Weston who lives on site with her mum, landowner Nikki, is awed by their greenfingers, and has dubbed Zoe & co ‘the DPW’ (Department of Powerful Women).

Wait, watt!?

Reykjavik, population 123,000, says it already uses 100% renewable power.

The CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) has released a list of 596 cities, grading them on their responses and plans around climate change. 43 cities have been given an ‘A’ grade, among them Canberra, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. No cities in New Zealand or the rest of Oceania made the cut.

More than half of the world’s population live in cities, and it’s starting to appear that local governments are more agile and proactive than national governments in attacking the climate change challenges. Indeed, some 600 elected local bodies representing some 74 million people in 13 countries have

declared ‘climate emergencies’.

The CDP did the rankings aiming to promote and inspire urban communities around the world.

Case studies highlighted included: • In London, drivers of older, more polluting cars have to pay a levy to drive through central London in a bid to tackle air pollution.

• The Hague is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030, a full 20 years earlier than the stated aim of the national government.

• Reykjavik, population 123,000, says it already uses 100% renewable power.

•B uenos Aries is the only city in Latin America to be awarded an ‘A’ grade. It is facing up to threats of heatwaves and flooding. Current plans include planting 54,000 trees by 2023 and rehousing people who live in informal settlements on flood plains.

•C algary is constructing a light rail system that’ll come into action in 2026 and cut 30,000 tons of CO2 from the city’s traffic emissions.

•T aipei is battling the threat of drought, saving 613,000 tons of water a year by fixing thousands of leaks in its system.

Did You Know?

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In the last local body elections (in 2016), barely four in ten voters in Hawke’s Bay voted. The rest just complained.

The Hawke’s Bay District Health Board spends close to $600 million per year, or approximately $1.6 million a day, on providing health care to Hawke’s Bay people, and is the region’s largest employer. New CEO in the works.

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Dates to mark in the diary: The Harcourts Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival returns this spring for its fifth instalment, from October 15 to 28. The friendly local fringe festival, Fringe in the Stings, will be back in Hastings from October 10 to 12.

Evenings are heating up in the art deco city. What was once known as The Cri in central Napier has re-opened as Market St, a new Heineken bar and eatery. Just around the corner, local institution Café Ujazi has been re-fitted, re-branded and re-opened as Café Tennyson & Bistro, with plans to open evenings in the warmer months.

Emerson Street’s Kolachi Eatery is now open evenings on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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As with the four previous Arts Festivals, the central location will be a spiegeltent on the Village Green in Havelock North – this year it’s the 1930-built Victoria Spiegeltent which has travelled the world for nearly 90 years and will arrive in early October from Australia.

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The reopening of the Napier to Wairoa railway means a lot less damage on the road. KiwiRail’s group chief executive Greg Miller said at the opening that having the trains running would take 5,000 trucks off the road per year, and that in terms of damage to the roads, a single truck is equal to 40,000 cars!

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EIT has a new Head of School of Viticulture and Wine – Sue Blackmore.

From July, Sue and her team will offer a unique part-time Certificate in Wine Growing in Gisborne, which focuses on organic and biodynamic production and is tailored to people already working in the industry. Next year there will be a new Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science on offer.

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Want to check on local winter rainfall?

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council publishes up-to-date data from sites around Hawke’s Bay at hbrc.govt.nz/ environment/rainfall

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The men’s winner in this year’s Air New Zealand Hawke’s Bay International Marathon, Daniel Jones posted a time of 2:27:33. Women’s winner Cecilia Flori clocked 2:51:06.

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Cook Island Language week takes place this year from Sunday August 4 to Saturday August 10.

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The Hawke’s Bay Music Hub has launched. The Hub is a central online platform for music promoters, event planners and the general public to connect with the many quality Hawke’s Bay musicians and venues.

Musicians can register an artist profile and anyone can check it out and gain access to a repository of resources for music educators, songwriters and performers.

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July sees the launch of local author Gareth Ward’s (of Wardini Books fame) second novel for young adults.

The Clockill and the Thief is the sequel to the award winning The Traitor and the Thief.

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Hawke’s Bay’s median house price was $145k three years ago; it now sits at $435k – in comparison to $577k nationally – Hastings at $470k; Napier $495k.

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The building formerly known as the Taradale Borough Council Chambers has recently re-opened as Co-Lab Taradale, home to community organisations including Heart Kids, Epilepsy NZ, Parkinson’s NZ, and available to hire for meetings and events.

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The Bay’s newest coffee roastery, Third Eye Coffee Roasters, is now open and operational in the iconic Williams & Kettle building in Onekawa. The roastery is complemented by adjoining coffee bar Sparrows (open from 6am, get it?) and the whole set-up comes from Benny Fernandez, the man behind Georgia on Tennyson.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 11

Euro City For Euro City owner Terry Elmsly, adding an exclusive MG dealership to his stable of luxury car brands means he can offer luxury at both ends of the market, with the same Euro City attention his customers have enjoyed for the past 16 years.

MG is a much-loved and nostalgic brand with Kiwis and Terry is excited that now Hawke’s Bay has a dedicated MG dealer.

“We were selected as the Hawke’s Bay dealer for MG by its parent company SAIC, who have taken over global distribution. We know these well-priced and highly spec’d cars are going to be really popular and as a business we’re excited about the large number of MG electric vehicles due for release over the next few years.

“MG is very much a nostalgic brand and I share that sentiment – my first car was a 1967 MG BGT. You could say I’ve come full circle!”

MG will be housed in its own luxury showroom currently under construction in Euro City’s Prebensen Drive dealership.

While the first MGs are already on the yard and orders are being taken, Terry says the showroom has the capacity to display the increased range including the MG E-motion, the brand’s first fully electric car scheduled for release in New Zealand early next year.

“For now we have two SUVs – MG ZS and MG

Euro City in Napier is the new home of iconic British sports car brand, MG.

GS - and the updated MG3 hatch available to customers. Having MG in our stable of leading car brands offers customers a mid-price option that over-delivers. MGs are reliable, and carry a five-year factory backed warranty.

Economical to run, they retain the style and panache that MG has always been known for.”

Heading up the new dealership is brand manager Micky Nixon, who Terry says has a huge knowledge of MG, helped by the fact that he’s English. “Every MG customer will get the same benefits as our other brands including the five-year warranty and complimentary monthly valet.”

Euro City 120 Prebensen Drive Napier www.eurocity.co.nz

Euro City goes electric Next door, the latest Audis, Volkswagens and Skodas are housed in Euro City’s impressive showrooms. Terry has made sure that every customer of Euro City gets to take advantage of the latest technology in its servicing and valet departments.

“Our premises now boast a state of the art service department, capable of servicing all makes and models of vehicles from a VW Polo to a campervan, complete with a six-tonne hoist. And it’s not just automotive repairs, we also specialise in tyres, wheel alignments and windscreens. We’ve invested in customer service to ensure our clients get the best out of their car purchase.”

Terry’s most proud of his new “washing machine”, a drive-through carwash that is fully automated, utilising the latest digital technology. “We like to see our cars looking sharp and our clients happy,” he says.

2020 will see a range of new Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda electric cars arriving at Euro City. Terry is not one to sit still and planning is underway for a new public fast charging ‘E-Station’ outside the dealership.

“We are embracing the electric revolution and the car brands we represent are leading the charge. It’s an exciting time in the car industry.”

An artists impression of the new Euro City MG showroom at 120 Prebensen Drive, Napier.

Job No. 19020

CONCEPT DESIGN

July 18: Urzila Carlson – Token African

BayBuzz Event Guide July 11 Myele Manzanza Trio – A Love Requited Album Release Tour at Arts Inc Heretaunga, Hastings July 5 & 6 Romeo and Juliet at Keirunga The Hawke’s Bay Youth Theatre present the Shakespeare classic in the new Keirunga theatre. See talented young actors explore the ultimate romantic tale, directed by Peter Cottrell and Champa Maciel, with costumes by Angela Elliott. eventfinda.co.nz

Wellington drummer / composer Myele Manzanza is celebrating the release of his third album A Love Requited, as well as premiering a new all-star trio with the prolific multi-award winning pianist Jonathan Crayford (Kurt Rosenwinel, Groove Collective) and first call bassist Johnny Lawrence (Hollie Smith, Louis Baker). artsinc.co.nz

The Good Vibes Winter Tour stems from the One Love Festival in Tauranga, and features some of the country’s mostloved acts, including Katchafire, L.A.B, Tomorrow People and 1814 alongside international acts Josh Wawa, LaTasha Lee, and local rising star, Lion Rezz.

Youth Sensation, General Fiyah and international reggae stars, Paua, will perform in Napier as special guests. eventfinda.co.nz

July 13 Queens of Soul at The Urban Winery, Ahuriri

July 10 Tasting Tuscany at The Urban Winery, Ahuriri

Hawke’s Bay’s Margot Pierard invites you into the magic, soulful world of Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, for one night only, with stellar band Dayle Jellyman, Anton Wuts, Tom Pierard and Caleb Robinson. theurbanwinery.co.nz

Join Tony Bish and John Caro for an evening tasting eight wines from Tuscany and Southern Italy, paired with traditional Tuscan cuisine. theurbanwinery.co.nz July 11: Myele Manzanza Trio 14 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

July 13 Good Vibes at Pettigrew Green Arena

July 14 Castle Peak Forest Half Marathon, 12k & 6k Trail Run Choose your distance and head for this privately-owned forest. This event is part of the Hawke’s Bay Trail Running Series.

Walkers are welcome in the 12km and 6km events. hbtrailrun.co.nz

July 17 NZSO: Matauranga at Napier Municipal Theatre Mātauranga was commissioned as part of the NZSO Cook’s Landfall Series to mark 250 years since the first encounters between Māori and Europeans at Captain Cook’s first landfall. Composed by Michael Norris, the piece features taonga pūoro –Māori musical instruments, and conveys Cook’s journey of exploration. napiermunicipaltheatre.co.nz

July 18 Urzila Carlson – Token African at Napier Municipal Theatre Multi award-winning South AfricanKiwi Urzila Carlson tours her new show – poking fun at her home country – as part of the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. eventfinda.co.nz

July 19 Winter Warmer Fiesta in Emerson Street, Napier Ward off the winter chills with an evening of food trucks, shopping and entertainment in central Napier. napiercbd.co.nz

July 19: Winter Warmer Fiesta in Emerson Street

July 19 – 21 Winter Deco Weekend Think furs, jazz and a warming tipple of absinthe. Step into the stylish past with highlights including the Dazzle Ball, Prohibition Casino, vintage car rides, the Fashion Flaunt and a range of walks and talks. artdeconapier.com

July 20 NZ Mountain Film Festival – ‘Best Of’ Hawke’s Bay Screening at MTG Century Theatre Ignite your passion for outdoor exploits with an evening of up-close adventures, emotive and insightful cultural content, and action-packed adrenaline entertainment. eventfinda.co.nz

July 20 NZ Guitar Quartet at Central Hawke’s Bay Municipal Theatre, Waipawa Christopher Hill, Jane Curry, John Couch and Owen Moriarty are building an international reputation for their contemporary and world music. They’ve recently returned from concerts in Australia and China and this AOTNZ tour will see them pay tribute to gypsy jazz, bluegrass, Celtic and flamenco. eventfinda.co.nz

July 24 Vincent by Leonard Nimoy at Keirunga Leonard Nimoy’s celebrated play Vincent is based on hundreds of letters exchanged between van Gogh and his brother Theo. Daniel Betty reprises his role of Theo, under the direction of Lisa Jane Easter.

With another performance July 26 at Central Hawke’s Bay Municipal Theatre. eventfinda.co.nz

July 25 – August 11 Italian Film Festival – Opening Night at Event Cinema Havelock North Transport yourself to Italy with the opening evening of the Studio Italia Cinema Italiano Festival to see the much anticipated film ‘A Casa Tutti Bene’ / There is No Place Like Home.

Director Gabriele Mucking has cast an enviable assemblage of Italy’s finest talent, including Pierfrancesco Favino, Stefano Accorsi and screen icon Stefania Sandrelli.

The film festival – produced and presented by Hawke’s Bay’s own Paolo Rotondo and Renee Mark – runs at the Globe Theatrette in Napier from July 25-31 and at Event Cinemas in Havelock North from July 31 to August 11. cinemaitalianonz.com

July 26 The Cocktail Party at Peak Vision Church, Havelock North The Hastings Karamu Rotary Club has been presenting this institution on the Bay’s social calendar for 27 years. Don your finery and support the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust. thecocktailparty.nz

July 27 Tony Painting and the Power – Stevie Ray Vaughan Tribute Show at the Cabana Australasia’s finest SRV tribute act is fronted by UK-born guitarist and vocalist Tony Painting, and the band’s special brand of blistering guitar-based boogie blues/rock promises a show-stopper of a night at the Cabana. cabana.net.nz

July 19-21: Winter Deco Weekend JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 15

July 28 The Ossian Street Vintage Market Popping up on the last Sunday of each month, this market in Ahuriri is a great spot to hunt out vintage treasures and special collectibles. eventfinda.co.nz

July 28 Hawke’s Bay Loaded Tough Guy and Gal Challenge at Clifton Station Muddy winter fun – swamp crossings, beautiful native bush trails, tunnels, hurdles, a climbing frame, plus spot prizes, merit prizes, goodie bags and a fun atmosphere in a picturesque location. eventfinda.co.nz

July 30 Carnivorous Plant Society at Central Hawke’s Bay Municipal Theatre, Waipawa With a sound described as Mexican Fantasy Music, these visitors from Auckland bring a unique, multiinstrumental show featuring a stunning backdrop of custom animations penned by band-leader Finn Scholes. eventfinda.co.nz

August 2 Family of Twelve Winter Feast at Bistronomy, Napier The Family of Twelve is a network of star New Zealand wineries Kumeu River, Villa Maria, Millton Vineyard, Craggy Range, Ata Rangi, Palliser Estate, Neudorf Vineyards, Nautilus Estate, Fromm, Lawson’s Dry Hills, Pegasus Bay and Felton Road.

On the Hawke’s Bay stop of their Winter Feast Tour, Craggy Range hosts at Bistronomy, pouring twelve Family wines matched with 6 courses of James Beck’s signature local Hawke’s Bay cuisine. eventfinda.co.nz

August 2 Cliff Richard and The Shadows Tribute Show at Napier Municipal Theatre Cliff Richard & The Shadows 60th Anniversary Tribute Concert promises a captivating live concert recreating the unforgettable sound of Cliff Richard hits including ‘Do You Want to Dance’, ‘Move It’, ‘Lucky Lips’ and so many more. napiermunicipaltheatre.co.nz

August 3 Saturday Live Music Session with Jess Atkin at The Urban Winery Enjoy music from Jess Atkin and her talented collaborators, alongside some of Hawke’s Bay’s best wines, craft beer on tap and delicious food in Ahuriri. eventfinda.co.nz

August 9 The Man – Comedy Theatre at The Paisley Stage The Edinburgh Festival hit one-man show comes to Napier for one show only. The Man is an intellectual vigilante, whose domain is Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, London. Here’s our chance to hear his unique brand of satirical brilliance. eventfinda.co.nz

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August 29 - September 15: New Zealand International Film Festival

August 11 Sacred Hill Off-Road Half Marathon 15k & 6.5k Trail Run Heading off from Sacred Hill’s Riflemans vineyard, this event is another in the HB Trail Run series, offering three distances, great scenery and trails, and the chance for walkers to take on the two shorter options. hbtrailrun.co.nz

August 13 Pecha Kucha at Havelock North Function Centre The good times and great yarns keep coming! Head along and hear about the passions and predilections of a bunch of brave locals who take the stage to present using the international Pecha Kucha format of 20 slides x 20 seconds. facebook.com/pechakuchahb

August 16 Hawke’s Bay Magpies vs Wellington Lions at McLean Park Back the boys in black and white in their Mitre 10 Cup campaign. hbmagpies.co.nz

August 22 Hawke’s Bay Magpies vs Otago at McLean Park Week 3 of the Mitre 10 Cup offers a big game for the Magpies. Warm up on a winter’s night by getting noisy in support of the home side. hbmagpies.co.nz

August 22 – 24 Hamlet at Napier Municipal Theatre Presented by the Pop-Up Globe Theatre Company and directed by David Lawrence, the cast of 14 will take you on a tumultuous existential journey of revenge, grief, madness and catharsis in this, arguably Shakespeare’s most famous play. eventfinda.co.nz

Don’t lose your quality of life to glaucoma.

August 22 & 24 Measure for Measure at Napier Municipal Theatre The players of the Pop-Up Globe Theatre Company take the audience to the seedy streets of 17th century Vienna for a hilarious night out. eventfinda.co.nz

August 29 – September 15 New Zealand International Film Festival at MTG Century Theatre and Event Cinemas Havelock North See off winter with the annual feast of local and international cinematic magic. nziff.co.nz

July is Glaucoma Awareness month.

For every eye examination done at Visique Shattky we will donate $2 to Glaucoma NZ. Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness in New Zealand and 50% of those with glaucoma don’t know they have it. Early detection and treatment is key to prevention.

GLAUCOMA CHECKLIST n n n n

Image demonstrates visual field loss due to glaucoma.

over 40 family history of glaucoma high degree of short sight (myopia) high degree of long sight

If you tick more than two items, you should follow up with an eye examination.

Book an eye exam with Shattky today. Shattky Optometrists delivers the highest quality eyecare and eyewear for all ages. Come see us in Hastings or Waipukurau.

HASTINGS / 116 Russell St. South / 06 876 3777 www.shattky.co.nz G shattkysoptometrists

WAIPUKURAU / 36 Ruataniwha St. / 06 858 9117

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 17

B E E I N TH E K N OW

California innovation is seeing cow manure turned into usable energy

Cow Power California dairy farms have about 1.7 million milking cows with the number declining slightly every year, and they produce about 18.5% of the USA’s milk.

Since 2014, farmers in the state – with the incentive of grants – have been joining up to a renewable energy project, as part of the cap-and-trade program designed to help dairy farms

18 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

slash greenhouse gas emissions and comply with a state global warming law.

Those projects feature a cap over a manure pond that gathers methane.

A small power plant at each site burns the gas, fuelling larger utilities like the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

So far, California has steered at least $260 million in grants to methane digester projects, and most of the newer projects no longer hook into utilities. Instead, they gather methane from multiple dairies, funnel the gas to a central plant and turn it into a compressed natural gas that can run a power plant or fuel cars and trucks.

The California Air Resources Board predicts these programmes will remove millions of tons of greenhouse

gas emissions from the atmosphere, and Governor Gavin Newsom is asking lawmakers to put another $35 million into the dairy grants.

Dairies account for more than half of the state’s methane emissions through manure and from cow burps and farts, according to the California Air Resources Board. By 2030 dairies must cut methane emissions by 40% to comply with a 2016 state law.

For context, New Zealand has about 5 million dairy cows; Hawke’s Bay has about 50,000. One typical project in California ‘services’ 35,000 cows, so we would appear to have viable scale.

Imagine the difference a project like this could make to our greenhouse gas output.

AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO DENTISTRY WITH WYNTON PERROTT

What’s the big deal with dental hygienists?

One of the leading reasons for tooth loss in New Zealand is untreated periodontal disease.

Truly ‘High-test’ Honey A honey producer based partly in Dannevirke has recently hit a Mānuka high.

Move over, fine vintage wines!

In May The True Honey Co. released its extremely limited edition Rare Harvest. Harvested from a single highly-secret block, the honey was independently certified as containing the highest Unique Mānuka Factor (UMF™) ever tested – an unprecedented 1,700+ MGO, 31+ UMFTM. “The UMFHA can confirm that the Mānuka Honey sample submitted by its member The True Honey Co. has generated the highest-ever recorded UMF test result since our accredited laboratories first began testing samples,” remarked UMF Honey Association spokesperson John Rawcliffe.

“The UMFHA testing process tests for three key signature markers that, in combination, confirm whether a product is genuine Mānuka Honey from New Zealand. Those three key markers are Leptosperin, MGO and DHA. The levels of signature markers found in the True Honey Co. product is exceptional and underscores the quality and intensity of Mānuka honey from New Zealand.”

True Honey Co. founder Jim McMillan says that while weather and other conditions are part of the equation, bee health is key. “We stand behind every drop of our honey and this can only be achieved by having full ownership and control from hive to jar.

The genuine care of our honeybees is paramount to us, because healthy bees make exceptional honey.”

Periodontal disease is a preventable disease that starts with inflamed gums and leads to destructive bone loss.

Untreated periodontal disease has been linked to serious illnesses like pneumonia, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.

Dental hygienists are specifically trained to assess and treat periodontal disease and help you to keep your mouth healthy.

DENTAL HYGIENISTS ALSO: • provide preventative dental care • screen for oral cancers • provide fresh breath treatments • whiten your teeth • assess wear and dietary effects on teeth Oral health is a journey and it takes a team effort to keep your smile bright and healthy for a lifetime!

92 Te Mata Road, Havelock North 877 7278 | smilehaus.nz

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 19

B E E I N TH E K N OW

Sustainability Sells A recent report from Nielsen offers a glimpse into the myriad ways in which consumer packaged goods companies in the US market are embracing sustainability and reaping the rewards.

There is huge opportunity in the space, with predictions that in the US by 2021 sustainably-minded shoppers will have increased their annual spend to $150 billion, up $14-$22 billion from now. The trend looks international, with 73% of recent respondents to a global survey saying that they would

Biodiversity HB Project Fund Recipients Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay has announced the first recipients of the Biodiversity HB Project Fund – a grants program aimed at individuals and community groups – one year on from the launch of the Hawke’s Bay Biodiversity Action Plan.

20 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

“probably or definitely change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment.”

Consumers are demanding CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies pay attention, with 81% of the survey respondents saying that it’s “extremely or very” important that companies implement programs to improve the environment, and 30% saying they’re prepared to pay a premium for products that deliver on these kinds of social responsibility claims.

The growth in product sales with sustainability claims is impressive.

Vegan household cleaner and laundry

products are up 105%. Cruelty-free laundry product sales have risen 35% and household products termed ‘plant-based’ are up 22%.

Fair Trade confectionery, desserts, diet and nutrition products and baking staples have seen 5% growth in sales, and there’s 7% growth on ethical eggs, cereals, beverages and packaged coffee.

Sustainable approaches to packaging is also playing a role in sales growth, with packaging labelled as ‘Made from recycled packaging’, ‘Recyclable’ and ‘Post-recycled packaging’ all delivering improvements across the CPG markets.

The first projects selected include riparian planting and maintenance at Rotongaio in Wairoa District with Ngati Pahauwera Development Trust; weed control and planting at ‘The Gap’ gravel beach near Hawke’s Bay Airport; a contribution to deer fencing at Puketitiri’s Little Bush with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Hastings Forest & Bird; and rabbit enclosure plots at Central Hawke’s Bay’s Puahanui Bush with the Gwavas

Charitable Trust for the Puahanui Bush.

The Biodiversity HB Project Fund was established in 2018 and relies on contributions from individuals, families, schools, marae, local businesses, and corporations from across Hawke’s Bay. It is supported by ‘guardians’ such as EIT, Hawke’s Bay Airport, Napier City Council, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, University of Waikato, and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

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“When the Government declared it wouldn’t be introducing a capital gains tax – ever, as hard-working, tax-paying renters who had just been served notice, we took it personally.”

