Covid recovery plan released
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Leaders from the Nelson-Tasman region have unveiled a 12-month plan of attack to deal with the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Called the Nelson Tasman Economic Response & Regeneration Action Plan, the document outlines the economic strategy and priorities for the region over the next year.
With a budget of just over $2.8 million, the action plan was released yesterday by a group called Project Ko¯ kiri, which was formed during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Project Ko¯kiri involves Nelson City Council, Tasman District Council, Nelson Regional Development Agency (NRDA), Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce, iwi and regionally based Government agencies including the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry for
Primary Industries and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Its aim is to enable an economic response and regeneration that will stimulate the economy, protect and create new jobs and accelerate investment into the region.
Forecasts by economic agency Infometrics suggest the Nelson Tasman economy may contract by 7.9 per cent over the year to March 2021.
Almost 5300 jobs are tipped to be lost with overall unemployment possibly climbing to 8.6 per cent.
In late April, Project Ko¯ kiri submitted 14 priority ‘‘shovel-ready’’ projects to the Crown Infrastructure Fund, seeking $155.4 million of Government funding. It is yet to hear the outcome of those funding requests.
NRDA chief executive Mark Rawson said the purpose of the action plan was to give a sense of direction on the economic response and regeneration for the region, ‘‘alongside a very targeted and deliberate set of actionable priorities’’.
Members of the business community had been asked for their ideas, resulting in about 150 project submissions. Of those, about 50 had been covered by the ‘‘shovel-ready’’ application or other Government schemes such as a project to control wilding pines.
The other 100 project submissions would be considered over the next three months.
‘‘That’s all reactive,’’ Rawson said. ‘‘Over the next six months, we want to turn that around to be quite proactive in identifying, say three to five, specific large projects that we could pitch back to central Government to assist us.’’
Those companies would have a ‘‘long local supply chain’’, which would create demand for the many small businesses in that chain.
Attracting technology companies was also part of the action plan.
‘‘We’ve been talking about doing it for ages,’’ Rawson said. ‘‘The opportunity’s never been better than right now. We’ve got Shuttlerock, we’ve got Datacom, we got the AI Institute. We can show we have a building community in this space.’’
The Covid-19 pandemic had helped by proving people could work remotely, he said.
Tasman District mayor Tim King said collaboration was the key ingredient of the action plan.
‘‘While our diverse economy provides us with some advantages, to make the most of them we need work together,’’ King said. ‘‘We will not succeed without a combined effort from the community, central and local government, and the private sector.’’
Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said Project Ko¯kiri recognised that unemployment was significantly affecting people aged under 30, many of whom were employed in sectors hit hardest by the pandemic including tourism and hospitality.
‘‘Young people must be at the centre of our recovery,’’ Reese said. ‘‘The situation they face is uncertain and there is an immediate need for us to help create new employment opportunities in our region. In the longer term, we need to emerge from this crisis with the sort of resilient economy that provides higher-value jobs, enabling young people to stay and thrive here.’’
NRDA chairwoman Meg Matthews said there was an opportunity for the Nelson-Tasman region ‘‘to build back better’’.
Just over $1m of the $2.8m budget still needs to be secured. Nelson City councillors on June 9 agreed to provide up to $350,000 in additional funding for Project Ko¯ kiri.
King said Tasman District councillors were due to consider the matter on Thursday.
‘‘While our diverse economy provides us with some advantages, to make the most of them we need work together.’’