Hawke's Bay Today

Daughter’s recordings unmask her father’s crimes

PM’s public Napier meeting

An accuser of a high-profile former CEO has quizzed the Prime Minister about what his party would do about sexual harm to women in New Zealand. After feeling the heat from protesters in Christchurch on Wednesday evening, Christopher Luxon walked into...

County Hotel bookings axed amid receivership

Five-star Napier lodging The County Hotel has cancelled customers’ room bookings amid a receivership process at the venue. One customer was informed on Wednesday that he would not be refunded for his two-night booking at the end of August, which cost...

Fear ‘high-functioning addict’ will kill again

The family of a man who died in a high-speed road crash believe the driver who killed him is a “high-functioning addict” who may do it again now he has been released from prison. Marco Milliaccio, 45, died in the crash near Havelock North on July 4,...

ILLNESS STRIKES

Aspike in influenza and whooping cough is hitting the Hawke’s Bay region hard, with presentations at Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s emergency department rising and schools facing a wave of illness. One Hawke’s Bay school, The Terrace School in Waipukurau,...

Carjacking ends with police spikes

Aman has been caught by police on a Hawke’s Bay highway after allegedly carjacking a work ute by dragging the employee from the vehicle. The man’s arrest was the culmination of a police operation that spanned about 94km over two regions and ended with...

Hawke’s Bay worst at children’s dental care

Hawke’s Bay is the worst in New Zealand at providing timely dental care for children, with more than half of the region’s children still overdue to see the dentist. Kerri Nuku and Lewis Ratapu, cochairs of Iwi-Māori Partnership Board for Hawke’s Bay...

THE YEARS AHEAD

A71-year-old Havelock North woman moves through her threebedroom house with the ease of someone who knows where everything belongs. Laura Bakker has lived on her own for the past 13 years, and every day she makes her breakfast and lunch, chooses her...

Rescue after steep 25m fall

Ahome gardener who fell 25m down a Napier Hill cliff-face was rescued after a resident on the road below heard cries for help and called emergency services. He escaped with cuts and bruises after the fall from an isolated Chaucer Rd North property,...

300-home housing bid clears fast-track hurdle

Alarge Havelock North subdivision proposal for more than 300 new homes could receive fast-track consent, despite Hastings District Council opposing large-scale housing on the land. Major developer CDL Land New Zealand has announced a “positive step”...

The day our water betrayed us

In the dark streets of Havelock North on the night of August 12, 2016, then - Hawke’s Bay Today photographer Paul Taylor took this photo of some serious-looking workers studying the mains supply and wondered what was happening. Over the next week, the...

High-rise threat to $110k solar system

ANapier family who spent $110,000 on a premium solar power system for their home have fears the sale of a $9 million Kāinga Ora residential property opposite them could cast a literal shadow over their investment. Lyndon Watson, who is the family...

Road project hits land snag at Waikare gorge

Land acquisition for a major roading upgrade in Hawke’s Bay has hit a hurdle, with the Crown unable to reach agreement with a landowner over the purchase of farmland for the project. The Crown has been trying to buy private land for the construction...

CAFE OWNERS SLAM ‘BRAZEN’ TIP-JAR THEFT

AHavelock North man who admitted stealing tip jars from several Hawke’s Bay hospitality venues says his offending was driven by a gambling addiction. Joshua Condliffe, 35, appeared in Hastings District Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to four theft...

Region’s drivers face new drug tests

Police in Hawke’s Bay say roughly 3% of drivers they’ve pulled over for roadside drug tests have tested positive for illicit drugs. Eastern road policing manager Angela Hallett said roadside drug tests started rolling out in June, with road policing...

Winter wonderland hits

Hawke’s Bay residents awoke to a winter wonderland in the region’s hills on Wednesday morning. Snow settled a few hundred metres above sea level, from Tararua to the Napier-Taupō Rd and, most notably, atop Te Mata Peak. Havelock North locals were up...

Pipes leak more than 15m litres of water daily

Leaky pipes in Napier and Hastings waste more than 15 million litres of water every day, a new report has found. The Network Environmental Performance Report for the 2024/25 financial year, produced by the Water Services Authority, Taumata Arowai,...

Tributes flow for visionary leader

When To’osavili Nigel Bickle was preparing to move to Hastings he gave a simple description of what public service should achieve. Quoting former Prime Minister Norman Kirk, Bickle said in his first media interview that people wanted “someone to love,...

Boardwalk disappears from popular track

Aboardwalk has quietly disappeared from a popular walking track in Napier, leaving locals “confused” and wet underfoot. The Ahuriri Estuary Walking Track is a popular Department of Conservation (DoC) managed loop track around Pandora Pond. It includes...

Food or teeth?

How should life look after retirement? For a growing number of Hawke’s Bay residents, life after 65 could still stretch another three decades. Those years can bring freedom, new hobbies, and fresh opportunities, but they can also come with financial...

