Hawke's Bay Today

Knife rule for rafters urged after tragedy

Afriend desperately tried to save the life of popular volunteer firefighter Alex Scarrow before he drowned in a rafting accident in 2023. The rafting buddy tried to keep Scarrow’s head above water with a paddle after their raft T-boned a large boulder...

Fresh insights from Bay’s 2016 water crisis

It has been described as the worst outbreak of a waterborne disease in recent New Zealand history, with almost 40% of a North Island town’s resident population struck by gastro. The cause was identified as the contamination of the town’s drinking...

Council tenants told to move on

Residents of three councilowned villages in Napier are being asked to find new places to live, as the council plans to sell them as vacant properties. One impacted resident, who has terminal cancer, says it is weighing on her having to move out of her...

Local govt shake-up

Hawke’s Bay mayors say confirmation that the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will be disestablished by 2028 gives councils the certainty needed to explore a simpler, more effective model of local government. It follows an ultimatum by the Government on...

‘Outrageous’: CCTV not a fix for Napier streets

ANapier city business owner says it’s “outrageous” that the council is proposing to charge CBD business owners a targeted rate to pay for closed-circuit television (CCTV). The Music Machine owner on Hastings St, Richie Jackman, said the council needed...

‘Forced off the land'

ABay View lifestyle block owner says he feels as if he is being forced from his land by another proposal by Napier City Council to increase his rates. Robert Best lives with his wife in their Onehunga Rd home, which is currently zoned as “rural...

AFTER THE FLOOD Hall’s damage significant, rural community bands together

A rural community in Central Hawke’s Bay is reeling after flooding wiped out fencing, culverts, winter crops, roads and even animals. About 240mm of rain fell in the Omakere and Kairakau area in 30 hours from early morning on Tuesday, April 21, which...

‘I went to help and was stabbed too’

Camberley dairy owners Rohan Patel and his father Mukesh Patel were hospitalised after being attacked with scissors by a shoplifter over a pie. Rohan reopened the shop on Friday morning in an act a councillor says is an incredible example of “courage...

‘I’ve come a long way’

AHawke’s Bay man with two convictions for serious violent offending over the past six years is running for Parliament, saying his experience in prison can help “fix the Corrections system”. The past of Tukituki electorate candidate Kaleb Hawkins, 25,...

‘We need to do more’

Dairies and vape stores have been booted out of the large-canister nitrous oxide “nangs” trade in a crackdown announced yesterday. The Government announcement comes three months after Hawke’s Bay Today highlighted community concern over the...

Green light for $47m power station rebuild

A $47 million rebuild of crucial Hawke’s Bay power station Redclyffe will start in November and be completed by the end of next year. State-owned national grid operator Transpower said the go-ahead came after Tuesday’s final approval from the Commerce...

Hundreds of sheep put down after neglect

AHawke’s Bay farmer who caused the death of more than 200 sheep has been put on home detention and disqualified from owning animals for a year. David Fraser Beck, 46, pleaded guilty to three charges under the Animal Welfare Act, after prosecution by...

Fake photo sparks review

Asocial media news creator who shared a fake image of body bags being loaded into an ambulance at the scene of an alleged triple homicide in Hastings says he is reviewing his use of artificial intelligence. NetSafe says it is concerned about the harm...

VOLUNTEERING IN ‘QUIET CRISIS’

Chris Tremain (inset) is asking local families to ‘step up’ and claims sport volunteer numbers have taken a dramatic dip. However, others say it’s not a new challenge for the region.

Beaches treated like ‘wasteland’

Environmental groups say Napier’s beaches are being treated like “wasteland” and need a fire ban bylaw to be reinstated. The bylaw that banned fires yearround on Napier beaches was revoked by the city’s council in December 2024. Lynne Anderson is now...

Murder charges laid in Hastings triple homicide

Aman facing three murder charges after the deaths of a mother and two children in Hastings has been sent to a secure psychiatric unit until his next court date. The man, 36, appeared in the Hastings District Court yesterday via an audio-visual link...

Funding to rebuild cyclone-hit marae

Two Hawke’s Bay marae damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle will be rebuilt in safer locations using $27.6m of Government funding. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said the Government had on Thursday approved $11.54m for Petāne Marae and $16.06m for...