Trapped in a Rental Rat Race While media tends to focus on opposite ends of the spectrum (lamenting the homeless while cheering skyrocketing values enriching the well-off), the housing crisis in Hawke’s Bay affects everyone. Story by Bridget Freeman-Rock. Photos: Florence Charvin

I wrote this article while moving from the comfortable three-bedroom home we had rented for four years in town into a 60m2 two-bedroom cottage in the country, with a still-to-complete tiny house in situ.

In terms of stress and disruption, moving house ranks with death and divorce, I’m told. It always takes longer than you think and however much you try to mitigate the confusion with a number-coded system of labelled boxes, you can’t escape the chaos, cost, or the fact that you have way more stuff, dirt and detritus than you thought.

Sharing micro-space with three teenagers was not a lifestyle choice of ours so much as a response to circumstance and the need for a better, more sustainable model of shelter.

You see, we are what’s called Generation Rent – professional, working people in their ‘30s, early ‘40s, who, even a decade ago, might have expected to own a house, but find themselves disenfranchised from the Kiwi dream and trapped in a rental rat race.

Tone-deaf market analysis

In property speak, Hawke’s Bay has an ‘excellent’ or ‘attractive’ housing market, still ‘very much affordable’ to most of the country. Hawke’s Bay’s median house price was $145k three years ago; it now sits at $435k – in comparison to $577k nationally – Hastings at $470k; Napier $495k.

In June this year, HB Today reported that Napier and Hastings have experienced “strong” house price inflation,

“As a nation, we have collectively stood by for decades and let housing – whether an affordable first home or a decent rental – become a privilege, not a right” SHAMUBEEL AND SELENA EAQUAB, GENERATION RENT

having increased 68% over the last five years, with 10% and 11.9% rises in value over the last 12 months respectively.

But such descriptions, viewed through the narrow lens of capital gains, blithely disregard the reality of many who live here on provincial incomes, for whom the current housing market is neither attractive nor affordable, but catastrophic.

Not only is it increasingly difficult for first-home buyers to purchase a house, the number of rental properties in Hawke’s Bay are a third of what they were three years ago, and prices have been jumping 9.4%, 14.8%, 12.5% year on year. The median rental price (across all forms of housing) in HB is now $450 per week, about half the median HB weekly income.

I crunched the Trade Me listings for a three-bedroom (BR) rental home in April and came up with an average of $595pw for Hastings (slightly skewed by two astronomical properties); $530pw for Napier.

Harcourts property manager James Moran is not at all surprised: “If you have a decent property, you can definitely ask for those sort of premiums.”

He says, with the current shortage of

rental properties and (in a quick-moving market) a demand “we can’t keep up with” from renters, “It is pretty dire out there at the moment, that’s for sure.”

One pressure is the noticeable increase in people from outside the region coming to Hawke’s Bay, buying and applying for houses. And if you’re from Wellington or Auckland, $400, $500pw for a 3BR house is going to seem like a bit of a bargain, explains Moran.

“They’re not so shocked at the prices.”

Which pushes them up even more.

“If we advertise at an increased rate and then still get good applicants, then it does normalise the price, it becomes the going rate … It’s a stepping-up process that’s happening.”

With no sign of slowing down.

Why the rental stock shortage? Other than the obvious (not enough housing supply, full-stop), the chief factor, Moran believes, has been landlords cashing in on a good sales market, along with the fact that there’s just not as many investors buying lower-end properties to rent at the prices new home-seekers are willing to pay.

In anticipation of new rental legislation, investors have tended to be more picky, buying better properties so they

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 25

Mayfair, Hastings 3 bedroom house, $460pw 4324 online views at myRent / 175 enquiries

Raureka, Hastings 2 bedroom house, $350pw 4476 online views at myRent - 313 enquiries

Anderson Park, Havelock North 3 bedroom house, $600pw

Napier South 3 bedroom house, $530pw

Havelock North Central 4 bedroom house, $660pw

Ahuriri 2 bedroom house, $575pw

don’t have to spend the money and effort to get them up to standard. That means fewer cheap-but-crappy options.

For those that have to upgrade, Moran says Harcourts “hasn’t seen huge kick-back” against the insulation and Healthy Homes standards. “Once educated about the benefits,” landlords who want to be landlords are generally willing; they’re not exiting because of compliance. And yes, they’re passing

26 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

on the costs.

A desperate shortage in houses

I head down to an open home viewing for an ordinary 3BR rental on Collinge Rd, $450pw. The house, on a sunny, big back section, is compact, the bedrooms small, but it’s been freshly painted, fully insulated to 2021 standards, the fire is compliant. It’s midday, Thursday, the first time the house has been

shown. It was only listed on Monday, but already the property manager says she’s received 40 applications.

It’s a common story.

Private landlords I speak to describe receiving emails and texts for weeks, desperate people crying on the phone, offers to pay more than the advertised rent. For some the experience of having to turn people away made them feel so “terrible” and overwhelmed it’s enough

to put them off letting altogether.

But for seasoned property managers, like James Moran, who deal with this day in, day out, they have “robust” procedures that allow them a degree of distance in matching people with houses.

It’s not that they don’t care, but they’re tasked with finding the right tenants for their clients, not finding homes for everyone, and in this market, the clients have an upper hand.

Moran is seeing more alternative applications – families applying to rent larger houses with other families to reduce the overall cost, for example.

“But then that impacts on the selection process.” If the owner has a choice, they’re likely to go with the “less wear and tear” option: one couple or one family as opposed to two.

And of course, “We get a lot of the same faces coming through each and every property, you recognise them almost on a first-name basis.”

The unspoken given – that of any number of applicants there will be the cream of suitable tenants scooped up into a shortlist and a whole swathe of those sucked out on a rip-tide of forms and viewings, with no chance of making it ashore.

While media tends to focus on both ends of the spectrum (splendid capital appreciation one day, the homeless the next), the housing crisis affects everyone. Not only because there’s a lack of decent housing options in a burgeoning intermediate market, but also because since the 1970s (and most markedly in the years under John Key) we have divested our social responsibility to house the vulnerable and needy.

In May, Hawke’s Bay councils asked the Government to step in over Hawke’s Bay’s housing crisis. Hastings alone is short some 400 houses, with close to 1,000 people living in emergency accommodation in HB (440 of them children), some for up to two years. People are living in cars, overcrowded houses and on the streets.

“Not a day goes by when I’m not addressing housing for our community in some form,” declared mayor Sandra Hazlehurst. “It’s a very, very big issue for us as a region.”

Hoops and privacy

Applying to rent is an interview process. At viewings, first impressions count, as does enthusiasm, the kinds of questions you ask. Good references are important, your rental history; you’ll need to supply proof of income, at the last hurdle get a credit check. You will

“By building an offgrid, mobile tiny house, we are claiming the autonomy to create, and keep, a home on our terms.”

be Google searched, your social media profiles may be scrolled.

Disturbingly, some agents (not Harcourts, assures James Moran) also request prospective tenants give consent for police checks, full employment details (occupation, position, length of employment, etc, or case manager if at WINZ), driver’s licence, how long you’ve had your cellphone number, owned your phone. In fact, you’ll often see directives like this in rental listings: ‘Viewing will ONLY be after we receive your application form, and ONLY if you meet our owner’s criteria.’

New government guidelines say ‘vetting to view’ is a no-no (it’s discriminatory), and such intrusive levels of personal information gathering

(contravening the Human Rights Act and privacy laws) is “almost never justified” to determine tenant suitability.

But from what I’ve seen, it’s still common practice.

Just to secure consideration for a tenancy that may or may not happen, people are uploading private information online through various application portals to unknown, usually nameless ‘landlords’, ‘owners’, ‘property managers’ – who, may I stress, are neither vetted themselves nor accountable to any legal standards.

Higher-end properties appear to have less hoops to jump through; the vetting process is swift and can happen per phone – ‘What’s your annual income bracket?’

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 27

‘Keeping’ families together

Treading water

Josh*, who works in hospitality, was one of those in the under-tow, unable to surface for tenancy consideration.

Following a relationship break-up, he searched for a home for himself and his young son, an experience he describes as infuriating and incredibly stressful – “It bleeds into every aspect of your life”.

It was not just the dearth of suitable, affordable places. As a single young man on a relatively low income and without shiny references, he says he didn’t stand a chance, and with a child in tow no one appeared willing to take him on as a flatmate or boarder. After five months he gave up and decided to take another crack at the relationship.

“I have no other option,” he says.

Josh jokes that “the housing shortage is helping keep poor people together”, and while it may yet prove a happy outcome in his case, for many it means they are stuck in unhealthy, potentially violent, living arrangements.

Jen* and Bruno* have been successful in terms of what they’re contributing to society as self-employed creatives, but “Neither of us is prepared to go into a massive, massive mortgage with a minimal deposit, paying huge amounts of interest,” says Jen. “You need an inheritance or a wealthy relation to get onto the rungs of the property ladder, how else do you get $100k or more together?”

They tried building themselves a container home next to Bruno’s workshop, but zoning restrictions, consent complications and “a lack of willingness to think outside the box” by bureaucrats, meant they had to give it up and sell it on.

Instead they’ve been consigned to moving multiple times in the past few years with their school-age child.

When their landlord wanted their rental home back two years ago, they found a place across the other side of the Bay they could afford and relocated.

let alone save for a house deposit – “There’s just nothing spare.” There’s no certainty of ongoing work, no assurance of tenancy (they have no fixed or long-term arrangement).

“We’re always on a knife-edge,” she says.

Since moving from the UK with her Kiwi partner to Hawke’s Bay seven years ago, they’ve re-located seven times. She doesn’t feel landlords have a lot of respect for tenants.

She tells of caring for two small children five years ago in a “cold, damp box” with no source of heating (not a legal requirement until this year), struggling with postnatal depression, massive power bills and a sense of isolation. In another property she was served 42-days’ notice when her newborn was barely three weeks-old, just three months after moving in – the owner was selling up. “The property manager withheld that information when she rented it out to us, although

“2018 saw the lowest rate of home ownership in 66 years.

The majority of young Kiwis now rent for the long-term in a system that’s under-regulated and insecure.”

Moving back home Young men (along with solo mums and Māori) have the toughest job finding rentals.

Sam* runs his own construction company, employs people, but he’s living back at home with his folks since his lease expired around Christmas. He was house-sharing with another young, professional dad in a comfortable suburb; a house scored on a ‘mate’s-in’. “It’s all about who you know,” he says, and he knew the property manager.

They cleared up the back garden, dug a vegetable patch, put up a pool for the kids, but didn’t think to manicure the small front lawn. A neighbour complained to the landlord that it was devaluing her property, who gave them the first of multiple warnings – “It was like they’d decided we weren’t right for their neighbourhood image and they were going to give us hell.”

When the lease ended and the house put on the market, Sam’s flatmate bought a house; Sam couldn’t afford to, and finding another rental proved “virtually impossible”.

28 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

“But when we went to renew after our 6-month lease ended, the landlord said she needed to put up the rent to market value, and increased our rent by 30%. She wasn’t entirely honest with us when we first took on the house.”

They stayed on another year before moving to the coast in “a very sweet but tiny 2BR house”, paying $390pw.

They hope to be there longer, but they’re on a 12-month lease, after which they’ll go onto a periodic tenancy (per landlord’s wishes and rental norms), meaning tenancy can be terminated at any time with 90 days’ notice.

“We’re treading water, wondering if there’ll be a big wave or not. We’re just waiting for the market crash,” she jokes.

Living on a knife-edge Helen* has postgraduate qualification and contract-works in communications. Being self-employed, there’s no paid holiday or sick leave.

She pays ACC and taxes, but she can’t afford to pay into Kiwisaver,

it was obvious I was expecting a baby.”

They’re now in a place that’s “ok” (it’s warm at least and the rent, which increased after the heat pump was installed, is still manageable – just).

“We feel we’re good tenants. We look after the garden – which was completely overgrown when we moved in – undertake minor repairs to the house. But in the end, you can’t forget that you’re just living in someone else’s investment property.”

She often questions whether they could have done something differently.

“But even if I’d got a full-time job and put the kids in childcare, it wouldn’t have changed the situation as a renter.

I might have been able to afford a more expensive rental, but I still wouldn’t have been able to save for a house deposit. The precariousness wouldn’t have changed.”

She’s resigned herself to their living situation: “There’s no solution, but we do talk about it a lot.” And a house move will be inevitable, “it’s just a matter of time before we’re served notice or the cost becomes untenable.” (*Not their real names)

Social stigma

My husband comes from Berlin, where 90% of the population rents. It’s a city designed for tenants, the rentals managed mainly by longstanding housing corporations and cooperatives.

We have friends who have lived in the same apartments for 20, 30 years.

They’ve stripped and sanded back floors, put in new heating systems, made renovations, because you can make those investments when you know it’s your home for the long-term.

Tenants have strong rights, but also obligations – you must re-paint the interior every 3-5 years, for example, upon handing it back, walls must be freshly painted white.

Like most global cities, Berlin’s affordability has been impacted by Airbnb, gentrification and international property speculation. But the principle remains: there’s no shame in renting, it’s a completely accepted norm, and you can live well without owning the four walls around you.

In New Zealand, however, our rental system was created for students and itinerants, for a transient phase of life.

The assumption was that settling down with a family, a job, came with a house of your own and a mortgage. If you don’t

achieve the house, there’s social stigma – you haven’t worked hard enough, you’ve been less than successful (which is why no one who shared their stories in BayBuzz wished to be identified).

And in terms of access to quality, security and dignity of living, as a renter you know you are second-class.

Yet 2018 saw the lowest rate of home ownership in 66 years. The majority of young Kiwis now rent for the longterm, raising families in a system that’s under-regulated and not set up for stable, secure tenancy. Amongst those under 40 years of age, only 22% owned their own homes in the 2013 census, down from 35% in 2001. The NZ Herald kindly points out: if you don’t own a home by 40, you probably never will.

According to The Big Idea, median income in NZ is $51,900 for all New Zealanders earning a wage/salary. For the self-employed it’s $37,900. For those working in the creative industries, that slides on a scale right down to $17,000.

We don’t have a mature philanthropic culture in NZ of investing in the arts, creative or social initiatives; there’s not much support for small-medium enterprises, for all our talk of entrepreneurship and DIYers.

Investment is funnelled primarily into property. And while house values (and rents) rise, those hustling a livelihood in the gig economy are working harder, longer, just to keep up with rising living costs.

Seeds of discontent

There’s a meme circulating in social media, a millennial joke: When our parents told us they would give us something to cry about, we didn’t realise they meant they’d wreck the housing market and trash the planet.

Perhaps it’s too simplistic to blame Baby Boomers & Co for feathering their own nests at the expense of younger generations, but there are certainly seeds for discontent and an intergenerational rift, as articles show on millennial-dominant media platforms like The Spinoff (e.g., ‘Five key triumphs in Boomers’ blessed lives’).

As wealth and prospects decline for those aged 18-35 (a trajectory set only to sharpen with the climate crisis), wealth for the 65+ cohort increased by 25% from 2004-2014, two-thirds of which was based on private property gains (none of which is taxed).

“As a nation, we have collectively stood by for decades and let housing

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 29

“We need our councils to be bolder, more imaginative in how they define living options for the wider community ... we’re still stuck very much in a nuclearfamily-home paradigm.”

– whether an affordable first home or a decent rental – become a privilege, not a right,” observe economists Shamubeel and Selena Eaquab in their book Generation Rent (2015).

They warn that housing unaffordability means ultimately, “only those with an existing stake in the housing market, either through their past investments or through their parents, will own homes,” dividing NZ into two classes: “the landed gentry and the rest”.

When the Government declared it wouldn’t be introducing a capital gains tax – ever, as hard-working, tax-paying renters who had just been served notice, we took it personally.

We decided to stop feeding the beast and to shapeshift our way out of the current housing paradigm altogether.

We would live in a cave if we had to.

We would build an ark.

By building an off-grid, mobile tiny house – launching the build on our driveway like an emergency raft – we are claiming the autonomy to create, and keep, a home on our terms, while exploring what it might mean to live within the limits of the planet. It’s less about fences, we’re finding, more about sharing resources.

30 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

Opportunities for change

The Government has brought in some reforms to the rental system, namely improved standards to housing (insulation, heating) with hefty fines for non-compliance, longer terms of notice, banning letting fees, and has promised to look into regulating landlords. However, it doesn’t go far or deep enough to make renting a viable, long-term option. The levers of change are far more complex and wide-reaching, our cultural myths entrenched.

Raising rental standards has been decried as a “crackdown on mum-anddad landlords” by National, which also claims the Government’s recently announced intention to explore largescale, high-quality, build-to-rent commercial partnerships as part of its Kiwibuild scheme reset is “unfair” to individual investors. But investment returns cannot justify substandard living conditions nor the withholding of relief to those struggling to find suitable, dignified accommodation.

We can’t rely on ‘mum-and-dad investors’ or a freewheeling market to uphold all our rental needs – that clearly hasn’t worked. And while there will always be a place for

well-prepared, individual private landlords, we need a mix of other housing options.

Te Tai Whenua Trust, in collaboration with Hastings District Council, has begun construction of a cooperative, co-housing papakainga project in Flaxmere, waingakau.co.nz – a mix of social housing, rent-to-buy homes and private ownership with shared community spaces. The first of its kind in NZ on this scale, and it’s exactly the kind of vision we need.

We need our councils to be bolder, more imaginative in how they define living options for the wider community. Although HDC has also opened up the zoning of its CBD for inner-city living, we’re still stuck very much in a nuclear-family-home paradigm.

It’s still much easier to build a mega, single-storey, carbon-heavy house with double garage on one title than to get consent for alternatives, such as three small, climate-conscious dwellings in a shared arrangement – bylaws preclude multiple dwellings on one site, including off-grid tiny homes on wheels. And it’s expensive to build multi-storey apartments. That’s why we’ve got a growing sprawl of ‘premium’ Monopoly houses, chewing up fertile, productive land.

We need local councils, and the Government, to recognise the rental crisis and to face up to the need for radical adaptation, to support, not stymie, innovation in how we home ourselves.

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Following the Sun: Solar Take-Up Creeping There are less than

1,100

grid-connected systems in HB Transpower predicts a rapid increase in solar, with

Solar batteries remain a big part of the cost of a system:

58-69% of homes

$8,000-$11,000 for 6.5-10kWh options

25-40% of businesses

20,712

having systems by 2050

solar systems were in place in New Zealand by late 2018 and

by January this year 90 were larger 1 MW systems.

SEANZ claims one new solar PV system is installed every 25 minutes and 30% of households with a solar system have battery storage, up from 16% in 2016.

Story by Keith Newman Despite our unfair advantage of premium sunshine hours and all the PR about solar dramatically reducing electricity costs, there are less than 1,100 gridconnected systems in Hawke’s Bay. And for many it’s about futureproofing rather than an economic win.

Alongside wind power, solar has been touted as the ideal endgame for renewable energy, but the hype continues to outpace reality, with the market relying on low-deposit or no-deposit finance plans to lift it from the slump of stalled prices.

Transpower, in analysing future scenarios based on falling costs, improved efficiency and advances in areas such as nanotechnology, predicts a rapid increase in solar, with 58-69% of homes and 25-40% of businesses having systems by 2050.

By that stage the government-owned national power grid operator predicts solar will be slightly cheaper than gas and wind.

The Sun Rises on a Solar Energy Future, the update to its 2018 Te Mauri Hiko energy futures report, has been called a game changer, encouraging distributed and utility scale, battery-backed solar generation.

Without a change in attitude from the electricity industry, the provision of government subsidies or incentives, or a drastic shift in affordability and return on investment (ROI), the solar revolution will struggle to radiate the numbers touted by blue sky visions and alternative energy advocates.

Although the cost of a 10 panel 3kW system has dropped dramatically since 2008, that’s levelled off in the past three years to around $9,000, or nearly double that with a battery, according to SolarQuotes.

Westpac agrees the price of domestic 3kW systems has “flat-lined” as it points homeowners to the value

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hastings wants to build the 1MW PV solar farm with up to 4,000 panels on two hectares of land near Flaxmere at a cost of around $2.7 million.

solar adds to house prices, rather than immediate power savings or ROI which isn’t exactly compelling.

Payback time

Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand (SEANZ) director Kristy Hoare says a domestic solar system will generate between 10 to 12% ROI through energy bills in the first year, improving as electricity costs rise around 4% annually, with payback typically 8-10 years.

Meanwhile, the hype continues, with regular announcements of improved efficiency, storage, design and materials, promising everything from solar compatible paint and roading material to wearable solar tech or tiny panels stitched into clothing, window curtains or car seats.

Innovations fresh from science labs

and commercial trials continue to tweak what can be done with photovoltaics (PV) which capture sunlight to generate electricity, and concentrated solar power (CSP) that harnesses the sun’s heat for thermal heating and turbine energy.

Stretching the imagination in the PV camp are solar-powered roads and footpaths, already tested on a section of Route 66 in the US, where the thermal capacity can melt snow and light the way with LED bulbs.

Michigan State University researchers claim their see-through panels create huge possibilities in architecture, mobile electronics and the automotive industry. The transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC) based on organic molecules can be placed over any clear surface, although efficiency needs a serious boost.

MIT researchers have doubled the efficiency of solar cells by capturing waste heat from panels, delivering improved cost and efficiency per watt.

Solar tracking mounts that tilt and shift ground-based panels so they follow the sun are in big demand, with a claim half of US arrays will go that way by 2021.

Storing it up

Late last year the NZ Productivity Commission and Vector released reports claiming solar and batteries would play an important role in New Zealand’s clean-energy future.

While slowly becoming more efficient and affordable, solar batteries remain a big part of the cost of a system, $8,000-$11,000 for 6.5-10kWh

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 33

“You have to think of the life of your house and how much things are going to change over that time ...

Deciding to retro-fit later is a heck of a lot more expensive.”

KRISTIN GILLIES, SEANZ COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

options which, without high sunlight hours, still need a grid recharge.

According to industry sources there were 20,712 solar systems across New Zealand by late 2018 and by January this year 90 were larger 1 MW systems.

SEANZ claims one new solar PV system is installed every 25 minutes and 30% of households with a solar system have battery storage, up from 16% in 2016.

Many of the big electricity retailers have joined the specialist installers, offering solar systems and batteries including Tesla Powerwall, LG Chem and Panasonic models.

From May, Sonnen batteries from a former Holden factory in South Australia were being distributed by Taspac Energy. They restore power quickly in the event of a mains blackout or natural disaster and can be recharged through solar panels without a grid connection.

However, current lithium-ion storage batteries can present a fire hazard and with a life of 5-15-years there are end-of-life disposal issues that no one has quite got their heads around.

Bottled heat?

Alternatives may include solar thermal fuel (STF) or bottled heat batteries that store energy as a charge.

University of Massachusetts scientists have devised a plastic-like polymer, AzoPMA that absorbs sunlight in a high

34 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

energy state, while Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden is developing the Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage (MOST) system.

MOST collects and stores sunlight through a special fluid that can release its heat in a continual reusable loop when passed over a catalyst.

Science tells us there are multiple ways to use the sun’s energy for heat and electricity, although Kristin Gillies, former Hawke’s Bay resident and communications manager with SEANZ, suggests many of these are far from commercial reality.

While it’s “exciting stuff that generates media” few are likely to make it to New Zealand in the short-term. The only innovation that’s challenging PV panels is the trend toward solar roofing tiles.

