LOOKING to the FUTURE STEVE RURU Southland District Council Chief Executive
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1 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE STEVE RURU Southland District Council Chief Executive There are few certainties in life – but change is one of them. The journey our communities take happening in the world must always be a work in progress, around them. If Southland as we look to lessons of the past to District is to continue to create a more vibrant Southland in prosper in the future, we all the future. have to be willing to look at doing things differently. Over the years, the Southland District has confronted plenty of While it can be daunting, challenging issues and we will we must keep in mind that undoubtedly face many more change does not necessarily going forward. Council and mean loss or upheaval. the communities it serves must Looking at what we can continue working alongside one do differently to achieve another if we are to create a strong better outcomes for our and positive future for us all. communities is needed simply to ensure the work The action plans they are working on, which Recently, Council hosted a series we do remains effective, will be released later this year, are to set of public meetings to ensure our sustainable and relevant in out the finer details to support the goal of communities had an opportunity a changing world. Change attracting 10,000 more people to Southland. to have their say on the District’s for the better will make Inevitably, the introduction of these future. The Community Southland a healthier, more initiatives will also mean we will have to do Conversations meetings, which ran durable place to live, work some things differently to the way they have throughout May and June, were and play. been done in the past. incredibly productive. Setting out the framework to Similarly, the proposal to form a governance Strong opinions and voices came move the whole of Southland group to oversee the Milford Opportunities through on a diverse range of topics forward is the current focus Project is about looking at how we can as people shared their views on the of the action teams involved increase the benefits we get from having one issues they see affecting the District in the Southland Regional of New Zealand’s major tourist destinations and their local communities. Development Strategy. This in our backyard. Among the issues discussed was group, made up of over 95 the demographic change forecast community and business Tourism is a growing industry which, as to continue and the effect this will leaders, has been tasked well as providing many opportunities, can have on who will live and work in with developing innovative also bring its share of challenges – especially our communities in the future, how solutions to a number of when it comes to making sure the right Council might change the way it challenges facing the region. infrastructure is in place to meet the needs delivers its services to keep rates The overall framework and of visitors, and ensuring the environment sustainable in the long term, and the initiatives that they are they are coming to see is cared for. By what we as individuals and Council developing will allow the working collaboratively with agencies such can do to ensure our communities region to take advantage as the Department of Conservation, Council remain great places to live. of the many opportunities can help our communities to find innovative available to us. This is no ways to increase the various benefits of As we moved around the different easy task; it will require attracting visitors to the area. meetings it was heartening to see plenty of lateral thinking and the level of understanding people a willingness to think outside It is clear Southlanders are passionate have about the strategic issues the box. It will also require about their communities and we are all in facing the District. People were also all of us to get in behind agreement – we want our District to thrive. realistic about how they and their and support the different It’s up to all of us to embrace change and communities must adapt to changes initiatives proposed. determine how that happens. 2 Southland looks to Scandinavia for aquaculture growth Southland District Mayor Gary Tong was part of a contingent that travelled to Norway and Iceland to investigate the potential for aquaculture growth in the region. Southland has a small but healthy aquaculture industry which includes one of the country’s largest salmon farms on Stewart Island but there was Community Conversations potential for expansion, Mayor Tong said. held throughout Southland “New Zealand’s salmon industry was worth $62 million in exports in 2015. Last year salmon exports were worth $8.47 billion (NZD) to the Norwegian economy. It could be worth a huge amount to our region if More than 400 Southlanders got to the aquaculture industry was successfully expanded. We have a lot of air their views on the future of their untapped resource off our shores and I think it’s worth exploring. From District in a series of public meetings in my research so far I think Southland is capable of meeting industry May and June. requirements to get product to market,” Mayor Tong said. Southland District Council “Aquaculture has created thousands of jobs and is worth a significant amount economically in Norway. I’ll be looking at how that was communications manager Louise achieved, challenges, risks, environmental impact, and what that all Pagan said the Community means for potential here in Southland.” Conversations were an opportunity for the public and While in Norway in June Mayor Tong attended the AquaVision Council to talk to each another conference in Stavanger, met local politicians and stakeholders, and about Southland’s future. visited fish farms. “We wanted to know what He said the scale of the salmon farming operations he saw was Southlanders saw as the key issues staggering. Just one of the many farms he visited was the equivalent of facing our District, and what we could New Zealand’s entire salmon industry. be doing together to manage them so Salmon were housed in massive nets up to 200 metres deep containing 98 that Southland continues to be a great percent water and 2 percent fish. “The salmon were loving it.” place to live, work and play,” she said. The environmental footprint was almost invisible from land, meaning In a first for Southland District Norway’s lucrative tourism industry was able to flourish in tandem Council, an online meeting was also with aquaculture. hosted on Council’s Facebook page In Iceland Mayor Tong visited fish farms in Reykjavik, both inland and for those not able to attend a meeting offshore, and met local politicians to speak about aquaculture. in person. He said the opportunities for Southland were immense. “It’s important the voices of all Southlanders are heard, and play “The potential is very exciting. a part in shaping what happens in “From Council’s perspective, we want to look at the industry in our District in the long term. The Scandinavia and make sure that if we go down the path of aquaculture Community Conversations meetings expansion that we learn from what they have done, making the most gave the public and Council the of benefits and mistakes. Our environment is very important so I was chance to sit down and talk to one looking at how the Norwegians are cleaning up the seabed and any another about the opportunities and environmental issues.” challenges we’re facing, and how The trip was hosted and paid for by Aquaculture New Zealand, with industry we can continue to grow a strong, stakeholders, politicians and others with relevant interests attending. vibrant Southland. It was great to see so many turn out to have their say.” Issues such as the Haast Hollyford Highway proposal, the Te Anau wastewater disposal scheme and the Around the Mountains Cycle Trail were discussed at the meetings, along with issues such as internet coverage, tourism, community spirit and roading. These are the first Conversations, with Council planning to go back out either late this year or early next year. 3 NEW RULES WILL HELP DRONE USE IN SOUTHLAND Flying a drone in Southland District should soon be easier and safer with rules being developed to make it clear where it’s okay to fly. Southland District Council policy analyst Tamara Dytor said a new policy was being created to proactively address the growing use of drones. “We want it to be easy for people to use drones and this policy will make it really clear where it’s okay to fly. It’s also important we make sure people use them appropriately and that means ensuring there are rules around things like flying them over a crowd at an event because if something went wrong it could seriously hurt someone.” Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules say drones can’t be flown in controlled airspace, more than 120 metres off the ground or within 4 kilometres of an aerodrome. Among proposed rules, people would need permission to fly a drone over a sportsfield while it was being used, within 50 metres of an organised activity at a reserve or Council-owned open space, or above cemeteries, Council roads, playgrounds or wildlife areas. so really from Council’s perspective we’re just giving general consent, but with some common sense conditions.” “Under CAA regulations anyone using a drone has to get the landowner’s consent to fly overhead The policy will be put to the public later this year. than hitting another vehicle – they can weigh 1,000kg and the PROBLEMS WITH damage is enormous.” ROADSIDE GRAZING Temporary roadside fences must be appropriately stock-proof and at least 1 metre back from the metal edge of the road.