Luxury Hawke's Bay lodge, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, the venue for the most dubious of Chris Hyde's 2023 predictions. Photo / Supplied
Luxury Hawke's Bay lodge, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, the venue for the most dubious of Chris Hyde's 2023 predictions. Photo / Supplied
OPINION:Hawke’s Bay Today editor Chris Hyde looks into his rather wonky crystal ball in a bid to decipher what could be the big issues in Te Matau a Māui in 2023.
Politics:
Every MP representing Hawke’s Bay is red. By the end of the year, there’s a chance (though it’s unlikely) that the entire region could flip to other colours. Historically blue Tukituki seems the most plausible and so too Wairarapa (which extends into CHB), though National has yet to unveil its candidates. Napier’s not out of reach for Katie Nimon, though she’ll need a good campaign to convince voters she’s ready for the daily wash and dry cycle of politics. Heather Skipworth has a fighter’s chance in Ikaroa-Rawhiti, but she has a big gap to bridge on incumbent Meka Whaitiri. A fascinating election year awaits. One indulgent prediction from me - Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford will switch their wedding location for security reasons and get married at The Farm in Hawke’s Bay in the lead up to the polls (you heard it here first - and last).
Napier electorate candidate Katie Nimon - will she take Stuart Nash's seat? Photo / Warren Buckland
Expect rates debates to ignite throughout the year. Unnecessary council spending will be heavily scrutinised. Hawke’s Bay’s property market remains overinflated and many recent buyers are overleveraged as a result. Combine that with looming austerity and rising mortgage costs and our councillors will face big pressure to keep costs down and rates increases below the levels already marked out in their long term plans. For councils with infrastructure deficits, particularly Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay, it’s going to cause serious headaches.
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The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa supports a proposal to revert the Clive River to a more historical and appropriate name. As a result, Te Awa o Mokotūāraro will likely be the new name for the river by the end of 2023, a furious round of consultation pending. But, and rightly so, it should also spark further debate about the future of some of the region’s even more prominent names. Many of them, from Hastings to Napier, are named after colonial figures with little to no relevance to the region. To claim they must remain that way because they’ve always been that way is to wilfully ignore hundreds of years of pre-European history on the land around Te Matau ā Maui. Small steps of course, because attachment to place names is a powerful thing, but the town Clive, which was established in 1855, will be under the microscope because of its river in 2023. Major-General Lord Robert Clive (aka “Clive of India”) never came to New Zealand and a 21st century relook at Clive’s contribution to history hasn’t been kind - his military greed in India has seen his name scrubbed from several UK institutions already.
Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, for the moment known as the Clive River, in its full glory. Photo / Paul Taylor
In 2022, it was the year of the downpour. We’re due a drought now, surely. It’s been a decent year for farming overall, but the effects of climate shifts and climate policy are starting to show. More land will be converted to forestry, and the solar farm investment in an Ōngaonga dairy farm is an interesting precedent for what could be on the way in the region. The clock really is ticking for the backers of what was once called the Ruataniwha Dam, and if there are no breakthroughs in 2023, it’s hard to see how it will ever be built. Also ticking away is the timebomb that is our roading infrastructure - several risky highway bridge lifelines are already on go-slows, and potholes have been carved out by incessant rain in their thousands. Will 2023 be the year the Government steps up its roading investment in Hawke’s Bay?
The April Fools joke:
Every year someone tries to fool us. Here’s some relevant material for them to consider in 2023.
- Napier City Council funds study into how to make bioluminescent waves permanent
- Burnout enthusiasts buy Te Mata Mushrooms site for new skid pad
- Ram raiders at aquarium were ‘just trying to rescue Terry the turtle’
