Winter@Waipu – how local businesses can benefit from this festival

One of the motivations for developing Winter@waipu was to help address the seasonality for many businesses in Bream Bay.  While we can have bumper summer period with good turnover, the shoulder seasons and winter are more of a struggle.
The other reason for developing Winter@waipu is of course to have fun and to continue to showcase [...]

Co-operating for economic growth in Whangarei District

This week I spoke to my submission to the Annual Plan process for the Whangarei District Council.  Here are some of the key points I raised as a member of the Whangarei tourism Trust, the Northland Tourism Development Group, Bream Bay Tourism Group, and owner operator of a commercial accommodation Waihoihoi Lodge in Waipu.
I am [...]

Growth continues for Northland tourism in 2007; short-term challenges foreseen in 2008

Northland tourism’s sustained period of growth extended into 2007 but the industry is adjusting for the prospect of tougher times ahead.
Newly-released figures show that in the year to December 2007, Northland achieved a 3.02 percent increase in visitor nights, a measure of the length of stay in the region. Over the past five years, Northland’s [...]

We can’t cut rates without cutting services

Its time to make submissions to the Whangarei District Council annual plan. We discussed this at Waipu Residents and Ratepayers last night, and although all of us would like to pay less rates, and have more money in our pockets, we all agreed that it is critical for Waipu and Bream Bay that current plans [...]

Hundertwasser in Whangarei – asking good questions….

In the Northern Advocate 19 March 2008, Ann Shaw, a former Whangarei Councillor wrote an interesting letter to the editor raising issues about the prosposed Hundertwasser Building at the Town Basin in Whangarei.
Nothing but a Multi-Coloured Elephant: You asked for comments from Whangarei folks, here is mine. Where is the feasibility study, business [...]

$9.5 million Hundertwasser Centre proposed for Whangarei Town Basin

“Whangarei mayor Stan Semenoff has announced plans to establish an international-standard Hundertwasser arts centre at Whangarei’s Town Basin.
Deputy mayor Kahu Sutherland and council CEO Mark Simpson have this week returned from negotiations in Vienna where they gained the full support of the Hundertwasser Foundation for the proposal…”
Follow this link to read the full story
WOW – [...]

Getting more resources to market Northland

Its been raining and humid and we have not seen Whangarei Heads or the sun for what seems like a week. So it was good to get out today – borrow my friends MX5, put the hood down and head for Waitangi for the day. The pohutukawas along the way were spectacular, [...]

Homogenous companies are dinasaurs…

This article by Matt Nippert in the NZ Listener is worth reading. It is about swedish man Franz Johansson who believes that creativity is correlated with difference and homogenous companies are dinosaurs. Franz casts his eye over the Listener’s 50 most powerful people list who are predominantly old, white men, and wonders [...]

Town Basin redevelopment

Frank Newman’s is quoted on Integrity’s website “Yesterday councillors concluded hearing from developers about the redevelopment of the Town Basin. As one would expect, all of the alternatives include substantial loss of open space.
True to form – the council will now “go out to the public and consult” on their preferred development option. This is [...]

Act on Rates – National Report on Rates released

“Local councils need to lift their act and central government needs to put more money in to make rates affordable in future, a new report says.” so says this NZPA article.
There are 96 recommendations including:
# Review existing capital expenditure programmes;
# establish medium term fiscal targets;
# change funding policies to fund depreciation less and borrow [...]