John Bell

John Bell works for Sustainable Hawkes Bay and has been the Hawke’s Bay Wai Connection regional coordinator since April 2024.

Originally from Dunedin where he spent 25 years lecturing at the University of Otago, he moved with his wife and son to Hawke’s Bay in 2008 where they live on a lifestyle block near Haumoana.

John and his wife Diana are planting the block with heritage fruit trees and natives to create their own food forest and an ideal habitat for native wildlife. Damage from cyclones Cook and Gabrielle set them back several years, but they continue working towards their vision.

John is a keen hobbyist beekeeper and has 15 hives on their property providing plenty of pollination and enough honey to keep themselves, friends and neighbours fully supplied. He is passionate about the environment and he and his family has always striven to be as self-sufficient as possible and to be good stewards of the land. 

John will be delivering the Building Community Resilience Masterclass in both Queenstown and Wānaka.