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It’s no secret that I believe in the power of positive thinking.
In my role as mayor of the Southland district, I interact with people every day who maintain a positive attitude.
They are usually the type of people who seek opportunities, who meet challenges and are spectacularly successful.
That kind of positivity is visionary and contagious. It’s the key ingredient that enables great ideas to grow into entrepreneurial ventures, and typically the result is that the broader benefits flow to surrounding communities.
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The Southland District Council fully supports this kind of positive thinking, and here is just one example of how.
At a recent goods and services committee meeting in our council chambers, we heard an inspiring presentation from Hilary Kelso, Ardlussa Community Board member, along with Waikaia pedagogue Colleen Morton and cycling advocate based in Gore, Sam Ruddenklau.
The idea they were bringing to the table wasn’t even their own – it had come from Waikaia resident Daniel Butler – but everyone was quick to recognize the potential benefits and put forward a passionate argument to the committee to support it.
Butler’s idea is to develop 50 km of mountain bike trails in the SDC-owned Waikaia forest, and all they needed from the council to get things going was a variation of our current forest management agreement with our IFS forest manager to allow public access, development and Operation of mountain bike trails in the forest.
The presentation was magnificent. It was difficult to suppress a wide smile as Hilary, Colleen and Sam discussed the possible influx of mountain bikers to the Waikaia area, the benefits derived from new businesses, ancillary services and benefits that the proposal could bring, not only to the Ardlussa area but to Southland. like an everything.
Naturally, the committee was delighted to grant the variance to allow public access and the ball is now back with bikeway promoters to set up a trust, raise some money, and make this fantastic idea a reality.
I can’t speak highly enough of how this is developing. It’s a perfect example of community-led development, which has been the council’s mantra since our six-year proxy review was completed last year.
Robyn Edie / Stuff
Southland District Mayor Gary Tong. (File photo)
It is best summed up in the concept of “small council, big community,” which is another way of saying that the process enables community boards to provide more leadership in their communities, with the council as a willing and supportive partner.
Hearing about these kinds of community initiatives from the communities themselves tells me that we are definitely on the right track.
The first signs are very good that the systems implemented after the rendering review are doing what they were designed to do.
The fact that some of our communities, including Ardlussa, have seized the opportunity to lead the way using the support network offered by their local community board and, through them, the Southland District Council, suggests to me that this is only the beginning.
More of this kind of attitude and effort in our communities will put the Southland District in excellent shape to handle whatever the future holds.
It’s such a positive outcome in this strange Covid-19 world that I almost hesitate to balance it with the following observation.
There’s been a lot of talk about opening the doors to kiwis eager to travel in their own backyard, but it’s not until you step outside and realize that not all the doors are open.
To announce that we are open for business, we have to take ourselves seriously and shift our focus to the domestic market, treating it with the same respect as our international visitors.
We have just taken a trip to the lower part of the South Island and it was surprising to see how many accommodation and food providers were closed despite a good share of road traffic.
We had some money in our pockets to “support the locals”, but too often we didn’t have the opportunity to do so. In fact, our first night’s dinner was a delight in the microwave, as the supermarket was the only place open in town.
As we ventured along the Catlins, there was nothing between Owaka and Niagara. The people we met struggled to understand why they couldn’t even get a sandwich for lunch.
It’s a reflection of how difficult people have encountered the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that was revealing.
I don’t know the reasons why the companies were closed, but clearly it is a conversation that must be had so that as a district and as a nation we can generate support.
After all, ultimately, we are all in this together.
* Gary Tong is the mayor of the Southland district.
