A Word from the Mayor: Planning for our future

Planning for our future:

As we work towards opening up our district, region and possibly the Australian bubble we should consider what is means to be a region supporting the primary industry. Lessons learnt through a forced lockdown is that our district was able to continue to function with 68% deemed essential services. It has been well documented that the most severely hit is our valuable hospitality and retail business, we have been hit hard drought, earthquake and covid-19. For our district to prosper we need to be considered in what and where we spend – “keeping it local is key to our recovery”.

For several months now governments around the world have advised or instructed their citizens to stay at home and keep healthy. The importance of our health has never been in such sharp focus and consequently it is not surprising that consumers are thinking more about the foods they eat and the impact that these will have on their long term health and wellness. It is apparent that consumers are searching out diet and lifestyle choices that will boost immunity and therefore protect the wellness of their families.

The traditional government response to an economic crisis is to build roads to get people back into work and money into the economy. There is an opportunity to create the right space to lift the country’s food resilience, by investing in water storage, improve rural connectivity, and continue to ensure health and education opportunities are available to all.

This is a time when we all need to play our part to ensure that our supply chain is secure, there has never been a more important time to value everyone’s contribution to our district. These practices are embodied in Maori culture “manaakitanga” caring and supporting others and “kaitiakitanga” caretaking of the environment. These generate responsibilities for remembering what has come before us, realising wellbeing today and creating sustainable conditions for future generations.

Keep Safe

Marie