What chance amalgamation? Local historian Michael Fowler examines a sorry history of squabbling between Napier and Hastings, which, he contends, has held Hawke's Bay back
Hastings and Napier, during the past 130 or so years, have at times engaged in a relationship marked by competition and jealously.
An examination of past events between the two cities, just 18km apart, reveals a rivalry which at times was extreme.
Napier, the older of the two cities, was settled by Europeans in the 1850s, and incorporated as a borough in 1874. Hastings was formed from Thomas Tanner's Heretaunga lease, and subsequent purchase from Maori in 1870, with its town board created in 1884.
In some respects, the early settlement of New Zealand was similar to the Wild West of America (even the buildings resembled this), characteristic of "every man for himself". Survival and growth of fledgling towns meant increasing population and having the necessary infrastructural assets.
In order for Hastings to prosper, many were convinced that Napier's position had to be weakened, or in extreme cases, cease to exist.
One of the first tests of the Hastings-Napier relationship was in 1885, when the Napier Gas Co wanted to establish a plant in Hastings, requiring special legislation to do so. Hastings, with such a small population (about 1000) compared with Napier (7500), could not afford its own gasworks. The main opposition was because of the fact all the profits would go to Napier, but some argued that "foreign capital" would be welcome in Hastings. A narrow vote at a town meeting was passed in favour of Napier Gas Co establishing a Hastings plant.
One of the most divisive issues in Hawke's Bay's past was the inner (Iron Pot) versus breakwater (Bluff) harbour debate. Napier favoured a new breakwater harbour, and most rural areas, including Hastings, wanted to develop the existing inner harbour or establish a new port near Cape Kidnappers.
The Napier Harbour Board, subject to a successful polling of Hawke's Bay ratepayers, could impose a levy to pay for capital works loans, which meant Hastings would also contribute to the more expensive breakwater option.
Mr J Harding's response to this issue was direct in 1885. He stated: "... you and other Napierites may rely on it [harbour], but it is only a question of time, but Kidnappers will be the port, and Hastings the capital town of this province, and to spend more money at Napier for harbour works is just taxing the people for the benefit of a few Napier shopkeepers".
This debate continued on until 1934, when the breakwater harbour question was finally settled, aided by the 1931 earthquake.
Napier had a powerful weapon to respond to Hastings' attempts to succeed at its expense - two newspapers. In 1886, The Hastings Star was formed with one of its objectives to respond to the Hawke's Bay Herald's and Daily Telegraph's ridicule of Hastings. The Hastings Star existed until 1888, and the next paper, the Hastings Standard, was formed in 1896 but had a shaky start.
As Hastings was within 20 miles of Napier, the New Zealand Press Association demanded a higher fee for its news service. The Hastings Standard blamed Mr E W Knowles, proprietor of the Daily Telegraph for this, as he was chairman of the Press Association. The Daily Telegraph also cut prices for its advertising to try and force the Hastings Standard out of business, but it survived, although changing ownership.
The Standard was incorporated into the Hawke's Bay Tribune in 1910. Financed by meat baron William Nelson, the Tribune was formed to further the interests of Hastings regionally, and to support the inner over the breakwater harbour development.
The papers were rather pointed in their comments about each other's town. For instance, a Napier visitor to Hastings implied in a letter to the editor that Hastings people had a lower class English accent and upon observing a Salvationist rally, stated that even the Sallies in Hastings had an "... absence of the virulent testifying that is characteristic of the orthodox salvation sinner."
The worst comments were usually made by the newspaper editors, and during the harbour debate in 1885, Hastings people were described as "ruminants" (mammals, such as sheep).
When snow covered the Heretaunga plains in 1887, the Napier report of this rare event said "... it was as though Hastings were doing penance in a white sheet for its sins in the matter of land speculation".
Hastings, however, could respond in kind, and a 1908 comment by the Hastings Standard, described Napier as "Hastings' sunny seaport", causing an uproar.
The bickering between the two towns did not escape Prime Minister Joseph Ward's attention in 1912, and he could not see "... how Hastings was to go ahead without Napier. The latter town also could not progress without taking Hastings with it. He would advise people to settle their petty differences and work for the welfare of the whole district, and so improve upon natural advantages."
Sadly, this did not occur. Disagreements remained over the harbour; Hastings quest for its own full-service hospital; establishment of a university (lost to Palmerston North) and the airport's location.
The lack of action or delay, mostly because Hastings and Napier could not agree, hurt the region's progress.
Most of the issues that once caused Napier and Hastings (and other Hawke's Bay local authorities) to quarrel have been resolved.
However, the latest discussion surrounding amalgamation of Hawke's Bay local authorities has the potential to be divisive.
Our forefathers fought bitterly, and if there is a lesson to be learned from the past - this regional squabbling disadvantaged our towns and province. In the words of industrialist Sir James Wattie: "... I only wish we could think of Hawke's Bay. I would like to be a Hawkeye guy."
*Michael Fowler will be speaking on the topic Sibling Rivalry: Hastings v Napier - what chance of amalgamation? The talk takes place at the Hastings War Memorial Library on Tuesday, June 14, from 5.30pm-6.30pm.
Tale of two cities' squabbling spans 130 years
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