Letters to the Editor 1994 – Hastings must expand to survive

Hastings must expand to survive

Mr Editor. – I find it amusing to read of councillor Campbell’s decision to fight, as he calls it, the expansion of Hastings city in to some of the horticultural land surrounding the city.

Since the proposal to develop the motorway through prime land, I have expressed the view, that, it should not be allowed to happen. I still believe an alternative route through some of the poorer country should have been found 30 years ago.

My point is that neither Cr Campbell nor any other rural councillor opposes the decision to cut a road through prime horticultural land – hundreds of acres by the way – but they oppose the expansion of Hastings city.

Like the motorway, which I have come to realise and accept cannot be changed, neither should we accept the logical conclusion that if our city is to survive we must expand into some horticultural land.

It is unfortunate that this has to take place but there is no other alternative. A serious decision has to be made. If Hastings is not allowed to expand, we will become a nonidentity.

Curtailing the expansion of Hastings would be similar to ring-barking a tree.

There are some alternatives to expanding into the horticultural land further development of Havelock North with section prices well above the perception of most people or encourage people to buy sections in Flaxmere, which is below people’s expectations.

If, as was suggested by Mr Mardon, we should put a ring around Hastings then we must take a serious look at other ways of expanding the city.

I am loath to suggest the 80 or so acres in the virtual centre of Hastings but that might have to be considered. There was an obvious mistake made by rezoning some residential land bounding Karamu Rd, St Aubyn St and Warren St.

There are many people who want to live in Hastings but are forced to go to Taradale, Greenmeadows and Meeanee.

Fertile land is not only confined to Hastings. I owned and worked some of the fertile land in Taradale, which is now in housing. As a field officer for J. Wattie Canneries I supervised the growing of an extensive list of crops on the land around Napier city.

There has been very little uproar about this from the people who are decrying the Hastings District Council for wanting to expand the city.

People who buy a section to build a house on, probably for the rest of their lives, also want to have a nice garden. Who can blame them? You cannot grow a garden on stones.

As a person who was very involved in horticulture in Hawke’s Bay I find it a difficult decision.

Cropping land around Hastings, in comparison, with what it was 15 to 21 years ago is minimal now.

Permanent cropping, pip fruit, stonefruit, berries, grapes, have swallowed up the biggest proportion of prime cropping land. This makes it difficult for processors to plant crops close to their factories.

There is little pastoral farming close to Hastings because of the high value of the land.

In my view, the main reason for the uproar is the fact that the land surrounding Hastings is in these permanent crops and nobody is prepared to concede.

Hastings   Trevor Baker

Room to expand in Central HB

Mr Editor. – Federated Farmers are to be congratulated on their stand against taking the Lyndhurst Rd area of fertile farm land for Hastings housing development. There is one sure way to save this highly prized productive horticultural land and that is to reduce the demand for housing.

This can be done by reversing the drift of people in the urban areas to the rural environment, with other beneficial results especially for the younger generations.

There are still suitable areas available for such settlement. Central Hawke’s Bay in particular can accommodate many more people, some who would otherwise live in the Hastings area.

Waipukurau   Ray Cheer

Fertile land is the lifeblood of city

Mr Editor. – My family and I have been horticulturists on the outskirts of Hastings for 51 years. We have seen many changes in that time.

In 1943 my father was growing vegetables for canning by the fledgling J. Wattie Canneries. This produce was helping feed the troops in the Pacific.

In the fifties, we were producing peas and beans, the latter hand-picked.

Tomatoes, beetroot, and onions were in vogue in the sixties and seventies. These too were hand-harvested.

The eighties saw the swing to more intensive horticulture, mainly in the production of apples, and summerfruit. Both are labour intensive.

I now read with horror, the recommendation of consultants that 70 hectares of Hastings’s most fertile land be made over to housing. Our land is the lifeblood of Hastings. From it comes our jobs, and our future. Enough of nibbling little hunks of around the edges; little chunks in time accumulate into big chunks, and when all the fertile land has gone, who is going to employ the people?

The old Hawke’s Bay County Council was a jealous guardian of the fertile land. It was its dedication to preserving good land which led to the creation of Flaxmere. I realise that Flaxmere has its own set of problems, but these are manmade, and are not a derivative of the poor soil.

City fathers should look to the future, and save our fertile land for our children, and their children’s children.

Hastings   Colin Reid

Six councillors have their minds closed

Mr Editor. – The score is 6-0 against use of the Lyndhurst Road area for an urban growth horizon of 25 years.

Six councillors have chosen to state inflexible and narrow positions in advance of a debate by their fellows. They do so without any balancing arguments whatsoever – to at least acknowledge there might be some urban factors that should be considered.

Crs Campbell and Boyden (both senior chairmen of committees), joined by Crs Speers and Lynn (representing urban Wards) and Crs Beamish and Law are “easy” heroes. They’ll be cheered all the way to the wire by the obvious interests.

But they have turned the debate into a farce. They have told their colleagues and the wider public that they may as well not open their mouths because those six councillors won’t be listening

Hastings   Observer