Taine Randell bids for Tukituki seat with NZ First

Taine Randell’s first step into politics should serve as a reminder that, try as you might, not everything goes to plan. Had it not been for Cyclone Vaianu, Randell would have been revealed as NZ First’s latest candidate by party leader Winston Peters...

Flaxmere poised for major village overhaul

Anew road through the middle of Flaxmere is being planned to give residents direct access to an upgraded shopping village and its soon-to-be-finished new supermarket. Proposed upgrades in the Hastings suburb include extending Henderson Rd into a new...

Hunter shot dead by another in Ruahines

A police officer involved in the retrieval of a shot hunter’s body in bush near Dannevirke says the impact of what occurred will stay with many people for the rest of their lives. Dannevirke Senior Constable Wayne Churchouse said the man was hunting...

Evacuees wait, hope

People living in more than 500 homes evacuated from Hawke’s Bay’s coastlines over the weekend were being asked to stay away another night as Cyclone Vaianu bore down. The fast-moving cyclone lay over the region by 5pm on Sunday and charting an...

We brace again

For the first time since Gabrielle, the region is facing the potential eye of an extra-tropical cyclone. cyclone For those who we were in its path, it’s a complicated and eerie feeling, as events are cancelled and authorities work to prevent a repeat....

Green light given to sink trawler for reef

The sinking of a decommissioned 60-yearold fishing trawler to help establish an artificial reef off the coast near Napier could take place within the next three months. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council granted a resource consent last week for the project,...

Councils on alert as cyclone tracks south

Hawke’s Bay is forecast to be in the firing line of severe weekend weather as Cyclone Vaianu moves south from Fiji. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says people should prepare by stocking up on supplies. Vaianu could bring heavy rain, strong winds,...

Govt backs new dam

The Government is giving an $18 million loan to the backers of a massive and once-controversial dam in Central Hawke’s Bay to test if it truly is viable. Associate Minister for Regional Development Mark Patterson announced the loan to the Tukituki...

Insurer flags high risk of flooding at Parklands

One of the country’s leading insurers is refusing to provide insurance to some homes in a modern Napier City Council-owned residential development because of what it perceives to be a “high risk of flooding from sea surge”. Parklands Residential...

Cocaine use doubles

Cocaine use in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne has more than doubled, with the region also recording the second-highest methamphetamine consumption in the country. Nationwide, cocaine consumption has reached record levels, overtaking MDMA for the first...

Mission denied funding

The future of Napier’s Mission Estate Concert remains unsure after the Government’s Events Boost Fund rejected a funding request. It’s now two years and four months since the last concerts at the Taradale vineyards, when British pop star Robbie...

Bay nang supply halted by police crackdown

Police believe they have stopped some of Hawke’s Bay’s illicit nitrous oxide “nang” canister sales by stepping up a campaign with retailers. Inspector Andy Sloan said 26 retailers had been visited and delivered letters, reminding them that sales to...

Gas costs up 300%

The head of Wattie’s New Zealand has pointed to a broad range of factors behind its decision to close several factories across the country, “dominated” by the rising cost to manufacture in New Zealand. Wattie’s New Zealand confirmed on Friday it would...

Chef on losing his sight

A former Hawke’s Bay chef has written a book about going blind in the hope that it will help others. “They say the blind can’t lead the blind. I disagree,” reads the opening line of Earl Zapf’s book Blindfulness. Zapf, from Central Hawke’s Bay, was a...

Fuel hero helps drivers

AHawke’s Bay man giving fuel vouchers to unsuspecting drivers at petrol stations estimates he has gifted $600 worth since prices at the pump began soaring. David Schuster, a TikTok live streamer who plays car games, uses donations from followers to buy...

Family marks 30-year cold case

It’s a mystery that has haunted a Napier family and their community for three decades. Richard Woods had recently turned 50 when he was last seen leaving his lodgings in the narrow lanes of the Napier hills on a Saturday afternoon walk on March 23,...

Fears of mass rehoming as greyhound ban looms

The co-founder of a Central Hawke’s Bay greyhound rehoming service says she and her 12 employees are “living in hell” at the impending shutdown of greyhound racing. Fatima Avdic, who operates Nightrave Greyhounds near Waipukurau, was in tears as she...

