In Te Ao Māori, the appearance of Matariki in the morning sky in mid-winter marks the Māori New Year, or Te Mātahi o te Tau. To celebrate and honour Matariki, Whakatāne District Council will be hosting a suite of events over a two-week period, commencing Monday 20th June 2022.

Whakatāne ratepayers will notice a change to their rates collection from July when, for the first time since 1989, both Whakatāne District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council will send separate rates invoices. 

More waste from building sites will be repurposed and saved from landfill through Whakatāne District Council and Community Resources Whakatāne’s (CReW) joint project “Building Whakatāne with Waste”.

To better understand how to protect the Whakatāne CBD from ram-raids and similar crime, Whakatāne District Council has commissioned a report on current and possible future crime threats to the area. 
The Security and Risk Assessment Report was presented to councilors at the Risk and Assurance Committee on Monday (30 May). 

An amended Gambling Venues Policy for the Whakatāne District has now been adopted, following the consideration of public feedback by Whakatāne District Council.

This Sunday, 22 May 2022 there will be a nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert (EMA) at some time between 6 and 7pm.

We're proposing to create two greenways, also known as "quiet streets", in the Pouwhare and Hikurangi Streets, and Salonika and Crete Street Neighbourhoods. This will see measures to lower speeds, improve crossing safety, and encourage more active transport.

Pou Whakaaro now owns the land it stands on after purchasing the land at 40 Te Tahi Street from Whakatāne District Council.