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Cruise ships return to boost economy

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Hawke’s Bay’s economy is poised for a major shot in the arm this summer with as many as 80 cruise ships set to dock at the Port of Napier after a two-year-long COVID-19 enforced hiatus.

The years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak saw the cruise industry become a mainstay of the Napier and wider Hawke’s Bay economy, with local tourism building opportunities to cater for an influx of international tourists wanting to spend money. Napier takes on a whole new persona and vibrancy when a cruise ship is in town, with shops, restaurants and local attractions very busy. But the economic implications of cruise ships reach wider than Napier, with wineries, tourist attractions and cafes in Hastings district benefitting financially.

Millions of international dollars have poured into the local economy as a result of these luxury vessels berthing at Napier. The impact COVID-19 has had on the Hawke’s Bay economy is best reflected by Napier Port’s financial year (FY) cruise revenue from 1 October to 31 September. FY2020 saw 76 cruise vessels berth at the port, bringing in $4.3 million in revenue.

This could have been even bigger but the season was curtailed due to the outbreak, with 11 fewer visits than forecast. FY2021 figures were bleak – a big zero. In a normal year cruise ships account for about three to five percent of port revenue but regionally, the figure is a lot higher. In the 2018/19 season, passengers spent approximately $23 million in the region.

There is no question that the loss of the cruise dollars due to COVID-19 hit the local tourism industry hard and many businesses that had built their livelihood around the cruise season had to look for any means possible to survive.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism CEO Hamish Saxton says while there are no new tourism operators since the last time the cruise ships visited, existing ones are gearing up for the season.

“At a recent cruise briefing to members and stakeholders, we met with tourism operators who were in business at the time we last hosted cruise ship visitors. The majority of these businesses have either been able to operate over the past two years relying on the largely domestic visitors or are now in a position to come out of hibernation with the return of this market. However, we do know of two businesses that are not returning.”

He says that the cruise industry is very important to the growth of the local economy. “The New Zealand Cruise Association estimated the 2019 cruise season was worth $30 million to the Hawke’s Bay region.” With kickstarting the local economy a priority, much thought was put into how to maximise the rebooting of the cruise season.

A Hawke’s Bay Cruise Restart Workshop was held in June, with Napier Port, Hawke’s Bay Tourism, NZ Cruise Association and Napier City Council presenting. The event was well attended by cruise industry operators and other key stakeholders and served as a valuable planning session ahead of the first cruise vessels arriving at the end of October. Napier Port chief executive Todd Dawson says demand for the upcoming season is robust.

The current schedule has more than 80 cruise calls to Napier booked during the upcoming season, which runs from October through to April. This includes 20 double days – two cruise vessels in port at the same time.

“Napier Port is excited to welcome back cruise ships and our team is busy preparing for the upcoming season. “We’re confident that Napier Port and Hawke’s Bay remain attractive destinations for the cruise industry and demand for the upcoming season is robust.” Todd says the first cruise ship booked to visit Napier is the Ovation of the Seas, which at 347.08 metres long is also the largest vessel to come into Napier Port. The last booking in the schedule is the Grand Princess (290 metres), currently set to visit on 6 April 2023.

“Our fulltime cruise coordinator role will be in charge of cruise operations on port for the season, with support from our cruise customer service team. We will begin recruiting for these roles this month,” says Todd. He says that while operations to welcome the ships back were going full steam ahead, public health is still of utmost importance. “In regard to public health, Maritime NZ will be releasing guidance for ports in the next few weeks.

We are waiting on that first and will then be working through some desktop exercises with our local stakeholder group, including Te Whatu Ora – Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay (formerly Hawke’s Bay District Health Board) and NZ Customs.” A big game changer for Napier Port this cruise season is the new 350-metre 6 Wharf (formally called Te Whiti), which is multipurpose and capable of berthing the largest cruise vessels coming to New Zealand, including the Oasis-class liners, as well as container and bulk cargo vessels.

“Our marine team are still in the planning stages, including pilot marine simulator trials, for berthing cruise vessels at 6 Wharf and so it is too early to confirm the exact berth for the arrival of the first cruise ship of the season.”

Given the location of the port, the city of Napier is the first to benefit from the influx of tourists disembarking from the ships. Napier City Council manager business and tourism Steve Gregory says the council plays a significant role in Hawke’s Bay’s tourism offering, being responsible for some of the region’s biggest and key visitor experiences, attractions and assets, especially for families.