McCain closure

AHawke’s Bay crop grower says McCain’s Hastings plant closure could be a chance to overhaul a food processing industry in “crisis”. McCain New Zealand announced on Tuesday that it would be closing its Hastings vegetable processing plant by January 31...

McCain’s Hastings factory to close

A McCain vegetable processing plant in Hastings will close in 2027. The Omahu Rd, Twyford, factory processed more than 50,000 tonnes of vegetables annually, including peas, beans, sweetcorn and carrots. A source told Hawke’s Bay Today that staff were...

Local EV sales surge

Hawke’s Bay car dealers say people are flocking to buy electric and hybrid vehicles amid soaring fuel prices, and some are now worried about their stock levels. Several car yards around the region said they’d seen an increase in sales of EVs and...

Push grows for action on Cape Coast erosion

More than $250 million is being spent in Hawke’s Bay to stop rivers from flooding homes in the way they did during Cyclone Gabrielle. But it’s causing a divide in one of the region’s coastal communities, where residents say they want the same respect...

Our cheapest & most expensive homes

A 116-year-old Hawke’s Bay cottage and an Ahuriri waterfront luxury apartment were the bottom and top of the price bracket for properties sold in 2025.

Decade-long push restores Tapairu sign

Tomoana White says he nearly went to jail over his fight to get a Central Hawke’s Bay road’s name correct on the sign. Now, after more than a decade of battling, he’s won. Central Hawke’s Bay District Council has reinstalled the historical road sign...

‘I hope you feel our family’s pain every day’

The grandmothers of a “bubbly, vibrant” 23-year-old woman say they will never forgive the teenage driver who killed her in a crash on Mother’s Day last year. Lyric Divshon Tibor Kalmancsi, when just two months past his 18th birthday, crashed into two...

Hero saves family trapped in surf

Ahero who helped rescue a family of four from a notorious Napier beach says more needs to be done to prevent a future tragedy along the shoreline. The ordeal happened off Marine Parade on Friday evening. Four people – a young child, a man, and two...

‘When will this stop?’

Hawke’s Bay drivers say they are rethinking the extent of their social lives and daily spending as fuel soars towards $3 a litre. Some are cutting back on drinking and restaurant visits, while others are hunting for discounts and filling up more, with...

Councillors get pay rise

Napier’s squabbling councillors were given the biggest pay bump of all councillors in the region when they came into office, an average increase almost six times the rate of inflation. The four mayors’ average increase was 8.50%, Remuneration...

Veteran’s stolen medals returned

Stolen war medals dropped by burglars in Napier have been returned to the recipient’s family thanks to police and the voluntary organisation Medals Reunited New Zealand (MRNZ). The World War II and Korean War medals belonged to Gunner Alfred Henry...

‘Sense of disbelief’

For more than eight decades, broken fragments of a wristwatch belonging to a 19-yearold Norsewood pilot killed during World War II lay hidden beneath the trees in a German forest. About nine years ago, an elderly German woman contacted crash-site...

‘Gutted’ for workmates

Food manufacturer Heinz Wattie’s plans to shut three New Zealand factories, affecting about 350 jobs nationwide. Packing would also stop at its frozen lines in King St, Hastings. The changes were part of the company’s shift to focus on its long-term...

Tsunami escape plan

When the offshore fault that is one day expected to generate a massive tsunami off the coast of Napier ruptures, 77-year-old Valerie Norton won’t panic. She’ll pick up the easy-grab supplies she has stored by the garage door of her beach-adjacent...

Mercia’s charity plea

The floodwaters of Cyclone Gabrielle are long gone — but the importance of charity doesn’t fade. Neither do memories. It makes The New Zealand Red Cross’ annual appeal a tricky line for it to walk in Hawke’s Bay. Red Cross faced criticism in some...

Overnight health service shuts 13 times this year

Napier’s overnight urgent health service has been shut 13 times this year due to staffing issues. The ongoing overnight closures at Napier Health on Wellesley Rd, including two over the weekend, have been labelled “simply not good enough” by a local...

‘Heartbreaking’ limbo for bach owner

Aresident of a councilowned camp closed at short notice due to landslide risk says he can’t afford to remove the dream bach he curated for himself at the site. It’s been two weeks since residents were given 24 hours to leave the Clifton Motor Camp in...

