Revitalising small town NZ a key to helping ease Auckland pressure

Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Data scientist Aaron Schiff decided to map New Zealand's small town outlines

How do we revitalise our regional towns and take the pressure off Auckland? Two MPs from either side of the house give their views.

Stuart Smith

National MP for Kaikoura

As the MP for a large electorate that includes no major cities, the issue of attracting businesses to our country's regional towns and communities is always high on my agenda.

The Kaikoura Electorate's largest town is Blenheim, where I recently focused attention on finding ways to revitalise its struggling CBD, a problem many New Zealand centres face.

Blenheim, the focus of recent discussion to revitalise its struggling CBD.

Here are the best places to live in NZ - but they're at odds with best for business**

I have asked publicly why so many first storey spaces in Blenheim's town centre are empty when they could be developed into apartments and other accommodation. This would create a vibrant town centre, support local business and attract more people to live, and invest, in Marlborough.

National Party MP for Kaikoura, Stuart Smith.

After all, attracting business is about attracting people by offering them lifestyle options.

The Kaikoura Electorate is not short of appeal – our house prices, our natural beauty, our wine – but businesses need confidence that regions offer a genuine future for them and their investment.

It's important to remember that I'm not talking about attracting large entities because the economies of most regions are driven by small businesses.

Giving local councils more power to drive this regional development is one way forward.

The non-partisan think tank NZ Initiative has been pushing this idea of decentralisation through its initiative, Project Localism, with Local Government New Zealand.

Localism, which aims to devolve certain centralised functions to a local body level – as is currently the practice in Switzerland and Germany, although we would not go quite as far – would reward councils for encouraging and enabling growth in their regions.

Such an approach makes a great deal of sense, because it gives council officers the ability, and the motivation, to consider what approach works for their region, using their own local knowledge and expertise.

Auckland Labour list MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan.

This would bring a major change to the current attitude of looking at what things can be done, rather than looking for reasons they can't.

Smart and targeted immigration policy must be part of this too. If migrants are encouraged to live, and invest, in provinces that are experiencing the most acute labour shortages for at least two years, these people will have the time to establish roots in the community and are more likely to stay.

This would build on the Work to Residence temporary visa introduced by the National Government last year for South Island migrants.

Our regions have a great deal to offer Kiwi businesses and their owners. We just need to let them know.

**Priyanca Radhakrishnan

Labour List MP based in Auckland's Maungakiekie**

Attracting people and business to the regions is not a bonus; it's vital. As an Auckland MP I know there's a strong link between our cities working well and attracting people to the regions. Our infrastructure woes in Auckland stem from the previous government's failure to plan for population growth and to invest in regional New Zealand. People need a reason to move or stay in the regions.

New Zealand's regions – the areas outside of the main urban centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch – account for about 40 per cent of the country's population and its economic output.

The only serious candidate for this $150k small-town job pulled out when his wife refused to move.

In 2017, the government inherited an economy that was growing but saw an increasing disparity between the regions and the urban centres. The term of the 2008-2017 National Government saw a steady decline in the proportion of economic activity coming from the regions. This was due, in part, to a significant proportion of national economic growth coming from unprecedented migration to the cities and an overheated Auckland housing market. The combination made life exceedingly unaffordable for New Zealanders and migrants alike.

The housing crisis spread as the regions faced record rent increases. In some places like Hawkes Bay rents increased by as much as 14.3 per cent compared to a 6.8 per cent median increase; unemployment was higher in the regions and hope was waning.

Prior to the 2017 General Election, Labour and New Zealand First campaigned strongly on a pledge that a Government they led would get stuck in and boost regional economies. That's exactly what this coalition government has done.

The Provincial Growth Fund is central to our strategy to kick-start regional economic development. The Government will invest $3 billion over three years into projects throughout the regions that create jobs, promote sustainable economic development opportunities, and help meet our climate change targets.

This is an active Government working hard alongside regional communities, councils, iwi, and other stakeholders to ensure that our regions not only survive, but thrive. A combination of rebuilding our regions and investing in housing and other infrastructure in our cities will ensure that all our communities are well supported.

There's a lot of work to do and we won't be able to fix a decade of underfunding overnight but by working together we can make sure our regions are great places to start a business or raise a family.

When our regions are doing well, the country does well.