“The National Aquarium of New Zealand, Par2 MiniGolf, Faraday Museum of Technology and MTG Hawke’s Bay keep many families busy for the best part of two days. All bar one are based on Marine Parade. “Next to Par2 MiniGolf is the Napier i-SITE Visitor Centre, which was recently announced a Tier 1 site. This is the top tier for visitor centres, as outlined in the i-SITE NZ Future Network strategy.” Steve says council staff work closely with Hawke’s Bay Tourism, including on regional marketing campaigns.

“Recent campaigns targeting our key market of Wellington/lower North Island have been very successful. We’re close enough to attract people from the capital for long weekends. “Given three quarters of our visitors annually are domestic rather than international, this sector locally has been able to survive the worst of COVID-19.” When it comes to promoting the region to cruise ship passengers, Steve says the ship companies pass on information about the region they are visiting to each passenger planning to disembark the night before arriving. “Independent cruise passengers are welcomed at the wharf and given a map and some information about independent tours (tours that are not booked through the cruise ship).

Ambassadors and consultants at the Napier i-SITE Visitor Centre answer any questions passengers have regarding gardens, walks, places of interest and free things to do.” He says that information about the cruise ships coming into port are given to Napier retailers and tour operators.

A communications plan for this coming season is currently being worked on. Hamish Saxton says that Napier has always attracted positive reviews from passengers, particularly due to the Art Deco architecture. “Compared with some other New Zealand ports, the ease and speed of shuttles from the ship to the CBD has positive benefits for passenger experience and excursions.

Napier Port, Napier i-SITE and Hawke’s Bay Tourism are currently working through a return to cruise strategy, which allows us to identify any potential concerns.” He says that Hawke’s Bay Tourism sees its role as acting as a facilitator between the region’s tourism providers and those organisations that sell tours and activities on behalf of, and onboard, cruise ships.

“We create introductions and networking opportunities that ensure Hawke’s Bay and our operators make the most of this captive audience. Hawke’s Bay Tourism also provides information for onboard marketing, we participate in New Zealand Cruise Association events, and we take responsibility for general relationship management within this sector. We are members of the New Zealand Cruise Association, along with Napier i-SITE and Napier Port.”

Hamish says there is certainly a lot for cruise ship passengers to do when they get into port, with options ranging from the onboard recommended/endorsed tours to those the passenger organises independently. Some of the more popular activities or excursions include Art Deco vintage car and walking tours, gannet tours at Cape Kidnappers, food and wine tours, farm experiences, sightseeing experiences and Napier retail.

“It is also worth noting that there are ships where crew may be able to disembark. Some of the key activities they enjoy include cycle hire, cafes, retail and gyms.” Hamish says that it is important to view cruise ship visits as events. “As information has already been provided to the cruise lines months in advance, the work of Hawke’s Bay Tourism is largely done by the time the ship gets here. Then it is the role of Napier Port to manage the disembarkation process, and the Napier i-SITE Visitor Centre to assist with any booking and information enquiries.

“Collectively, we’ll be ensuring that our members and the Napier Business Association have the information to understand the schedules and ship profiles so that they can make informed decisions about staff resources and opening hours.”

Hamish says that while cruise ships don’t come in port for a specific purpose such as Art Deco weekend, two ships will be in port for the next festival and are expected to bring in nearly 30,000 visitors. For local tourism operators, the news is just in time. October 24 will be a day of celebration for Gannet Safaris Overland, of which 38 percent of its business comes from the cruise industry.

General manager Sophie Phillips says their team is made up of passionate drivers/guides who love highlighting the wonderful Cape Kidnappers and sharing their knowledge of the gannets, Hawke’s Bay’s history and the wildlife sanctuary. “October 24 will be a celebration day for sure!

It will be wonderful to welcome cruise passengers back into Hawke’s Bay. The cruise industry made up 38 percent of our business before the boarders closed, followed by another good 32 percent of international visitors. This has of course left a huge gap over the last two and a half seasons. “We managed to keep all of our staff on, be it with a very minimal roster. We had to put a halt on pretty much everything with minimal budget available.”

Sophie says the company focused on the domestic market and in particular regions within a certain drive time of Hawke’s Bay. “It’s certainly looking and feeling like it’s going to be all guns blazing this season but we will take it in small steps.”

Sophie recently had the experience of going to Los Angeles with Tourism Minister Stuart Nash and Tourism New Zealand. “The event is Kiwi Link and it is held over three days. There was an exciting buzz that New Zealand has opened its borders again and, of course, finally now our maritime borders are open too. Promoting Hawke’s Bay as a region and Gannet Safaris Overland was a huge success.”

