Newspaper Article 1994 – Group to push rural land plan

Group to push rural land plan

A group of Hawke’s Bay’s influential businessmen is being formed to lobby for the Hastings District Council to adopt in full its recommended urban development strategy.

The group, which already has six members, is headed by former Hastings deputy mayor Bryan Hutchinson and builder David Mackersey.

The members held their first meeting this morning to organise a plan of action. They, and other representatives of a range of business sectors, will hold a second meeting in Hastings on Monday, ttheir[their] names will be released then.

Mr Hutchinson said the group had “quite a lot of support”. The interest of all Hastings district residents was paramount.

The recommendations of the Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner report would give the district the chance to progress.

“What we have here is recommendations that point to the future of Hastings city within the wider Hawke’s Bay community over the next 25 years. Nothing is planned to change tomorrow, but we can signal to the rest of the country our confidence and plans for growth today,” Mr Hutchinson said.

“So far, we have only seen reaction to the use of possible horticultural land in the Lyndhurst Rd area. But the report must be looked at as a whole. The future of Hastings as a prosperous and growing community in Hawke’s Bay has been looked at in a collective manner and this needs to be considered in total. We must not make decisions without considering all the information available.”

Hearings wanted

Mr Mackersey said all the group wanted was for the council to adopt the recommendations so they could go through the hearings process. Changes to the district scheme would be required, so people would get another chance to express their views then.

He said if the recommendations were not adopted, the future planning direction of Hastings would be unknown because of sporadic development.

“Don’t rubbish the report before it gets a chance to be heard,” Mr Mackersey said.

Photo captions –

Mr Hutchinson…quite a lot of support.

Mr Mackersey…don’t rubbish report.