Misleading statistics by the HDC mayor, Sandra Hazlehurst.

At the HDC council meeting on the FDS, 22nd July 2025, Sandra Hazlehurst, in her opening comments for justifying her view for the inclusion of Middle Rd and Wall Rd in the FDS recommendations, said that: “There was a report that was tabled in the year 2000. We had 67,000 ha of LUC 1, 2 and 3 land and now we have lost just 369 ha of LUC 1, 2 and 3 land”.

She said this twice.

Sadly this could be seen to be misleading.

The whole HDC region covers 5,226.71 kms (or 522,671 ha) and there is 67,763 ha of LUC 1, 2 and 3 land over the whole HDC region.

In this respect she is correct, however when talking about the Heretaunga Plains, we have a total area of 34,660 ha on the Heretaunga Plains.

Sadly over 5,500 ha of this land, (not 369 ha), has been absorbed by both the Hastings District Council and the Napier City Council into urban encroachment approving hundreds of seemingly minor subdivision applications around the city fringes spreading out over fertile land little by little over many decades. This excludes lifestyle blocks.

Today, more than 4,000 ha has been lost since 1950.

This is because it is easier and cheaper in the short term for councils to plan for urban and industrial expansion.

Add to this the lifestyle subdivisions and we have council planning decisions, over many decades, way out of control.

This urban sprawl on the Heretaunga Plains has been entirely over LUC Class 1, 2 and 3 soils.

Here is the defined statistical breakdown of the whole Hastings District:

·      Total area of the Hastings District: 522,671 ha.

·      Total area of Class 1 soils: 8,996 hectares.

·      Total area of Class 2 soils: 11,360 hectares.

·      Total area of Class 3 soils: 47,407 hectares.

·      Total area of 1, 2 & 3 soils: 67,763 hectares or 13%.

·      Total area of Class 4 to 8 soils: 454,908 hectares or 87%.

Here is the defined statistical breakdown on the Heretaunga Plains:

·      Total area of Heretaunga Plains: 34,660 ha.

·      Total area of Class 1 soils on Heretaunga Plains: 7,736 ha.

·      Total area of Class 2 soils on Heretaunga Plains: 10,270 ha.

·      Total area of Class 3 soils on Heretaunga Plains: 12,341 ha.

·      Total area of Class 1, 2 and 3 soils on Heretaunga Plains: 30,347 ha or 87%.

·      Total area of Class 4, 5c, 6, 7 and River soils on Heretaunga Plains: 4,313 ha or 13%.

I leave that with you to decide what is happening to the precious soils we are trying so hard to protect....