Lawrence steps in after Nash resignation

New Zealand First’s new Napier candidate says she has “some sympathy” for Stuart Nash amid his rapid political downfall. Te Kira Lawrence, 41, a Napier city councillor, was announced as the new NZ First candidate for Napier on Thursday. Nash resigned...

Bay councils back unitary authority plan

Central Hawke’s Bay councillors have agreed to one unitary council – but they still want a local mayor or chair. Three of the regions’ four councils met on Thursday to discuss the next steps in the Government’s May ultimatum for councils to come up...

PARK ISLAND’S DAGG FIELD OPENS

Rugby loyalties from around Napier’s council table were on display as Hawke’s Bay’s newest sports field was declared officially open on Wednesday, before its first games tomorrow. Two of the three rugby pitches on Dagg Field will be in use in the...

Twofold Bay scuttled

Three years of planning ended in the sinking of a decommissioned Napier trawler, the Twofold Bay, in fewer than 12 minutes as it disappeared off the coast of Napier on Thursday. Destined to become an artificial reef and dive site, the 60-year-old,...

Ōtāne turns sporting past into community’s future

Agrandson of one of the founding members of the tāne Bowling Club has ensured its legacy will live on with the establishment of a community fund with Hawke’s Bay Foundation. From 2027, the fund will distribute grants to projects or initiatives led by...

‘Extremely concerning’

Boy racers dumping diesel on rural Hawke’s Bay roads for burnouts and drift racing have sparked concerns that “someone is going to be seriously hurt or killed”. Central Hawke’s Bay deputy mayor Jerry Greer urged witnesses to call 111, saying the...

Survey: Support grows for Bay cat curfew

rufus the cat loves playing outside. But he can’t harm the local Napier bird population, because his play area is completely caged inside a bespoke-built “catio”. Rufus’ owner Sandy Ross has invested in the design because she cares about keeping both...

Fuel lifts CHB rates

Hiking rates by 7.4% in Central Hawke’s Bay was a tough call but “batting it down the road” would leave “costs haunting our ratepayers for years to come”, the mayor says. The fuel crisis played a big part in the decision, with councillors debating...

Family dismay as care death yields no action

The sister of a disabled woman who died in residential care says it is “disheartening” that a coroner has made no recommendations after investigating her sudden and unexplained death. Stephanie Salisbury said more than 7500 people with disabilities...

Kāinga Ora to sell 39-home complex

Empty library, closed playground

Te Kura o Mangateretere principal Grace Ropitini (pictured) says the school is fundraising online after years of a declining roll, ageing buildings, lack of resources and growing financial pressures.

‘I’m too cold, I’ve had it’

After hours clinging to a capsized boat in a chilly sea, Howard Reese told his crayfishing buddy, “I can’t take any more of this. I’m too cold. I’ve had it.” When a wave threw them both off the boat a short time later, his friend, the boat’s skipper,...

Farmer’s plea to council

ACentral Hawke’s Bay farmer says it’s time for a conversation about allowing skilled and properly equipped locals to help councils clear debris and reopen roads after severe weather events. In January, a Scottish local council made BBC headlines for...

Ex-wine executive charged with fraud

Former Sacred Hill Vineyards executive and director Richard Foddy is facing 18 charges of false accounting after allegedly overstating the value of the company’s inventory in order to secure funding. The Serious Fraud Office ( SFO) alleges Foddy...

‘Trying to evict 50 or 60’

Alodge and cottage set-up that provides low-rent housing for close to 60 people in Hawke’s Bay could end with mass evictions as part of a council crackdown. However, the owners of the wellknown Farmhouse Lodge in Omahu, Dawson Bliss and wife Novia,...

‘Genuine music icon'

Amultimillion record-selling artist has been announced as one of the headliners of this year’s Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival. American hitmaker Macy Gray is coming to New Zealand for the first time in more than 10 years and will perform at Napier’s...

Cancer care ‘comedy of errors’

Steve McKinnon has months to live as aggressive cancer spreads through his body. Health New Zealand has apologised to the Hastings car dealer, an admission that its standard of care has failed him. Now he won’t see his grandchild grow up. “They said...

Pink Floyd tribute gig hits a brick wall

APink Floyd-inspired concert in Napier has been abruptly cancelled after organisers received a cease and desist order from the worldfamous rock band’s licence holders. Playing to Kiwi audiences for the best part of three decades, the Pink Floyd...

Feedback sought on new Flaxmere racecourse plan

The Hastings District Council has started a formal fiveweek public consultation and consenting process on proposals to establish a new racecourse in Hastings by late 2029. It started with public notification of applications on Saturday. The public...

Pub faces licence probe over 21st ‘tradition’

The owner of a controversial country pub fears he could lose his liquor licence after allowing the “Kiwi tradition” of a 21-year-old drinking beer from a yard glass. The Black Dog Tavern is found down a country road off State Highway 2, in the small...