Photo: Emily Ireland / LDR
After eight years of back-and-forth over plans for a new town hall, or replacement civic centre, Masterton District Council is to spend $44 million on a new town hall, and extensions to the library and council buildings.
Mayor Gary Caffell had long advocated keeping the façade of the town hall after the historic building was deemed earthquake prone in 2016.
And a hillside farm overlooking Martinborough is welcoming well-heeled foreigners, and New Zealanders. The owners of Rapaki farm have carved the 184ha property into 39 four-hectare units with a view to attracting "high net worth" clients wanting to build their grand design.
Piers Fuller has been reporting in Wairarapa for 20 years. He's the new editor of the Wairarapa Times-Age, whose masthead has recently come under Stuff ownership.
