Mike Butler: The kura and the mushroom farm

A town planning error in Hastings provided a convenient exit for the Ministry of Education in unpopular plans for a kura for the suburb of Havelock North but has caused a substantial risk for a log-established mushroom farm, and regular unpleasant smells for 600 home owners.

A stoush between a retired principal and the government sparked by plans to prefer a Maori-immersion kura over a new primary school for the Hastings suburb of Havelock North (see http://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.co.nz/2016/04/mike-butler-two-ministers-and-kura.html) led to a public meeting in May.

Mike Butler: Merger mayor and Agenda 21

Hastings merger mayor Lawrence Yule’s speech to the Commonwealth Local Government Conference in Botswana last week showed the link between local government reorganization in New Zealand and the United Nations Agenda 21 policy.

Yule is the only mayor in Hawke’s Bay to back a five-council amalgamation of the sort that was stingingly dumped in Wellington earlier this month and slowly evaporated in Northland. A final proposal for a merger in Hawke’s Bay will be voted on in September.

Mike Butler: Opera House safer than driving

In Hastings, a health and safety saga that is likely to affect the owners of around 25,000 buildings in New Zealand involves a push to spend megabucks on earthquake strengthening.

The drama involves two buildings, the Hawke’s Bay Opera House and the Municipal Building which was the council assembly room and offices, both built in 1916. Both buildings withstood the devastating 7.8 (Richter scale) February 3, 1931, Hawke’s Bay earthquake that killed 256 people. Both buildings have been strengthened.

Mike Butler: Amalgamation cons by the pros

A proposal being steadily pushed on to Hawke’s Bay residents is to absorb the councils of Hastings, Napier, Wairoa, and Central Hawke’s Bay, plus the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, into one super council with five local boards, and a Maori board, with the headquarters in Napier.

Amalgamation is a central government initiative, with similar proposals in Northland and Wellington at the same time as the Hawke’s Bay push. I presented the case against amalgamation to 54 people at a public meeting at the Havelock North Community Centre yesterday.