Mackenzie gets slice of Govt fund for key study

Mackenzie ratepayers will have to cover $90,000 of an $800,000 feasibility study to determine a ‘‘pathway towards a sustainable district’’.

The Mackenzie District Council, in partnership with the Mackenzie Development Group, had sought $801,548 from the Government’s $1 billion provincial growth fund, but has received just over $710,000.

Council chief executive Suzette van Aswegen said ratepayers would have to fund the rest, which was accounted for in the council’s 2018-28 long term plan.

The fund aims to lift productivity in the provinces, enhance economic development opportunities, create jobs and help meet the country’s climate change targets.

Van Aswegen said the next step is to establish a committee to govern the preparation of the study.

‘‘There will be extensive community consultation during the preparation of the study and the community will have various opportunities for input into the study.’’

Mackenzie District mayor Graham Smith said the funding was very much needed.

‘‘We’re really excited that we’ve been recognised as needy, and given this money.

‘‘At the moment the Mackenzie is growing extremely fast.’’

Smith said the money will go towards the feasibility study so the council can understand how it can cope with the growth.

‘‘Our communities are having to pay, so we need to understand how we need to develop.

‘‘This is going to feed in to some changes to our district plan, and it’s going to feed in to understanding how we’re going to cope with the infrastructure, and keep building and be able to maintain ourselves going forward.’’

Smith said there were a lot of attributes of bringing up families in a rural setting such as in the Mackenzie District.

‘‘As far as our feasibility study we also want to look at our communities, and how we function, and how we can do things better, because as mayor, I’ve been particularly concerned for too long.’’ Smith said things needed to change. ‘‘We’ve been doing the same old, same old,’’ he said.

‘‘Our tourist industry, economically, is growing about 18 per cent per year.

‘‘We can’t sustain that without understanding where that is going to lead us, and at the moment, we’re in an evolve-type situation.’’