What’s needed to revitalise our solar industry, he suggests, is more developers and building companies creating solar houses or solar-ready sub-divisions.

“You have to think of the life of your house and how much things are going to change over that time ... Deciding to retro-fit later is a heck of a lot more expensive,” says Gillies.

Optimal positioning

Many factors need to be taken into account before committing to solar, including the need for north-facing roof space in high-sunlight areas.

Misinformation, skewed sales pitches and uninformed purchases have left some homeowners feeling burnt. One solar signatory felt they’d been left with little more than a fancy roof decoration when the finance costs overshadowed the promised savings on their power bill.

Gillies says most complaints come from those who do nothing but put panels on the roof, are not daylight power users, or expect to be reimbursed by selling energy back to the grid.

Many were turned off solar when distributors and resellers collectively reduced their solar buy-back rates. What’s needed he says, is a “behavioural change and better use of ... simple tools that mean you don’t have to export to the grid.”

He suggests a seven year ROI is possible with a home energy-management system that assesses how much energy is generated then distributes the load where it’s most needed.

Timing is important

The key is using timers, now standard on new dishwashers and washing machines, and to run appliances during daylight hours even if you aren’t at home. Add-on timers can achieve this for older models.

Once the clothes and dishes are washed, a diverter can channel surplus energy into your hot water cylinder,

which makes up about 25% of most power bills, rather than exporting that power at low rates.

He recommends an assessment from a SEANZ member and using its online solar ‘optimiser’ to recommend a system configuration based on time of use and expected payback.

SEANZ was among the solar lobbyists who challenged the accuracy of the Government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) online calculator and its ‘not yet’ line on solar ROI. The calculator developed by Canterbury University as part of $6 million renewable energy research funding was taken offline in April after the pro-solar camp claimed it was skewing the data.

Rent-to-own options

First Light House, Waimarama

models to reflect the often erratic demands from solar systems and EVs. Every new solar connection into Unison’s network pays a $100 fee plus a ‘solar tax’ of 3-4 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour) and is offered a buy-back rate from retailers of 7-8 cents kWh. Or, solar connections can choose a time of use (TOU) price plan available to all residential customers.

Unison and its retailers charge by capacity or time of use kilowatt hour charges ($/kWh) which rewards solar and EV owners who use timers and offpeak recharging.

There may be around 100 off-thegrid systems (not including those that power rural pumps and electric fences) and around 1,100 grid-connected systems, including 50 or so commercial, industrial and school connections, an area that is now growing faster than the domestic market.

The so-called ‘solar tax’ is expected to be withdrawn by April 2020 when

the new pricing regime is cemented.

Unison’s ideal scenario is 30% of users taking 30% solar by 2030 (30/30/30). The company believes two-thirds of recent solar installations are on some form of financial or lease package with most including batteries.

Peer pressure

A growing challenge will come from peer-to-peer (P2P) solar. Kaitaia College went live with a 368-panel rooftop system in February using Trustpower’s Solar Buddies programmes to gift or sell excess electricity to any household served by the same retailer.

The school expects to save tens of thousands of dollars over the 10-year payback period.

Gillies says this approach has the potential to create a secondary market with businesses and households generating, storing and sharing excess with their neighbours or friends.

C&C001665WiB

Efforts to ease homeowners and businesses into solar include ‘rent to buy’ plans or zero upfront costs for panels, battery and management systems.

A long-term commitment, up to 20 years, will allegedly deliver a fixed power bill with 10-15% savings or around $300 in the first year and around $20,000 over 20 years. Panel manufacturers typically offer a 25-year warranty, but advise an annual soapy water wash to maintain performance.

On selling the house the purchaser can pay what’s owed or take over the finance, or the seller can move the panels and battery to their new house.

The growth of solar is tied to ongoing challenges for electricity distributors like Hawke’s Bay’s Unison and its retailers, who are modifying traditional charging

A domestic solar system will generate between 10 to 12% ROI through energy bills in the first year, improving as electricity costs rise around 4% annually, with payback typically 8-10 years.

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JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 35

Large commercial businesses are part of solar’s growth curve, with high daytime-use and attractive finance plans now stacking up economically.

The new Zespri Headquarters boasts smart exterior facades, energy-efficient occupant sensor lighting and 61Kw solar panels.

A proposal to establish a ‘mega solar farm’ serving residents of Flaxmere and Camberley is currently before Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) and potential funders.

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hastings wants to build the 1MW PV solar farm with up to 4,000 panels on two hectares of land near Flaxmere at a cost of around $2.7 million.

The Power to the People (PttP) project is a response to concerns that tenants in many rental homes are ‘energy poor’, or spending 10% or more of household income on energy.

They typically use 20% less electricity than the average New Zealander because they rug up or get into sleeping bags in winter to reduce power bills, risking sickness and unemployment.

The church claims it can deliver electricity to around 1,500 people in 400 low-income homes at 25% below mainstream prices; 45% would come from the PV solar farm, the balance from the wholesale market.

The project is supported in principal by Unison and Hastings District Council. HBRC has been asked to lend $500,000 through its Sustainable Home Programme, to be repaid over ten years. Pre-requisite grant fundraising is now underway.

Business takes lead

Large commercial businesses are part of solar’s growth curve, with high

36 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

daytime use and attractive finance plans now stacking up economically.

Misco Joinery in Kaiapoi adopted sunshine energy in May with a 153kW system of 535 solar panels providing 65% of its energy consumption with ROI of 16%.

Other recently activated systems include Comvita (300kW), Zespri headquarters (61kW), a couple of Mainfreight Distribution centres, numerous warehouses, resorts, supermarkets, schools, petrol stations and businesses, including several large 1MW solar farms under non-disclosure.

Solar farms are commonplace in many parts of the world. In Germany they’re part of a plan to replace nuclear generation and China has vast acreages, including farms shaped like giant pandas — Panda farms — aimed at replacing the need to burn millions of tons of coal.

Sometimes though there’s a need to start small and learn, perhaps like the Flaxmere farm or Tony Krzyzewski’s small passive 50kW solar farm heating his swimming pool in the winegrowing community in Bridge Pa. While it works wonders on sunny days, other than the purely philosophical stance of wanting to save the planet, Krzyzewski hasn’t seen any ROI on the PV panels, batteries, cost of installation, technology and line charges.

“If the price of power jumps, the price the grid is willing to buy-back increases, or the cost of panels and batteries comes down, then there may be a crossover

point, but I don’t think that it is there yet.”

To encourage large solar farms in Hawke’s Bay, with land so valued for agriculture and horticulture and indeed housing, a robust business case would be needed along with answers to questions like: what happens on sunless days; would solar glare blindside drivers, or would solar installations be uglier than a zig zag scar on Te Mata Peak?

The solar challenges remain. If new homes come broadband-ready, why wouldn’t they also be solar-ready with capacity for charging an electric vehicle (EV)?

Do we need local and central government incentives to push more aggressively to reach Transpower’s 2050 projections? Will Greenpeace get traction on its petition to repurpose oil and gas industry subsidies for solar on 500,000 New Zealand homes by 2030? Or, in a country already generating more than 80% of its electricity from renewable sources, do we simply await improving market rewards?

Unison is pleased to sponsor robust examination of energy issues in Hawke’s Bay. This reporting is prepared by BayBuzz. Any editorial views expressed are those of the BayBuzz team and do not reflect the views of Unison.

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Political Update Tom Belford

This winter seems to be the season of big plans for Hawke’s Bay’s elected decisionmakers – declaring a climate emergency, progressing the partial selldown of Port shares, welcoming $60 million in new government funding for the region via the Provincial Growth Fund, and of course preparing for local body elections culminating in October.

[Disclaimer: I will be standing for re-election to the HBRC.]

Local body elections

Let’s begin with the most overtly political – local body elections. As covered elsewhere in this edition

by Sophie Price, candidates have begun to signal their intentions for the elections that will end 12 October.

However, the final deadline for filing candidacies is not until 16 August, with official public announcement of candidates on 21 August. So, more candidates will surely surface.

The political ‘hotspots’ this season appear to be the Napier and Hastings mayoral races, as well as the Regional Council seats. Otherwise there will be marginal seat-shifting that shouldn’t affect any council’s ‘balance of power’.

At this writing, only Kirsten Wise has raised her hand for the Napier mayoralty. Hers is clearly a timetested strategy of planting the flag early, taking some very defining positions (like opposing ‘The Pool’ and trimming the sails of chief executive Wayne Jack), and effectively daring anyone to take her on. As a result, her public profile is skyrocketing, which presents a huge challenge to any newbie who might challenge. She might as well be the incumbent. What would it take to beat her? A big name, like Chris Tremain.

In Hastings, battle lines have been drawn early and clearly, with councillor Damon Harvey standing against incumbent mayor Sandra Hazlehurst.

The emerging theme here is ‘fresh blood’ versus ‘old blood’. Sandra’s advantage is being a front-and-center ‘guest of honour’ at every official photo opportunity imaginable over the next 3-4 months. She will ‘own’ the pages of HB Today, HDC voters will think she’s their mum or auntie, while Damon will need to fight for scraps of attention … and maybe hope for another major miscue (e.g., another un-consulted Z track or rampant tree cutting).

And if others enter this race, as with every recent Hastings mayoral election, those other ‘wannabies’

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 39

“Emergencies bring out the very best in people and communities. They achieve far more and faster than they ever believed possible because everybody gives their urgent best for the common good.”

ROD ORAM

will simply add to the Hazlehurst advantage by splitting the ‘new face’ and ‘disgruntled ratepayer’ vote.

At the Regional Council, it’s been no secret that a stable group of six councillors (out of nine) – Graham, Barker, Beaven, Belford, Bailey and Kirton – have been on the same page during this current term, the latter two (elected in 2016) joining the other four (first elected in 2013) to effect a regime change. New chairman, new chief executive, new culture, fresh commitment to the environment.

Of this group, only Peter Beaven is not standing again, while CHB’s Debbie Hewitt and Napier’s Alan Dick are also not seeking re-election. A number of candidates have surfaced to contest for HBRC seats at this point, as profiled in Sophie Price’s article herein.

The choices for newbies standing for HBRC are pretty clear – argue the Regional Council is headed in the wrong direction; or admit that the current priorities are the right ones, but could somehow be better advanced; or align with the team that is currently setting the course.

Climate emergency

In June, the Regional Council passed a resolution reading in part: “Declares a climate emergency, recognising global warming to be an urgent and pervasive threat to human and ecological wellbeing.”

At the meeting, a comprehensive approach giving teeth to this resolution was adopted as well. The discussion is well-worth viewing on the HBRC website.

The debate was one-sided, with only councillors Fenton Wilson and Alan Dick opposing.

40 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

Over the past dozen years, BayBuzz has published over 60 articles, and many more ‘bits and pieces’ addressing global warming, all retrievable online. As we’ve reported, evidence for the urgency for political/governmental action on this threat has steadily mounted. And we’re now to a point where the world’s entire industrial carbon-based economy must be re-tooled in perhaps only a decade or two if we are to avert crossing a ‘tipping point’ where calamity awaits … not merely some ‘inconvenient’ coastal erosion for those choosing to live at the beach.

As one recent report concludes, after noting the recurring under-estimation of rates of global warming: “Scientists warn that warming of 4.0C is incompatible with an organized global community, is devastating to the majority of ecosystems, and has a high probability of not being stable. The World Bank says it may be ‘beyond adaptation’.”

With global stakes so high, it’s easy to dismiss a regional council’s action as tokenism or inconsequential. But to the contrary, those stakes increase the moral responsibility for all of us to do what we can in our own patch. And our Regional Council has embraced that duty …

As when HBRC declared oil and gas development off-limits in Hawke’s Bay. By formulating, with Hastings and Napier councils, a coastal hazards strategy to address the impacts of sea rise and severe weather events. By committing funds to uplifting the stopbanks that protect our growers, other businesses and our residents from the flooding anticipated from more severe weather. By transitioning our own vehicle use to EVs where they are fit for purpose and promoting EV use generally.

By maintaining a public transport and

cycleway system. And restoring a more energy-efficient rail link to Wairoa.

By substantially stepping up tree planting. Supporting residential solar uptake. Excluding fossil fuels from our investment portfolio.

Launching a Future Farming Initiative aimed at increasing the resilience of our food-producing regional economy. By advocating on behalf of the Government’s climate policy. And winning $30 million to develop environmentally appropriate water security options for the region.

More initiatives are in the pipeline. And Hastings District Council also has programmes underway. In short, we must indeed think globally and act locally.

As Rod Oram recently observed: “Emergencies bring out the very best in people and communities. They achieve far more and faster than they ever believed possible because everybody gives their urgent best for the common good.”

Port IPO

As you read this, I suspect the Port is in the process of testing possible investor interest in its potential partial share offering. This process is designed to establish two things: a) overall, whether investors value the Port shares sufficiently to make a share offering worthwhile to the present owner (your Regional Council), and b) the potential level of interest on the part of local Hawke’s Bay investors in a potential offering.

The inquiry speaks directly to feedback from the HBRC consultation process, which indicated strong public interest in providing for robust local investor participation in any share offer.

Once this market ‘read’ has occurred, if the targeted value range for the offering seems achievable, then the HBRC has signalled that the actual IPO will likely proceed.

The rationale for this approach, as endorsed by the Regional Council, is that the partial sell-down (no more

“The Port is in the process of testing possible investor interest in its potential partial share offering.”

than 49%) is the best strategy for achieving the multiple goals of: 1) enabling the Port to make the stepchange improvements in infrastructure needed to enable further growth in our region’s export economy, while 2) reducing the financial risk associated with concentrating its investment so heavily in one asset (the Port), 3) not putting the financial burden on the shoulders of ratepayers, and 4) retaining Council (i.e, ratepayer) control.

Achieving these benefits for the Port in this manner provides the additional benefit of yielding net funds from the offering that can be invested elsewhere, with earnings from those investments available to advance the Council’s environmental objectives.

Provincial Growth Fund

Manna from heaven?! Not exactly … we’re paying for the PGF through our tax dollars. Nevertheless, it’s terrific to see some $60 million recycled to Hawke’s Bay via recently announced grants from the PGF. Apart from a $20 million roading project in Central Hawke’s Bay (Waipukurau to Porangahau), the biggest chunk of that largesse has been earmarked for the Regional Council’s water security programme, allocated across four projects: $2.2 million will fund a high-resolution, aerial electromagnetic survey of Hawke’s Bay’s aquifers. This 3D mapping will provide a comprehensive picture of the region’s aquifers down to 300 metres underground, providing detail on their size, how much water is in them, how they are connected to the land and where they might be vulnerable to contamination. Hopefully yielding greater confidence in our region’s high

stakes water planning. $14.7 million to develop ‘Managed Aquifer Recharge’ (MAR) in Central Hawke’s Bay. MAR is an approach to replenishing aquifer levels by taking surface water during high flows, filtering the water and releasing it into aquifers. Work will be undertaken to investigate, develop and introduce an integrated groundwater replenishment programme to help sustainably manage the district’s groundwater systems.

This approach has been used successively elsewhere in NZ, but will need to be tested and proven locally under the no doubt watchful eyes of the entire CHB and wider Hawke’s Bay community. Although the scheme might potentially utilise small to medium scale storage, it is not a ‘stealth’ approach to reviving the Ruataniwha dam.

Similarly, $12.9 million is allocated to investigate options for small-scale water storage options to supplement water flows in and across the Heretaunga Plains. Having available water storage options would provide security of supply to current consent holders and, through the release of water during periods of high demand or dry conditions, mitigate the environmental effects of ground and surface water extraction.

During the TANK process, the Heretaunga aquifer was assessed to be in equilibrium, meaning that annual extraction for irrigation, residential and industrial use was just balanced by annual inflow or ‘re-charge’ into the system. Also, it was established that present extractions at times were diminishing surface water flows over the Plains to unacceptable levels environmentally. Hence a cap was placed – no new consents for water extraction

are currently permitted.

The amount of incremental water the Heretaunga region might need to meet our multiple household, farming/growing, industrial and environmental requirements in the future is yet to be reliably established (hence the importance of the 3D mapping described above, and the demand assessment described in the next point). However, it is presently assumed that the additional need could be met by small-scale water storage. And in fact the draft TANK plan change would prohibit damming of specified major rivers and tributaries.

Finally, $450,000 (to be matched

by HBRC) is allocated to produce a regional freshwater assessment, including detailed analysis of the region’s freshwater requirements over the next 30 to 50 years, as well as the ability for known water sources to meet demand. The report will consider the freshwater requirements of tangata whenua and provide engagement opportunities for the Hawke’s Bay community to contribute to long-term freshwater management planning.

Any announcement regarding millions of dollars for water storage in Hawke’s Bay stirs understandable concern and suspicion in some quarters.

Personally, I believe the options that are likely be explored are reasonable, and hold potential for achieving win/ win outcomes.

But, only with these provisos: 1) that tangata whenua and environmental representatives are at the planning table and fully engaged every step of the way; 2) that ‘state of the art’ efficient water use and water conservation measures are mandated as ‘conditions precedent’ for any storage or augmentation scheme, and 3) that future land uses are optimised over time so as to be compatible with a limited water future (i.e., no ‘grandfathering’ of water-inefficient uses).

Stay tuned!

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 41

YOUR AIRPORT

MINDING THE GAP Planting and regenerating a patch of undeveloped land in Westshore that locals call The Gap is just one project that will benefit from a prosperous partnership between Hawke’s Bay Airport and Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay. Left to right: Marie Taylor – Plant Hawke’s Bay, Richard Karn – Westshore Residents Association and Stuart Ainslie – Hawke’s Bay Airport Chief Executive.

NEIGHBOURHOOD SUPPORT An airport is many things – transport hub, business centre, meeting place, employer, regional asset. And an airport is also a neighbour.

In Hawke’s Bay, our airport borders the seaside suburb of Westshore, and sits squarely within the Ahuriri estuarine environment - a haven for birdlife and other fauna and flora.

Stephanie Murphy is the Airport Planner at Hawke’s Bay Airport and also takes an interest in the long-term protection of Hawke’s Bay’s unique ecosystem. In her spare time, she’s a Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay Guardian – a passion project for this keen environmentalist.

So Stephanie was thrilled when, earlier this year, her employer signed on as the sole Platinum Sponsor of Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay, committing funding and in-kind support of around $450,000 over the next five years. This support will help build an Endowment Fund that Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay will use to create a nature-rich future for our region.

“But the other benefit is that a portion of the funding goes towards a separate Project Fund, which the Guardians use to support community groups with an interest in enhancing biodiversity,” Stephanie says.

Established in 2018, Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay relies on membership from individuals, schools, local bodies and businesses both big and small. Its overarching goal is to protect threatened priority habitats and rare species in Hawke’s Bay, as well as support ecological restoration programmes. It’s a goal that fits neatly with Hawke’s Bay Airport’s own sustainability framework, says airport Chief Executive Stuart Ainslie.

“We see a natural synergy,” he says. “The airport takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously, and prides itself on being a committed steward of our biodiverse Hawke’s Bay environment, and our local community.”

REGENERATING THE GAP There’s a unique piece of gravel beach along Westshore that has been largely undisturbed by development, landscaping or hard engineering.

It’s called The Gap, and it’s a Council-owned protected zone for the airport’s cross runway. “It really has been a forgotten part of the Hawke’s Bay landscape,” says Stephanie. “And while it’s a bit overgrown with weeds at the moment, it’s been identified by Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay as an important part of our regional ecosystem.”

Richard Karn from the Westshore Residents Association has led a small team taking care of The Gap for the past three years – largely focused on spraying, watering, hand-weeding, and rubbish removal.

There has also been some trial planting, to ascertain which plants might thrive on the site. “The airport funded a number of native plants and helped with weeding and planting – they have kept an active interest in the project,” says Richard.

Now, with The Gap identified as the recipient of Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay funding to enable a management plan to be drawn up and establish native planting and long-term weed management, Richard and his neighbours are excited at the prospect of a coordinated, well-funded approach. “Where else could you do a project like this in the middle of a residential area, with a willing corporate partner? It is a great project, and if done properly, will outlive us all.”

AN ECOLOGICAL TAONGA Marie Taylor owns Plant Hawke’s Bay and has spent many hours investigating the ecological habitat of The Gap in her role as a Biodiversity Guardian.

“The Gap is unusual because of its location, its gravel beach landscape, and its smattering of remnant natural vegetation,” she begins.

The native plants discovered on the site include Pimelea urvilleana, sand coprosma, wiwi, and several other interesting shrubs.

However with invasive exotic weeds choking the natives, Marie sees a real opportunity for change, with Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay Project Fund support. “The objective is to recreate a gravel beach landscape with an appropriate suite of species adapted to the site.

So far the most successful species we’ve trialled is the leafless pohuehue Muehlenbeckia ephedroides, which looks a bit like wire.

It’s rare in Hawke’s Bay, and is only known from a small at-risk population in Te Awanga where it’s subject to damage from vehicles.

So if we can make The Gap a refuge for this species, that will be a very good outcome.”

With airport, Council, Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay, Guardians and the neighbourhood working together, Marie is confident The Gap could also become an example of how to manage gravel beach environments in wider Hawke’s Bay. “In the future, we would like to see story boards or interpretation panels telling the stories of these specialised plants – imagine if we could get people thinking about our beaches as a taonga and really treasuring them?”

Marie describes the commitment the airport has made to Biodiversity Hawke’s Bay as “wonderful” and says it sets a fantastic precedent for other businesses to think outside their boundaries “and look at how they can help improve Hawke’s Bay’s natural landscapes and biodiversity.”

Proud supporters of:

In May/June BayBuzz, we profiled mayoral candidates Alex Walker (CHB), Sandra Hazlehurst (HDC) and Kirsten Wise (NCC).

In this edition, we’re focusing on the only further mayoral challenger to surface to date, Damon Harvey (HDC), and on ‘new faces’ contending for seats on the Regional Council – Will Foley (contesting the CHB seat), Jerf van Beek (for the Ngaruroro seat) and Hinewai Ormsby, Martin Williams and Nichola Nicholson (for Napier seats).

We believe the mayoral races and the make-up of the Regional Council are where the action is in this year’s elections.

Election Action

Interviews: Sophie Price

44 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

Damon Harvey action man!

It is leadership indecisiveness that led Damon Harvey to stand for the mayor of Hastings.

The ongoing saga of the Te Mata Peak debacle, Harvey says, is a classic example of where the Hastings District Council (HDC) didn’t put a stake in the ground right at the start, leading it to drag on, divide the community and cost ratepayers $500,000 in the process.

“For the life of me, I still do not understand how that [consent] wasn’t publicly notified … that’s just common sense,” he says. Moreover, he says fellow councillor Baden Barber had completed a report on the District’s outstanding natural landscapes not too long ago.

“But no one chose to pull that out of a drawer somewhere and look at it?” Harvey notes this lack of diligence left counsillors blind-sighted, in turn leaving the community in the dark.

Harvey cited the dangerous slip issues at the Cape as yet another example of the HDC’s indecisiveness. “There is an old guard on council,” he says.

“And if you look at that old guard, I think there has been slow decision-making for many years and delays in things. So, when I talk about leadership,

it’s probably, a collective leadership.”

