Hastings (; , ) is an inland city of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and is one of the two major
urban areas
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
in
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...
, on the east coast of the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. The population of Hastings (including
Flaxmere) is (as of with a further people in
Havelock North and in
Clive. Hastings is about 18 kilometres inland of the coastal city of
Napier. These two neighbouring cities are often called "The Bay Cities" or "The Twin Cities".
The city is the administrative centre of the
Hastings District
Hastings is a town in the United Kingdom, most famous for the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Hastings may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Hastings, Tasmania, a locality
* Hastings, Victoria, Australia
** Electoral district of Hastings, Victoria, ...
. Since the merger of the surrounding and satellite settlements, Hastings has grown to become one of the largest urban areas in Hawke's Bay.
Hastings District is a food production region. The fertile
Heretaunga Plains surrounding the city produce
stone fruit
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
s,
pome fruit,
kiwifruit
Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry (botany), berry of several species of woody vines in the genus ''Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, ...
and vegetables, and the area is one of New Zealand's major
red wine
Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...
producers. Associated business include food processing, agricultural services, rural finance and freight. Hastings is the major service centre for the surrounding inland pastoral communities and tourism.
History
Māori history
Near the fourteenth century
CE,
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
arrived in Heretaunga or Hawke's Bay, settling in the river valleys and along the coast where food was plentiful. It is believed that Māori arrived at Heretaunga by canoe, travelling down the coast from the north, landing at
Wairoa, Portland Island, the Ahuriri Lagoon at
Westshore, and at
Waimārama. Their culture flourished, causing gradual deforestation of the land. The forest was replaced by
bracken
Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...
, making this one of the few regions of New Zealand where sheep could be brought in by later European settlers without felling the bush first. In the sixteenth century, Taraia, great-grandson of the great and prolific chief Kahungunu, established the large tribe of
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...
, which eventually colonised the eastern side of the North Island from Poverty Bay to Wairarapa. They were one of the first Māori tribes to come in contact with European settlers.
European settlers' history

The Māori owners leased approximately seventy square kilometres on the
Heretaunga Plains to Thomas Tanner in 1867; Tanner had been trying to purchase the land since 1864. In 1870, twelve people, known as the "12 apostles", formed a syndicate to purchase the land for around
£1 10
s an acre (£371 per km
2). Many local people firmly believe that Hastings was originally named Hicksville, after Francis Hicks, who bought a block of land, which now contains the centre of Hastings, from Thomas Tanner. However, this story is apocryphal. The original name of the location which was to become the town centre was Karamu.
In 1870, Colonial Treasurer
Julius Vogel
Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...
launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. He
proposed to borrow huge sums from Britain to revitalise and accelerate New Zealand development. One of the leading projects was the building of a national railway linking all main centres. Hawkes Bay development involved building a railway south from Napier and eventually to Palmerston North where it would connect to the proposed main trunk line. The decision on the route out of Napier was based largely on two reports by Charles Weber, the provincial engineer and surveyor in charge of the railways. Francis Hicks owned land in the central in the Heretaunga Plains and offered to donate land for a railway station. The offer was accepted and in 1873 Francis Hicks subdivided 100 acres into residential and suburban sections. On 7 June 1873, the ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' reported: "The name of the new town is to be Hastings. We hear it now for the first time." Exactly who chose the name has been disputed, although Thomas Tanner claimed that it was him (see ''Hawke's Bay Herald'' report 1 February 1884) and that the choice was inspired by his reading the trial of
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
. In any event, the name fitted well with other place names in the district (Napier, Havelock and Clive), which were also named after prominent figures in the history of British India. In 1874, the first train took the twelve-mile (19 km) trip from
Napier to Hastings, opening up Hastings as an export centre, through Port Ahuriri.
Another big jump in the local economy occurred when Edward Newbigin opened a brewery in 1881. By the next year, there were 195 freeholders of land in the town of around six hundred people. The town was incorporated as a borough on 20 October 1886.
Hastings first received power in 1912, followed by Napier in 1915.
In 1918, nearly 300 people died of a flu epidemic that swept Hawke's Bay.
1931 Earthquake
On 3 February 1931, at 10:47 am, most of Hastings (and nearby Napier) was levelled by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the
Richter Scale
The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...
