NZILA Firth Wānanga 2025: A revitalised Hastings rolls out a Walking Tour

Over the last seven years landscape architect Lizzie Burn has had a ringside seat as the Hastings' central business district has undergone a revitalising and regenerating lift to its streetscape and open spaces.

*Albert Square, Hastings. (Photo credit: Lizzie Burn)*

"Seeing Hastings grow and thrive has been awesome to see," says Lizzie - a partner at landscape planning and strategy firm Wayfinder, where she works alongside Shannon Bray, Megan McBain, Liam Hosford, Brook O'Donnell (Ngāti Maniapoto) and Moana Potaka (Ngāti Whakaue, Waitaha, Tapuika, Ngāti Wai).

Before completing her Bachelor ofArchitectural Studies in Landscape Architecture from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University in 2016, Lizzie called Nelson home.

"Nelson will always be a favourite place to be for me, but Hastings is getting harder and harder to beat. It offers a lot of the same benefits and lifestyle to be found across Aotearoa outside of the main centres. Hastings doesn't have a massive hustle and bustle, but it does have a vibrancy and a high regard for complementary things like its landmarks and hospitality".

Lizzie has worked in the hospitality industry previously so is extra well placed to be a guide for the Walking Tours component of the upcoming NZILA Firth Wānanga 2025, being held in the hub of the Heretaunga Hawkes Bay on 22-23 May.

"It's been great to be on the Creative Panel for this event and I'm excited to give visitors a full menu of insights into key locations in the CBD. It will be a one-off opportunity to explore a range of attention-grabbing developments, pocket parks, street renewals and urban design projects accompanied by local landscape architects, historians and Hastings District Council representatives," says Lizzie.

*Heretaunga St East, Hastings (Photo credit: Lizzie Burn)*

"Part of this hour-long journey will take in the Heretaunga 200 Block ‘eat street’ which celebrates all things food across the year. It will also encompass visiting business precincts including the nearly completed H Central and the Tribune development. Along the way we will stop at various pocket parks and squares including Landmark Square, Albert Square, and Civic Square.

*Tribune precinct, Hastings. (Photo credit: Lizzie Burn)*

"All of the stops on the Walking Tour present their own history and demonstrate how the city is growing and changing with the community. Some sites like the HB Regional Museum Research and Archives Centre are currently under construction and a number of laneways are popping up around the city".

The Waiaroha - Heretaunga Water Discovery Centre is two blocks away from the conference venue at Toitoi. Lizzie says Wānanga attendees keen on a shorter, accessible friendly option will have the option of heading there for a guided tour.

Many of the spaces that will feature on the Walking Tour route are part and parcel of the Hastings City Centre Strategy and The Hastings City Centre Revitalisation Plan [link to PDF].

Lizzie: "These have enabled the built landscape of Hastings to continue to evolve with the growth of industries, population, and changes in the way we live and use our urban spaces".

"As the CBD changes many urban spaces are referencing the natural landscape that was once here. It's an area that was known as Karamū, named after Coprosma Lucida.

"Heretaunga was once abundant with streams, rivers, wetlands, and ponds spring fed from the Heretaunga aquifer network that flows below. Many of these waterways provided kai, and nourishment to those living in the area.

*Opera laneway. (Photo credit: Lizzie Burn)*

"While it takes some imagination to understand what was once here, I've been excited to see the stories of the awa emerging across the CBD. Extensive work completed in 2022 on the Toitoi Hawkes Bay Arts and Events centre references the Mākirikiri stream, which flows beneath the Opera House, through design elements such as the patterns sandblasted into the pavers outside the Opera laneway".

With her day-job-hat on Lizzie has been focused this year on a project designed to breathe new life into Hastings' Civic Square which from this month has seen a temporary removal of Ngā pou o Heretaunga. This is a unique collection of 18 pou facing their respective marae Heretaunga, with one from the Cook Islands installed in 2015 representing the strong connections between Ngāti Kahungunu and the Takitumu nation.

When the pou are returned to the site later this year there will be more generous space afforded to their cosmological configuration, along with more interpretative signage.

Lizzie is working with colleague Brook O'Donnell on the project and drawing on the cultural practices of artists Alex Heperi (Ngāti Kahungnu ki te Wairoa, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Rongomaiwahine, Ngāpuhi) and Shanon Hawea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Kahungnu ke ti Wairarapa, Rangatāne, Te Whakatōhea). Alex and Shanon have received support from Hira Huata who worked on the initial Ngā Pou o Heretaunga project and unveiling in 2013.

(Editor's note: Landscape Architecture Aotearoa plans to carry a future story on the Civic Square project and Ngā pou o Heretaunga).