WoolWorks leads the way in emission reduction

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Local wool scourer business WoolWorks received more than $4 million in co-funding from GIDI Fund to convert gas and coal boilers at their Awatoto (Napier) and Washdyke (near Timaru) sites to more modern and efficient hot water heat pump technology.

The new hot water pump at Awatoto, which will be one of the most sophisticated and largest in New Zealand, will replace the site’s natural gas-based hot water generation system, including a hot water boiler and steam heat exchangers.

WoolWorks will invest $2 million into the Awatoto project, with EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) contributing $455,000 through GIDI funding.

WoolWorks, which employs 150 people, is the largest wool scourer by volume in the world and handles 76 percent of all New Zealand wool.

The project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from scouring operations at the plant by 1,700 net tonnes per year, 24 percent of the total energy-related emissions from the site.

Every year, the company’s three sites wash more than 100,000,000 kilograms of wool, ranging from superfine merino to crossbred. Prior to processing into garments or carpets, wool needs to be cleaned and this is an energy intensive process reliant on coal boilers.

“We were on a path to reduce our dependence on coal but it would probably have been closer to 2030 before we got there,” says WoolWorks chief executive Nigel Hales.

The funding will be used to install an electrode boiler to produce steam and an industrial heat pump to generate hot water, reducing over 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the equivalent of removing 3,021 cars from the road.

Nigel says the company has made significant gains in improving the efficiency of its world-class scour operations, leading the way globally for the total useful energy usage per kilogram of wool and reducing its carbon footprint.

EECA also funded an energy audit for the Awatoto site in 2020. The audit identified many opportunities that could be implemented to reduce energy consumption, and resulted in installing new low carbon technologies for process heat decarbonisation.

WoolWorks actively manages its energy consumption at its sites and through EECA has been able to appoint a process engineering graduate to focus on energy modelling, simulation and sustainable options.

Other energy efficiency initiatives at Awatoto include the insulation of high-temperature surfaces, including steam and condensate piping and modifying flow-down systems to maximise heat recovery. Every part of the scouring process is monitored, with water usage carefully controlled and waste streams recycled and re-used where possible.

“We will provide the New Zealand wool sector with a unique low-carbon start to the global supply chain, which will support increased demand for New Zealand wool. Rather than planting our way out of the climate change problem by purchasing pine trees to offset our greenhouse gas emissions, we are choosing to do the right thing by the environment and actually reduce our emissions,” says Nigel.

Bay Businesses step up to carbon reduction ambitions

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If reducing carbon emissions wasn’t a goal for your business before 2022, it certainly will be now, since the New Zealand Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) in May.

Hawke’s Bay has felt the impact of climate change with a severe drought in the summer of 2020/21 and then major rain events along the East Coast during our most recent summer.

The drought impacted our farming community, while the rain and humid weather took its toll on the wine, apple and cherry growing sectors.

As local business owners, we know a poor harvest season sends economic ripples throughout the community as smaller crops and inferior produce hit profitability and wallets are tightened.

The ERP is the government’s move to place greater responsibility on businesses to take measures to reduce their environmental footprint, including setting emission reduction targets for specific sectors.

Emissions from energy and industry sectors make up 27 percent of total emissions and the plan will lead to estimated emissions reductions during the first budget period of:

● From Transport: 1.7 to 1.9 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent

● From Energy: 2.7 to 6.2 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent

● From Agriculture: 0.3 to 2.7 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent

● From Building and Construction: 0.9 to 1.7 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent. Overall, the plan aims to meet the nation’s first emissions budget of 72.4 million tonnes a year, reducing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 11.5 million tonnes of carbon in the next three years.

The policies will be backed by $2.9 billion in proceeds of selling carbon credits to polluters under the Emissions Trading Scheme over the next four years, and Hawke’s Bay businesses can apply for funding support to launch their decarbonisation journey via the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund.

The fund has had a cash injection due to the launch of the ERP, jumping from $69 million to around $650 million to partner with major process heat energy users and help them cut costs as well as emissions.

The ERP announcement also included targeted investment at a regional level for projects that optimise low emission fuel use; funding for electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure upgrades to support fuel-switching; and the early adoption of high-decarbonisation energy technologies.

The original fund is regarded by government as a huge success funding fund 53 major industrial decarbonisation projects and estimated to save 7.46 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over a lifetime – the equivalent to taking 134,800 cars off the road.

