Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Councils open to call to halt Heretaunga Plains developments

By Shannon Johnstone
Hawkes Bay Today·
16 Jul, 2020 01:56 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Members of the Save Our Plains action group: John Bostock, Paul Paynter, Michael Donnelly and Richard Gaddum. Photo / Supplied

Members of the Save Our Plains action group: John Bostock, Paul Paynter, Michael Donnelly and Richard Gaddum. Photo / Supplied

An action group against an inland port at Whakatu is calling for a moratorium on development in the Heretaunga Plains Zone.

The Save Our Plains action group, which includes growers and farmers John Bostock, Paul Paynter, Michael Donnelly and Richard Gaddum, says there has been "overwhelming support and strong reaction" to the group's recent publicity.

But it's not just the inland port they oppose.

"It is just one of many proceeding developments on the plains along with recent approved resource consents given to the likes of the Rymans Rest Home on Te Aute Rd, the proposed Howard St development and there's bound to be more, such as the Brookvale residential development in Havelock [North]."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The group said Hastings District Council is "bound by" the 2017 Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Strategy (HPUDS) - a joint strategy by HDC, Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Napier City Council.

"Until that is changed, this uncontrolled spread of urban and industrial development slowly sprawling over the plains is difficult to constrain.

"We believe that the only way to halt this unsustainable vandalism is by putting a moratorium on any applications and resource consents for new developments until rules are put in place to protect our incredible soils for generations to come. This has got to be implemented now."

A development on Te Aute Road in Havelock North on the Heretaunga Plains. Photo / Paul Taylor
A development on Te Aute Road in Havelock North on the Heretaunga Plains. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rex Graham said the strategy for the plains had to be reviewed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"All the region's leaders are in agreement. "We simply cannot continue the existing creep into the fertile soils of the plains like we have been doing for the past 100 years."

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the council "fully supports the need to protect our fertile plains for food production".

HBRC acting group manager strategic planning Ceri Edmonds said a moratorium would require change to national legislation or local planning documents under the Resource Management Act – "neither is immediate".

The HPUDS "focuses on a preferred settlement pattern that will lead us to compact development" she said.

"To get there we will include a transitional period which will gradually restrict urban development boundaries allowing for proper planning and design work.

Edmonds said the strategy would be regularly reviewed and monitored. A review will start next year.

She said a new national policy statement on managing highly productive land is expected from the government soon.

"Some forms of development may be appropriate, but needs to be mindful of the highly productive land. A re-balancing of needs and priorities is necessary."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hazlehurst said HDC is "thinking differently" about where people will live in the future, such as more inner-city living in the Hastings CBD, so productive land was kept for food production.

The council was also developing a Heretaunga Spatial Plan to understand growth needs and where it could happen on poor soils.

She said the council met the action group in March and was "united on looking at all ways to protect our fertile soils".

The group said since raising their concerns with the councils and public "all local government entities" are now listening to their message.

"The bureaucracy behind the scenes has to be pulled into line and conform and adhere to the new way of thinking on how we proceed from here in a new direction.

"All three councils have shown a willingness to work with us which is positive, so we shall see if the rhetoric is genuine."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

09 Jul 03:19 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

09 Jul 02:48 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

09 Jul 02:05 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

Watch: 'Go buddy, go'- seal catches waves with locals at popular surf spot

09 Jul 03:19 AM

Michael Farr reckons the seal he filmed rode the waves 'better than some of the locals'.

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

Ute flips onto beach in Hawke's Bay

09 Jul 02:48 AM
'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

'Very efficient': Fine-sweeper car snaps more than 5000 parking violations in five months

09 Jul 02:05 AM
Seal playing in the surf at Te Awanga Beach

Seal playing in the surf at Te Awanga Beach

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP