“The world is changing, the country is changing and this place is changing, and so we can either sit back and see where we end up, or we can work together as a community to try and shape that change so it works for all of us.” (8-minute read)

With submissions closing this Sunday (May 7), the Waitaki App sat down with Waitaki District Council chief executive Alex Parmley to discuss the proposed economic development plans. There's a lot to take in, so we've broken it down into some key areas below.

Up for discussion is the council's proposal to set up an Economic Development Agency (EDA) as a council controlled organisation (CCO) and to close Tourism Waitaki, also a CCO. The purpose of the EDA will be to drive economic growth in the district.

Also under consideration, is the potential of investigating a partnership opportunity for the Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony.

Why not keep the status quo?

Alex says it is wrong to think that by doing nothing, things will stay the same.

“It will change, but the danger is it will change for the worse, rather than change for the better.”

If brought in, the EDA will help implement the Waitaki Economic Development strategy, which was adopted by the council in September last year, and which Alex describes as “a really aspirational document”. 

The document was developed with input from local businesses and Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, using consultancy firm Polis.

“So we’re effectively proposing doing away with one CCO . . . and replacing it with another one, but one that operates in much more of a partnership way - so that we can bring the people together to work together to deliver what is a really ambitious plan for the district and its economy.”

Tourism makes up one portion of the strategy, so it makes sense to create an organisation that will oversee that, together with the other parts, Alex says.

Why do we need an Economic Development strategy?

When he arrived in Ōamaru from the United Kingdom, in 2021, there were concerns about what was being delivered into the economic development and tourism sector, and whether it was good enough.

“There seemed quite a lot of support from the business community to pull something together we could all agree on - well most people, you can never get everyone to agree on all things - but certainly the feedback we’ve had is there’s a lot of support for the direction that the economic development strategy is trying to take, and it sets out some clear priorities and outcomes and some projects to actually get us there.”

He concedes the biggest challenge to implementing the plan will be finding the money.

The total cost of the agency, including staffing costs, is estimated at $1.8m per annum. Currently, the council puts approximately $500,000pa into the tourism/economic development space. 

The strategy focuses on five core areas - land (the primary sector - exploring land and water use, secondary industry opportunities, and innovation), place (revitalising Ōamaru’s harbour, central business district, and Victorian precinct, as well as the district’s rural townships), visitors (tourism), business (making the most of opportunities, supporting growth and innovation, and encouraging entrepreneurship), and people (increasing the skills base of potential employees, cushioning skills losses in an ageing workforce, and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset).

“So there’s a lot of ambition in there, it can’t all be and it won’t all be funded by council and the ratepayers.”

He hopes having the strategy in place will put the council in a better position to access available funding from the government as with private enterprise, to enable it to be realised.

Poor timing?

Alex disputes the suggestion this is the wrong economic climate to introduce such an ambitious plan.

“What better time to really focus on how we drive economic growth and, in particular, this strategy.

The goal is growth that is sustainable, both in terms of the environment, but also longevity, for the district.

“But more importantly than that, we want growth that is inclusive. So growth that the whole community can benefit from.”

As a district, Waitaki lags behind in terms of wage levels compared with the national average, and that is something the council wants to see change. 

“If we want people to have more money in their pockets, to have a better quality of life and standard of living, then we need to tackle that, so what better time to do it than now,” Alex says.

What makes Waitaki stand out?

Waitaki shares common problems with other districts across New Zealand, one of the biggest being the issues farmers are facing in the primary sector - a big driver of the local economy.

“Swathes of environmental regulations and targets” need to be met, which means the sector needs to change. 

“So if we can work together . . . as a district, as a community, with those food producers . . . to work our way through that - that can still be a real strength of our economy, I think, that will stand out across the rest of the country,” Alex says.

The assets the Waitaki has, both environmental and more urban, are unique, and rather than boost tourism numbers exponentially, the target is to entice visitors to stay longer and spend more money.