Wool scouring business WoolWorks was one of the first to get GIDI funding, convert gas and oil boilers to efficient hot water heat pump technology – see story on page 11.

Unison powers up to meet business demand for decarbonisation initiatives

Already in Hawke’s Bay, power lines company Unison is providing support to some large processing and manufacturing businesses and is anticipating an increase in interest by other local businesses looking to reduce their reliance on industrial processed power, such as from coal, oil or gas boilers.

“From an electricity perspective, the direction of travel is very clear. Electricity is going to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of decarbonisation of transport fleets and converting industrial processes – especially those that rely on coal, oil or gas boilers – to electricity,” says Unison general manager commercial Nathan Strong.

“To the credit of many local businesses and industry, they have been thinking about de-carbonisation for the last three years, and maybe longer and we have already had a few knocks on the door in terms of our customers wanting to look at options to decarbonise as well as get an understanding of infrastructure impacts of any transition.

Unison relationships manager Danny Gough adds that the types of businesses introducing decarbonisation initiatives is very diverse but mostly include those within the production and manufacturing sectors who are looking to get away from utilising thermal heat.

“We’ve also seen interest from government agencies, as well as district health boards, schools and the residential retirement sector.”

Danny says businesses aren’t just looking at reducing their carbon footprint as ‘doing their bit’ to improve the environment, but also as part of their growth strategies and promoting their sustainability actions.

He says Unison is working closely with those organisations and their consultants to support their decarbonisation aspirations and sustainability goals.

“Our role is to provide relevant information and advice on fitfor-purpose optimal electrical solutions, and to assist them in determining their electrical requirements and the upfront and ongoing costs associated with infrastructure upgrades.”

Nathan says the GIDI Fund offers a major opportunity for local businesses as they consider how to fund their emission plan.

“The government has injected 10 shots of adrenaline in the arm with the fund, which will get businesses thinking about how they can afford the cost of accelerating the likes of a boiler replacement, so one of the challenges for Unison will be to manage demand from businesses that want to get underway quickly.

“One of the things we are doing as a business is making sure that we are resourcing up to meet expected demand while making sure that we are in front of the change.

“Our message is, talk to us early or risk joining a queue at some point in terms of getting the hardware and the infrastructure in place.”

Regional council adopts climate action network

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has launched a Hawke’s Bay Climate Action Network for businesses, a shared platform for peer-to-peer learning for businesses committed to reducing emissions, which will feed directly into council planning.

It meets every six weeks to discuss emissions reduction, sustainability and adapting to the changing climate.

The council is also aiming to launch its Regional Climate Action Plan by July 2023, outlining how the council will be carbon neutral by 2025 and the region by 2050.

The network and plan is being led by the council’s first climate action ambassador, Pippa McKelvie-Sebileau.

Pippa says climate change is already impacting our way of life, from being able to swim in the waterways we love to where we live around the coast.

“Successful adaptation to climate change is not only essential for economic resilience of our region but also for the wellbeing of our communities.

“This role is about climate action. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council already has an excellent science base and team of scientists, so it will be about turning that knowledge into practical solutions for our community.

Pippa says the ERP offers businesses and organisations a significant financial commitment to support the transition to lower emissions activities.

“This plan marks the first steps to create the conditions we need for a long delayed journey towards a fairer low emissions and a more secure future for everyone.”

“Farmers are crying out for solutions to help them lower their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and respond to a warming climate, so the investment and acceleration of research and development is welcome.

“But we cannot rely on breakthrough technology solutions to reduce emissions by the rate they need to be to keep warming under 1.5 degrees.”

Pippa also sees potential to create added value roles within traditional sectors such as construction.

“There is also no funding to retrofit houses with better insulation to reduce energy needs and make homes healthier, and it would be good to see a focus on shifting economic paradigms to support more sustainable models with lower inequality and greater social cohesion.”

Product stewardship firm leads by example

Hastings-based business and sustainability programme developer 3R introduced a carbon reduction plan in 2014, and reduced its greenhouse emissions by 32 per cent (129 tonnes) in the first year, surpassing its goal of 20 per cent by 2020.

It also gained accreditation to CEMARS (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme), the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme to ISO14065.

3R chief executive Adelle Rose says much of the initial reduction was largely achieved by opening a depot in Christchurch, which meant material it collected in the South Island was no longer sent to the North Island.

