Annual flower displays will disappear from Hastings streets and roundabouts this spring, a move the council says will save it $150,000 a year in the long term.
By Linda Hall of Local Democracy Reporting
Perennial or native plants will replace them, Hastings District Council says.
The council’s open spaces manager Rachel Stuart said there would be an upfront cost to buy and establish replacement plants, but the gardens would cost less to maintain over time.
"We still want these areas to look good, but we also need to think about what they cost to plant, water, weed and maintain year after year."
Other cost-cutting moves included reducing facility hours to align with demand, removing some litter bins, reducing the number and complexity of gardens in new developments, and continuing to focus on attracting external funding for projects and sponsorship for events.
Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum said the initiatives were small steps council staff could implement before broader community discussions about changes that would deliver more significant financial savings.
"We need to act now on the savings we can make through everyday operational decisions, rather than waiting for the bigger decisions ahead of us."
Schollum said the changes would not solve the council’s financial challenges on their own, but said "together they add up".
At the moment the council maintains about 1228sqm of annual flowerbeds across 35 sites. The displays are replanted twice a year and require regular watering, weeding and maintenance.
Most affected beds (about 740sqm) will progressively be replanted with perennial or native plants, while a small number will be replaced with grass or removed.
Annual flower displays will remain in Frimley Park, Civic Square, Cornwall Park and Flaxmere Park, and the rose gardens in Frimley Park will stay.
Some beds would be replanted this spring where conditions and plants suited, while others would be mulched over summer and permanently planted around May or June.
Council’s acting district development group manager Raoul Oosterkamp said they would work with developers early in the design phase of new subdivisions.
Although developers typically designed the gardens, responsibility for maintaining them passed to the council once the developments were complete.
"When those streets eventually become council assets, we need the planting to work for the long term," he said.
"That means attractive streetscapes, but also plants and garden areas that suit local conditions and are practical and affordable to maintain."
Earlier this year, the council announced there would be no baskets of flowers hanging from buildings and shop verandas in Hastings, Flaxmere and Mahora this year.
The baskets had been part of the Hastings streetscape for more than 25 years and are usually installed in spring.
Their absence saved ratepayers about $40,000 this year for the 410 baskets (about $97 each), but the decision was not a cost-saving one.
A council spokesperson said at the time the company that prepared the baskets had closed, and it had not been able to source another local supplier with the specialist capacity and land area required to grow the basket displays.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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