“I think that’s probably different from a lot of places in New Zealand.

“I think a lot are focused on ‘how do we increase the visitor numbers’ . . . Numbers could maybe go up a little bit, but it’s more about the visitor spend and getting people that are here to really understand what this district has to offer.”

There is a challenge for people to upgrade skills locally, with the majority of skills training out of town, which is an opportunity to be explored. People want to improve their skills, and businesses want more highly-skilled workers, Alex says.

“That’s a key part of our future going forward, both in terms of our businesses growing, but also the standard of the wage levels growing for our community as well.”

What happens next, if the EDA goes ahead?

“The strategy we’ve adopted is really ambitious,” he says.

“If we can implement it, it will benefit everyone in the district - everyone should be better off. But we can’t do it alone, we need the right vehicles to do it, and it’s about making the investment that will produce a return for the whole community, and that’s why we’re going down the road we’re going down.”

If the agency gets approval, the first step is going through the legalities of setting up a new company, followed by establishing a board which Alex envisages will be a “partnership body”. It will be a matter of ensuring the “right voices” are around the table representing all sectors.

Once the board is established, staff will gradually be recruited. In the interim, Business South Waitaki navigator Rebecca Finlay has been seconded to the council as the business and enterprise growth lead, and a place lead position is in the process of being filled.

“We recognise we haven’t got the funds to fully staff up this agency from day one - that’s going to be a build process . . . but recruiting some key posts.” 

The place, and business and enterprise growth lead positions are funded by the Government’s Better Off funding, and this means parts of the strategy can be progressed without waiting for the agency to be established.

“The price for the economy and our community is too great. We can’t just invest all our time in the process. We need to be getting on with things as well and try and get some early wins.”

Rebecca is “very much engaged” in looking at how to support entrepreneurs and is working with the business community on how to set up a support system for that, Alex says.

The place lead position is about revitalising the central business district in Ōamaru and some of the more rural town centres, to make them more vibrant. 

“I don’t think anyone can have failed to have noticed that the CBD here and in our other towns they’ve come under pressure from a variety of things.” 

A direction needs to be agreed on between the council and the local community.

“Some of it might be about, what are the practical incentives we can put in place, to encourage new businesses to set up . . . and more people to visit here and use it as a place to shop.” 

The possibility of converting some of the older buildings to homes, can be explored, and the process may be simplified, he suggests.

“The more people we’ve got living in the town centre, the more vibrant it will be. So, it’s that sort of thing really we’re looking at.”

People have differing views on things, and there is never going to be an issue where people are 100% in agreement, and Alex says that is what the council is for.

“They’re the body elected by the community to represent the community interests, and our role is to work with the whole community to find a way forward, but clearly we’re not going to be able to please everyone, and if we set out to try and do that we’d never get anywhere.”

Let’s not forget about the Penguin Colony . . . 

The Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony is not for sale.

“No-one is suggesting that and no one wants that,” Alex says.

The colony is currently run by Tourism Waitaki, and so if Tourism Waitaki is no longer, a decision needs to be made on what happens with the penguin colony.

“It’s a great environmental and community asset, and so we want to do the right thing. 

“We think there’s potential for . . . the return [the colony] gives the community, to increase, without compromising its environmental credentials, but we don’t think the council can do that on its own.

“So the question being asked is, you know, are people happy for us to investigate whether there’s a partner out there that can work with us, that could, you know, really add value to that, but without compromising a really important environmental community asset. 

“If we were going to find a partner, that would be the starting point to any discussion. Do they have the right values, do they share what’s important to us?”

There has been interest shown and some of the possibilities are “potentially exciting”, but no discussions will take place until the end of the consultation, Alex says.



Submissions on the proposals close on Sunday (May 7) and can be made online here, or a form can be picked up from council offices or the Waitaki District Libraries.

Members of the public will speak on their submissions on May 15 and 16, and a decision will be made no later than June 27.