3r Group – Adele Rose – Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, July 2020. Photo by John Cowpland / alphapix

“The following year we went a step further and gained carboNZero (now Toitū net carbonzero) certification through Toitū Envirocare. This certification isn’t simply about measuring emissions and offsetting them through carbon credits, but rather identifying and taking actions to reduce emissions.”

Adelle says with freight being its largest source of emissions, 3R constantly reviewed travel routes and alternative freight service options, overlapping collections and where possible collaboration across stewardship schemes. Efficiency in these aspects helps drive down our emissions even as we grow the volume of materials we collect for recycling.

“However, our next step to reduce emissions is a big one – changing our fleet to low-emissions options – and this requires significant investment along with infrastructure to support it, which isn’t necessarily available nationally at present.

“This means we need to focus on small incremental changes that can help such as minimizing employee travel, using other Toitū net carbonzero certified suppliers like power provider Ecotricity, driver training and regular vehicle maintenance, improving web conferencing technology, and staying on top of our organic waste to landfill.”

Adelle says 3R is the only Hawke’s Bay based member of the Climate Leaders’ Coalition , which has a highly ambitious commitment to accelerate our transition towards a zero carbon and resilient future.

As part of commitments, 3R is also starting to work with staff and suppliers to reduce their emissions.

Adelle says the ERP is a step in the right direction, adding its mostly up to government and industry to do the hard yards in tackling climate change.

“While the actions of individuals to tackle human contribution to climate change are important, the most impactful and far-reaching are those taken by government and industry. It’s therefore significant that the plan released by government sets out a way forward for reducing the country’s emissions but shows that climate action is the new business as usual, as well as showing New Zealand’s leadership on the issue on the global stage.”

Going forward, Adelle is looking for a greater partnership between government and the private sector with the introduction of an advisory group.

“For us and our work designing product stewardship schemes, partnerships are essential, and we would have liked to see a closer relationship between government and the private sector when developing the plan.

“Government still has the opportunity to improve this aspect as it moves forward with the implementation of the plan.

An advisory group that allows the private sector to have its voice heard and included in the conversation would be very welcome.”

The ERP also offers 3R an opportunity to help other businesses in Hawke’s Bay and around New Zealand by introducing new product stewardship programmes, such as a new recovery programme for synthetic refrigerant gases – one of the most potent greenhouse gases, thousands of times more so than carbon dioxide.

Having achieved its own targets five years earlier than planned, 3R has now reset its targets to a 12 percent reduction of total emissions (excluding air travel, waste and freight) by 2025 and 38 percent by 2030, and a 12 percent reduction of all emissions by 2030.

Municipal Building – what will it become?

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The redevelopment of the Municipal Building got underway in January 2019 and is expected to be completed in early 2022.

At this stage the final make-up of what will operate in the building hasn’t been finalised, but it is certain that the Assembly Dining Hall and the Shakespeare Room will remain and it will be promoted as a commercial, community and education facility.

Architects Matthews & Matthews Architects collaborated with Dena Aroha Bach to develop concepts for the Hastings Municipal Building.

The concept is based on a Story of Light: to allow a reopening of the place; to bring back into the Hastings Municipal Building the light and energy of the community as a place of creativity and innovation that serves the community.

The aim is to re-engage the collective memories that already exist through this place, and for these memories and knowledge to be handed down to the youth and coming generations.

The building will resemble some of its original form when it was first built in 1916, such as opening up the central foyer area that will be entered from a laneway between the building and the Opera House, as well as from Hastings Street and Heretaunga Street. Retail and commercial spaces will be part of the new look.

Gemco is expected to finish all the structural strengthening by the end of April 2021, followed by a fit-out for the confirmed use.

Eddie says the strengthening is a huge undertaking due to how the building was originally built. “It was entirely made from bricks and mortar with no lateral seismic stability, and it was of a lower quality than the Opera House. We’ve virtually removed all the brick columns and replaced them with concrete.”

Engineering feats steal the show

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Such a crucial role was taken up by two engineering consulting firms Holmes Consulting and local experts Strata Group with Red Steel providing 163 tonne of structural steel across the Opera House, Functions on Hastings and the Municipal Building.

Holmes Consulting completed the structural designs for the Opera House and the Municipal Building, while Strata Group was the on-the-ground consulting firm that has regularly checked off that what was designed has been implemented by the Gemco construction team.

Strata Group then stepped up and carried out the structural design for the new Functions on Hastings building (the former Plaza) as well as being the lead firm in reviewing the construction process for the redevelopment undertaken by Gemco.