. In Hastings, the ground subsided roughly 1 metre. The collapse of buildings and the ensuing fires killed 258 people, of which 93 were in Hastings. The centre of Hastings was destroyed in the earthquake, and was subsequently rebuilt in the
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
and
Spanish Mission styles, which were both popular at that time. Due to quick thinking by residents and the Local Fire Department, Hastings did not suffer the extent of fire damage that Napier did. Most deaths were attributed to collapsing buildings, namely Roaches' Department Store in
Heretaunga Street where 17 people died.
The
Hastings Clock Tower was commissioned in 1934 by the Hastings Borough Council as a symbol of triumph over the adversity to celebrate the rebuild of Hastings. The design was by competition, which was won by local architect Sydney Chaplin. In 1995 the Hastings District Council added two memorial plaques to the base of tower in memory of those who died in the earthquake.
1932 to 1999

During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
,
Allied troops were billeted at the Army, Navy and Air Force (ANA) Club, and in private homes. One hundred and fifty members belonging to sixteen different local clubs packed supplies to be sent to Allied soldiers. In 1954, Hastings was the first city in New Zealand to introduce
fluoridation of its water supply. The intention was to compare the effect on tooth decay with that in the unfluoridated city of Napier over a ten-year period. The study was criticised for its methodology and results, and remains controversial.
On 10 September 1960, the Hastings Blossom Parade (at the time a significant national event) was cancelled at 11 am for the first time in its history due to rain. Parade attendees drank in bars for several hours and when, subsequently, an 'impromptu' parade began at 2 pm, a riot started as police tried to arrest those intoxicated in public. This was considered a significant event in New Zealand society, with modern youth rebellion culture being labelled antisocial, and was subsequently much publicised with the national election later that year.
Hastings grew rapidly throughout the 1960s and 1970s (Hastings at this time was the fastest growing city in New Zealand), and there was a major issue dealing with encroachment of suburban expansion on highly productive land.
Flaxmere was established as a satellite suburb to absorb rapid growth and was built upon the stony, arid soils of the abandoned course of the
Ngaruroro River. Although the land seemed worthless back then, it has subsequently proved highly valued for grape growing, and now is a prized region of red wine varietals in the world-famous
Gimblett Gravels wine-growing region. Starting with economic decline nationally in the late 1970s, coupled with agricultural
subsidy reforms in the early 1980s, Hastings went into recession with more unemployment and low economic growth. It was not until the mid-1990s that the economy of Hastings began to turn around.
During the
1989 local government reforms
The 1989 New Zealand local government reform was the most significant reform of local government in New Zealand in over a century. Some 850 local bodies were amalgamated into 86 local authorities, on Regions of New Zealand, regional and Territo ...
Hastings City amalgamated with the
Havelock North Borough and
Hawke's Bay County to form the modern Hastings District. The County Council offices in Napier were closed in favour of Hastings, and the new Hastings District Council offices were built on two sites. The Napier City boundary was expanded to include Bay View and Meeanee. However, unlike largely urban Napier (population density 540.0 per km
2), much of the newly formed Hastings District is rural and sparsely populated (population density 14.0 per km
2), the Hastings District has approximately residents.
Because of their proximity to each other and their relatively small populations, Hastings and Napier are often seen as candidates for further amalgamation. This was attempted with the 1999 Amalgamation Referendum, where 75% of Napier residents opposed, and 64% of Hastings residents were in support.
2000 to today
At 11.25 pm on 25 August 2008, the city was hit by an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was based only 10 km south of the city, near Mt Erin, at a depth of 32 km. The earthquake caused minor damage to shops, where stock was shaken off shelves. Power outages were also reported. This was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region since the 5.8 Hastings earthquake in October 2001.
In 2010, the city, together with
New Plymouth
New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...
became one of the two walking and cycling "model communities", qualifying for further co-funding by the national government to improve its walking paths and cycleways, and encourage people to use active forms of transport.
In August–September 2016, 5,200 people after the local water supply in Havelock North tested positive for the pathogen ''
Campylobacter
''Campylobacter'' is a type of bacteria that can cause a diarrheal disease in people. Its name means "curved bacteria", as the germ typically appears in a comma or "s" shape. According to its scientific classification, it is a genus of gram-negat ...
jejeuni''.
