To paraphrase Bill Durham:
“If we build fewer beds then fewer visitors will come!”
My vision is for a transformed tourism sector that relies more on locally resident talent and less on visiting workers, in an increasingly thriving, sustainable, resilient, and diverse economy. Keeping in mind that international workers bring more than economic benefits, they also add to the culture and vibrancy of the district. It’s about balance.
The projected 100% increase in visitor numbers over the next ten years is not only unsustainable, but is also impossible for our communities, environment, and economy to absorb.
Below are some of the ideas that I think would shape a better future for our communities.
- We must avoid a return to unsustainable pre-COVID mass-tourism growth rates, to make room for innovative new diverse commercial and social enterprise – including food innovation, low-energy construction, remote working, efficient public transport, and arts and culture.
- Immediately review the assumptions and intent of the district plan, spatial plan, and council long-term plan, to include and enable sustainable, managed, low-growth targets.
- Modify the objectives and rules of the district plan to limit future visitor accommodation growth:
- limit hotel development to a sustainable rate of growth
- encourage a transition to residential use of homes and apartments
- transition away from the dominance of AirBnB style uses in residential areas.
- Encourage replacement of older, less-safe, visitor accommodation through rating policies.
- Modify differential rating to seriously encourage residential use of residential properties.
- Smooth demand across the year – encouraging events and conferences in shoulder seasons.
- Develop the Stanley Street site for a multi-use performing arts and conference precinct:
- Bring together a public-private joint-venture to re-design and fund the project
- Modify the arterials project to enable larger public transport now, not later
- Develop additional flexible parking as we transition to effective public transport
- Retain and enhance the Memorial Centre.
- Actively encourage longer-stay tourism, reducing congestion and long-haul CO2 generation.
- Lead the transition to reliable, on-demand e-transport for tourist and resident travel needs.
- Review and, if possible, renegotiate or restart the Lakeview Taumata project.
- Constructively influence the government to introduce fit-for-purpose immigration settings.
- Enable a thriving local tertiary education sector and the seasonal workforce it will bring.
- Develop regional partnership approaches to regenerative tourism and workforce planning.
- Provide for and protect our social, cultural, natural, and economic environment to continue to attract and welcome new workers, entrepreneurs, and enterprises at a pace that we and our environment can accommodate.
- Reduce the worker housing crisis through a public-private housing task force, with government support, to provide immediate temporary and longer-term solutions.
- We do not need an expensive economic development agency. We need to manage growth.
Not one of these will solve our over-tourism crisis alone, but all of them together will make a real difference. What it will take to make this happen is experienced, collaborative, trusted leadership – drawing on amazing commercial and community leadership from across the district.