He cites the fate of the trees in Keirunga Gardens as another issue where HDC has failed to act appropriately. With 205 out of 210 submissions against the razing of the trees, Harvey says: “We should never have gotten, again, into the pickle we are now in,” adding that he hopes a common sense approach is taken to the park and trees are only dealt if and when they are needed to be.

So, how might the District better prosper?

“We need to have a clear view,” says Harvey. “It’s fairly obvious that our planning hasn’t been able to forecast really what has occurred in the last three to five years … this massive explosion in demand on property.” He says with the local economy going so strongly, Council has been caught on the hop.

With Havelock North’s population set to double in ten years, Harvey says thought has to be put into how the village’s already “suffocating” CBD is going to cope. “So I don’t think we have forecasted well enough. And I think that’s what we need to be doing,” he says.

Flaxmere too is a top priority.

Speaking about his hometown, Harvey says more attention needs to be paid to its CBD, but Council is really stuck on the fact the shopping centre is

privately-owned. “Therefore, we have no control of it. We can’t design the type of retail offering that could be there. It’s more piecemeal.” He says the current shopping centre is not cared for and so the town treats it the same way.

Despite this, he will look at some way to tidy it up and see what can be done on the surrounding land.

Returning to the issue of property, Harvey says Hastings district-wide is facing a housing crisis – a crisis he lays solely at the feet of councils past.

“Hawke’s Bay has become a place for Auckland and Wellingtonians to move to because in their view, we had relatively affordable housing. We haven’t released land in a timely fashion,” he says. That, coupled with the issue of housing the international seasonal workers, is forcing up the prices.

Then there is water – how to prevent another Havelock North water crisis.

Spending $40 million to fix the urban infrastructure should do the trick, but Harvey says what has not been made clear is that part of this spend will be on reservoirs to hold the water, reservoirs built in the urban environment. “Those will be eight plus meters high and they have to go somewhere.”

Which leads to another area he feels the Council could handle much better – communicating with the public, something he believes he understands with his background in journalism and communication. “It’s something I’ve always been challenged with,” he says.

Harvey says he is standing for Hastings mayor because he feels more relevant to the community. He says raising kids in the District puts him in a prime position to understand the challenges of families and see the opportunities for them. “I understand them better than I could if I was much later in life running or being the mayor.”

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 45

Jerf van Beek thinking globally, acting locally

Jerf van Beek started out his farming life in Twyford on a small five-acre plot. It wasn’t even legally his; as a foreigner he needed to seek permission to own land. He got permission eventually, by then he had already ploughed a lot of work into his land – but he didn’t do it alone.

So, when asked why he is standing for the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC), without hesitation he replies: “Because back then they [his neighbours] gave their time and tools, forklifts, ladders, everything to help me out. Some of them I didn’t really know all that well, and this is one way of actually giving back to this community.”

Today van Beek is Kiwi as (receiving citizenship earlier this year) and has come a long way from that initial five acres. For one, he is Horticulture NZ’s National Seasonal Labour Coordinator.

And he is no stranger to the HBRC. As chair of the Twyford Irrigator Group van Beek wrote himself into the history books when the Council granted the group the first ever global consent in New Zealand – an outcome reached after a total water ban was placed on the area. Today, not only is less water being used by the collective, no farmer is without water. This led van Beek to participate in the ongoing TANK talks where his ideas around water usage were further changed by other members. “I’ve learned a lot from it.”

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Right now, when it comes to balancing the environment and the economy, van Beek believes the Council has struck the right balance. However, he believes more emphasis should be put into water storage to future proof the region – water the whole community can benefit from, not just those who can afford to purchase it. “I’m not a privateer in that sense, I believe water shouldn’t be sold and bought. It should be shared.”

He says the region should also look at investing in the areas of horticulture and viticulture – types of farming which have a high yield and high employment for low land use – thus having a small environmental footprint. “If we have the economic wherewithal and we actually are able to look after our community, we can also look after our environment at the same time,” he says.

Although van Beek likes how the Council has set the economic-environmental balance, there are things it could do better. “The HBRC actually doesn’t come across very engagingly with the community. And I think we can do a lot better.” On the climate

change front, he says the region needs to become more resilient. “Now is the time we need to make those changes.”

Which leads to compliance issues. “We cannot allow bigger players to do the wrong things.”

Using Pan Pac as an example, van Beek says, “That was wrong, [the pipeline] was broken, and they knew it was broken. And still the breaches were occurring.” While the situation seems to have been resolved, he says the Council must act faster before the damage done can no longer be fixed. “I think they need to put their foot down and say, ‘If you breach, then we will come down as a ton of bricks’. And they have been a bit soft over time.”

As an independent candidate, van Beek believes by having somebody who understands both the growing industry and the environment can only benefit Hawke’s Bay. “I live here, I work here, and I’m very much in tune with the environment.”

Will Foley from farm to (Council) table

If you had asked Will Foley three years ago whether he would seek out a seat around the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, the answer most likely would have been ‘No’.

The former Federated Farmers rep for the region, has come a long way in a short time – from a staunch supporter of the Ruataniwha dam (he still believes the district needs water storage) to a change in his farming practices. A change he credits to becoming a father.

“Stepping down from Feds I wasn’t necessarily looking for something new to move on to,” he says. “I had done five years, that was enough.” But after a little time out and with the Central Hawke’s Bay incumbent stepping down, he thought now was the right time to take on a new challenge. “I guess to follow more of what I am interested in, which is the environment and the local economy and hopefully, be a constructive voice around the table for not only Central Hawke’s Bay but for all of Hawke’s Bay.”

Today, when Foley farms, his impact on the environment is at the forefront of his decisions – a change he made consciously after his eldest child Archie was diagnosed with autism.

Natural therapies and a change in diet became a part of Archie’s treatment, and Foley realised it was not just autism, there were many ailments where a change in diet simply made people feel better.

“That just generates a whole lot of questions itself as to why you make different food choices. Does that impact on your health and if it does, then it makes you question where the food comes from? How’s it produced?

And it comes right back to farm level and the environment. So that kind of explains, I guess, a bit of a shift in my views on environment and food production, as opposed to five years ago, three years ago.”

While the environment is an important value to Foley, its needs must be balanced out with what is good for the local economy. “We want to keep thriving and be prosperous so we can

afford to care for our environment, but do it in a way we get a good environment and a good economy. If we can do that then everyone is going to be happy with that progress.”

And with the economy thriving then the central issue faced by his district – water – can be tackled. “[The main issue] continues to be water,” he says.

How can this be achieved? Plan Change 6. Foley admits the Plan isn’t perfect, however he says it is certainly better for the environment. “I think it’s probably setting a high benchmark; if we can make that work it will certainly show the rest of the country the way to do it.”

Foley says at present the Regional Council’s shift of focus towards farming and the environment is a good thing – in particular helping farmers with erosion control, riparian planting and fencing off waterways. “They are doing a great job,” he says. Where is the Council is falling down? “You could probably call me biased, but there is not enough focus on urban management of the environment,” he says, adding that the towns need water security as much as the farms do.

Foley says it is easy to look in from the outside and say the HBRC is not hard enough with its compliance enforcement, but without sitting at the table he doesn’t have all the facts and going to court, especially, is a waste of time and resources. “I think we just need to work together better.”

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Hinewai Ormsby mother, woman, Māori, teacher

When Hinewai Ormsby returned home after years away from Napier and saw just how much damage had been done to her ancestral waterways, she had to do something. So she started planting native trees.

And she hasn’t stopped. In fact, re-establishing the city’s biodiversity is a part of this tourism operator’s model for her business – Napier Māori Tours But for this mother of two, greening the Ahuriri Estuary and the Tutaekurī River was just the first step in a long journey to restore the waterways to how she remembers them from her childhood – for her children and grandchildren. The next step? Running for the Regional Council so she doesn’t have to keep being a band-aid solution – on Council she knows she will be in a place to prevent the problems from occurring in the first place.

Recloaking Te Whanganui a Orotū – of which only the Ahuriri Estuary remains – and the Tutaekurī is personal for Ormsby, “It has been an absolute disaster,” she says, adding that her concern goes beyond biodiversity to the cultural. She wants to be able to collect shellfish there as her ancestors once did, keeping alive the traditional food gathering practices of the past.

“I want to protect that as much as I can and preserve it for the future generations and we just haven’t been doing that well. And it is not just about me, but I want to be a voice that can say these are our cultural values. Yes, things have developed over time, I

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am not that naïve, I know our society has changed … but it shouldn’t be at the sake of ruining out natural environment.”

Ormsby says not only can she bring this cultural understanding to the Regional Council table, her science and teaching experience – from her time at Napier Girls’ High School – will serve her well in this role. “I can easily understand the research and observation done to understand the state of our waterways. But then I also come from a place of ‘how do we use that’ to improve the environment within our powers as Kaitiaki.”

She says change can happen. “Like what we are doing with planting trees.”

While many organisations are getting on board, she believes more needs to be done. “Governments need to take the lead, local agencies, businesses – we all have to come to that place of environmental appreciation and acknowledgement. It is our collective mission to leave this world in a better state.”

Ormsby says she is excited with the direction the HBRC is headed in terms of looking after the environment. However, the work being done is seemingly being undone by the soft approach towards those who breach their consents repeatedly.

“I just don’t think it’s managed

very well. I don’t think there’s enough consequences in place to say, ‘Actually, you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing and this is how you are negatively affecting it’. So there needs to be some sort of consequence to that.” She says this might involve going to court.

On the other side, the Council can step in and perhaps assist consent holders to meet their conditions by helping out with waterway fencing and riparian planting.

Ormsby is standing to get her message out about protecting not just Napier’s waterways, but the entire Bay’s. “I want to get my voice out there, my values and hopefully people connect with me and want to see this change for the better for the environment, and that’s what I really want for Napier.”

Martin Williams legal beagle

“I want to take this chance and be able to make a contribution,” local lawyer Martin Williams says. “To apply the skills and learnings of 25 years of local government resource management law, in achieving some real benefits for the region.”

The 2019 local body election will be the second time Williams has stepped into the race for one of three Napier seats at the Regional Council table. So, what is he standing for? “Two things,” he says simply, “independence and climate change”.

To Williams, independence is where every issue is approached on its merits. “What is the most appropriate and most effective policy response to the issue in front of you. Not what is it that those I perceive voted me in want me to do. So independence in the sense of not being beholden to any particular stakeholder, sector, or interest group.” Williams says he would be there to represent the region, and so he will be looking for the best outcome for the region on any issue in front of him.

He believes his emphasis – climate change – may be a little more interesting. “I don’t think

people realise this, but councils aren’t allowed at the moment to tackle climate change; it’s outside their jurisdiction,” he says. What councils can do, and have been doing he says, is adapting to the effects of climate change such as installing new infrastructure and planting hills to make them more resilient. “That’s certainly within council functions at present.”

However, Williams says if the Council put climate change implications at the forefront of every single policy, Hawke’s Bay could be the first carbon neutral region in the country.

“It’s about being aspirational.”

He says HBRC’s new environmental focus is a good thing. Referring to past deforestation: “We didn’t understand what we were doing [then]; it is exciting that something is being done to recloak the land. So I’m all for that.”

On the other hand, Williams says the HBRC’s consent compliance approach

is not working. “I don’t think the system is right. I don’t think there’s a systematic approach to it.” He cited the example of Dean Aaron Brown whose sewage was being discharged over a freshwater aquifer. Mr Brown refused to stop using his toilet, so the HBRC took him to court.

Williams compared this to the examples of Pan Pac and Napier City Council, who have had serial breaches of their consents. “I mean it’s a disgrace, as Councillor Barker put it, that you couldn’t host the Iron Maori in the Pandora Pond. There is I guess, a lack of proportionality in that. I think a clearer, more consistent approach to enforcement is definitely something that should be a goal for that Council.”

What it all comes down to, Williams says, is he has lived and breathed local government law for two and half decades. “What the other Councillors have got is practical hands-on experience in dealing with the politics of all of that. What I think I bring is the ability to break down complex issues which comes from my legal training, the ability to sort the wheat from the chaff, the ability to distil what the core issues are and find solutions for them.”

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Nichola Nicholson young and green

Celebrant Nichola Nicholson wants to get the people of Napier excited about their environment again. “One challenge I believe not just Napier but the whole of the Hawke’s Bay is facing at the moment, is that part of our local population seems to be disengaged from what’s happening in our environment,” she says.

To re-engage people, Nicholson is ready to represent her city on the Regional Council. “I’m running because I want to create a conversation around the environment and our region that reflects us all and that represents the interests and needs of Hawke’s Bay as a whole,” says Nichola.

So, what does a young, green, woman bring to the table? One word: diversity.

“I don’t think the Council currently is an accurate representation of the make-up of Hawke’s Bay,” she says. “I bring a youthful, modern voice and a female perspective to the conversation, [a] fresh approach to the Regional Council – something I believe is important for Hawke’s Bay.” With an environmental management degree, Nicholson has worked in the consents department at the Taranaki Regional Council, on Enviro Schools in Auckland, and ran Green Concepts from 2010-2012 – an environment and carbon consultancy here in Hawke’s Bay. So, the environment is high on Nicholson’s list of priorities. “Without

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the foundation of a healthy and resilient environment to build from, our communities are economically unable to thrive and provide for us,” she says.

Her priorities include a diverse, healthy and resilient environment; community representation in decision making; climate action; and water quality, safety and certainty. “By bringing the skills and experience that I possess in the environmental field [I hope] to help make good decisions and inform the governance process.”

Nicholson says while Central Government has set a target to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, the Regional Council has taken this even further. “I’m really heartened by the direction that the HBRC is moving in with regards to climate change,” she says. “Its target of being carbon neutral by 2040 is far more ambitious and forward thinking.”

When asked about issues facing Napier, Ahuriri Estuary was the answer.

However, Nicholson takes a lenient stance when asked whether the HBRC was doing its job effectively when it came to compliance and enforcing consent conditions with serial polluters such as Napier City Council, given its impact on the Estuary.

She says it is always going to be a combination of the carrot (hopefully

most of the time) and the stick (only when absolutely necessary).

“Situations like these are always disappointing and often complex, but I think a considered approach needs to be taken when it comes to looking at how much is spent and whether the outcome of legal action is worthwhile,” she says.

Right now, Nicholson says Council needs to move forward in a positive direction, engaging people in our communities to be a part of this journey. She says for Hawke’s Bay to continue to grow well into the future, its environment must be front and centre. “The environment is bigger than politics so it’s going to take all of us to come on board and help get a few things on track so our region can thrive.”

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The social ills of Hawke’s Bay seem especially – and deservedly – in the spotlight these days.

Housing, drugs, gangs, strikes, child welfare, suicide.

Gloria Rautahi at the Heretaunga Women’s Centre with Margot Wilson and Cathy Barclay.

Photo: Florence Charvin

These issues are fundamentally the charge of government departments, but because these agencies are essentially faceless and impenetrable at the local level, public upset gets vented at our local elected officials. Some of them try to escape with, ‘Not our job!’; but others accept a responsibility for local councils and councillors to play a role in addressing our social challenges.

Given that it’s local election year, BayBuzz asked two local organisations, Heretaunga Women’s Centre and Napier Pilot City Trust to put forward the social concerns they would like to see local council candidates address.

I D EAS AND O P I N I O N MAR G OT W I LS O N

Issues for Hastings Council Candidates At the Heretaunga Women’s Centre we see first-hand the social issues faced by women in our community. I have little doubt if there were a Men’s Centre the issues would be much the same.

The 2019 local body elections give us all the opportunity to ask questions about these issues and to know how potential councillors feel and will respond to them.

It also gives us here at the Heretaunga Women’s Centre an opportunity to question and talk about what is happening in our community, how we as a community are coping and, more importantly, how our Council will be planning and implementing working towards addressing and overcoming these challenges.

Housing

The biggest social issue on my radar is housing. Everywhere I go women are talking about housing and homelessness.

Heartbreakingly, I have started calling 2019 the ‘Year of Long Sighs’ because of that terrible long sigh I experience when I see a woman (often accompanied by children) arriving at the doors to the Women’s Centre on a Friday afternoon: homeless and desperate … and I know I have no practical help to offer them.

I know first-hand that there are big plans afoot with social housing providers, including Council ramping up building and consents, but while plans are being discussed, women, children and families are living in motels.

In my mind we seem to be continuing to look at older conventional solutions to the problem of creating housing, when a whole rethink of housing is what is really needed. It’s time to be more creative with our housing solution and some out-of-the-box thinking would not go amiss.

“In my mind we seem to be continuing to look at older conventional solutions to the problem of creating housing, when a whole rethink of housing is what is really needed.”

My question to councillors is to please think about co-housing models, tiny home villages, cooperative inner-city apartments, and perhaps the freeing up of Council land as well as planning regulations to support alternative solutions.

We need to be looking to the future of housing with a wider and fresh thinking lens and it’s urgent we start now.

Poverty

Following as a very close second is poverty.

As an immigrant to Hawke’s Bay from Northland, I have always been staggered at the anomaly that exists between the two regions. Hawke’s Bay has always seemed so prolific with great soils, temperate climate, artesian water and industrious people, but despite all this we follow Northland far too closely with far too many poor social wellbeing indicators.

We hear regularly about the primary producers here struggling to find workers, but equally there seems to be a workforce that given the right opportunities could fill these gaps. Council is working hard with our primary producers to support RSE workers who come and fill the seasonal jobs.

If Council fills this role, is there not a place for Council to be working with local communities to get their unemployed people working?

Concepts such as better transport to out-of-the-way workplaces and accommodation options could be one area to start. Again, it’s about being more

flexible and creative with ideas and concepts around employment in our primary industries to reflect our communities and their ability to be part of this region’s wealth.

Loneliness

Isolation and loneliness within our community are two of the biggest issues facing women today.

This perhaps seems strange with everyone supposedly being so ‘connected’ and always available. You might wonder how we have arrived at a place where people feel they have no one, have become invisible and cut off from the world. Mother Theresa said, “… loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”.

No one is exempt from loneliness, and I feel there is a place for Council to help address this modern type of ‘poverty’. Building and strengthening communities is a key way that Council can promote greater participation and lessen social isolation. Hastings District Council already supports Community Centres in Flaxmere, Camberley and of course the Women’s Centre.

Going forward how are Council planning on reaching out to other communities in the Hastings District? What work is being done to strengthen communities? What is in place to help build resilience as well as to provide support to those most vulnerable to being isolated – the elderly, women and, significantly, our youth.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 53

Mother Theresa said, “…loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty”.

I D E AS A N D OP I NI ON N A P I E R PI LOT C I TY TRUST

Open Letter to Napier Candidates Gender equity

Gender equity is very important. We have known for years that gender inequality damages the physical and mental health of girls and women across the globe. We know women are disadvantaged when they receive less resources, less power, less authority and less control in their lives in comparison to men.

Women and girls need role models and need to see women in roles of power, governance, authority and control. I ask the Council to continue their great work in mirroring these concepts for our Hawke’s Bay women.

Finally, I must add a personal bugbear – volunteers and parking! Parking in the CBD is limited and expensive.

Our wonderful and selfless volunteers come every day to the Women’s Centre to share their skills, their knowledge and their time. They serve the women of Hawke’s Bay and keep the centre running with the work they do.

We know you will agree that if someone is coming to volunteer their time and energy at a community organisation, then the Council would want to recognise their incredible contribution to the community and not charge them for parking … let alone give them a $12 ticket!

I accept there are logistical issues around this, but nothing that couldn’t be worked out by the Council sitting down and doing some good old faceto-face talking and coming up with a solution that is both fair and kind.

After all our volunteers, like those serving all community groups, are indeed our life blood.

Margot Wilson is service manager of the Heretaunga Women’s Centre.

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The Napier Pilot City Trust endorses the current mission of Napier City Council: To provide the facilities and services and the environment, leadership, encouragement and economic opportunity to make Napier the best city in New Zealand in which to live, work, raise a family, and enjoy a safe and satisfying life.

However, we see a massive divide between these fine words and the current delivery. The day-to-day reality for the most vulnerable in our community makes a mockery of the Council’s mission statement.

If Napier is to become the best city in New Zealand it needs a mayor and councillors who are prepared to lead change in our council and in our community.

The Trust has been waiting since the early 1980s for a Council brave enough to accept the challenge to try innovative approaches to reduce crime and improve quality of life in the city.

Our personal experience and published statistics reveal inequality is entrenched and continues without redress. We are dismayed by the social and economic consequences of 40 years’ of inaction.

At this election the Trust will actively support council candidates who are ready to address the destructive issues of inequality and social injustice that stand in stark contrast to the economic and tourism successes of our city.

Our new Council must recognise that lack of opportunity for many people is linked to poor educational attainment, the absence of adequate preparation for work, poor health and the lack of widely available and affordable

housing. These persistent inequalities must be addressed in order to deliver broad economic benefits and enhanced wellbeing.

We will be issuing our own challenge to all candidates at pre-election community forums in each ward and will want to see if the vision of prospective candidates aligns to ours, as follows.

1. A kinder and fairer Napier. The time has never been better, nor more urgent, for Napier to be bold and for the Council to be resolute in building a kinder and fairer city. Central government and their agencies are keen and ready, there is a palpable mood for change, all it needs is local government to step up. We expect our local leaders to be actively seeking solutions in housing, education, employment and health services.

The statistics do not read well.

Proportionally, Napier tops the housing waiting list nationally with 312 awaiting residents, as well as with crime victimisation rates, with 4,807 victimisations. And 44% of Napier beneficiaries are Māori, nearly double the national level.

2. A focus on social outcomes.

Council’s long term and annual plans should complement the Government’s Wellbeing Budget, as well as the powerful Matariki Regional Development Strategy 2018 so that: Every household and every whānau is actively engaged in, contributing to and benefiting from, a thriving Hawke’s Bay economy.

Hawke’s Bay is a vibrant, cohesive, diverse and safe community, where every child is given the best possible start in life and everyone has opportunities that result in equitable outcomes.

Michelle (Minnie) Ratima, Hawke’s Bay Today 2018 Person of the Year, and Joan Plowman, Chairperson of Napier Pilot City Trust. Photo: Florence Charvin

These provide a blueprint for the new Council to put people first. A city where its people are adequately housed, free of crime and employed will benefit everyone and ensure a vibrant and productive economy.

Council routinely publishes its community satisfaction survey. In our future Kind and Fair City the focus should be on tracking and publishing statistics that communicate the wellbeing of our community.

3. Make Napier a Restorative City.

Many of the Pilot City Trust’s efforts have been to seek solutions to the debilitating cycle of poverty, crime and punishment. At the Trust’s highly successful 2019 Unity Day in April Prof Chris Marshall presented a compelling argument that Napier, following the lead of Whanganui, should become a Restorative City, where the population: • Enjoy a safe, calm environment; • Value relationships based on equal respect, concern, care and dignity; • Enjoy positive cultural identity; • Understand both the negative impact and positive impact of our behaviour; • Take responsibility for our actions and repair harm we may have caused others; • Have our voices heard and are tolerant of differing views.

4. Adopt UNICEF Child Friendly City Initiative. This initiative supports local governments in realizing the rights of

children at the local level, using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as its foundation.

The healthy development of children is crucial to the future wellbeing of any society. The actions or inactions of government impact children, as totally dependent beings, more strongly than any other group in society. Many changes in society are having a disproportionate and often negative impact on children, and the costs to society of failing its children are huge.

In a child-friendly city, children have a good start in life and grow up healthy and cared for, with a fair chance in life regardless of their ethnic origin, religion, income, gender or ability.