Structural engineer David Plowman has made the 200-metre walk from Strata Group’s office in Queen Street to Hastings Street many times over the past couple of years.

“Being local and so close to the project has really helped. We would get a call from Eddie at least once a week, but sometimes up to four times a week, and we could walk across and check things quickly.”

The role comes with significant responsibility as the buildings are of national heritage status, together with the fact that Hastings ratepayers are footing much of the bill to reopen the Opera House.

“It’s really exciting to see the Opera House come back to life. A lot of what has been done is behind the walls to ensure it is standing strong well into the future. In part, most of what has been done people won’t even notice; however, we’ve kept some of the structural steel exposed in one of the bathrooms so that people can get an idea of the complexity of the work.”

Bob Hawley, managing director of Red Steel, says 95 tonnes of steel was used, a key element to the project.

Structural steel bracing was integral to the project, with bracing diaphragms installed at various levels – both internally and externally – to provide the lateral support necessary to meet design parameters.

Bob says the challenge was in the execution – installing the bracing without removing the roof.

The solution required precision planning and careful execution as the steelwork had to be craned through holes cut in the roof and the walls of the building, then manually lifted into place with custom- made rollers, gantries and chain blocks.

“We had to devise innovative temporary lifting systems to manipulate the large steel components into these tight spaces.”

Red Steel was a finalist in the 2019 Steel Construction NZ Steel Awards $1.5 million to $3 million category for the work they did on the Opera House.

The judges’ comments were: “This redevelopment showcases a stunning use of steel, creating an aesthetically pleasing, open structure. The strong architectural concept was followed through via contractor engagement and the methodology around fabrication and installation was very impressive.”

What is Toitoi?

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Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre is the new name for the centre that includes the Opera House, the Municipal Building, the Cushing Foyer and the former Plaza space is “Toitoi”.

The name Toitoi, with its Māori and English components, gives an identity to the complex that conveys a sense of people, place and purpose to audiences and future users on a local, national and international stage.

Toitoi is a Māori word meaning the pinnacle of achievement, and is linked to ideas of excellence, encouragement and motivation. It is also ascribed to the quick movements of fish and birds and, from there, styles of dance and song that mimic them.

There is an extra special link for Hastings and the Ngāti Kahungunu legacy waiata Pōkarekare Ana composed by Paraire Tomoana.

In one of its earliest written versions Pōkarekare Ana was described by ethnologist Elsdon Best as a “toitoi”, a ditty or light-hearted love song that echoed the sound of birds cooing to each other.

It was a type of waiata popular in the 1920s and 30s, particularly in Heretaunga, giving it a unique link to both this place and a time in the district’s history that was significant.

The word ‘toi’ means art and is often used alongside other words in the naming of arts-based organisations. “Toi Toi Toi”, an Italian expression derived from Old German, is an exclamation in the performing arts world (most often in opera) used by performers to wish each other good luck.

Blockbuster project delivered on time and budget

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Herman Wismeyer of Focus Project Management has the huge task of ensuring the biggest and most complex project ever carried out in the Hastings CBD is delivered on time and to budget.

To complicate the challenge, two of the three buildings are classed Heritage Place Category 1, having been built during World War One.

“You’re dealing with heritage buildings that are over 110 years old and you assume a lot of things, but it’s not until getting underway that you realise things are not what they seem.”

It also meant that when any setback occurred, everyone would rally together.

The biggest setback – a costly fire in the loading bay behind the theatre stage – required a significant amount of fire repair work but also provided an opportunity to carry out work that was never planned.

“What we saw as a team was an opportunity and we were lucky that the location of the fire reduced the potential damage significantly, with the fire protection curtain doing its job and stopping smoke entering into the auditorium.”

The fire damage, covered by insurance, was $750,000 and enabled the rebuild of the loading bay as well as the painting of the stage walls.

The two months prior to the planned handover to council, Herman and the team discovered that the auditorium plaster ceiling was in a state of deterioration and would need to be repaired.

With the Opera House now back up and running, Herman‘s energy is focused on the Municipal Building strengthening, with a budget of $8.75 million, and the management of the designs for the refurbishment and fit-out. The budget for this next stage is subject to council approval.

“This is a bigger and much more complex project as the building wasn’t built as well as the Opera House.”

Herman says if it hadn’t been for a decision by Hastings District Council to enter into an early contractor agreement with Gemco, there almost certainly would have been a budget blowout.