One death in a nursing home was suspected to be due to the outbreak.
It is suspected that after heavy rain fell on 5–6 August, water contamination from flooding caused the outbreak, although this is the subject of a government Inquiry. It is the largest outbreak of waterborne disease ever to occur in New Zealand. All schools in Havelock North closed for two weeks, with the Hastings District Council advising an urgent notice to boil water for at least one minute before consumption. This notice was lifted on September the 3rd, with the outbreak officially under control.
Chlorination of the Havelock North water supply started on Friday the 12th, and 9 water tankers were brought in containing water from the Hastings water supply. One of these trucks again tested positive for E-Coli contamination, prompting the Hastings District Council to chlorinate the water supply of both Hastings and Flaxmere as a precautionary measure.
In November 2017, Sandra Hazlehurst, formerly Councilor for Hastings-Havelock North Ward, became the first woman Mayor of Hastings. Hazlehurst was elected as a result of a by-election triggered by the formal resignation of Mayor Lawrence Yule in June.
Timeline
*1867: Māori owners leased 70 sq kilometres of land from the
Heretaunga Plains to Thomas Tanner; it was the site of Karamu Junction.
*1873: The town of Karamu Junction was officially renamed Hastings.
*1874: Hastings (along with Napier) was connected to the
North Island Main Trunk
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
line.
*1886: 20 October. Hastings town was incorporated as a borough.
*1912: Hastings was connected to electricity, followed by Napier in 1915.
*1914:
Heretaunga Street is laid with stone for motor vehicle traffic.
*1918: Nearly 300 people died of a flu epidemic that swept Hawke's Bay.
*1931: 3 February. Hastings was rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, killing 256 people (93 in Hastings).
*1932: 16 September. Hastings was rocked by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. It was the final large earthquake in the 1931–1932 earthquake events.
*1935:
Hastings Clock Tower erected to celebrate the rebuild of Hastings post 1931 earthquake
*1950: The first Blossom Parade was held in Hastings; it is now a popular annual event.
*1951: 10 February. Hastings was rocked by a 6.1 magnitude earthquake at 3:27 pm.
*1954: Hastings was the first city in New Zealand to introduce fluoridation of its water supply.
*1960: 10 September. The Hastings Blossom Parade (at the time a significant national event) was cancelled at 11 am for the first time in its history due to rain.
*1989: Hastings City and the Havelock North Borough amalgamated to form the modern-day Hastings District.
*1993: 11 April. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck 15 km south-west of Hastings and was felt as far south as Christchurch.
*2008: 25 August. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centred 10 km south of Hastings caused an estimated $5 million in damage.
*2010: The city became a walking and cycling "model community".
*2016: August and September. 5,200 residents fell ill with campylobacteriosis, prompting a district-wide health crisis. It was the largest outbreak of waterborne disease to ever occur in New Zealand.
*2023: 12–18 February.
Cyclone Gabrielle
Severe Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that devastated parts of the North Island of New Zealand and affected parts of Vanuatu and Norfolk Island in February 2023. It is the costliest tropical cyclone ...
severely impacts Hastings, claiming the lives of 7 people in Hastings District. Multiple rivers burst their banks, destroying 6 bridges and causing an estimated $13 billion NZD in damage.
Geography and climate
Located on New Zealand's east coast, to the east of the
Central Plateau and the
rain shadow
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.
Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
of the Kaweka Ranges, Hastings is situated on the fertile
alluvial
Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
Heretaunga Plains. The plains were originally covered in swamp and mangroves, but have since been drained for agriculture. The local area is very productive, with orchards, farms and vineyards, and lies upon New Zealand's most economically valuable
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
. Hastings lies roughly 250 km north-east of the nation's capital
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
(294 km by road) and 350 km south-east of the largest city,
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
(429 km by road).
Hastings enjoys an oceanic
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...
