Business Central December 2021

26 | The Rangitikei District is an incredibly scenic location with bush reserves and rivers to enjoy. “In 2013 we were faced with a declining and aging population. We’re now seeing a large number of families coming into the district and the age profile decreasing.” Mayor Andy Watson Rangitikei: Rangitikei District Council REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT A great place to live, work and play T T Richard Loader S prawling 4500 square kilometres, the Rangitikei District is one of the largest land authorities in New Zealand. Characterised by small towns including Mar- ton, Taihape, Turakina, Bulls, Ratana, Hunter- ville and Mangaweka, the district’s southern boundaries are defined by the Whangaehu and Rangitikei Rivers. The primary sector features highly in Rangi- tikei — quite literally a bountiful food bowl es- pecially in terms of red meat, dairy, cropping, horticulture and honey. Add to that forestry, the Air Force and pri- vate school education. In his third term as Rangitikei District May- or, Andy Watson is deeply passionate about the region. He says while there is a lot of work heading the Councils way, the people are at the heart of the district’s success and make it a great place to work, live and play. “The community gets behind things. For example, there are a number of service clubs and groups within in our community that are very significant in the building of parks and recreation areas. Yes Council has a role but the community suddenly decides to drive things, and just does it.” Andy tells the classic story of two young women who wanted to upgrade a fairly tired playground in Marton, make it something special and a destination playground. The pro- jected cost was $1.3 million, which they raised largely through community funding rather than the rates purse. “Those two young women drove it. But you would probably have a hundred people turn up at working bees with shovel and wheel barrow asking what they could do to help. The playground is now completed and those two young women are looking for their next project. Your heart just goes out to them. And that kind of thing is not just Marton, it’s all the towns in Rangitikei.” With a population of 5,500 Marton is the district’s largest town. One of the reasons Marton developed was the north/south/east/west juncture of the rail network that runs through it, while Bulls is the intersection of the North Island’s roading network. Both road and rail networks are now play- ing a key role in the development of Rangi- tikei. “In 2013 we were faced with a declining and aging population,” says Mayor Andy. “But we’ve done an enormous ‘U’ turn over the last two or three years and now have a population of about 16000. With all the interest com - ing into the district I see it heading towards 20,000 in the next few years. We’re now see - ing a large number of families coming into the district and the age profile decreasing.” While there a recruitment drive to bring people into the district, many people living in Bulls and Marton who have been commuting to Palmerston North or Whanganui are now finding new opportunities locally. Andy says affordability makes the district attractive. While a million dollars might buy you a reasonably average home in Auckland, you can get a very reasonable home for half of that in Rangitikei and have money in the bank. The Rangitikei District Council recently de- veloped an incentive programme to promote housing. Effectively if you built a new home in the district or relocated to the district $5000 was on offer towards rates. With five new subdivisions in Marton and the best part of 700 new homes under construction or going through the consent process in the lower part of the district the Mayor is not sure the incentive programme can live long term. But he says lifestyle in the district is clearly a strong driver. “If you are in a town in the Rangitikei you can have your kids in school within five minutes, with no traffic lights. We also have the advantage of an incredibly scenic location with bush reserves, rivers to play in and we’re known for our events. People are also starting to realise there are a whole lot of businesses wanting to come here. We’re going through dramatic change with businesses that are wanting to spend hundreds of millions of dol- lars and we’re now in the final stages of some of those processes.” With a large forestry resource on its doorstep within the transport networks, a Bio-Forestry project has been underway for the last five years. “In simple terms Marton could well become the world’s leading producer of fully bio-de- gradable plastics (PLA/PHA) made out of forestry waste products.” With the recent development of hangars and infrastructure for the P-8 Poseidon long- range surveillance planes based in Ohakea Air Base there is a large workforce coming to Ohakea with their families. Bulls is the Ohakea town. In recent times ANZCO Foods, just out of Marton, started employing workers from Pasifica, specifically Samoa. A large number of them have now taken up residency and form a large part of the population. Other key employers in the district include Gallagher Fuel Systems in Marton, there are a number of companies associated with honey in Taihape, especially manuka — the biggest owned by the Tweeddale family — and Nestle which produces dog biscuits. “Downs Electrical is a large employer. They are incredibly innovative and involved in some of the things around the bio-forestry sector.” On the day I spoke to Mayor Warson, the Government had just announced that it will in- troduce legislation to set up four independent entities to control drinking water, waste water and stormwater — known as three waters. Andy expressed his disappointment that the Government had taken the decision away from Councils. “I think that is incredibly sad. There are a number of issues Councils around the country including our Council are critical of including the governorship, the operational side and priority of work. “To not allow the Councils to make a decision about three waters when they were originally promised they would be able to is incredibly disappointing. I have enormous respect for the Nanaia Mahuta, who is pas- sionate about what she wants to do with real change. But the process has been incredibly rushed and ill-informed. It’s a pity.”