Business confidence down in Horowhenua

On Sunday the inaugural Air Chathams flight from Auckland lands at Kapiti Airport ready to commence commercial flights on Monday.

Early bookings have been solid and prices are very competitive. You can find all the details at www.airchathams.co.nz

Last week I was invited to speak to about 130 people at the Ka¯piti Chamber of Commerce business lunch welcoming Air Chathams. As I mingled it gave me the opportunity to discuss overall business confidence and the outlook for our local economy with business owners.

I got a mixed response, with some saying things were tracking well and others noting the slow down had begun.

Those more upbeat owners sighted the stimulus being created by the taki Expressway, RJ’s licorice expansion in Levin and the new Ka¯piti Police communications hub.

Others are weary of the media headlines and are noticing a slowdown of forward orders.

They realise there’s been a massive drop in business confidence which is at its lowest since the financial crisis, seeing New Zealand drop from second out of 36 countries in the OECD all the way to second to the bottom. Ouch.

Job creation has plummeted from 10,000 a month over the last couple of years to 4000 a month currently. GDP has also fallen 1 per cent which equates to $800m less revenue for the Government. This creates headaches for this big- spending Coalition Government.

While the 66c US exchange rate is welcome news for Kiwi exporters it pushes the price of imports up and this is starting to bite in many households. Petrol prices will continue to rise and fuel tax increases make it tougher on personal budgets.

With dark clouds hanging over the Horowhenua Expressway the community is waiting for the next update which is now overdue. Hopefully NZTA can confirm a preferred route and people can begin getting on with their lives. There’s very little money left in NZTA’s roading budget with the Government raiding $5b for other projects including Auckland’s trams. We desperately need the funding commitment so planning can be fast-tracked. Otherwise Levin will be in gridlock from 2020.

Here’s hoping Horowhenua and Ka¯piti’s positive economic growth can continue despite the headwinds. Coalition Governments policies have had a considerable impact on business confidence and they are often the first to sense signs of a slowdown. It’s starting to feel more real by the day.