The arrangement was quite unique for a council, differing to the conventional approach where a project is put out to tender for a fixed price and carries the greater risk of costly variations and ultimately a budget blowout.

“With buildings like this it is very hard to predict what’s going to happen and this puts pressure on the budget and build programme, so it was refreshing to see council enter into an early agreement.

“We were able to do a lot of the physical investigations at the design stage, to check what we assumed was correct or not and then make changes accordingly, with input and understanding of those involved in the construction.

“For example, we could see if beams were actually where we thought they were and if not, we then had a process to deal with it and not run into extremely costly variations placing the budget under constant pressure.”

Herman says bringing a strong local business presence together on the project was also a huge success, with over 90 percent of the businesses based in Hawke’s Bay.

“These businesses had a vested interest in the project and took immense pride in their roles.”

Community support drives investment into doors reopening

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The redevelopment of the Opera House precinct, now called Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, is one of the largest construction projects council has been involved in for many years.

The Opera House has played an important role in the community since 1915. It brings our people together to celebrate, to be entertained and to enjoy each other’s company. That’s why the community fully supported the redevelopment, they recognise that the complex is at the heart of our community.

After six long years of closure, we will be able to watch and enjoy our children and grandchildren dance and sing as families have done for the past 100 years. We will again enjoy national and international performing arts and most importantly, we will have a place to discover and develop our very own local Hastings talent.

Hastings is alive. We are seeing a huge rejuvenation of our CBD with many new businesses, retail, hospitality and professional

From left Scrapit HB owner Des Bristow, foreman Tim Knight and Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst with the trowel that was found in a safe at the Opera House.

services establishing or relocating. We will also see our first hotel open in the CBD and this will complement the many events that Toitoi will host, including regional, national and international conferences.

For the first time in its history, Hastings will have a purpose- built events venue – Functions on Hastings. The functions venue will host up to 600 people for conferences and special functions.

Toitoi will bring the heart and soul back to Hastings and create an arts renaissance as well as ignite a new era of vibrancy and prosperity for our district.

Encore for build team

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Gemco Construction manager Eddie Holmes will know how good a job the team of over 100 tradespeople has done when he sits down to enjoy one of the 30-plus shows scheduled for the Hawke’s Bay Opera House stage in 2020.

Eddie has been on-site in a porta-office since 2017 and when the project is fully completed with the handover of the Municipal Building, he will have been leading the project for over four years. It will bring down the curtain on what will be the longest, largest and most complex projects of his career.

The first two stages are now complete with the opening of the Opera House, which was first built in 1916, and the new multi-use venue called Functions on Hastings (formerly the open air Plaza building).

For Eddie, he’s seen the Opera House reemerge from a dark, wet and cold building to an enhanced version of its former splendor.

“I would come in during the early days of the rebuild and unlock the doors to a dark, damp and spooky building. The walls were running with water, the seats were moldy, it was like a freezer, and the early stages of the strengthening work did nothing to improve it, it just added dust and noise to the equation,” Eddie says.

Life has slowly returned to the Opera House, which has been strengthened to 75 percent of the Building Code. It’s been carpeted and painted throughout, including significant repairs to the failing ornate plaster ceiling and surrounding detailing. The stage floor structure has also been strengthened and new toilets and refreshment bars have been built. Many areas have been returned to their former glory, or as near as possible, while incorporating the upgrade and ensuring the building remains functional.

What hasn’t changed is the buildings’ acoustics. It’s still one of the best opera houses in the Southern Hemisphere.

Eddie says that after two-and-a-bit years of hard work by the Gemco team and all of the subbies, the character and personality of the building have come back to life.

“When we reached the stage of final clean-up and rebooted the air conditioning, it was a real milestone. I now find it a really stimulating building to walk through, particularly when I go through to open up and turn the lights on in the morning while all is quiet and nobody is around. It’s very invigorating.”

Like many, Eddie can’t wait to sit down and enjoy his first show. He is in no doubt that the council made the right decision to invest $32 million (including $23 million of council funding and $9.5 million of external funds) in this magnificent Category 1 classification heritage building.

The initial brief was to strengthen the building to 75 percent of the Building Code but the work was to be done in

such a way that nobody would notice the difference. Partway through the project, the decision was made to increase the initial investment and give it a ‘50-year makeover’ at the same time. This has resulted in a truly amazing outcome.

“The timing is perfect for the Opera House to reopen. We have so many entertainment options these days with online streaming services and hospitality options but I think there’s a real demand by the public to attend live shows, and what better way to enjoy a live performance than in either the Opera House or the new function facility.”

