Mayor’s message

What a welcome sight to see the buds of Spring appearing – the most beautiful time of the year in Heretaunga Hastings.

And what better way to celebrate than to come together for our annual Blossom Fest and Parade to marvel at the wonderful floats and parade displays, and enjoy live entertainment and carnival rides.

Apart from a couple of missed years, the annual parade has been a fixture in our city every Spring for the past 64 years – an opportunity to pay homage to our fruit-growing traditions, to welcome the blossoms that herald the arrival of the bounty that’s produced across our district.

The event is also a showcase of the growing diversity of our community with our multi-cultural groups and organisations increasingly adding an international flavour, rich in diversity and vibrancy.

It’s always wonderful to see our city come alive with this festival and I look forward to seeing the community out and about enjoying our revitalised city centre and all it has to offer.

The advent of Spring and the prospect of better weather is also positive for our ongoing Cyclone Gabrielle recovery, with hopefully fewer weather-related disruptions and delays helping with the pace of this work.

We are very aware there are still people who are struggling with the challenges wrought by the cyclone, and this makes it very important to keep up the momentum of all the repair and rebuilding work.

Support in all forms has been key to moving on from this event and it has been a privilege to assist many people and groups through the distribution of donations through the Hastings Cyclone Gabrielle Mayoral Relief Fund.

Many generous people and businesses donated to this fund, which opened in March 2023 and recently closed after having distributed more than $2 million.

Funding was given to individuals and community groups/projects supporting the immediate response as well as the recovery.

I am extremely proud that we were able to distribute this funding quickly and provide financial relief directly to supporting Hastings residents in a timely manner - most of the initial funding was distributed within the first month.

My heartfelt thanks go to the public and businesses for their generous contributions that went into this fund – this financial support was hugely important and welcomed amid the other recovery efforts.

Ngā mihi

Sandra Hazlehurst

2 September 2024

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