The summit has been – what happens next for the CBD?
On Tuesday, city leaders, business people and movers and shakers gathered at a summit to talk about how to revitalise Nelson’s CBD. It was a frank discussion, where economic realities were thrashed out and big ideas were put forward. But, now the summit is over, how does talk become action?
The Nelson Mail asked some of the key players what their biggest takeaway from the summit was, and what needs to happen next.
Nick Smith: Nelson mayor
Nelson has had a tough four years reinforced by us bottoming out in the latest regional economic rankings, but the summit is cause for optimism.
Its strength was in being as much community driven as it was council led. I have never seen such a large or diverse gathering of leaders from business, arts, iwi, community and council. There were some hard, frank messages and some brilliant ideas.
We need to translate these into action.
We need to distil from the dozens of ideas those we want to progress. The strength of the summit was that it was not just about council.
There were smart ideas for the community and the business sector, and we need to make sure we get our fair share of Government funding. The next step for council will be establishing specific taskforces to progress the revitalisation agenda.
Rachel Boyack: Nelson MP
It was disappointing that I couldn’t attend Tuesday’s summit due to parliamentary commitments. We all wish to have an inner city that is thriving and attractive for people to live and work in, visit, and enjoy. Avibrant inner city will have positive benefits for our hospitality, retail and arts sectors who desperately need more people spending time and money in our CBD.
The previous government granted $36m to Nelson City Council to support water and transport infrastructure in inner-city Nelson. This will enable developers to build up to 1000 homes, bringing people and economic activity into our city.
While I commend the council for continuing to engage with stakeholders, it’s now urgent the council proceeds with these upgrades, which will provide certainty to developers who are keen to invest in Nelson’s CBD and make it the vibrant place we know it can be.
Our CBD is packed with potential and it’s time for the council to hit go on projects to enable its revitalisation.
Chris Wilkinson: First Retail Group managing director
The biggest takeaway was how participants saw the summit as a turning point
from talking into action. The summit was an opportunity to rule a line under what's happened before, introduce new culture and capability and opportunities and unite stakeholders.
To see so many of the city's business and community leaders together, sharing openly their ideas, needs and challenges helped drive an openness among presenters and an enthusiasm amongst the audience.
The next steps have to be distilling the ideas into priorities and achievability now and then getting started on the quick wins, immediately.
Helping turn around the CBD’s economic performance in the face of a challenging economy and increasing competition is vital to retain businesses and help them prepare for the eventual upturn in the economy.
Opportunities for the development of a new Council facility and library have the potential to transform the CBD. These civic investments are crucial to the regeneration of the CBD.
Anne Rush: Make/Shift Spaces general manager
The biggest take-out was the acknowledgement that our project, What if … Whakatū Nelson? demonstrated the incredible resources in community-led discussion. By creating a space for talks and sharing of ideas, What if showed the massive willingness to contribute to positive change. What if is an ongoing and evolutionary process, and our challenge is to identify projects that can be developed and delivered in the short to medium term.
The Report What if Whakatu Nelson…? is a comprehensive overview on public findings from the communityled engagement for city centre revitalisation. It shows there is a genuine willingness from different sectors to play a role in transforming our city centre. These are rich resources, ready to be activated, enabled and delivered, ranging from a campaign to take pride in our city, through to the need for a civic centre, and better access to our waterways and harbour. We are now looking at a series of smaller projects to enhance the economic viability and identity of the city centre.
Nikau Adams: Nelson Youth Councillor
The summit really opened my eyes to what it'll take to breathe new life into Nelson. It is clear it's not just about fixing one thing – it's a whole package deal. The summit did a good job of highlighting some of Nelson's challenges, underscoring the need for more work to be done.
Some of the ideas at the summit really stood out. For instance, the notion of offering incentives to bring new investment to Nelson could really make a difference.
And setting up places for innovation and technology?
That could attract a whole new crowd to the city. It's important not to forget about the power of the community – getting everyone involved in shaping Nelson's future is key.
It’s great that we're talking about economic growth and community engagement, but we've got to keep the momentum going. We need to keep listening to what people want.
Finn Kerby-Pinguet: Nelson Youth Councillor
Youth Council was thrilled to have the opportunity to go along to the summit. We appreciate how elected members value rangatahi voice, and we were very privileged to be able to pass this on at the event.
Personally, I learnt of many exciting opportunities in the city centre that I didn't know about beforehand. Projects like Bridge to Better, the opening of Connings Nelson, or the development of the Marina area are all things that young people in Nelson should be really excited about - work is under way to make central Nelson more vibrant and energetic.
If council can keep up the ambition for change and the willingness to engage that Youth councillors saw on Tuesday, I'm confident Whakatū will see a revitalised city centre for all.
* Some responses have been edited for length