Fire & Emergency NZ has moved Central Hawke’s Bay and eastern parts of Tararua District back to a Restricted Fire Season status.
The move from Prohibited to Restricted was made yesterday.
Anyone wanting to light a fire in the open air will need a permit, with applications able to be made on the website checkitsalright.nz.
Hastings and Napier, along with the Hawke’s Bay Coast area have also moved back to a restricted season.
Rates in CHB will go up nearly 50% over the next three years if proposals in the Central Hawke’s Bay District Councils’ draft Three-Year Plan are adopted.
The Council has opened public consultation on the Plan, and proposes rates increases of 20% next year, followed by 15.6% the following year, and 10.9% in Year 3.
Council says fixed costs such as construction, debt servicing, insurance, and audit costs have gone up significantly, and the district is facing $129 million of unfunded roading repairs as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Significant investment is also required in wastewater, stormwater, and drinking water infrastructure.
The Council is also proposing to close Transfer Stations at Takapau and Waipawa and reduce opening hours for local libraries.
Details of the Plan are available on the website www.letstalkchb.co.nz or in hard copy from Te Huinga Wai in Waipukurau and the Council offices in Waipawa.
Public consultation is open until 11.59pm on the 12th of May.
Woodville Lions has made a $20,000 donation to the Grass Roots Rescue Helicopter. The money was raised from the Coast to Coast Motorcycle Rally, which saw more than 300 bikes take part in last December’s event.
The annual Rally starts at Himatangi and finishes at Akitio.
The Makaramu Bridge at Porangahau will be closed to all traffic for an hour this morning. Engineers are assessing the bridge following work which started late last week.
The bridge has been reduced to light vehicles only since earlier this year following an engineering assessment.
The bridge will fully close from 10am for approximately an hour.