5. Community participation in decision-making. To achieve these radical reforms the whole community must be engaged and actively participating in the democratic process. In particular Council must work with Iwi/Mana Whenua to develop culturally, politically and economically sustainable initiatives.

The new Council has the opportunity to transform Napier’s reputation for social inequality into a reputation for social change and innovation. The new mayor must lead by making the culture change within Council and the community and then resource the Council and community, both funding and people, to implement the change.

Our aspiration is that in time people will come to Napier not only for its art

A Restorative City is measured by: • Reduced child abuse, domestic violence and other criminal activities; • Reduced absenteeism / stand downs and increased academic achievement in schools; • Reduced absenteeism / bullying and sabotage in workplaces and increased productivity; • Increased satisfaction when interacting with government and non-government agencies; • Increased feeling of safety in homes and walking the streets; • Increased sense of community belonging.

deco wonderland, but also because its innovative and transformative social policies, plans and actions make it a leader in social change. It is an achievable goal that would hugely change Napier for the better. The community needs it, there are plenty who want it and are willing to help achieve it.

Yours sincerely Napier Pilot City Trust Matiu Eru (Kaumatua), Joan Plowman (Chairperson), Trustees Michelle Ratima, Pat Magill, Mark Cleary, Fran Lowe, Alwyn Corban, Ross Duncan.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 55

Photo: Florence Charvin

Changing a System That Confounds and Crushes Story by Tom Belford The social service ‘system’ that is supposed to help and protect the most vulnerable and needy in our community is seriously broken. As a stark example, consider the actual case of Ashlee and her son, Luca.

Luca, nine years old, suffers from Friedreich Ataxia, a rare genetically-inherited disease that steadily incapacitates its victims, with progressive impairment of muscle coordination (ataxia), loss of muscle strength and sensation, and impaired speech, vision, and hearing. About 50 New Zealanders have this disease.

It cannot be cured. Luca’s condition is further complicated by cardiomyopathy, hardening of the heart muscle.

Ashlee, a single mum, brought her and Luca’s situation to my attention out of sheer desperation, brought about by un-ending bureaucratic shuffling, lack of responsiveness and insensitivity by a system that is supposed to care for and about those who require its services.

Here are some excerpts from the email she initially sent (published with permission): “My life with the system is a mess. It took us around 2 years for Ministry of Education to employ a physio to work with my son. It has taken 5 months for DHB to replace our social worker. Our normal point of contact was always our social worker, our support is gone.

Work and income has been no better,

it’s a system where you battle to get any money so you can support your child.

To get that support the proof requires a GP visit to tell them my incurable child is still sick. I asked for support in claiming extras. The lady was rude and unhelpful. She never helped. No lists on what I can claim, no description, no support.

The term use it or lose it (his muscles) are our life and our fight. The frustration to keep my son moving so he can stay in our life longer. Currently we battle around multiple trusts to support any physical activities we can get. A support letter is required every time and I have to explain over and over again why Luca needs this.

“I dream of a life where I can be a mum and not a Dr, not a physio, not in a battle. I just want normality. Not only for me but for those who are living lives like mine.”

I’m a broken mum. I want to feel like we could be a normal family but we never will be. We are isolated financially, struggle and judged everywhere.

I’m one person battling a overworked system. I struggle every day. I cry most.

Have you ever watched a child scream in pain cause his pain meds never work and he can’t use his legs. It’s quite normal for us. At nights it means no sleep for me, at days it means he’s in

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 57

If someone as determined as Ashlee can get chewed up and spit out by the system, what about all those less persistent, less articulate, less strong?

a wheelchair, not able to go to school or we are confined to our home. I’m exhausted.

I dream of a life where I can be a mum and not a Dr, not a physio, not in a battle. I just want normality. Not only for me but for those who are living lives like mine. I want help. The system needs to better help these families and answers should not be in a million directions and lacking support. The system is failing families and taking away our chance of normality.”

You can probably tell from these words that this is not an inarticulate person, not someone looking to fob off

58 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

responsibility, not someone without persistence and fortitude.

In her email, Ashlee described the various ways and places she’s sought support for her son and the run-arounds she’s typically received. “Not my responsibility” seems to be a common refrain.

When I received the email, I reached out to Jacoby Poulain, DHB Board member for advice and insight … what did she think, how might these issues be addressed, how systemic might they be?

And then met with Ashlee to get a better feel for who she was, better appreciate her son’s condition, and better understand her efforts to get help from ‘the system’. Could it be as bad as she wrote?

It is.

I came away astonished at her resilience (a single mum, remember) and dismayed at the bureaucracy’s response (more accurately, non-response) to her and Luca. If someone as determined as Ashlee can get chewed up and spit out by the system, what about all those less persistent, less articulate, less strong?

And I came away determined to help. First, to help see that the

immediate needs of this family are met. But even more importantly, to identify the systemic problems that seem to afflict supposedly caring bureaucracies like the DHB, Ministry of Education, WINZ, Child & Family Services.

With respect to Ashlee and Luca, some people in the community have already responded with immediate help with some of the family’s day-today needs. I expect others will come forward. But obviously we can’t take on every individual case like this.

That’s supposedly why we have a social service system.

And so, with respect to the system, BayBuzz has begun to probe, ask questions and identify issues and solutions. If we can’t get to the bottom of the blockages and buck-passing, and drive some change in how these agencies treat the people who vitally need them, then surely it’s a lost cause for their poor ‘clients’ on their own.

BayBuzz will report on our progress – and results for Ashlee and Luca – over the next few months. Hopefully this will be a journey with a happy ending … for everyone like them.

It takes a team Over our past term, we’ve restored the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to its proper role …

Putting the environment first!

While enabling sustainable economic opportunities for the future • We’ve stopped over-allocation of our precious water, while winning $30m in central government funding to develop environmentally sound water security options for the region.

• Upgraded key reserves, like Pakowhai Park and the Waitangi Estuary, and launched a Regional Biodiversity Trust.

• Begun a ten-year $30m programme of riparian planting, stock exclusion and erosion control.

• Made important progress on environmental ‘hotspots’ and projects like Lake Tutira, Whakaki Lake, Cape to City, and Ahuriri Estuary.

• Initiated a strategy that will future-proof our Port, vital to our economy, while protecting local control and generating additional funds to support environmental objectives.

It takes a team – councillors on the same page, with the same values – to accomplish this.

And, with your help and support, we hope to achieve much more on behalf of our region. Most notably …

• Implement an action plan that will make Hawke’s Bay carbon neutral by 2040.

• Re-cloak our region with a prudent mix of native, exotic and commercial trees.

• Expand our biodiversity efforts.

• Adopt and enforce a rigorous water quality regime throughout the region.

We hope we have driven the Regional Council in the direction you want.

And if so, we ask for your support in the days ahead.

Authorised by: Tom Belford, 40 Raratu Rd, Havelock North

Electronic Wasteland Built-in redundancy and incessant marketing pressure to upgrade to the latest phone, TV, computer device or printer have created a potentially toxic waste stream that is growing faster than any plan to cope with it.

Photo: Tom Allan

Story by Keith Newman

Electronic waste (e-waste) is becoming one of the fastest growing categories of hazardous waste in the world, propelled by constant changes in technology, low initial cost and planned obsolescence.

Like plastics, which are going to the landfill at a greater rate than ever since street collection was limited to type 1 or 2, e-waste is increasingly being bulldozed into our landfills.

Most items contain steel, aluminium, brominated flame retardant (BFR) plastics and recoverable metals such as copper, tiny amounts of gold, and toxic materials like lead, phosphorus, mercury and cadmium which can leach into the soil and water.

The Napier-Hastings Joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2018-2024 aims to remove about 50% of items going to landfills, including TVs, batteries, ‘end of life appliances’ and other electronic waste (anything with a cable or that holds data).

While it says these items “could easily be diverted elsewhere in the region”, recommending user-pays drop-off and recycling services “at transfer stations to cover shipping and dismantling costs”, this is mostly not happening.

Worst at e-waste

A little over 18 months ago the United Nations Global E-waste Monitor 2017

Photo: Tom Allan

“This is bottom of the cliff stuff.

We really need to start talking about product stewardship and lifecycle.”

MARIELLE HARINGA, GENERAL MANAGER ENVIRONMENTCENTRE HB

report identified New Zealand as one of the world’s largest generators of electronic waste; the only OECD country without national regulations, collections and recycling schemes.

The Ministry for the Environment claims we each produce 19kg of e-waste a year — around 89 million kg for the country, expected to rise to 26.9kg per person by 2030.

Back in October and November 2012, Hastings District Council (HDC) used Ministry for the Environment funding to collect over 10,500 TVs. Later it allocated $40,000 to collect TVs set aside by residents at the Henderson Rd Refuse Transfer Station. It cost $5,000 per container to ship them to Auckland for dismantling; when the budget ran out the TVs mostly ended up in the landfill.

Recently HDC has been referring ratepayers to the volunteer-operated Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay in Hastings. It charges $14-$19 for computer monitors, $5 for PCs and laptops, $13-$18 for printers and $12 for microwaves, stereos and vacuum cleaners.

Batteries and old phones are free.

From April, HDC renewed its subsidy, so rather than paying $25-$35 to take old TVs, ratepayers could drop off up to three TVs for $5 each. In September or when the $30,000 budget is used up it’ll decide whether to carry on or channel that money into other waste streams.

When BayBuzz called, Environment Centre manager Marielle Haringa had a steady stream of ‘customers’ — “in the last six hours we’ve done a month’s worth of televisions”.

The previous day the centre had shipped out eight pallets to specialist recycler The Abilities Group in Auckland, which employs about 127 special needs people to dissemble flat screen and old pre-digital cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs.

Disposal costs high

Haringa says the only way the centre can make ends meet is to recover the charge per item and freight costs for each pallet that it has to pay.

A range of e-waste items are dismantled at the centre. Motherboards, hard drives, speakers, transformers, electric

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 61

Rhett van Veldhuizen, Waste Minimisation Manager, Napier City Council.

fans, steel, aluminium and extrusions are separated into various bins and sent to local businesses for recycling, although a percentage still goes offshore.

“We’re bursting at the seams. While our volunteers can do a lot locally, some of it’s too technical or has mercury or lead in it,” says Haringa.

HB Regional Council and Napier City refer people to the centre to dispose of their e-waste, although those drop offs aren’t subsidised. Napier hasn’t subsidised e-waste disposal since eDay drop off events stopped in 2010.

In 2016, according to the eDay New Zealand Trust, we purchased 750,000 new computers, 300,000 new TVs and 1.8 million smartphones.

Despite their 6-7-years’ lifespan, the stats suggest TVs and computers are typically replaced every 4-5 years.

In fact, eDay Trust chairman Laurence Zwimpfer says “volumes of new electronic equipment are expanding at 10 times the rate of current recycling efforts.”

Deaf to lobbying efforts

Zwimpfer has been involved in the IT and telecommunications industry for much of his life and remains frustrated that despite 15 years of lobbying for sustainable disposal of e-waste little progress has been made.

He was an initiator of the nationwide eDay collection in 2006 with support from the Computer Access New Zealand Trust (CANZ) to help reduce the potentially toxic effect on the environment when e-waste ends up in landfills.

By 2010 collection points had been established across the country so households, schools, small businesses and community organisations could

62 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

drop off their old computer and communications equipment, including mobile phones, which were then recycled in an environmentally sound manner.

Zwimpfer claims over 3,300 tonnes of e-waste were diverted from landfills during that period. In 2010 alone 18,274 cars dropped off 869 tonnes at over 60 locations including in the Cook Islands.

The government pulled the funding plug in 2011 citing a preference for ‘everyday’ collection facilities rather than a one-day annual event.

While the eDay collections, the RCN e-Cycle scheme and the TV Takeback programme removed 800,000 electronic devices from landfills at a cost of $20 million ($25 per device), 10 million new computers and TVs were sold in New Zealand over the same period.

While local authorities and industry groups were supportive and wanted compulsory stewardship, the biggest obstacle was the failure of central government to follow through with a longterm plan or legislative support, says Zwimpfer.

He warns the problem will continue to escalate because collecting most e-waste doesn’t stack up as a business case. Printers, for example have little resale value, and the cost of dismantling e-appliances is so high the bulk still ends up in the landfill.

“It’s like tyres, batteries and chemical containers … if there was a good business model the problem, would go away.”

Smart phone scheme

The only e-cycling scheme that has proven profitable is the Telecommunications Forum’s Re:Mobile alliance with Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees refurbishing old 2G and 3G type phones for reselling offshore. It’s so successful the profits go to Sustainable Coastlines.

While some councils put a portion of the Government’s Waste Levy Scheme into e-waste, Napier uses that to help with kerbside recycling; collecting waste paint and oil, batteries and whiteware at transfer stations, and for degassing fridges.

Napier waste minimisation manager, Rhett van Veldhuizen hopes the levy – now compensating for dramatically increased costs since China’s ban on plastics, paper and cardboard – will eventually be freed up for new initiatives, including e-waste.

HDC asset management group manager Craig Thew says his council

is involved in most groups looking at alternative waste minimisation solutions and supports product stewardship schemes.

However, he says, there’s no point in ‘wish-cycling’ if no organisation or business is willing to take products.

Based on joint council three-yearly kerbside rubbish analysis, Thew reckons e-waste is not such a big deal.

During the first part of the Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (SWAP) sample, “two phones, a toastie pie maker and fewer than 100 batteries from 210 bins and bags” were collected.

He estimates e-waste makes up less than one percent of kerbside rubbish, but might change his tune when the transfer station analysis is completed. Printers, old radios and larger items aren’t generally put in our orange bags.

Expanded facilities

Although e-waste is only a part of the overall recycling mandate of the Environment Centre Hawke’s Bay, Marielle Haringa is passionate about capturing as much of our electronic detritus as possible before it reaches the landfill.

In September last year the Centre moved from a house and small shed to new premises at 1004 Karamu Rd Hastings with “a huge shed” and eight workstations so it can operate 20 hours a week. Already “the place is full”, she says.

The Centre also runs workshops where they recycle a range of products including batteries, printer cartridges, phones and some plastics at no charge. A new service is planned to refurbish and certify electronic goods fit for resale.

“This is bottom of the cliff stuff. We really need to start talking about product stewardship and lifecycles,” says Haringa, who also chairs Environment Hubs Aotearoa.

She believes product lifecycles are way too short and we need a “behaviour change” from our consumer mentality so we stop being a ready market for cheap products.

End of life strategy

In addition, e-waste managers are discussing whether importers of electronic goods should have to prove there is an end of life strategy before they are allowed to sell products here.

The eDay New Zealand Trust, formed

by CANZ members in 2010, continues to lobby for product stewardship, recycling best-practice, and sustainable and

One Year Of E-Waste Hastings Environment Centre 2018 2,764 visitor inquiries (up 138% on 2017) 3,349 “e-waste units” weighing in at 8,379kgs 142 CRT TVs 92 LCD and Plasma TVs 601 small appliances (up 69%) 837 computers (up 51%) 319 mobile phones 127 computer CRT screens + 313 LCD or plasma screens 316 printers 165 photo copiers (up 51%) 152 microwaves 1,426kg of various batteries (up 41%) eDay organiser Laurence Zwimpfer with some e-waste dropped off at Westpac Stadium in Wellington for eDay. Photo: Mike Heydon

responsible e-waste collection.

The Trust in its 2017 manifesto lists eight surveys and reports since 2006 in which “successive governments have appeared reluctant to act”.

Ideally it wants e-waste banned from landfills. Some local authorities are already considering this, largely because most people would rather pay less than $2 for old TVs and computers over the weighbridge than fork out $20 to drop them off for recycling. eDay Trust’s Zwimpfer says local and international research proves user-pays doesn’t divert e-waste from landfills.

He believes $30 per item purchased should be embedded upfront and passed on to recyclers as part of a national e-waste stewardship framework with a robust regulatory environment to ensure everyone participates.

Where does buck stop?

Napier waste manager Rhett van Veldhuizen agrees a disposal levy would go a long way to solving the problem and placing responsibility back on consumers.

He is adamant councils shouldn’t have to make waste management decisions on their own and the government should prioritise e-waste and enforce stewardship “to take the weight off the shoulders of local government”.

Rigid regulations might also prevent a re-run of past efforts that saw ‘disposal’ contractors taking the money, collecting old TVs and computers, extracting the valuable bits and dumping the rest or going broke and leaving behind an e-waste mountain.

While New Zealand has a standard for refurbishing e-waste, it’s expensive to comply with and audit, and it isn’t enforced. Zwimpfer knows of only one company that’s completed the process.

Obstacles include strict rules from pick-up to disposal, health and safety issues, the need for substantial facilities and the fact Sheltered Workshops, which used to dismantle electronic items for recycling, now mostly have to pay minimum wages.

Zwimpfer says the WasteMINZ industry advisory group he serves on is looking to pick up a 2008 draft scheme for mandatory e-waste stewardship.

“Hewlett Packard, IBM and others do this in other countries and were happy to do it in New Zealand if they were required to and parallel importers contributed to the cost of disposal.”

While associate environment minister Eugenie Sage has been talking about mandatory stewardship schemes for over 18 months, Zwimpfer is concerned she won’t be given the resources to follow through and

e-waste will remain low priority.

He says the Government can no longer afford to leave the matter in the hands of local authorities, industry associations and “enthusiastic flag wavers” like himself. More “institutional energy” is needed to curb what he claims has been a crisis situation since 2006.

“What sort of heritage are we leaving for future generations, burying all this toxic material that is leaching into the land like little time bombs.”

Embed the price in the cost of purchase; make it the same for everyone “and the problem will go away.”

What’s needed, says Environment Centre HB manager Marielle Haringa, is a collective change of thinking, for more people to take responsibility for the impact of their behaviour on the wider environment. She quotes from a poster on the wall of her office: “‘It’s only one straw’ said billions of people”.

NOW sponsors the BayBuzz Technology Series to enhance public understanding of our region’s technology achievements and opportunities. Analyses and views presented are those of BayBuzz and its editorial team.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 63

EIT Excelling in Research

Good things are happening between the curve of the Tutaekurī River and the shade of Ōtātara Pā.

Academics at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) are justifiably proud. Their teaching programmes have received the highest possible assessments from NZQA’s External Evaluation and Review, affording EIT the greatest degree of autonomy over their programme design and evaluation.

Story by Rosheen FitzGerald And Webometrics, the independent international ranking system for tertiary institutions, places EIT tenth in the country, just behind the universities and second only to Auckland behemoth, Unitec, amongst fellow Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs).

Unlike the broader state of the national ITP sector, EIT enrolments are above target and their finances are healthy.

EIT’s expertise is not confined to the classroom or the field. EIT academics have built a body of research that has grown in strength and scope, and is independently acknowledged and acclaimed.

Growing strong

David Tipene-Leach, Pippa McKelvieSebileau, Jonathan Sibley and Matthew Marshall. Photo: Tom Allan

Research at EIT began as an NZQA requirement with the introduction of degree courses in the School of Nursing. The Ministry of Education believes those with the ability to award degrees should also be expected to produce research. And so EIT complied, albeit patchily at first — more box-ticking exercise than fulfilment of passion.

As the proportion of students taking degree courses rose — today around 35% — research expanded by necessity.

JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 65

“Fundamental to EIT is the objective of assisting Māori to exercise tino rangatiraganga, to take control and to live the life one wants to live. It comes across in how we teach, it comes across in how we think of ourselves and it comes across in how we conduct our research.”

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JONATHAN SIBLEY, RESEARCH DIRECTOR

In 2002 Bob Marshall became their first research professor, tasked with bringing EIT’s research potential to fruition.

He graduated to research director in 2011 and established the Research and Innovation Centre in 2017. This was a game changer for the institution that saw outputs leap by 28%.

Each full-time researcher now produces a little over two complete pieces of work a year, the figures displaying an increase in individual productivity.

Last year, executive dean for research, Natalie Waran established a professoriate — a group of fourteen professors and associate professors over three campuses, tasked with raising the profile of research at EIT, creating community connections, providing peer support and attracting external funding.

The focus and vigour EIT devotes to research is borne out in the figures — a 22% increase in the number of nationally ranked researchers compared to 2012, the second highest ratio of researchers to degree and postgraduate

66 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

students, and the third most active researchers of all the ITPs — no mean feat when competing with thirteen other institutions, some with three times the student body.

These positives are qualitative as well, with the highest proportion of researchers independently awarded an ‘A’ grade of any ITP, and the number of ‘B’ graded researchers doubling since their last assessment.

This research leadership was celebrated over two days in April when EIT hosted the ITP Research Symposium — an opportunity for scholars from fifteen of the sixteen ITPs from Auckland to Otago to come together to present their work, to be inspired by keynote speakers, artistic performances and exhibitions, and to share ideas. In its fourth year, EIT debuted as hosts and allowed their manaakitanga to flow, from the spine-tingling pōwhiri to the abundant kai and cups of tea that acted as a catalyst for conversation. Of the sixty-three presentations, a third originated from work done at EIT, more than double that of any other institution — spanning each of the four focus areas for research — Arts, Education, Health and Sustainability.

People power

The theme of the symposium was Whanaungatanga — Community Centred Research. For research director Jonathan Sibley, who succeeded Marshall in 2017, the theme is instinctive, endemic to the philosophy of a technical institute in general, and EIT in particular. He sees the role of the researcher here very differently to that of the contemplative academic in his ivory tower.

“We are an organisation that trains people to work here in Hawke’s Bay, so we’re inherently community-centred. We’re centred on employers here, we’re centred on schools here, we’re centred on iwi here. Our research reflects that.” This concept of applied, practical research with concrete, executable results is the thread that bound the symposium presentations, and which informs EIT’s research philosophy.

Wrapped around all of this is the explicit goal of advancing Māori achievement, both educationally and in wider Hawke’s Bay society. As of last year, EIT’s student body is 52% Māori. With the establishment of Te Ūranga Waka, the School of Māori Studies and the marae on site as a focal point for events and graduations, the

Māori community is embedded from the inside out. Research is conducted in partnership with the community, rather than on the community. Results are measured as much in terms of their benefits to the people they serve, as the quality of data gleaned.

Sibley is unequivocal, “At EIT, our strategy on success for Māori is unquestionable. It permeates everything … not just for Māori … for all of us. This is how we see ourselves here.”

For him the goal is to impart tino rangatiratanga — a degree of personal sovereignty that comes through education, “to take control and live the life one wants to live.”

Sustainable futures

The area of Sustainable Futures spans a number of schools and disciplines.

As a business scholar, Sibley’s focus is on the world of work. As part of the Hawke’s Bay Growth Study, he’s engaged in predictively mapping the course of industry, trade and commerce in Hawke’s Bay to plan to meet tomorrow’s needs. “An ITP can really make a difference because this is not academic research … this is sitting down with employers, with communities, with school leavers, and really understanding the landscape of work, the landscape of employment.”

Intertwined with industrial sustainability is the idea of responsible environmental management.

Executive dean for research, professor Natalie Waran is invested in making environmental consciousness a cornerstone of all that EIT delivers.

“Our vision is to transition EIT into an organisation where sustainability and environmental responsibility is mainstreamed, part of our normal teaching, embedded within our research, something that we bring to life within our physical campus, part of our institutional culture, informing decisions we make and also contributing to the life of the region.”

