Summit to revitalise Nelson as city slumps
Government underinvestment and a series of stymied civic projects in Nelson were among reasons the region continued to languish at the bottom of rankings for economic growth, city leaders said.
Nelson dropped to last place again in the latest ABS regional economic scoreboard on Wednesday, after coming second to last in the previous quarter, and last in the quarter before that.
Housing values helped cement the region in 16th place, with house prices falling 3.7% in Nelson over 2023, and house sales dropping 8% – the worst result within the data.
Nelson also posted the biggest decrease in retail sales values, of 5.7% year-on-year.
Tasman District jumped five places from its previous bottom spot, to 11th place, but posted a fall in house prices of 3.5%, and relatively flat retail sales over 2023 in line with national changes.
Construction consent values fell at double the national rate in Tasman, dropping by more than 35% on the year ago level, matched only by Waikato.
Chief executive of the Nelson Regional Development Agency, Fiona Wilson, said the impact of the “busy summer season” that brought visitors to the region was yet to be seen in the data for the last quarter of 2023.
But the region needed Government support, she said.
“We have some major projects in the region positioned for partnership for Government funding – projects such as our marina and boatyard expansion, our blue economy cluster Moananui, the Port Tarakohe development, CBD resilience building to encourage investment confidence, and tourism infrastructure.
“Government partnership investment right now in these priority projects would certainly go a long way to boosting our region’s economic well-being.”
Chief executive of the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce, Ali Boswijk, said uncertainty around investment from both local and central government in the region had affected investment by the private sector.
Nelson often seemed to “just miss the mark” for investment, with “too many stops and starts on too many projects”, she said.
Rocks Rd was recently dropped from the Government’s transport planning priorities, plans for a new library were on hold, and Nelson had “a hospital project which we're still waiting to know for sure how that's actually going to roll out”, she said.
“We need to have certainty around planning ... and then we will start to see the private sector invest alongside it.
“It's not about cost, it's about investment, and how we view that investment in terms of the return it gives our community is a really important thing.”
High costs and interest rates meanwhile were continuing to hit households and construction, with the high price of shipping affecting exporters and supply chains “still not great”, she said.
Nelson need to focus on what it needed to do to “shift the dial” and find ways to stimulate its economy, she said.
Nelson mayor Nick Smith said the city council’s summit next week on revitalisating the city was well-timed.
The “gloomy” ASB report was “a wake-up call” for Nelson and a reminder of the toll from “four years of adversity”, he said.
“We have a big task ahead to get out of this hole.
“The council summit ... is an opportunity for us to bring together business, community and council and crystallise the ideas that can help get Nelson out of the economic slow lane.”
“We have a big task ahead to get out of this hole”
Nick Smith, Nelson mayor