(according to
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
). Sunshine hours rank over 2200 annually while rainfall averages less than 800 mm (31.5 in). It is one of the country's warmest urban areas annually. Because of its location inland, the sea breeze does not tend to have the same effect on Hastings' climate as it does on Napier. It is not uncommon for the temperature to be in the low 30 °C's (90 °F) on summer days, while in winter, days of 15 °C+ (60 °F) are frequent, occasionally exceeding 20 °C (68 °F) with
north-west winds. Winters tend to be quite still and crisp with frequent frosts, followed by bright, sunny days.
Demographics
Due to restrictions on encroachment of land, satellite suburbs have absorbed the residential expansion of the city. Compared to other cities of similar size, Hastings has grown relatively quickly since it was settled in 1864 (over 150 years ago). Hastings is known for its
gridiron city planning system, crisscrossed by the railway line running northeast–southwest and the main southeast–northwest artery,
Heretaunga Street, which also links the city with its suburban centres of Havelock North and Flaxmere.
Many Hastings residents work in the city, and the area is populated by middle-to-upper income families, particularly in Havelock North and then middle-to-lower income families in other areas, namely Camberley and the north end of Flaxmere.
The Hastings urban area had a usual resident population of 44,940 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 5,019 people (12.6%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 5,724 people (14.6%) since the
2006 census. There were 21,804 males and 23,136 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.94 males per female. Of the total population, 10,593 people (23.6%) were aged up to 15 years, 9,528 (21.2%) were 15 to 29, 18,210 (40.5%) were 30 to 64, and 6,603 (14.7%) were 65 or older.
In terms of ethnicity, 60.2% of the population identified as European (Pākehā), 35.4% as Māori, 12.2% as Pacific peoples, 8.1% as Asian, and 1.4% as other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
Redevelopment
Architecturally speaking, Hastings suffered similarly to Napier in the
1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47am on 3 February, killing 256,The exact number of deaths varies according to different sources; the ''New Zealand Listener'' article cited be ...
. However, because of the lesser damage by fire, Hastings maintained more pre earthquake buildings. Both towns gained a legacy from the disaster by rebuilding in the then-fashionable and highly distinctive
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style, similar to that of
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, USA. Hastings also possesses a large amount of Spanish Mission architecture (popular as with Art Deco in the early 1930s). However, Hastings succumbed to rapid redevelopment in the 1960s and 70s, which saw many 1930s buildings replaced.
By the end of the twentieth century, Hastings, along with most of New Zealand, was suffering from the recent economic downturn with industries and freezing works closing due to the
agricultural subsidy
An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural products, and influence the ...
reforms in the early 1980s. However, after multimillion-dollar regeneration projects and the employment of artists, Hastings has seen a change in its aesthetics. A CBD strategy was enforced to revitalise the central retail core, while promoting Havelock North as a 'luxury boutique' destination. The strategy proved extremely successful, and Hastings vacancy rates hit an all-time low in 2005. The current goal of the council is to continue developing Hastings CBD to attract additional national chains, while attracting more cafes and entertainment venues is currently active in the eastern blocks of Heretaunga St.
The Hastings District Council has recently relocated and consequently rebuilt the Hastings Sports Park at a new facility on the edge of the Hastings urban area to make way for a large megacentre, also known as
"large format stores". A comprehensive study was conducted before the sale, concluding that retaining big box development within the CBD will help boutique stores prosper as opposed to locating the development on a greenfield site.
Charter Hall, the developers behind 'The Park' megacentre, had confirmed as of August 2010, the major anchors of the development will be the relocation of Hawkes Bay's largest
'The Warehouse' and the relocation of the cities'
Mitre 10 Mega. The new sports park is proposed as a regional facility and includes a velodrome, all-weather athletics track and sports grounds for most other sporting codes represented in NZ sport. Since its completion, the Hastings sports park now hosts multiple tennis courts, netball courts and an internationally recognised hockey turf.
Horse of the Year show
Hawkes Bay A&P Showgrounds in Hastings is the home to the annual NZ Horse of the Year show, held in March. It is one of the biggest sporting events in the Southern Hemisphere, and attracts 2500 horse and rider combinations competing in 19 disciplines including Dressage, Showhunter, Eventing, Showjumping, polocrosse and many breed classes. It has a budget of around NZ$3 million, and attracts over 70,000 visitors from over NZ and internationally over the five-day show.
