Message from the Mayor

This month we are going to be celebrating our new Matariki public holiday for he first time, and I'm really excited to head along to the wonderful events at our Matariki Festival.

The festival is part of a wider programme of events and activities in store over coming months, created by council and the Hastings City Business Association to help bring more people into town to enjoy everything our city has to offer.

The impact of COVID has been significant with many businesses feeling the effects of the disruptions and the impact on our community.

It’s been a topic of much discussion between council and the Hastings City Business Association – how do we get more people back into town, and how do we support downtown businesses to thrive in a safe and inviting city?

The decision to bring in free parking for the month of July was one intiative requested by the business association and CBD businesses, and also in July the association will be hosting an ice rink and shopping promotion.

In the meantime we have increased the presence of City Assist with an additional two staff, and we will be adding to our CCTV network. 

We are also continuing to carry out our city centre revitalisation plan, and the next stage of this work is happening on Heretaunga St West and the King Street upgrades.

Enabling people to live in our city centre is another aspect of this work and Council is about to lodge a resource consent seeking to develop 18 residential units and two commercial tenancies within the 206 Queen Street building.

We look forward to sharing our vision for this development in coming weeks.

7 June 2022

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