Every quarter, WestSide asks its members how things actually are. Not how they look from the outside...but how they feel from inside a business on Heretaunga Street West.

The Hastings City Pulse is a quarterly sentiment report compiled from 15 questions across business performance, street conditions, community, council responsiveness and WestSide itself. Below is a preview of the Q1 2026 results. There are three charts from our first eighteen businesses.

The full Q2 2026 report including all 15 questions, category breakdowns by FoodWest, WellWest, FashionWest, TechWest and FunWest, and quarter-on-quarter trends goes to WestSide members by email at the end of June.

Confidence is up slightly on Q4 2025. WestSide are cautiously optimistic, trending right. Businesses in FoodWest and WellWest scored highest. TechWest had the widest spread.

Anti-social behaviour ranked as the top concern across WestSide businesses in Q1, despite the work of CityAssist. It's a finding that deserves a direct conversation with Hastings District Council. Having 18 businesses say it on the record, in the same quarter, carries weight that individual complaints don't.

Vacancy came second. The two issues are connected. Fewer tenants means fewer eyes on the street, fewer reasons to be there, and a less activated precinct overall.

An NPS of +44 in the first quarter is a strong start. More than half of WestSide members in Q1 said they would actively recommend the directory to another Hastings business. That word-of-mouth is how WestSide grows... and how the precinct gets stronger.

The Q2 survey is open now. It takes two minutes. Results go to every member at the end of June.