Suburbs

City suburbs:
* Hastings Ward:
Akina,
Camberley
Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...
,
Frimley
Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south-west of central London. The town is of Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086.
Hi ...
,
Hastings Central,
Mahora,
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
,
Parkvale,
Raureka,
St Leonards, Stortford Lodge, Tomoana,
Waipatu,
Whakatu
* Havelock North Ward:
Havelock North Central, Anderson Park, Iona, Te Mata, Te Mata Hills,
* Flaxmere Ward:
Flaxmere East, Kingsley-Chatham, Lochain, Woolwich
Outlying communities:
Bridge Pa,
Karamu,
Longlands,
Mangateretere,
Maraekakaho,
Omahu/
Fernhill,
Pakipaki, Pukahu,
Twyford.
Transport
Road
Hastings is served by
State Highway 2, which connects Hastings with
Napier,
Wairoa and
Gisborne to the north and (via
Dannevirke
Dannevirke ( "Earthworks (archaeology), work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; or ''Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua'', the area where the town is) is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the ...
)
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
,
Masterton
Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...
and
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...
to the south. SH 2 used to run through Hastings. Due to the road layout of Hastings, SH 2's northern and southern sections did not meet up. There once was a point in SH 2's continuation where there was a gap. SH 2 now connects Hastings to Napier through the
Hawke's Bay Expressway, and provides a more direct link between the two cities and to both Hawke's Bay Airport and Port of Napier for heavy-vehicle traffic coming from Hastings. The former designation of SH 2 is now State Highway 51. SH 51 enters and exits Hastings in a north-east direction. Heading north-east, it passes through residential Hastings, then follows the
Clive River through the towns of
Whakatu and
Clive, bridges across the Clive, Tutaekuri and Ngaruroro Rivers before following the coast into Napier.
State Highway 50 begins at a junction just north of Takapau, and connects Hastings and Hawke's Bay to the Ruataniwha Valley and western Hawke's Bay. It provides an alternative, quieter and (in terms of distance) shorter route into Hawke's Bay. It also connects Hastings to many of Hawke's Bay's wineries, for which the region is known internationally. It makes up part of the Hawke's Bay Wine Trail.
Buses
Go Bus operates 9 ''Go Bay'' routes in Hastings, with funding from
Regional Council.
Bee Cards replaced goBay cards on 24 August 2020.
Rail
The
Palmerston North–Gisborne Line (PNGL) is a secondary main line railway that runs through the centre of Hastings (a planned feature unique to the city) and joins the
North Island Main Trunk
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...
railway near
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...
. The railway divides Hastings from southwest to northeast and cuts off many of the main streets in the centre of the city, many being labelled as east or west depending on what side of the railway they originate from. Passenger services ran to Hastings until it was closed in 2001, and the
Hastings railway station
Hastings railway station is the southern terminus of the Hastings line in the south of England and is one of four stations that serve the town of Hastings, East Sussex. It is also on the East Coastway line to and the Marshlink line to . It ...
is now a major centre for freight services along the PNGL and provides the
Port of Napier with many of its freight exports.
Infrastructure and services
Utilities
The Hastings Borough Council established the city's first public electricity supply in 1912, with electricity generated by two diesel engines in Eastbourne Street. Originally, electricity was supplied using a 230/460-volt three-wire DC system, converting to the now-standard 230/400-volt three-phase AC system in the 1920s. Hastings was connected to the
Mangahao hydroelectric scheme in 1927, and the
Waikaremoana hydroelectric scheme in 1929. The Hawke's Bay Electric Power Board took over from the borough council in 1935.
The 1998 electricity sector reforms saw the electric power board (then named Hawke's Bay Power) sell its retail base to
Contact Energy
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation, electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity retailing, electricity, natural gas, broadband and Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG.
It is the second ...
, with the remaining lines business renamed Hawke's Bay Networks and later
Unison Networks. Today, Unison Networks continues to own and operate the local electricity distribution network servicing the city, with electricity fed into it primarily from the
Transpower substations at Fernhill and Whakatu.
