IDeal spot for Invercargill’s new iSite
Glad to see common sense has prevailed with the iSite being located in Wachner Pl.
I have been advocating this for several years.
It makes sense to have our visitors in the CBD.
It is also a good place to drop our bus passengers with several types of accommodation within walking distance.
It was not a very good welcome dropping them at the closed iSite at 8.15pm on a wet or cold frosty night.
Often I have seen them struggling down Deveron St suitcase in tow.
While this is only a temporary measure I hope it becomes permanent.
It doesn’t need to be with the museum (if it opens).
The museum and Queens Park attract many visitors in their own right and will do so if the iSite isn’t there.
Keep it in Wachner Pl where there are toilet facilities and everything they need within a block or two to make them feel welcome.
Show them we value them visiting.
Neil Thomas
Retirement income
I read with interest an article in your paper (July 26) of how far the National Super is falling short of covering retirees living expenses.
I did not have a retirement savings scheme as such. What I had as a 40 per cent share of a small business which had a good amount of capital tied up in assets and was counting on a good return when it was sold.
Truth was we only finished up with half of what was expected which was a third of the cost of the set up price.
This was disappointing, except that for 20 years we had a good living from it.
Going into retirement our nest egg was on the light side.
Living on national super and a lower investment return gave us very comfortable no-frills lifestyle.
Easy living after a long and hard working life.
It is often said that two can live as cheap as one and this proved to be somewhat true just a few years later.
Then, for eight years, my income was greater than my out goings. So how long would my net egg last at this same rate of decrease?
As one grows older you spend less on some activities but others use it up.
Also when you get over 80, how long before you might slip off the hook?
About five years ago I started to look at life in retirement village.
I would need somewhere about $6000 per annum above my super. So I could carry on for approximately 10 years before the cash ran out.
So what the hell.There are no pockets in your coffin. And 10 years on I may not even know what’s left In the Piggy Bank, or care.
I have been where I am now for just on five years. I have a good nofrills life. I eat well. I do get around no problem and have a glass or two of red at the end of the day.
And with a positive attitude and outlook will try and beat the Piggy Bank one way or the other.
Jim Fish
The more we can help our communities help themselves, the better. You don’t have to look far afield to see what a group of dedicated locals can do together: the results are visible throughout the whole Southland District and they’re fairly spectacular to say the least.
I could name a dozen community-led initiatives that show, quite clearly, you can accomplish a whole lot by working as a collective rather than attempting to go it alone.
The recent opening of Tumu Toka Curioscape, an absolutely outstanding facility that gives visitors and locals alike a deeper appreciation of the Catlins and all it has to offer, is testament to this.
It was an absolute privilege to be on hand at the official opening of this multi-million dollar project, and I cannot praise the people who have dedicated so much of their time to getting this project off the ground enough.
The South Catlins Charitable Trust was formed and it joined forces to work collaboratively not just with the Southland District Council, but the Department of Conservation, iwi, the local community, and Venture Southland.
It is a fantastic example of a community-led initiative, identified as a need by the community for the community; a group of locals saw a need for some development and they ran with it.
They made sure to foster strong relationships with other stakeholders and agencies, so that the best possible outcome was achieved. They were forwardthinking and the proof is in the pudding.
It has been a project that called for a long, hard slog and lots of rolling up of sleeves, both literal and figurative: a project that took a whopping 16 years to go from a bud of an idea to a reality.
When the idea was first floated the Catlins was a remote wilderness with plenty of potential.
Now, the number of tourists taking in the area has tripled – the Catlins is the Southland District’s second-largest visitor attraction – and it is expected to flourish even further.
You can’t blame people for wanting to visit, when the area is home to attractions ranging from hoiho to Hector’s dolphins to the 170 million-year-old Living Forest.
Humble backwater it is not, and the area desperately required its visitor infrastructure to reflect the substantial growth seen there.
Tumu Toka Curioscape is a facility befitting the importance of the Catlins to our district’s visitor experience.
The trust must be applauded, not just by the people of the Catlins for their achievement, but by all of us living here in Southland.
Tumu Toka Curioscape is a
‘‘. . . the number of tourists taking in the area has tripled – the Catlins is the Southland District’s second-largest visitor attraction – and it is expected to flourish even further.’’
tangible reminder of what our communities are able to achieve through sheer guts and determination.
It was far from an easy road, but they got there in the end and we and our neighbours are all the better for it.
The broad idea of communities being best-placed to shape their future is one that has reared its head frequently: from all of us coming together to rid our communities of increasing methamphetamine ‘‘P’’ use, to the future of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery.
The two have little in common, but both will be reliant on – and made stronger by – dedicated community input.
These conversations reaffirm the shift we are seeing not just within the thinking at your council but on a national scale.
I attended the Local Government New Zealand annual conference in Christchurch earlier this month, and much of the discussion there came back to the touchstone of local government empowering its communities.
This was particularly evident when Local Government NZ used its conference to launch its new Localism project.
Local government as a whole is calling for a real shift in thinking when it comes to how decisions are made in communities throughout New Zealand: moving from a reliance on government to decide what is best for those communities, to empowering councils and the communities they serve to make the decisions best suited to their needs.
It all circles back to the proposal to return the ‘‘four wellbeings’’ (recognising the role of councils to deliver social, economic, environmental and cultural outcomes in their communities) to legislation in the local government space.
The Government has signalled significant changes are on their way, and it will be interesting to see what form these take in the near future – particularly in regards to service delivery of the three waters.
The council has started signalling these changes to our communities, to bed this way of thinking in – before this simply becomes a reality. The role this council will play in leading the way, as our communities grapple with the future, are consistent with the idea behind the Localism initiative.
Change happens. Whether it happens to us, or with us, largely depends on how proactive we are when deciding our future.
Gary Tong is the Southland District Mayor