Napier to get third Woolworths in large development

Anew Woolworths supermarket has been announced for Napier on a prime development site, which will also include a retirement village, shops and 140 new homes. Te Roropipi, a major new precinct, is being developed on a large paddock in Greenmeadows. Te...

Siblings to sail Pacific using only stars

Two Napier siblings are preparing to navigate a waka and crew thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean. And, remarkably, they must do it in the same way as their ancestors — without any navigational instruments. Ngāti Kahungunu iwi’s...

WHO WANTS TO BE NAPIER’S DEPUTY MAYOR?

Only one of Napier’s eligible 10 councillors is definitely interested in becoming the mayor’s deputy, and half of them definitely aren’t interested, after Sally Crown was sacked this week. Crown was dumped on Tuesday after refusing Mayor Richard...

‘Blindsided’

Napier Mayor Richard McGrath has stood down his Deputy Mayor Sally Crown after she refused to resign and instead requested he undergo leadership training for what she called “ad-hoc”, “reckless” and “chaotic” decision-making. The unprecedented...

‘TOP HEAVY’

For the first time in almost 50 years, fewer than 2000 babies have been born in Hawke’s Bay during a calendar year. Stats NZ released data last week showing there were 1983 live births for the region in 2025. That was the lowest figure since 1979,...

Farmers fear erosion will worsen if subsidies cut

Asuccessful erosion scheme subsidised by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council since the early 1980s is in the spotlight as the council looks to reduce rates pressure. The council is reviewing its Erosion Control Scheme (ECS), including its nurseries. Poles,...

‘Turned our world upside down’

Grayson Jane has good and bad days. The Waipawa toddler’s good days are filled with trucks, trikes and happiness. On his bad days, he bites his hands to a bloody mess. Grayson, 3, was diagnosed with Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome (LNS) in November 2025. It’s...

Whanawhana dam feasibility study begins

Machinery is in place as a feasibility study begins to decide the future of a dam for the Heretaunga Plains at Whanawhana. The site for the proposed 27 million cubic metre water storage reservoir on private land is on a tributary of the Ngāruroro...

Groyne a ‘no-brainer’ for flood-hit town

Anew groyne has been proposed for the Wairoa River mouth to protect the northern Hawke’s Bay township from future floods. The project is estimated to cost between $12 million and $20 million, if it goes ahead. A groyne, similar to a seawall, would...

Sunshine lined-up for Art Deco festival

Timely burst of sun to boost Hawke’s Bay’s packed events calendar Fine weather is being forecast for all four days of this week’s Napier Art Deco Festival, and more summery relief is on the way for Wairoa and its big events after heavy rain at the...

‘We dodged a bullet’

Acoastal campground in Hawke’s Bay has suffered flooding damage during wild weather, which also uprooted trees and knocked out power to thousands of properties across the region. Despite the damage, outages and even some evacuations, vulnerable areas...

Group for widows aims to ease isolation burden

It’s the company of others that gets you through it. After nearly seven years of learning how to live with the isolation of losing her husband, Napier woman Shelley Gilmartin is bringing widows in the region together to ensure no one walks that same...

‘Credible threat to life’

Devastated residents of a much-loved Hawke’s Bay campground put their belongings into vehicles or their cabins on to the back of trucks after they were given 24 hours to vacate because of landslide risk. The Hastings District Council’s call at Clifton...

‘It consumes me’

Hastings District Council has agreed to stop phoning a homeowner every time there is another complaint about her dogs barking. Sam Hall is the second person in less than a month to speak out about the stress of a council system that advises dog owners...

Fatal car v school bus crash rocks small town

The mayor of the small Hawke’s Bay town of Wairoa says a fatal school bus crash into a car has devastated the community. Police were called to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Black St and Achilles St/State Highway 2 in Wairoa about 3pm on...

Two with nerve damage following ‘nang’ use

At least two cases of nerve injury from chronic nitrous oxide use have been seen at Hawke’s Bay Hospital’s emergency department. The cases were revealed by Hawke’s Bay medical officer of health Dr Nicholas Jones, who attended a community leaders...

HB’s first Winter Olympian