Natural gas arrived in Napier and Hastings in 1983, with the completion of the high-pressure pipeline from Palmerston North to Hastings. The high-pressure transmission pipelines supplying the city are now owned and operated by
First Gas, with
Powerco owning and operating the local natural gas distribution network. In February 2004, the city and wider Hawke's Bay Region lost natural gas supply for six days after a flood washed away a bridge near
Ashhurst supporting the high-pressure pipeline to the region.
Parks
Hastings has numerous parks and reserves.
Notable people

Notable residents of the Hastings metro area have included:
*
Rita Angus - artist
*
Donna Awatere Huata
Donna Lynn Awatere Huata (sometimes written Awatere-Huata, previously known as Donna Awatere; born 1949) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament for the ACT New Zealand Party, activist for Māori people, Māori causes, and convicted fra ...
– former politician
*
Geordie Beamish – 2024
World Indoor Athletics Championships,
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...
champion
*
Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as premier of Queensland between 1968 and 1987, for almost 20 years, as state leader of the National Party (earlier known as the C ...
– Premier of Queensland, Australia
*
Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand film and television director and producer. He is best known for his works in the Action film, action and thriller film genres, including the James Bond in film, James Bond films ''GoldenE ...
– TV and film director
*
Alan Duff – author (''
Once Were Warriors'') and co-founder of
Duffy Books in Homes
*
Georgina Evers-Swindell – Olympic rowing gold medalist
*
Caroline Evers-Swindell – Olympic rowing gold medalist
*
Robert Felkin – medical missionary, explorer and ceremonial magician
*
Paul Holmes – radio and television broadcaster
*
Phil Judd
Philip Raymond Judd (born 20 March 1953) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter known for being one of the founders of the bands Split Enz and The Swingers.
Split Enz
In 1972, Judd and Tim Finn founded the arty folk band Split Enz. In its early d ...
– musician, composer and founding member of Split Enz
*
Cobber Kain – first Allied fighter ace of WW2, 14 kills in the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
*
Josh Kronfeld
Joshua Adrian Kronfeld (born 20 June 1971) is a TV presenter and a former rugby union footballer who represented All Blacks, New Zealand at international level and Otago Rugby Football Union, Otago, Otago Highlanders, the Highlanders and Leicest ...
– All Black rugby player who attended Hastings Boys High
*
Liam Lawson - Formula One racing driver
*
Ross McEwan - Former CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland, now CEO of the National Australia Bank
*
John McIntyre - racing driver
*
Alfred Meebold – botanist, writer, and anthroposopher
*
Greg Murphy – V8 Supercar racer
*
George Nēpia
George Nēpia (; 25 April 1905 – 27 August 1986) was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand ...
– All Black who attended Maori Agricultural College
*
Mark Paston – New Zealand representative football goalkeeper
*
Abe Phillips - lead singer of Hastings band, The Shadracks
*
Bruce Robertson – All Black rugby player who attended Hastings Boys High
*
Taine Randell – rugby player who captained the All Blacks and attended Lindisfarne College in Hastings
*
Jason Reeves – radio and television host who attended Karamu High School in Hastings
*
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...
– New Zealand representative cricketer
*
John Timu – rugby player who represented New Zealand in rugby union and rugby league, and attended Lindisfarne College in Hastings
*
Kirsten Warner – novelist, poet and journalist
*
James Wattie – industrialist/entrepreneur and founder of
Wattie's
Heinz Wattie's Limited (or simply Wattie's) is a New Zealand–based food producer of frozen and packaged fruit, vegetables, sauces, baby food, cooking sauces, dressings and pet foods in the New Zealand market.
History
Founded in Hawke's Bay i ...
*
Joan Wiffen
Joan Wiffen (née Pederson; 4 February 1922 – 30 June 2009) was a self-taught New Zealand paleontologist known for discovering the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand.
Early life
Wiffen was born in 1922 and was brought up in Havelock North, ...
– amateur palaeontologist who discovered the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand
*
Chrissy Witoko – owner of the Evergreen Coffee Lounge, meeting place for Wellington's LGBTQIA+ community
*
Eric Young – Prime TV news presenter
Notes
References
Sources
* Moss, Maryan. 1999. ''Historic Outline of the Hastings District''.
*
External links
Hawke's Bay TourismHastingson Google Maps
{{Authority control
Populated places in Hawke's Bay
1873 establishments in New Zealand