Her primary tool for doing so is the development of an outdoor classroom, the Ōtātara Environmental Learning in Nature Space, funded by the Air New Zealand Environment Trust, in partnership with Cape to City, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, the Department of Conservation, the Enviroschools and the local iwi from Waiohiki Marae.

This innovative new teaching and learning resource will be used by a diverse range of groups from EIT and the local community. This large outdoor space, between EIT’s campus and

Ōtātara Pā, offers an opportunity for students to get their hands in the soil and learn about the land, its history, horticulture and guardianship, as well as for academics to document the process of learning outside the classroom.

C L E ARV I E W E S TAT E

Community health & wellbeing

Professor David Tipene-Leach’s research background proceeded his time at EIT. As a general practitioner and public health doctor on the East Coast, his work in developing, assessing and distributing wahakura, flax woven baby baskets, is credited with dropping rates of Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUDI) in Māori whānau.

His research model is inherently practical, bottom-up. “My modus operandi has been to identify a problem, and then to develop a solution, and then to think of the research around it.” His goal is to find solutions to public health problems, and to robustly demonstrate their efficacy so that they might be funded and rolled out on a large scale for maximum impact.

Fluent in Te Reo and embedded in Te Ao Māori, he sees his role as, “translating stuff going on in the community, drawing out what’s needed in order to construct it into a programme doable inside of the mainstream.”

Addressing inequities is a personal and professional passion for Leach, who is also professor of Māori and indigenous research at EIT. Developing cultural competency, tackling institutional racism, acknowledging the social determinants of health outcomes and the impact of historical trauma are central to his approach.

Shifting practitioner thinking and programme design to serve vulnerable populations is a linchpin for his work, whether it be encouraging smoking cessation in pregnancy, improving access to mental health services or providing wrap-around social services for at risk children. “If you get it right for Māori you get it right for everyone. If you get it right for poor people everybody benefits.”

Engaged arts

IDEAschool, EIT’s centre for creative practice, spanning visual arts, design, music, fashion design and screen production, shone particularly brightly in the government’s independent assessments, achieving the highest number of ranked portfolios of work in the institution. At its head, Professor Matthew Marshall emphasises the hands-on nature of what they produce.

WINERY

“EIT is showing good leadership around some of the really important issues that face society going forward. I can’t imagine this sort of work is going to be impacted at all by changes to the ITP sector.

It’s just too important for the region.”

PROFESSOR NATALIE WARAN, EXECUTIVE DEAN FOR RESEARCH

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Practically this involves staff – themselves working artists, musicians, designers – taking a day a week out of teaching to work on their own projects to produce new art. Marshall, a guitarist of renown, commissions musical compositions which he then performs and records to international acclaim.

Other IDEAschool outputs include a deep dive into historical taonga culminating in an installation at the National Maritime Museum in London; traditional painting and sculpture exhibited at Te Papa; kapa haka performances in Taiwan and at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Australia, as well as a number of lectures and published scholarly articles.

The prestige of the institutions and exhibition spaces that showcase IDEAschool’s art is an indication of quality, and serves as one of the criteria

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“If you get it right for Māori you get it right for everyone.

If you get it right for poor people everybody benefits.”

PROFESSOR DAVID TIPENELEACH, PROFESSOR OF MĀORI AND INDIGENOUS RESEARCH

for award by the government-allocated Performance Based Research Fund, which distributes resources based on independent evaluation of work.

A new area of innovation involves cross-discipline collaboration. On the back of the newly established Bachelor of Creative Practice, presently unique in New Zealand, to EIT, Marshall encourages creatives to work together, blur boundaries and exercise artistic freedom. “When you get people from diverse backgrounds coming together that’s where the magic happens… rather than narrow their focus down to one area we enable them to explore all those areas.”

He sees the value of an arts education as not just in teaching practical skill, but encouraging a flexibility of the mind. “The outcomes for artists can be quite broad and varied… we’re enabling our students to work in whatever fields they want to simply by the way they think or by what they do.”

Innovative education

Pedagogy is Dr Emily Nelson’s business, both in her role of teaching the teachers of tomorrow, and in chairing EIT’s Research Committee, in

68 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

conjunction with Te Ūranga Waka.

With a wealth of research experience behind her, she takes a mentorship role, developing the capabilities of others to ensure a robust research culture for the future.

For Nelson, educational research formalises the innate process of good teaching — “the best teachers are enquiring into their practice while they’re doing it anyway. Research is really just a systematic organisation of that.”

Partnering with schools and communities is key to Nelson’s work.

She identifies ‘Innovative Learning Environments’ – listening, observing and documenting successful approaches to teaching, and ensuring her student teachers are exposed to and immersed in them.

Because of EIT’s status and relative autonomy, Nelson enjoys a degree of liberty in what and how she chooses to inquire. It’s something that she values.

“Academic freedom is a bottom line for universities and tertiary institutions … EIT is starting to develop a structure, but the structure is so broad, the themes are so broad that you can still follow your passion. That’s a really important thing as a researcher and an academic.”

Eyes on the future

Change is brewing for the ITP sector as a whole. The Government-proposed Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) is in the consultation stages. But with little concrete information available, academics are wary to speculate on how the proposed centralised system might change EIT’s research landscape.

Certainly the funding model needs updating, when even a fiscally healthy institute like EIT is unsustainable under the current system.

The institute’s success under its own governance breeds cautious optimism. IDEAschool’s Matthew Marshall hopes centralisation will cut back on infrastructure costs while retaining local control over what they’re doing well — to keep the baby but throw out the bath water. “EIT has a very good case to retain a significant amount of autonomy … it’s ranked very highly with strong support from the local community.”

Research director Sibley welcomes the merging of workplace-based industry training and campus-based polytechs. “A single model for training with industry organisations looking at skill requirements will enable a much better

“EIT has a very good case to retain a significant amount of autonomy … it’s ranked very highly with strong support from the local community.”

PROFESSOR MATTHEW MARSHALL, HEAD OF IDEASCHOOL

coordinated approach to training.”

Because of EIT’s success in serving the region, dean Natalie Waran does not envisage centralised governance removing community from the heart of all they do. “EIT is showing good leadership around some of the really important issues that face society going forward. I can’t imagine this sort of work is going to be impacted at all by changes to the ITP sector. It’s just too important for the region.”

Research committee chair Emily Nelson sees EIT as a blueprint for success to be adopted by the new unified regime. “EIT is a leader of the other ITPs, so whatever happens with RoVE, EIT is being called on to suggest the direction of that. If EIT is committed to research then research is going to play a big part of the revised model, whatever it happens to be.”

In his opening statement at the ITP Research Symposium, professor Tipene-Leach issued a challenge to Government in the process of vocational education reform to support and nurture the kind of practical, applied research that EIT does. With a wealth of strong, independently acclaimed work to back him up, let’s hope they are listening.

Maureen Gillies (Centre Coordinator) and Angela Botha (Centre Manager) at an English Language Partners NZ lesson in Napier with learners Masako and Sunny. Photo: Florence Charvin

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PARTNERS HAWKE’S BAY Immigration is a hot topic both here and overseas, with the conversation set to continue as increasing numbers of people choose to start a new life in a new country.

New Zealand is no exception to this trend, and while immigrants have traditionally settled in larger centres, an increasing number of new New Zealanders are choosing to make Hawke’s Bay ‘home’.

English Language Partners NZ works side-by-side with immigrants to help them learn the English they need to participate and live independent lives.

Angela Botha, Manager of the Hawke’s Bay Centre, says it’s incredibly rewarding working with new learners and seeing their confidence grow as their language skills improve.

“It’s not unusual for us to work with a learner who has been in New Zealand for ten years or more and speaks no English. They have to try and get on with their Kiwi life – supporting kids through school, going to the doctor, shopping and paying bills,” says Angela. “Having a native English speaker come to their homes to help them with their language skills, whilst also offering social support and some insight into New Zealand society is invaluable.”

Children also provide motivation to adults to improve their English language skills, adds Angela.

“Imagine arranging a playdate

at the school gate when you don’t speak the language! We occasionally have sad situations when there is a grandmother who has joined her family and the grandkids only speak English – this can be a big motivator for our older learners.”

With the help of eight part-time staff and 30 volunteers, more than 150 learners attended classes or oneon-one home tutoring during 2018.

A grant from Hawke’s Bay Foundation enabled the organisation to purchase new English teaching materials and textbooks to assist the volunteers with their lessons.

“A lot of our existing resources were very dated, in poor condition and unappealing to learners,” says Angela. “We’re so grateful to Hawke’s Bay Foundation for this grant as it has really supported our volunteers and learners in such a tangible way.”

NEW COUNTRY – NEW LANGUAGE In 2004, a job opportunity prompted Jae and Ina Jeong to uproot their lives in South Korea and move their family of four 10,000km across the ocean to Hawke’s Bay. Despite learning English at intermediate and high school, communication still proved to be a massive hurdle for Ina. Once her children started attending local schools, their English progressed rapidly, prompting Ina to enrol in

twice-weekly classes with English Language Partners in Napier.

Ina says improving her English language skills has helped the family settle into life in Hawke’s Bay. “I can handle more things better, such as hospital appointments, email, text, filling a form and talking to a neighbour,” she says.

As well as attending classes, Ina says she is lucky to have in-home tutoring with Barbara, one of ELP’s 30 volunteers. “I learn lots of things such as listening, speaking, pronunciation and Kiwi slang,” says Ina. “She encourages me to speak with confidence.”

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I DE AS A N D O P I N I O N TO M B E L FO R D

Food Trends and Gut Health Each year, respected global consultancy New Nutrition Business publishes a report assessing the key food trends for the year. Here is their most recent list, on which I asked local nutrition experts Ben Warren, Diane Stride and Hazel Thomas to comment.

The first thing each emphasises is that each person has individual needs, and different food choices will be appropriate.

Indeed, Diane objects to the entire list concept. “It is very difficult for me to endorse a list like this … the focus on a lot of these things listed below, actually drives disordered eating in men and women. Over the past five years, the rate of eating disorders has doubled. Making more and more rules around food I actually believe is detrimental and I am seeing more and more clients developing disordered eating and bordering eating disorders as a result of starting off with ‘trying to eat healthily’.”

Sugar: more and more the villain. Not only with respect to overall wellbeing, but even more focus on dental health.

Says Hazel: “I tell my clients that sugar is an antinutrient since it provides zero nutritional value.” Here in New Zealand, perhaps growing support for a sugar tax? Ben favours taking GST off healthy food items to stimulate uptake.

With those warnings, here are the leading consumer food trends.

nackification: people like to indulge S and they like convenience; hence the blossoming of the ‘indulgent snack’.

Every food company is joining this bandwagon.

Digestive wellness: greater appreciation of ‘gut health’ and the value of achieving it. Hazel and Ben agree with this as #1 for improving health.

Plant-based diets: more and more people (especially Millennials) are trying to reduce their meat intake.

Watch out Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmers! That said, Ben sees a continuing opportunity for HB’s grassfed protein. Diane, referring to other environmental concerns, notes: “I don’t believe the answer is simply ‘stop eating meat’. When you look at the amount of plastic consumption around non-meat food items, I don’t think it is that clear cut.”

Protein: regaining respect as an important element of a healthy diet.

Ben regards hemp as “by far the best plant-sourced protein”.

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Good carbs, bad carbs: careful eaters are becoming more discriminating about where they get their carbs.

Fragmentation and personalisation: with respect to diet, people’s motivation for improvement varies. For most, looking good appears to count more than maintaining health. As Ben says: “People are more motivated by now as opposed to the future … how do I look now as opposed to how am I going to feel in the future?” His answer: use both to motivate.

Creative beverages: driven by fear of sugar. Liquid nutraceuticals anyone?

Hazel warns against too much of the trendy kombucha: “The drink contains wild yeast and other bugs, too much of a good thing doesn’t always equate to good health.” Ben broadens the trend, disapprovingly: “It’s already here. Just look at the supermarket aisles, most of the aisles in the supermarket are synthesised food.” at reborn: hallelujah, there are ‘good F fats’. Hazel laments: “Why did it take so long?! … Healthy fats are needed to maintain cell membranes, transport cholesterol from the liver to support cellular repair, to make hormones and for the insulation of nerve cells. Fats are needed to absorb fat soluble vitamins

(A, D, E and K) and so much more!”

Authenticity and provenance: more and more, the story behind the food matters, and not just to upmarket consumers. Great news for Hawke’s Bay if we play our cards right.

How many of these trends does your own diet reflect?

It’s not really a food trend, but Hazel would also place stress management on this list because of the strong adverse effects stress has on gut health. Speaking of which …

Gut health

With respect to this list, the ‘new kid on the block’ is the first item – gut health, an area of blossoming research and insight.

Ben cites Hippocrates: “All disease begins in the gut.” Hippocrates ‘got it’, but it has taken science a long time to catch up and understand why.

What’s going on in our gut – our microbiome – affects our entire wellbeing, physical, mental, emotional. Our gut is home to about 100 trillion microorganisms … that’s 10 times more bacteria, hundreds of species, than all the human cells in the body, and referred to as our ‘gut flora’.

Our gut flora promotes normal gastrointestinal function, provides protection from infection, regulates metabolism and comprises more than 75% of our immune system.

Basically, we need more ‘good’ bacteria and fewer of the ‘bad’. For example, some bacteria fight inflammation, others promote it; in a healthy gut, they keep each other in check. The ‘good’ bacteria protect the intestinal lining, ensuring an effective barrier against toxins, limiting inflammation, assisting absorption of nutrients from food, and helping serotonin production (the ‘good hormone’!). The bad? Think campylobacter, as in Havelock disaster.

Some refer to the gut as the ‘second brain’, given its neural complexity and importance in managing key functions,

including instructing the brain. Indeed Ben notes that “the gut is talking to the brain more than the brain is talking to the body”.

An unhealthy gut, by disrupting vital chemical flows and signals that direct our bodily systems, can contribute to metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune conditions, inflammatory bowel disease, reflux, skin conditions, autism, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

As a closed system from our mouth to our bottom, a key job of the gut is to keep foreign substances from entering the body. A ‘leaky gut’ allows unhelpful proteins into the bloodstream (permeating the intestine), triggering the immune system to attack them. Foods that cause leaky gut include gluten, seed oils and refined sugar.

Warren’s BePure explains: “The breach of the intestinal barrier by food toxins like gluten and chemicals like arsenic or BPA causes an immune response which affects not only the gut itself, but also other vital organs such as your skeletal system, the pancreas, the kidney, the liver, and the brain.”

What can contribute to unhealthy gut flora? According to BePure: antibiotics and other medications like birth control and NSAIDs; diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods; diets low in fermentable fibres (aka not enough veggies); chronic stress and infections.

Says Ben, “We know that what we eat has the biggest influence on the state of our gut health – the food we eat can either be the greatest medicine, or a total poison.”

For healthy gut flora, here are some consensus recommendations: • Chew food well, eat in a calm state.

And eat a wide variety of ‘good’ foods.

• Avoid foods and chemicals that irritate the gut, including dairy, processed meats and sugar, artificial sweeteners, and alcohol (OK, moderate amounts of red wine, say some).

• Eat plenty of fermentable fibers (starches like kūmara, pumpkin, resistant starch from cooked and cooled potatoes or whole grains, etc.)

• Up your intake of fermented foods like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, etc.

• Consider taking a probiotic and/or a prebiotic supplement. (Prebiotics provide ‘food’ meant to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut, while probiotics are live good bacteria.)

• If you require antibiotics (which have

a huge impact on gut health, wiping out bacteria of all kinds), be especially sure to eat probiotic foods.

• Manage your stress.

• Breastfeed your baby.

• And finally, play in the dirt! One expert notes that more exposure to germs and bacteria, within reason, can strengthen our microbiomes: “We are way too clean of a society … Go outside, dig in the dirt, play with animals … it’s all good. These are things that will help establish a healthy gut.”

Royston Hospital is pleased to sponsor robust examination of health issues in Hawke’s Bay. This reporting is prepared

by BayBuzz. Any editorial views expressed are those of the BayBuzz team.

www.royston.co.nz

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JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 71

I DE AS A N D O P I N I O N A N D R E W FR A M E

Caveat Suffragator – Voter Beware!

By the time you are reading this column, nominations for Hawke’s Bay’s local body elections will be opening (nominations open on Friday 19 July) and those who hope to become mayors or councillors will have started sticking their heads up above the parapets.

In the upcoming weeks and months advertising campaigns will begin.

Opinion pieces from people we haven’t heard from since they were last elected will flood Letters to the Editor sections.

Hoardings showing smiling faces, brandishing slogans and promises as thin as the foam core they are printed on will start to litter roadsides and intersections. Spin and PR will abound.

While it might be a time of witnessing “democracy in action”, as some will claim, it will most certainly be a time of caution … Caveat Suffragator – Voter Beware!

Battle lines drawn

As I’ve covered in previous columns, some battle lines for Napier have already been drawn and early shots fired.

A group supporting Napier’s public pool remaining at Onekawa launched a Give-a-Little campaign in May to raise funds for a legal challenge against Napier City Council’s dubious casting-vote decision to carry on with NCC management’s Prebensen Drive pool recommendation.

In response NCC issued a statement from acting mayor Faye White saying, “It is very disappointing that the proceedings threaten to undermine the democratic process to date.”

That is pretty rich coming from a council that ignored “overwhelming” public preference for a 50-metre pool complex at Onekawa when they asked ratepayers to “Have Your Say” on the matter, and then disregarded a petition signed by thousands of residents to keep the pools in Onekawa, when no

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ratepayers requested the Prebensen Drive location.

Just who is trying to “undermine the democratic process” here?

As of June Christchurch City Council will likely be in the process of returning their municipal water supply to being chlorine-free, having rejected the recommendations of what they see as pro-chlorine lobby groups.

On 4 July Napier’s councillors quite stunningly voted to consider following Christchurch’s lead and investigate the possibility of removing chlorine from the city’s water supply (NCC managers have previously stated the city’s chlorination is now permanent).

Chemical-smelling tap water and continual discolouration from the presence of chlorine clearing out the city’s ageing pipe infrastructure have been major issues for the city in the wake of what some saw as an overreaction to the Havelock North water crisis.

Coming mere days after the “undermining democratic process” claim about Onekawa Pool, many saw this as a victory for the people of Napier and democracy in action. Others thought it too little, too late, cynically timed and wondered why it took two years for these key questions to be asked.

We can expect strong fights from new applicants for council on these issues, while entrenched incumbents attempt to defend their decisions and inactions.

yet live, for example, in the Ahuriri or Nelson Park Ward. But it could also be potentially exploited by those who are just after a seat at the table.

Given Napier residents’ general apathy to local government issues a mediocre out-of-ward incumbent councillor could potentially get re-elected via name recognition, or from their tenure as an at-large councillor. Yet they might not have the level of concern for, or accountability to their elected ward as a more passionate resident candidate would.

Ward-only representation could also cause some fractious debate.

Would Taradale Ward councillors have the same level of concern over water issues if their taps run clear, while those whose constituents, friends or family resident in Tamatea or Maraenui regularly spout sludge?

All wards will now have double the number of representatives. Arguably, in a ward like Tamatea-Onekawa, if personality trumps issue positions, one councillor might be staunchly proOnekawa Pool, while the other strongly supports the proposed Prebensen Drive/Tamatea.

And might ward-focused councillors lose sight of the ‘for the good of Napier’ bigger picture?

In short, some interesting scenarios are imaginable as voters adjust to the new system!

Unto-Ward influence

Business versus the greater good?

With Napier City Council moving from a mixed At Large and Ward representation system to a Ward-only this election, some heightened awareness could be required from voters.

As it stands, nominees for a ward seat do not have to live in that ward.

That makes sense on one level – a candidate might work or have more social engagement with the Taradale Ward,

So who will stand for mayor and council in Napier? Well, Kirsten Wise has planted her flag for the mayoralty. Indeed, she’s boldly claimed that, if elected, she and not chief executive Wayne Jack would run the Napier City Council.

With several non-returning incumbents (Jeffery, Dallimore, Hague), a handful of council hopefuls will appear, but early radar signals have

Given Napier residents’ general apathy to local government issues a mediocre out-of-ward incumbent councillor could potentially get re-elected via name recognition, or from their tenure as an at-large councillor.

Photo: Tom Allan

been conspicuously absent.

As always, the rumour flies that ‘a well known businessman’ will be standing for mayor. But when isn’t that the case?

In such rumours it always seems to be a businessman too, not a woman or person. In these more enlightened times shouldn’t we expect more than this old “pale, stale, male” = perfect leader trope?

And the business of government isn’t solely about business anyway.

Just look at what the likes of Trump,

Key, and the moneyed Brexiteers have wrought upon the social needs of their respective communities.

With homelessness, income inequality and other big social issues facing Napier, it will take more than an affinity for accounts or a penchant for profit to lead Napier out of troubled societal waters.

In this age of ‘#Kindness’ being the 2018 word of the year and 2019’s ‘Wellbeing Budget’, can we expect more conspicuously socially-minded council aspirants to counter generations of ‘blue-rinse’ businesspeople and

bureaucrats?

If you want a fairer, kinder city that demonstrates true democratic process, now is your time to make a difference!

Stand for council, or at the very least ensure you are registered on the electoral roll and vote!

Napier deserves better!

Andrew Frame is a 41-year-old husband, father, and life-long Napier resident.

He writes the www.napierinframe.co.nz website and promotes all things HB on social media.

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JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 73

I DE AS A N D O P I N I O N PAUL PAY N T E R

Representation or Tribalism?

It was “morally and ethically the right thing to do,” said councillor O’Keefe. Or was it “a very sad day for democracy”, as characterised by councillor Heaps.

The issue that so polarised councillors was the appointment of a single Māori representative, with full voting rights, to each of the four Hastings District Council Standing Committees.

I don’t want to contemplate a Hastings Council without Māori voices, but I wonder, why was such a decision made?

The logical justification for an automatic Māori appointee is if the committees have been failing to address their obligations to tangata whenua. As a vocal supporter of Māori rights, particularly Māori land rights, I’d consider that an egregious failure and I’d like to know more.

But I haven’t seen that case made.

Instead, the Māori appointees appear to be an example of the ‘virtue signalling’ that is currently fashionable – a symbolic gesture that won’t change anything. The standing committees are made up of the whole council, including several strong Māori councillors.

Moreover, every council I’m aware off has a Māori joint committee, Māori advisory committee, a Māori cultural advisor or some such mechanism to ensure the community’s obligations to Māori are adequately discharged.

Councillor O’Keefe was reported as saying Māori were over-represented in prisons, lower rates of numeracy and literacy, and in drug and alcohol abuse. Granted those are serious problems, but I doubt the additional Māori appointee on the Finance and Risk Committee or the Works and Services Committee will do much to improve the situation.

Most Māori might say, “Well, a stronger Māori voice is a good thing regardless of how it happens.” But it can also breed negative consequences. Some see it as a perversion of democracy,

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while others will resent what they see as a token Māori representative who hasn’t ‘earned the right’.

Aristotle coined ‘ethos’ or credibility as the most important element of political persuasion, both within an organisation and in the eyes of onlookers.

Councillors Henare O’Keefe and Jacoby Poulain have won their credibility by repeatedly putting themselves forward for office and subjecting themselves to the judgment of all voters.

Jacoby is a lawyer, which requires both intelligence and a solid work ethic.

