Re-New to open new community repair space in Hastings

Re-New founder Jules Cronin is looking forward to opening the community workshop space in King St, Hastings.

Dreams are coming true for Re-New founder Julie Cronin as she gets ready for a new community workshop space to open in central Hastings.

Since losing her job during the first Covid-19 lockdown, Cronin has been on a mission, not only for her own future, but for the generations to come.

That has led to the creation of Re-New NZ - a Hawke’s Bay organisation that takes items otherwise destined for landfill and turns them into items destined for re-use.

Re-New’s focus is sustainability; repairing and upcycling materials salvaged from skip bins, building site waste, scrap yards, bonfire piles and beaches, and turning them into new, unique pieces of furniture, artworks, jewellery, fashionable clothing and household goods.

It is more than just repurposing, though, explained Cronin.

“We also give people a new start; people like me who may have lost jobs through the global health crisis, retirees, those wanting to create something new from an old dream, or people who like to just potter around,” she said.

That ability to create something new is now going to be even easier with a community workshop space opening in Hastings, located at 113 King St North.

The space will be membership-based, either for one-off or longer periods, and members will be able to use the workshop, materials, tools, equipment and facilities to create or re-create whatever they like.

They’ll then be able to sell anything they make in the on-site store.

The workshop space has been made possible with funding from Hastings District Council’s (HDC) Large Waste Minimisation Fund.

HDC’s Large Waste Minimisation Fund is available once a year for applications over $2000, with the fund having a total pool of $20,000 available.

The funding comes from the council’s national waste disposal levy funds, which is a Government charge for all waste going to landfill.

Cronin is excited to open the space, and hopes to offer classes for members of the community to learn how to make or fix things, or even put together kit sets.

HDC senior waste minimisation officer Sam Gibbons said she was pleased this funding support could go to Re-New NZ.

“Their work aligns really nicely with our Joint Waste Minimisation and Management Plan, the aim of which is to reduce waste sent to landfill. We cannot achieve this alone, and it is great to see our community joining us on the journey.

“It’s initiatives like these that bring us closer to building a community that values our resources, that re-uses, re-purposes and recycles,” Gibbons said.

The community repair space will open on Saturday, April 8, with a sustainable market held from 10am to 2pm.

More information can be found at Re-New’s website: www.re-new.nz.