Decrease in visitor numbers a concern

The almost 11 percent decrease in visitors to the district in the past year posed a serious threat to the ongoing viability of both existing tourism businesses and the service industry, and if it continued would be a deterrent to additional investment in these industries locally, Annette Main, owner and operator of The Flying Fox Retreat on the Whanganui River said today.

While the recession has resulted in less than expected growth in tourism overall for the country, numbers for this district have dropped considerably more.

“Our district cannot afford to let opportunities for business growth in this industry slip through our grasp. Our neighbouring regions have lifted their game to meet the predicted challenge of reduced visitor numbers. They have worked alongside operators to ensure that money spent by their councils on marketing is closely aligned with that of the industry and they are consequently doing significantly better than us,” Annette Main said.

‘Although operators in the Whanganui River Valley report significant increases in visitors over the previous summer season, this has not been a general trend throughout the district.

Our part of New Zealand is blessed with the kind of landscapes and natural assets envied by so many in this fast changing world, the challenge for us is to get ourselves in their hearts and minds when choosing a holiday destination.

We have to think creatively and more cleverly to promote our whole district as a world class destination both for visitors and for business investment. Only then will we see growth in our local economy which will enable us to enjoy the lifestyle we want and the employment opportunities we need if we are to have a better future for our families,” Annette Main said.

The growth of visitor interest in local food and produce has been recognised by the Tourism Board who is providing a focus on these regional differences in their marketing. The River Traders Market has taken up that opportunity and have featured in national publications as well as a special mention of the local farmers market section in international chef Peter Gordon’ s latest book being promoted at the Food Show in Auckland this week.

“As Peter Gordon is one of our famous sons, growing up here in Castlecliff, I have asked him if he would consider featuring in promotion of our area in the future and he has agreed. These are the kinds of connections and opportunities to get ourselves on the world stage that we need more of if we are to turn around our local economy” Annette Main said.

Annette Main said she will be speaking with local Member of Parliament Chester Borrows with a view toward inviting Prime Minister and Tourism Minister John Key to spend some quality time in the city, to get a first-hand look at the tourism opportunities of the area, meet with local tourism business operators, and explore ways the government can better assist the growth of the local industry.

Annette Main 021466486


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The Future of Local Government

There is a lot of talk out there about amalgamation of Councils and their repective roles, I am a believer in sitting around the table to understand the issues and to come up with a way forward

What is the best form of governance for the people of our district?

As a country, region and district we are facing unprecedented financial and environmental challenges. We all want to preserve and enhance our natural environment so we can enjoy the outdoors and have access to clean, safe water in our lakes and rivers.

We also need our farmers to be able to continue to use their land to produce the income which is a major influence on our local and national economy, but at the same time we can’t help worrying about the amount of land in our district that is showing signs of severe erosion that reduces the area available for productive agriculture.

We also want our towns and cities to provide attractive amenities for our recreation and sound basic infrastructure like water supply, refuse collection and disposal, roads and footpaths – but we rightly worry when we see debt mounting to unmanageable levels and pressure to provide new facilities causing badly needed maintenance of our existing buildings and reserves to be shelved.

For a district to go it alone and take on the immensely complex science, engineering and legal functions that regional councils like Horizons must carry out to meet the stringent requirements of the Resource Management Act will not be easy and it is most unlikely to reduce costs.Not to mention all the other work to protect and enhance our communities and their rivers, lakes, bush and farmland.

The long, demanding and costly process of preparing a case for forming unitary authorities will have to be strong enough to convince the Local Government Commission that such a move is viable.

Click here for the most recent comments on this from Local Government Minister Rodney Hide.

But perhaps more importantly, the result of a successful application would be to saddle district ratepayers with further enormous expense at a time when concern is widespread about rising debt and the ability to provide and maintain quality core council services like water, roads, civic buildings and recreational amenities.

The inevitability of costs ranging up to $5 million falling on district council ratepayers if District Councils were to succeed in getting government approval to ‘go it alone’ is outlined in a report prepared by staff .

The model recommended for further investigation includes the retention of two separate councils in Wanganui and Ruapehu and a kind of ‘mini-Horizons’ with joint representation by the two district councils. There’s no reason to doubt the report’s preliminary finding that ratepayers of the two districts would have to find an additional $5 million to fund this kind of arrangement, but the report stresses the need for further investigation.

This is not something that can be decided ‘overnight’ by our district ratepayers or council. Wanganui District Council can gather the information required to fully consider different ways of governance without having a referendum to decide this should be done.I totally support the gathering of the information required to ask the Local Government Commission to review our region.

Other district councils in the region have already sat around the table together with their regional council to look at ways they can work together to provide alternative ways of ensuring ratepayers get the most cost-effective services. The results have been positive with the results being considerable economic and environmental benefits.

This is the first thing which should be happening here in our district if the motive is to reduce costs.

Wanganui and Ruapehu districts share a struggling rural economy, a declining ratepayer base and have little or no current expertise in the kind of science and engineering needed to carry out legislative requirements of unitary authorities, let alone protect and enhance some of New Zealand’s most prized wilderness areas and waterways.

What would the districts and their residents have to lose by going it alone? Costs are inevitably important and their present affiliation with Horizons enables them to benefit from the economies of scale that flow from rates funding that is drawn from 110,000 ratepayers living between Taupo, Wanganui, Levin and Tararua. The region includes a wide ranging urban and rural rates base, from tiny rural hamlets struggling with population decline to the relatively wealthy and growing Palmerston North. For instance, a substantial portion of the current flood protection work at Balgownie is covered by rates collected region-wide.

Importantly, Horizons has worked for years building partnerships and strong relationships with a range of scientists and other specialists, notably from within the Crown Research Institutes, universities and government agencies such as DOC. Tangible government funding helps across a wide range of Horizons work, from sustainable land use development and enhancing biodiversity in the Whanganui River catchment.

Click here to read latest announcement of 7.5 million in government funding to the regional council.

The breadth of its work makes Horizons a very attractive employer for resource specialists who excell at what they do and are passionate about working across such a diverse and nationally important region. They have built up sophisticated analysis and monitoring tools that serve our communities by providing early warning of floods and alerting residents to any degradation in the quality of the water they drink or use recreationally.

Such specialists are in great demand around New Zealand and around the world, and it’s hard to see how they would be attracted to work at what would be likely be underfunded ‘startup’ unitary authorities.

Horizons is committed to working with the district councils as they continue to investigate what might be possible in terms of them taking on resource management and other regional council responsibilities. However, weI want to ensure ratepayers, and the resources that are entrusted to them for this and future generations, can be confident that there will be a thorough, open and transparent process that does not shirk from facing the myriad realities and enormity of any moves towards the unitary authority model.

Annette Main          

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