She’s a strong and articulate voice and brings skills to the council that no one else possesses. Then there is Henare, whose passion for his community is second to none. Over the years his efforts have mostly been focused on tirelessly trying to improve peoples’ lives, mostly one by one.

When they arrive at the council table they have my respect and I dare say that of their fellow councillors and the public.

Then consider the Māori ‘appointee’ who is selected by mechanisms that are not well known, is accountable to who knows who, and hasn’t had to endure the baptism of fire that is a public election process. The day they turn up to their first committee meeting they start their journey in gaining credibility in the eyes of the public and the elected officials.

If they do arrive with equal standing, then why would O’Keefe, Poulain or any Māori take the difficult path of democratic election?

Environmental management

Over at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, the Regional Planning Committee (RPC) has an even more unique structure with the 9 councillors being joined by 9 Māori representatives of the region’s Treaty settlement entities. This is a structure and arrangement set in place exclusively

for our Regional Council by legislation – Hawke’s Bay region is a sort of guinea pig for co-governance.

The RPC has jurisdiction over Resource Management Act matters, a mandate whose exact meaning is still debated by councillors and Treaty reps. Any RPC decision must receive 80% support before it is submitted to the council to progress. This means any four members can vote down a motion, even if they are unelected and unaccountable to the community.

When ‘consensus’ cannot be reached, matters can either stall or be batted back and forth between the broader RPC and the elected Council with no clear path to resolution. Such could be the fate of the so-called TANK Plan Change, six years in development, that would guide water quality and use on the Heretaunga Plains.

HBRC can exercise final authority to some extent because only the Council’s elected representatives can approve budgetary funding for activities. Central government is very protective of the right to tax and will only grant limited authority to levy rates if the electoral sword of Damocles hangs over the decision makers. On this count, iwi must establish transparent and democratic mechanisms for appointments if they ever fancy holding the purse strings.

Identity politics

One key challenge for Māori representatives is what the Māori view actually is.

Any time spent with Māori demonstrates that there are very diverse opinions and debates are probably more heated than with any other group I’ve been involved with. Certainly there are ‘urban Māori’ who feel very disgruntled that they have no political power, as it’s all handed to iwi Māori.

They argue that if you have the whakapapa and the connections, you get a

seat at the table, but if you don’t, you have no voice.

In a co-governance situation, the differences between Māori are seldom seen, as they are careful to maintain their kaupapa in a public forum. It is nevertheless a tough job to represent the diversity of Māori interests, as it is any other identity group.

The frustration in all of this is that it’s identity politics – the idea that only Māori can represent the interests of Māori. And only pakeha can represent pakeha. But I’m totally comfortable with the current crop of Māori representatives in government or council. I believe they’re representing the interests of their constituents, of all colours and creeds, as best they can.

Identity politics is flawed at so many levels. Where does it stop? Do we need committees with 50% women, 7% Pasifika, 10% immigrants and 8% LBGT? What other groups will demand separate representation due to a perceived tyranny by others? I’d like to be more optimistic about the ability of politicians to be able to look beyond their own interests to those of the entire community.

At its worst, identity politics often descends into tribalism, where we ‘circle our wagons’ and start seeing other groups as potential enemies.

This is happening in the US and all over Europe as people flee the common ground for more extreme factions.

The truth is that the things we have in common are much greater than those that separate us.

Some suggest the Māori appointee/ co-governance model is a temporary measure to restore balance and

Jacoby Poulain and Henare O’Keefe. Photo: Florence Charvin

create better engagement. When that is achieved, we can remove these measures.

Good luck with that! Governmental structures tend to have foundations of cement. They are not natural structures that evolve and adjust.

When it comes to having ‘particular regard’ for the rights and views of Māori in our governance, should we?

Absolutely, it is a moral commitment grounded in the Treaty of Waitangi.

That said, the best approach on these matters is to set long-term objectives and to cast your mind two generations into the future and imagine the best of all possible worlds. Then start plotting pathways to that goal, for the sake of our grandchildren.

If the best we can do is a room with hereditarily-appointed Māori sitting on one side of the table and community-elected officials (including Māori) sitting on the other, then we have failed.

We have to be more ambitious and to dream big. That most famous dreamer, Martin Luther King, dreamed of “the day when people are judged, not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”.

Shouldn’t we aim to embody the oneness of society in our governance?

Paul Paynter is our resident iconoclast and cider maker. Sometimes he grows stuff at Yummyfruit.

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JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 75

I DE AS A N D O P I N I O N J O HN LO UG H L I N

Taste Pure Nature … Building a NZ Meat Brand New Zealand’s meat producers now have the opportunity to graduate from commodity to premium products. But this requires overcoming historic marketing challenges.

Meat marketing has always been complex and challenging.

The various cuts that emerge from an animal have different culinary potential, and different markets and channels that maximise value. Different channels have different sales and marketing requirements. Sales are made to restaurants, to processing intermediaries, but to and through retailers.

High-value sales of consumer products through retailers generally require consumer marketing. However retailers have traditionally been reluctant to allow supplier brands into their meat cabinets. They have preferred to commoditise supply in order to secure cheap prices, making it very hard for meat suppliers to build recognised brands for their end consumers. In short, the retailer holds all the power.

New Zealand has mainly grassfed meat production systems, which engenders nature’s seasonality and variability. This variability can change the timing of supply, portion sizes, lean to fat relativities, etc., which further complicates consumer branding.

Meat marketing has historically been made even harder by the slim profit margins. There has been little enough surplus cash for reinvestment in processing, let alone the long-term commitment that consumer marketing requires.

Food with integrity

Fortunately for New Zealand, the world is changing.

Affluent consumers in many premium markets are turning against industrial primary food production systems. They are increasingly interested in natural farming systems with integrity and values. Consumers are expecting top-end retailers to offer

76 • BAYBUZZ • JULY/AUGUST 2019

choices that reflect these attributes.

This market change coincides with a deeply considered strategic response from the New Zealand meat industry.

‘Taste Pure Nature’ is a sector initiative developed collectively by industry stakeholders – Beef and Lamb NZ on behalf of farmers, the meat companies individually and the Meat Industry Association as a collective forum for processors and export marketers.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand has been able to provide the resources for this new programme in a way that achieves very strong strategic alignment.

The ‘Taste Pure Nature’ initiative has been based on deep market research. It uses Country of Origin as a short-cut to establishing understanding and trust, generating a compelling purchase driver for consumers within the meat cabinet.

This is similar to the approach the New Zealand wine industry used with its “riches of a clean, green land” umbrella strategy a few years ago. That was a successful industry strategy to supplement individual producer brands with an overarching national story.

Reaching end consumers

In reality, global consumers don’t know much about New Zealand and they know even less about our natural food production systems. In order to capture value, we need to tell a story that fits with contemporary values and to back that story with substance. Ours is a story about free-range, grass-fed livestock, farmed to the highest standards of animal welfare that will be authenticated through a national quality assurance programme.

The purpose of ‘Taste Pure Nature’ is to tell that story, increasing the awareness and creating a preference for New Zealand beef and lamb and to introduce consumers to New Zealand’s pastoral-based natural way of farming. The brand was launched in March in California and is being supported

with a long-term campaign of promotional activity across digital and social media, public relations, advertising and events.

‘Taste Pure Nature’s’ role is to be an umbrella brand, assuring consumers on the key question of ‘why choose New Zealand red meat’. The individual company must then convince the consumer on ‘why to choose my product’.

The initial launch partners have been The NZ Lamb Company (which involves ANZCO, Alliance and Silver Fern Farms) and Hawke’s Bay based companies Atkins Ranch and First Light.

The launch has been extremely encouraging. Our initial paid digital advertising was designed to drive ‘Conscious Foodie’ consumers to our website. These digital advertisements have been shown over 18 million times with more than 63,000 people clicking on them to learn more.

Our video advertisements (view here: www.tastepurenaturenz.co.nz) have been viewed more than 1,000,000 times on sites such as Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Eat, etc. Impressively, 50% of viewers presented with the video watched it all the way through, double the industry average, indicating that our targeting is accurate and the creative message is hitting the mark.

The next country market we are targeting is China. Over recent years China has grown to be our biggest market for beef and lamb.

The ‘Taste Pure Nature’ strategy requires courage, cohesion and commitment. Farming leaders have displayed courage and leadership in developing the strategy, seeking a mandate and investing resources. The sector has shown cohesion in the development of the strategy and its launch and initial execution. From here we will need to maintain and enhance our courage and cohesion as a team.

To make the most of the initiative we will need to commit throughout our

“Affluent consumers in many premium markets are turning against industrial primary food production systems. They are increasingly interested in natural farming systems with integrity and values.” industry to being impeccably reliable suppliers of high-quality products that truly live the story. Participating farmers will need to align more strongly with their processing and marketing partners and become integrated parts of a committed supply chain to meet customers’ expectations of continuity, quality and values. Enduring premiums will come from the end-consumer market, not our local bidding for livestock.

Importantly, we must recognise that market premiums do not come for free.

They will be achieved for New Zealand products only while we are seen to be doing the right things on our farms, with our animals and in respect of our environment.

We have made a good start with

‘Taste Pure Nature’. Our initial investment – $8 million per annum – has been modest but well spent. By comparison, ZESPRI has built probably one of the strongest New Zealand export brands and has spent $130-$150 million in each of the last two years.

With meat our opportunities and challenges are different. Other sectors may provide insights, but each has its own unique features and success lies in understanding the subtleties. For example, meat is transformed prior to eating by the cooking process. How meat is cooked has a huge influence on the enjoyment experience. This is quite different from many of New Zealand’s other food and beverage exports. It probably means that progress may be a

little slower than we might like, but the cost will probably be lower.

We must find our own way with our products. What we’ve started in California has had a retail focus. We have the plans to take it into other markets and into other channels. It is great to see the New Zealand meat industry playing as a team to win the premium market and improve the viability of our pastoral farming community … a keystone of Hawke’s Bay’s rural sector.

John Loughlin chairs the Meat Industry Assn of NZ, as well as Rockit Global and Hop Revolution. He is a past chair of ZESPRI and First Light Foods and former CEO of Richmond Limited.

We are the Organic Farm Butchery, an exclusively Organic meat wholesaler and retailer. We source top quality grass-fed, free range beef, lamb and pork from our select group of Certified Organic Farms in Hawke’s Bay.

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JULY/AUGUST 2019 • BAYBUZZ • 77

Culture

BRID G ET F R EEMA N - R O C K + L I Z Z I E R US S E LL

Hope in the Dark

BayBuzz

We live in uncertain times. Climate breakdown, apocalyptic news, the global rise of the populist right, economic insecurity, extremism, an erosion of trust in our political institutions and media – all this creates a pervasive air of uncertainty, doubt, even despair.

But as Rebecca Solnit writes in a recent reissue of her seminal meditation on activism, Hope in the Dark: “Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. When you recognize uncertainty, you recognize that you may be able to influence the outcomes – you alone or in concert with a few dozen or several million others … It’s the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand.”

Change is what is required now.

Massive, fundamental changes to the way we see and value the natural environment, and ourselves within it, and to the ‘how’ of working together across differences. But also small, incremental changes in the ways we relate to each other and experience the possibilities of connection and engagement, whether that’s through the joy of live music or sharing the load around dinner – both potentially more radical than just our own pleasure.

The impetus and groundwork for change tends to come from the margins – from artists and freaks, thinkers and dreamers, from people in tune with their altruistic, courageously human selves, from civil society (the public awake, responsive), rather than

government. As Solnit puts it: “Ideas at first considered outrageous or ridiculous or extreme gradually become what people think they’ve always believed … Our hope is in the dark around the edges, not the limelight of center stage.”

The dark depths of winter is a time for reflection. In so many traditions (from European Christmas and pre-Christian solstice celebrations to Matariki here in Aotearoa), midwinter offers both a chance to come together and tell our guiding stories, and to encourage the sparking of new wishes, dreams as we turn towards the light.

Culture, as a term, includes celebration, community, creativity – in our making and explorative expression of who we are, what we value and how we came to be in this place, at this time. It’s our safe place of recognition and belonging, but also a sphere of risk-taking, of innovation, insurrection and reframing.

Libraries, for example, serve as the sitting room of a town or city – a welcome, inclusive place for all, based on old-fashioned democratic principles.

But they also hold futuristic potential in responding to, and accommodating, a society’s changing needs.

From libraries and stars, to the boundary-crossing sculptural work of Philipp Meier and the ultimate winter panacea, as you’ll see in this section of BayBuzz, culture is not a narrow subject area. In each of these pieces, however, there’s an invitation, we hope, to participate in the making and reshaping of our cultural fabric, here in this coastal, big-skied, outlying province: Hawke’s Bay.

Culture On the day of the Schools Strike 4 Climate in May, Tara Browne (17), Petra Logan-Riley (15), Kea Templer (15) and Nina Browne (15) of Taikura Rudolf Steiner School travelled to Auckland University to attend the Climate Challenge Conference – a two-day convention on climate activism organised entirely by youth for youth.

Along with hearing speakers such renowned biologist Jane Goodall, the students attended a diverse range of workshops, some practical, some more geared towards critical and creative thinking, all “cool for developing leadership skills”.

They debated the merits of the ‘Two Baskets Approach’ (which tackles both carbon and methane emissions)

Photo: Tom Allan

vs Zero Carbon; explored climate change from different political viewpoints; designed windmills, gardens, wellbeing strategies; played interactive, collaborative, problem-solving games; and planned next steps in their own homes and communities.

The message: “it’s easier to build an economy on carbon, but it’s not as sturdy as one built on renewables”.

Speaking with these future leaders about the conference, they had this to say: “It was super interesting, heaps of fun and very eye-opening. We felt inspired and empowered. We think every high school student should have this opportunity and would like to see, or help make happen, something like this in Hastings for our local schools to access.

“As a society, the biggest way we’re contributing to climate change is disrespecting nature, which we need to survive, and we have to challenge that. If we don’t do something now it’s just going to escalate, but if everyone does their part – biking to work, planting trees, cutting plastics – it will have a huge impact.

“We want to start something here at our school and then broaden out to other schools and the wider community. Ultimately, we would love to see Hawke’s Bay be more open to different ideas, to different ways of living.”

In September there’s a Global Climate Strike planned. Youth are calling for adults to ‘stop business as usual’ and come on board: globalclimatestrike.net

Culture

EX P LO R I N G HAW K E ’S B AY

Matariki

Culture

Culture

EX P LO R I N G HAW K E ’S B AY

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B R I D G E T FR EEM A N-RO C K / P H OTO S: FLORENC E C H A RV I N

Over June, Bridget and Florence explored Matariki – the constellation of stars that mark an important period in the Māori lunar calendar (and for many cultures around the world). Here they head down to the Matariki winter solstice at Waitangi, Clive, for the traditional celebrations of the Māori new year.

It’s a good, hard frost on the dawn of the winter solstice. It’s still night-dark when we crunch out to the car, throw a pot of warm water across the iced-up windshield. The cold clean brightness of stars scattered over our heads, the moon, not a week post-full, to the west.

We witness the stonewash softening of blackness, the edges of the horizon turning green. The stirring of birds.

At Waitangi Regional Park, there’s a line of parked cars. Dark, shadowy figures gathering at the archway to Āteaa-Rangi, the star compass, which sits out on the gravel spit above the estuary.

Groups of people huddle together in blankets. Sipping tea. Waiting. Watching as the firmament lifts across the ocean, turning pink around Cape Kidnappers, drifts of mist across the river.

The constellation Matariki (Pleiades) can be seen just above the northeastern horizon before dawn from midJune, not far from Tautoru (Orion’s Belt) which rises at due East.

On the solstice, the sun, which has been moving north since autumn, will rise where Matariki does – the stars appearing to hook the sun itself out of the ocean – before drawing back to the south.

We glimpse the first faint rays of the sun, ‘the ropes of Maui’, and with an opening karakia, kaumatua together with traditional navigator Piripi Smith (of Ātea-a-Rangi Educational Trust) lead the procession of people, acknowledging all those who’ve gone before, in a spiral walk towards the solstice stone.

Within the circle of Ātea-a-Rangi,

we are given orientation by the pou that mark the 32 houses and cardinal directions of the Māori/Pacific compass – the navigational tool by which Polynesian seafarers traversed the oceans, and by which they passed on their knowledge.

We are shown where the waka of Tamarereti stretches across the heavens at this time of year – its prow to the west (the constellation Scorpio), captained by the star Atutahi (Canopus); the splashes of water left in its wake (the Milky Way); the stern of the waka Tautoru (Orion’s Belt). In this aspect, Matariki lies in the wake of the great waka of Tamarereti.

Other areas of Aotearoa see Matariki as part of another waka, captained by Taramainuku – his net gathers up the spirits of the newly dead to carry them to the underworld. When the constellation rises again in a year, the spirits of the dead are released into the sky as stars.

Matariki is a time of farewelling those who have passed, of grieving their loss, and of gathering together to share food, stories, learnings while looking to the year ahead. The stars, in their varying visibility to the naked eye, were traditionally an indication for the coming season – and drawn on to plan for cultivation and the gathering of kai.

Matariki, the central star (Alcyone, in the Greek Pleiades), is the celestial mother, surrounded by her six children, each guardian for a respective element and realm of nourishment. Set apart for their tapu status, other areas of Aotearoa also have Hinewaiterangi (Celaeno), the potiki, last born, to whom you send your wishes, and Pohūtukawa (Asterope) – the star that holds watch over the dead.

Waiting for a sunrise is a patient, elastic process. The gradual lightening of sky occurs long before the sun itself emerges. In this liminal space between night and day, dark and light, between

Culture

death and life itself, there’s sharing of stories, interpretations, the aspects that resonate with lived experiences.

We hear how, for some iwi, Pohūtukawa embodies a struggle for your soul, the tension between Tū and Rongo – the more individualistic strength of standing up, contesting, and the power of peace and community.

We also hear what’s happening at this time of year in the bush, and in the gardens (the lettuces are thriving, there are still tomato flowers – things are out of kilter with global warming); of the community tree-planting that took place here last week (3,000 planted in an hour) and the new 15-hectare wetlands. We receive advice on how to conserve our energy and look after ourselves, the rongoa (medicinal plants) to draw on. Keep together, hold close to your loved ones, is the message.

As the sky lightens, the temperature plummets. It’s a cold that seeps into your bones, lays insistent claim to every part of your body. There’s a strange sense of doubt, as if maybe the sun this time won’t rise at all.

But when the sun finally crowns above the water, over the rim of cloud, it’s a moment so luminous, pure, so spontaneously joyous, as if looking into the molten gold heart of being.

Immediately, as the sun climbs into the sky, too bright now to look at, the world changes – there’s warmth, but also definition – things take on their shape, there’s a fixing into place and purpose. Quickening animation.

We turn to greet each other, move off, disperse.

Along the Ahuriri water front, the ocean swimmers are taking their morning dip. A woman peels off her wetsuit, breathless, lifting her arms up to the sun. Cafes clatter their tables and cups.

It’s 8am and the shortest day in the year has begun.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Greeting the solstice sun at the Ātea-a-Rangi star compass at Waitangi Park; sharing korero while waiting for the sunrise; acknowledging the ancestors – the archway to Ātea-a-Rangi; dawn solstice ceremony at Waitangi; lighting lanterns and writing messages of love and hope, Matariki Whānau Festival, Flaxmere; Matariki – a special time to come together and celebrate family, share food and entertainment; farewelling those who have passed over – remembrance ceremony at Matariki Whānau Festival.

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Friends of Hastings Libraries Chairperson, Richard Peach. Photo: Tom Allan

KAY B A ZZA RD

Future-proofing Our Libraries Whereto for our public libraries in the digital age? Places of innovation, expanding community participation and information-based services, or quiet dignified civic buildings offering shelves full of free books?

Around the world public libraries are re-evaluating their role in the face of radical change.

Libraries are recognizing that the traditional view that libraries lend books for free can be interpreted as an expensive luxury. In the United Kingdom, for example, due to a decline in use over 20 years and decades of poor management, public libraries have been closing at a frightening rate. In a bid to slash spending, local authorities closed nearly 130 libraries during 2018 alone.

By contrast, Hastings Libraries has seen growth of 14.4% in the last financial year, representing close to 600,000 visits, with similar growth being experienced elsewhere.

“New Zealanders have a high value for their libraries and are far more vocal in protecting and using them,” says Darren Gillies, who manages the Napier Library in its interim location at MTG. The closure of the Napier Public Library, assessed as ‘earthquake prone’ in 2017, has provided the impetus to explore new options for their future library. Wellington Central Library has also been closed by EQ worries and while the effects of these closures were dramatic, council decision-makers are being forced to take a whole fresh look at what their libraries can offer to meet communities’ needs and expectations.

Libraries generally are looking for innovative ways to stay ahead of demand.

“When a library is open… democracy is open, too.”

BILL MOYERS The new Christchurch City Library is an inspiration. Its destruction in the 2011 earthquakes was the catalyst for the funding of a four-storied, purpose-built library where visitors can meet in its café, kids and mums are busy in the ‘noisy’ spaces separate from the quiet rooms for research and study; ‘maker spaces’ offer music-making technology and 3D printers; and genealogy researchers have access to free data bases world wide. The website shows a constant stream of events and the whole building is described by visitors BayBuzz spoke to as being ‘a beehive of activity’.

Gillies says there’s lots of cross-fertilization of knowledge and inspiration between libraries across the country.

While Christchurch library is a standard-bearer for innovation and its drawcard design, “Prior to its closure the Wellington Central Library was working closely with the tech business incubator across the road,” says Gillies, “and it will be interesting what their focus will be when they reopen. Rotorua Library’s ‘Service without Boundaries’ is about engaging with communities and has expanded our ideas.”

Napier is looking ahead to a purpose-built library, but that’s likely to be three to four years away. Napier library staff, with support of Napier City councillors, have been consulting widely and researching innovative approaches to future needs. In December 2018,

Napier Libraries’ Strategic Plan was signed off and four possible sites are being considered for a future build, including the former library building.

Gillies says, “The consultation process revealed that many people in the community had a very minimal idea of what the library does, so it was a good opportunity to inform them, determine what they would find useful and to ensure our draft strategic plan was on track.

“Areas such as Onekawa and Maraenui have much lower library usage and awareness of what libraries can offer and we need to engage with them more. As part of our Outreach plan we will be bringing our services to the community, sharing databases with schools and preschools, and delivering books and services directly. In the library we are engaging with a lot of new users because of the learning needs around technology, especially smartphones, and the Spark Jump Foundation ‘Stepping Up’ classes run by the library staff are fully subscribed.”

For Mary Anne Pay, former teacher and librarian with Napier Library for 15 years, there’s no question that libraries offer more than simply shelves of books.

“Libraries are an incredible resource with data bases offering access to an infinite range of specialist information … genealogy, for example. They are neutral, warm and safe places, and socially important. We see people coming in for social reasons; isolated older people, mothers with babies, minibus loads from rest homes, people living in small or overcrowded houses and those without access to internet or technology. It is open to all, a place to explore interests.”

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Photo: Tom Allan

Exploding demand, changing needs

Paula Murdoch, manager of Hastings Libraries systems, says visitor numbers have risen exponentially over the last three years. “It’s no secret that free access to computers is an important reason why people are using the libraries more,” creating “some navigational challenges, as traditional users and a new generation of library users sit alongside each other.”