To get to the end of the first stage has been one of the biggest challenges of Eddie’s career, but it’s also helped prepare him and his team for the next stage, which he says is more difficult: the rebuild of the Municipal Building.

“Nothing is harder than this sort of work, it’s a logistical challenge. You can preempt as much as you like but you don’t actually know what you’re dealing with until you open it up and get started. It has been an extremely hard, dirty, noisy job in a dingy environment, but because of the unique character of the building and a remarkable team to work with, we got stuck in and pulled it off, and surprisingly, not one person asked to be moved off the job to another.”

When the entire Toitoi complex is finally revealed in 2021 and the credits start rolling, Eddie says there will be many unsung heroes who can celebrate the roles they’ve played in breathing new life back into Hastings’ CBD.

“We have had some people put in outstanding commitment. There’s been some very clever people involved and everyone has bought into the project, from the project leads to the Gemco team to all of the subcontractors. A huge thanks to all!”

Arataki Honey – 75 years young

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From a single swarm to over 24,000 hives, the story of Arataki Honey started when 17-year-old Percy Berry was asked by a neighbour to remove a swarm of bees.

Percy then began to split and build hives in Nireaha. In 1942 he gave up farming sheep and cattle and moved with his wife and five children to Hawke’s Bay with the dream of becoming a full-time bee keeper.

With Ian, his eldest son, they turned their small family bee keeping business into a commercial venture and began a journey that resulted in the Arataki – New Zealand’s favourite spread!

“Dad gave me a hive when I was 10, along with my brother Alan who was only 7. I bought Alan’s hive as I realised you needed hive numbers to make money and this enabled me to double my hive numbers,” Ian recalls.

Ian was also the one who, as a school boy, developed the iconic Arataki logo in 1944, along with its highly recognisable sunshine yellow and black writing – which has stood the test of time.

Alongside Ian, wife Pat has been the “human resource” over the generations caring for their children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren, enabling their parents to keep working and devote the time necessary to grow the business.

The Berry family are still the heart and soul of the Arataki, after 75 years of leading the way in the business of honey in New Zealand. Along with the Havelock North operation, there are two other divisions run by Ian’s brother Russell in Rotorua and Gore.

Ian’s daughter Pam has been in the business ‘forever’ starting at the age of five “always paid and always into a bank account”.

Number four in a family of six children, Pam has so many fond memories of working with her siblings, neighbours, cousins and school friends (including her husband Rhys) on weekends and school holidays.

“Everyone of us grew up with an incredibly strong work ethic. I developed my sales, marketing and accounting skills very early on.

“When I wanted to play intermediate netball on Saturday mornings, it was up to me to find someone to cover my shift in the honey shop – work and responsibility came first.

“We worked in comb honey production and packing and helped Mum balance the till each night. I didn’t work on payroll until I left school but some of our weekend team from Karamu High got paid in cash and at 13 I would hand out their pay at school.

“I learned so much working with Granddad and Dad but what I really love is working with younger people. By providing seasonal work we have helped fund many, many university degrees including my children and their cousins.

“Our permanent team welcome the skills and enthusiasm of the students and share their own skills and work ethics with them.”

Pam enjoys how young people challenge her to look at alternate ways to achieve goals. “I love it when I teach them a job and they end up doing it faster and better than I can,” she says.

As with all businesses, there have been challenging times and lessons learned in what has become a very aggressive market.

But we’ve had so many more highs than lows and I still get such a buzz when people tell us how much they love our honey and brand.”
Arataki Honey is an honest, reliable, New Zealand family business. Rhys recently became a company director joining Pam and aunt Barbara Bixley, who led Arataki’s marketing and sales for over 16 years.

Today, it’s the next generation of Berry’s who inspire Pam the most with their passion and commitment for growing a sustainable and successful business that will continue to enhance the environment and care for Arataki’s honey bees. “We have an amazing group of young people working with us. The family pool now includes 19 fourth generation and nearly 21 fifth generation so there are many options for the future.”

Working fulltime in the business are nieces Caroline Burnett in accounts, Nat Berry in retail, Nat’s partner Ben Morgan, and nephew Rob Berry in beekeeping.

Nat has been responsible for managing the recent changes in the Visitor Centre. The upgrade is amazing, if you check it out in the holidays you will also see niece Bridget Berry in the visitors centre.

“We don’t start them working quite as young now, but you can spot the cousins in past publicity shots,” Pam says.