Hastings libraries (in Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere) work within existing facilities designed to serve a different era, but are nevertheless reaching out to their communities and offering much-valued services to keep up with the explosion in demand. For example, library hours have been extended, there’s free internet and wifi, more programmes, and more library service delivery happening off premises.

Murdoch says, “Staff are now delivering library services of one kind or another to not only schools and early childhood facilities, but elder care facilities in local communities and the prison.”

“We are already starting to plan the next five-year Strategic Plan to reflect a constantly changing environment and community needs and expectations. As part of that we’re hopeful that we will create some new spaces that people will love using – quiet space,

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comfy space, activity space and meeting space.”

Murdoch says accommodating the needs of everyone “can be challenging for all parties – staff and customers alike – but our libraries are about inclusive access. Public libraries are one of the last bastions of democracy. There is no judgement about who you are, what you look like, how much you have or don’t have, what you want to do or why you want to do it, within legal bounds, of course.

“This doesn’t always go down well with those who think there should be priority given to certain types of activity. So for staff there is a bit of wrangling involved to try to provide what everyone wants and needs.”

Gillies agrees. “The biggest source of angst amongst library customers is other customers and how they expect others to use that space,” he says. “Space has to be shared, and we must celebrate what we do by avoiding strings and rules about how a library can be used. We need to think of how the spaces are used so our customers can settle in to do what they want to do.”

Bold vision

Friends of Hastings Libraries Inc. is thinking even more boldly about library space and how to allow for the growth of services. “We must look beyond libraries being a place for storing books. That kind of thinking

would lead to the decline of libraries, just when we most need them,” says Friends chairperson, Richard Peach.

Peach and John Timpson have made a submission to Hastings District Council urging that our library service be regarded as the ‘Municipal Educational Institution’ for Hastings – a place of informal learning. “Only the top students get to scholarship level, the greater proportion of citizens learn more naturally through ‘hands on’ activities that require designated facilities.”

“The library, like all public institutions, is an evolving thing and books will always be essential for human readership,” says Peach, who lived in the United States for many years.

“Libraries in the US are offering support for individual learning, pursuing hobbies and interests and the development of knowledge.” Peach cites a public library in Kansas, where he lived, with a maker’s space for ‘hands on’ learning, offering tools and technology such as 3D printers and music labs, where people work on their projects and develop skills that make them more employable.

To provide space for similar facilities here, the Friends advocate a complete rethink of the buildings in the Civic Square, recommending that the Art Gallery be relocated into the Municipal Buildings, leaving the art gallery buildings as a logical extension of the Hastings War Memorial Library.

The public library has always been a place of quiet self-directed learning and entertainment accessible to all without the barrier of cost. Our changing future requires that concept to be urgently expanded to cater for the seemingly limitless information that is available through technology … and how to use its amazing potential.

That requires a radical rethink in how library buildings are used, with innovative services and inclusive access encouraging a new generation of users. Not to do so means a decline in use leading to closure, as demonstrated in the UK. Thankfully, our library professionals and local bodies here are working on strategies designed to cater to a different range of demands. So there is reason to be optimistic that the new Napier library and the Hastings library system will be a match for this exciting and challenging next chapter.

Kolachi

Nestled mid-way down Emerson Street is Kolachi, an eatery and bar that is evolving into a destination for foodies and coffee-lovers alike.

‘Kolachi’ is the former name for Karachi in Pakistan and hints at the eastern Asian fusion cuisine the eatery will become renowned for.

The eatery that is a joint venture between Euro City owner Terry Elmsly, former Magpie Trent Boswell Wakefield and his partner Hine Kerrich, and Aayden Clarke.

Recently a share in the business was sold to hospitality stalwarts Sanjay and Sangita Patel of Master of India fame, with the view to transforming Kolachi into an Asian fusion eatery. While the day to day management of Kolachi is handled by Hine, Sanjay and Sangita will be involved in support roles.

Terry says it was serendipity that led the Patels to become involved with Kolachi.

“I have known them for many years and while semi-retired from the restaurant trade, a conversation over a glass of wine revealed Sanjay was missing the hospitality industry. So we decided to team up and create a fusion bar and restaurant, and Kolachi was born.

A fusion of cultures and friendships create a new Napier eatery with a flavour all of its own.

“Having the calibre of Sanjay and Sangita in our team means they are able to draw on their years of experience in running restaurants, as well as bring beautiful Indian flavours into our menu.”

For Hine and Trent, Kolachi presented an opportunity and a new challenge.

“We offered the couple a shareholding in the business, which they took with both hands.

Hine leads the Kolachi team while Trent is involved in another business venture, an online coffee ordering app called QOCO. But more on that another time!” says Terry.

Every Friday night Kolachi comes alive to music courtesy of a DJ or live musicians and in the coming months, both the wine list and menu will expand. Terry, who also owns Euro City, has a number of investments but this one he says is special.

“The great thing about Kolachi is that I’m able to support and mentor Trent and Hine in a business and while the food is divine and the wine exceptional, it’s all about to be turned up a notch!”

Kolachi is open every day for coffee and will shortly open six nights for dinner. Watch this space!

147 Emerson St, Napier (the former Heaven’s Bakery site) Phone (06) 844 6508 Facebook: kolachieatery

Culture

Philipp Meier:

LI ZZI E RUSSELL / P H OTO S: TOM A LLA N

Culture

Steel Tailor In an unassuming workshop on a side street in Onekawa, something impressive is happening. Local sculptor Philipp Meier is into his third year working on a project so ambitious it continues to teach him about the very material he has come to master.

Lying down the centre of the workshop is Te Kanohi o Te Manu (The Eye of the Bird) in progress. Made from Corten steel Philipp has curved and manipulated into flowing planes, the 10-metre-tall and 14-metre-long pied shag sculpture will grace Harrier Point Park in Auckland’s Hobsonville Point.

The artwork straddles the boundary between sculpture and playground – children will be able to climb a flight of stairs up to the shag’s head to look out at the harbour through its eyes – then slide down the bird’s back and tail to the ground.

Philipp grew up between Germany and New Zealand. His studies began in architecture, but his interest getting ‘hands-on’ and in the dialogue between skilled engineering and quality material led him to a degree in Visual Art at EIT, an apprenticeship in Germany to a master builder, and a number of industrial certificates. This combination of the theoretical and the practical is evident in his intensely analytical, precise practice.

The bird was officially commissioned in July 2016 and has had its share of delays, including complicated building consents and engineering challenges with subsequent design reviews.

Working on public projects can be high-pressure, especially when the piece is experimental, timing unknown and the scale unprecedented. “There have been a lot of sleepless nights,” Philipp says, “And a lot of days walking around and around in here, trying to figure out the next part, the next step, how to do it.”

A work like this needs to meet a plethora of extra requirements under the Playground Code (NZS 5828:2004). Philipp works with an engineer to have each element signed off in order to move through the stages of construction. But none of this is simple, with the bird being way out of line with usual playground constructions and equipment, the rules have to be continually interrogated and interpreted to strike the balance between achieving the artistic outcomes and meeting safely standards.

Once complete, Te Kanohi o Te Manu will have to be installed onsite in two pieces, and engineered into the ground. Due to the climbing requirements and the overall size, standard thickness of Corten steel

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far as it will go – further than I thought it would – and I keep learning.”

Having a vision of blurring the lines of art and play has been an attraction too, and while yes, the bird would have been more straight-forward if it wasn’t three storeys tall, the idea of giving children the chance to experience a true bird’s eye view of their surroundings was too captivating to leave alone.

While this piece is the most ambitious Philipp has taken on to date – and surely the boldest ‘playground’ work in the country, in terms of engineering and scale – he is experienced in the playground scene.

This stream of work began with the Barry Curtis Park playground project he collaborated on with fellow local sculptors Ricks Terstappen and the late William Jameson around ten years ago. The trio were contracted

by Isthmus Group – these days best known as the planners behind the Hobsonville Point development – and set about bringing the native

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environment around the park to life by constructing a series of larger-thanlife wetland plants, pūkekos, bird’s nests with giant eggs, and bird hides to climb into and look over.

Further work on parks and playgrounds has continued, including those at Myer’s Park and Silo Park in Auckland, and the thrill and challenge of the oversized has remained.

There’s something democratic about large-scale figurative sculpture.

There’s an accessibility to it, the way you can walk up to it and touch it (or climb it), the way anyone can get a kick out of seeing something much larger than it should be, and the wonder at the skill it takes to create something on such a scale, with a material as rigid and finite as steel. Bringing art out of the gallery and into the open air normalises it for children too, igniting imaginations and offering fresh examples of what creativity can achieve and what art can be.

Philipp’s two most recent works in

the local biennial Wildflower Sculpture Exhibition have had this effect on viewers. The Corten steel horse’s head (If Only I Knew), seemingly suspended grazing poppies in 2016, and the elegant albatross in flight (On The Wing) in 2018 both delighted all who saw them, and sold on opening night, and are now gracing private homes in Hawke’s Bay. And this is one of the only disappointments about Philipp’s large works – that there aren’t any locally on public display. His only solo public work is the series of life-size stainless steel gannets Flight of the Return on Paxie’s Lane in Napier – a beautiful urban installation, but not on the glorious scale of the pieces created more recently for sites out of town.

Philipp is hoping to have Te Kanohi o Te Manu completed and installed at Hobsonville Point by the end of this year. I’m hoping to see more of his work in our own public spaces in the coming years.

Wine: Stories from Hawke’s Bay Mark Sweet. Photographs Tim Whittaker

This book is a treasure … I love the photographs, both old and new … all my expectations were exceeded.

Tim Turvey, Clearview Estate Winery

An engaging read that I heartily recommend for the depth and character it adds to the Hawke’s Bay wine experience.

Alwyn Corban

A must for those wishing to know more about the Hawke’s Bay wine industry – its history, wine pioneers and current producers and their outstanding wines.

Graeme Avery, Sileni Estates

I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in a well-researched piece of important wine history, a glimpse into many of the characters who have helped build a thriving wine industry, a winemaker’s view of what makes the region and its wines special, or a beautifully illustrated adornment for a coffee table.

Bob Campbell, Master of Wine

A splendid new book … an extraordinary trove of images.

John Saker, Cuisine

Winter offer $59 • Free shipping in NZ • Order your copy now at winestorieshb.co.nz

Culture MO U T H Y B R OA D / JES S S O UTA R B A RRON

Plucking at Your Sweet Spot It’s the closest we get to shrieking shamans, to burning effigies and scarifying virgins. We ululate into the atmosphere, pound the floor in a lunatic’s quick-step, hug strangers, chant the chorus and whirl dervish-like into the night. Live music does that to you.

Basic human nature prioritises connection with others. But in these modern times we struggle to get it together.

Nine-to-five, we grind through emails, texts. We Facebook, Whats App, Insta.

But there’s an Iron John hunger in us that needs the physical contact we struggle to make. We’ll text sexy pix but rubbing sweaty up against another brings out OCD tendencies … unless we’re backed by a live band.

In the Bay, the hedonistic four horsemen are Roy Brown, Jamie Macphail, James Rochester and Gerard Barron (a relation). G heads up Common Room, JR the Paisley Stage, Jamie an eclectic assortment of sitting-room sessions and pop-up gigs. Roy is the ‘guvnor’ at the Cabana. Between them they host over 500 live music acts a year.

They are more than just entertainment providers. They are enabling an essential community service, delivering mental health outcomes, facilitating social connection, bolstering the Bay’s economy by supporting local musicians and enticing those from elsewhere to come here. They are making our built environments vibrant and vital.

Central and local government community wellbeing frameworks? Tick, tick, tick and tick.

Live music is good for our souls. It gives us an excuse to get sweaty sideby-side. It’s like sport but without the competition. Like war but without the death. It hits us at our energy centre. It touches our most human core emotions.

Through live music we can explore different cultures and we can share

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tales from other places that help make sense of our own. We can find connections with people we never thought we had anything in common with. Or we can let go, completely.

Bands and solo artists, international in calibre, put Hawke’s Bay on the itinerary even though it’s off the beaten track. The fans are eager, the hosts are warm, the atmos is relaxed. It’s a tour highlight and a rest day in one.

Hawke’s Bay is a must-do on the live music circuit.

No matter the genre, the three things that make live music great are attitude, energy and emotion. Balkan gypsy music, reggae hip hop mashups, slam poetry jazz hybrids, old man blues, Reb Fountain with her guitar … they all have a strong attitude about who they are and what they are about. They bundle up energy and release it back to us in edible amounts, they play with our emotions, pluck at our sweet spots.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of live music you are in to; you are getting the same raw material out, you are feeding off them. But guess what: they are feeding off you too. Trust me, live musicians aren’t in this for the money.

They are sucking your soul like a parasitic worm.

The audience, hyped up on adrenaline, and the musicians up on the stage have this symbiotic relationship that feeds the needs of each other. The more you put into the gig, the more they’ll put in and the more you’ll both get out of it. Good audience doesn’t hold back, but gets up to dance first, claps and cheers and puts some primal in their scream. Good audience doesn’t talk about anything but the music, and then they shout it. Good audience doesn’t heckle unless it’s solicited.

Good audience offers tributes to the band in the form of beers, whiskey

shots, cups of tea. Good audience puts some sweat into it.

The biggest competition for the Four Horsemen of the Pop-ocalypse is not each other, because people who go to live music want more and more live music (watch out, it’s addictive).

The audience each of the four gets go to shows in all four places. Their real competition is Couches and Netflix and Comfy Couple Syndrome.

Winter hits, the fire goes on, it’s hard to leave cosy for a club. But musicians still tour, venues still turn on the lights and plug in the gear.

To have things when you want them sometimes you must use them when you can’t be bothered.

Making a commitment to get your groove on should be taken as seriously as lemon, honey and ginger. It’s a winter wellbeing imperative. That sweat-up is flushing antitoxins; that gyration is limbering your joints. Hollering is stretching your lungs. (Those whiskeys are lubricating your throat).

What you need when you’re in the dumps or the depths of winter is a jam or a gig or a healthy helping of hullabaloo. Live music is pure panacea. See Doctor Rock at your local music spot: he’ll fix you a cure-all.

Hook up with what’s happening: hbmusichub.co.nz and on facebook.com: @HBGigGuide @Hawkesbayactivitiesandevents @sittingroom.sessions @commonroomhb @cabanalivemusic @paisleystage

Sponsored by Tennyson Gallery in collaboration with thehook.nz

Culture

Live music is good for our souls. It gives us an excuse to get sweaty side-by-side. It’s like sport but without the competition. Like war but without the death. It hits us at our energy centre.

It touches our most human core emotions.

Photo: Tom Allan

Culture FO O D / A L E XA N D R A T Y L E E

What’s for Dinner?

Cooking a meal every night, night after night is not a new thing for homo sapiens (which I assume we all are).

We have been struggling with this problem since our forebears had to put themselves under threat of being eaten for someone else’s dinner if they wanted to feed their children and themselves.

And while we don’t often have these issues today, the process can at times seem almost as daunting.

Which is why I guess so many are choosing to fix this problem by getting others to do some of the work for them.

That is, to send them either the complete meal or at least the different parts which they then simply assemble.

Now I could rave on and on and on and come up with numerous moral, philosophical and environmental arguments why I am against this as a solution.

But that is not really my style and last time I checked this is still a reasonably free country. A lot of our nation’s best and brightest are doing it. And you are probably quite rightly saying, “It is all very well for her, she likes to cook”.

So, I won’t. Rather, I would like to swing this into a more positive light and focus on ways to answer the question: “What’s for dinner ?” So, when you hear it next, you can respond, without your body immediately going into a spasm that takes weeks to recover from.

Hmmm … maybe before I do this I will just allow myself just one wee moment!

Possibly the most important argument against being delivered tiny packets of turmeric in lots of packaging once a week is one that you have at your doorstep. Well not quite, but definitely in your neighbourhood. There are numerous local people getting up every morning dedicated to sending you turmeric and peas and apples, potatoes and sausages. And their livelihood is being brought into threat not

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by drought or war or the government, but by people buying partly-prepared meals from other parts of the country.

One of the pleasures of my line of work is the contact I have with growers, food retailers and wholesalers. And for a wee while now the common theme of my conversation with a lot of them is how their business is being affected negatively by My Food Bag. There, I’ve said it, now let’s move on …

So firstly, I will state the obvious, which I am sure you have already tried.

But I challenge you to try again.

On Sunday night after you have mowed your lawn and your motherin-law’s and the one at the bach. Get together whoever lives in your home.

Somewhere neutral and not too comfortable, as you want everyone’s attention. And have a – what’s the term? – a brainstorming session, put the question to the group: ‘What’s for dinner?’

In this way you are sharing the load and the responsibility.

Your mission is to come up with a dinner plan for the week, so everyone not only knows what is for dinner, but can be given jobs towards preparing it. If not the whole meal, at least part. And if your children are too young to help, you and your partner could discuss it over a chardonnay or three.

My advice is not to go straight to the latest food blog and glossy food magazine for inspiration. Instead, first delve into your mother’s and grandmother’s old recipe books.

Ask them what they used to cook for dinner. Yes, there will be a lot of rich meat dishes and possibly cream and butter, but you don’t have to cook like this every night. And you will find the odd treasure and, if nothing else, a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane (which is very good for the soul if not the waistline).

There is huge pressure today to make every meal good enough to be in a Netflix series. We have so many authorities telling us what we should eat and how and when. It can become very overwhelming and I can quite understand the urge to just escape all this and leave it up to one of them … food included.

But really it does not have to be like this. We need to go back to what we are trying to achieve and simplify it. Keep those long complicated Ottolenghi recipes you have been wanting to try for the weekend, and during the week be

kind to yourself … keep it simple.

And if Granny’s or Grandfather’s (though let’s face it, Granny did most of the cooking) recipe books are nowhere to be found, here are some suggestions.

Roast anything, chook especially, takes about 10 minutes to prepare.

Throw the potatoes, fennel and garlic in there as well sprinkle with big branches of thyme and olive oil, salt and pepper, squeeze some butter in between the skin and the flesh and you are done.

And if you want greens these will take another 5 or 3 minutes at the other end.

Get a traditional Italian pasta recipe book. They are full of hundreds of very simple, very delicious meals that only have a few ingredients and take just a few minutes. Then all you need is a bowl of green salad leaves and one of Ya Bon’s baguettes and whamoo you are done.

When I was painting the whole interior of Pipi Greytown upstairs and down before we first opened, every night I would steam a big plate of vegetables and have a feast with simply these and olive oil and salt and pepper and they gave me enough energy to paint far into the night. And if you need excitement you could get really carried away and drizzle and pour over any number of delicious hummus, oils or sauces.

Go with what you feel like eating.

Listen to your tummy, not your mind.

Don’t make something because you think you should; your body has a wonderful ability to tell you what it needs and the more you listen to it the louder the messages get!

I guess what I am trying to say is that I find it hard enough to keep my feet firmly planted on the earth. My head’s natural inclination is to fly into the clouds and beyond, and one of the things that really grounds me here is food. Holding it, cooking it and I guess eating it.

I really treasure the food producers and retailers and my connection with them is something I cannot imagine living without.

I know life picks all of us up and pushes us at such a rate that we really do not have time anymore, and this is certainly not meant as a judgment. I just cannot stand the thought of people missing out on this connection that I find integral to my being here in Hawke’s Bay and part of this community.

Culture

Photo: Florence Charvin

Culture L ET T E R FR O M T H E C O UN T RY / M A RY KI P P ENB ERGER

Winter Inspiration June, 2019.

It’s Sunday morning, another Hawke’s Bay blue-skied, windless, winter’s morning.

June and I have rescued the last of the tomatoes and stumbled with joy upon the odd hidden kūmara.

I hear the sounds of Haden, Hamish and James playing soccer in the basin and have waved to Emily, Rebecca and Alice as I fed out. There is a new mountain of dirt beside the sandpit and I eavesdrop on their adventurous stories.

There seemed to be predators, kidnappers and a girl called Lisa. I wish her well.

June didn’t seem to be treating the West as well as the East.

Himatangi Beach Camp on a wild and wet Queen’s Birthday weekend.

Hot water bottles clutched, knee blankets coveted, hail hammering, voices lost and wind rocking our bus like a matchbox toy. Not ideal for a winter gathering of folkies, but really it didn’t matter. Being together, yelling songs above the din, gasping at gusts, venturing to the shared loos with inside out umbrellas. Just all part of the memories and later on craic.

While the musos plucked, I did manage a small excursion to a nearby garage sale. For sixteen dollars this is what I bought: one pukeko clock, one fairy princess dress, one standard lamp, one large barbeque hotplate and two tables.

Peter looked puzzled. He offered his opinion. It is not always necessary to offer opinions. After 40 years I had rather thought Peter would have understood observational boundaries.

He offered the following: “But Mary, you hate pukeko, we have six standard lamps, a room of dress-ups, five large barbeque hotplates and thirty-one tables.”

I looked at him with inward eyes a-rolling and with a slight shoulder huff I pointed out that that was not the point. The point was of course,

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sixteen dollars. I chose that moment to remind him that we needed to quickly pop down to Wellington to pick up the Axminster carpet I had happily acquired for my next very good idea.

Peter is a different kind of shopper.

He is not blessed with my obvious abilities. Some might suggest that is to be admired, but I hesitate to agree.

It was the National Australian Festival. With anticipation we rolled into the grounds, hired Camry bursting at the seams with the tools of our trade. Wrist bands secured, car parking stickers placed, and we headed to the performers tent city. Row upon row of immaculate tents awaiting their charges. Stretchers, mattresses and a lamp. What more could we want?

Well, a few things. Chairs and a makeshift table scavenged, a quick trip to the supermarket for essentials including three cooler bags, ice and for reasons known only to Peter, a bag of rice ... basmati.

Night was closing in. Beds were hurriedly made, ice divided fairly, and the Welcome Concert called. Two cooler bags on the floor, one on the bed, Bob’s your uncle, off we went.

An hour later I returned in search of my phone. I looked through the car. I looked through the suitcases, costumes tumbled to the left, they tumbled to the right. I looked under beds, on beds, around beds.

I borrowed the security guard’s torch. I looked up, I looked down, I looked inside and out. Nothing. I returned the torch.

“Here,” said the helpful guard, “take this torch, it’s stronger, it’ll shine the arse out of a kangaroo.”

“That’s quaint,” I thought.

I looked everywhere. I started looking in places I had never been.

This time, however, I noticed that the earth-bound coolers were showing signs of leakage. My eyes travelled up to the cooler sitting happily on my stretcher. As I lifted, the water dripped a steady flow, all through the first duvet, all through the second duvet, through the mattress and onto the cot itself, pooling in a pretty puddle wherein lay my phone. I gasped, I grabbed, I wiped and I returned the torch.

“Oh dear,” said the guard, “what you need is a bag of rice.”

“Funny you should say that,” I smiled as I showed him the basmati rice with phone. I will never doubt Peter’s purchases again ... well hardly ever...

Sometimes on this rapid descent to the inevitable I sometimes listen to the creak of my bones and the emptying of my head and feel a little curious about the future.

Yesterday I popped into see CHB’s much-beloved Clarice Anderson, QSM, 96 years old. I crashed a choir practice.

Clarice in her studio, Clarice blind from birth, Clarice the Speech and Drama teacher, Clarice the giver, the listener, the supporter. Clarice, 96, leading the choir that sings to those who are rest home bound.

I like a bit of inspiration and hope on a winter’s morning.

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