Business South August 2021

26 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Marlborough “The wine industry dominates most businesses in Marlborough. By grapes harvested, Marlborough also accounts for 75.2% of New Zealand’s vintage.” Stuart Smith Based in Blenhiem the Bragato Research Institute, is a wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand Winegrowers Inc. Diverse region offers rich bounty T T Richard Loader O n a crisp and clear blue day, the flight from Christchurch to Blenheim reveals Marlborough’s mountainous terrain and a landscape etched with fault lines that speak of Aoteoroa’s birth millennia ago. Marlborough falls within the geographically giant Kaikoura electorate, which by virtue of the pristinely beautiful Marlborough Sounds and d’Urville Island is encompassed by 12% of New Zealand’s coastline. From Cook Strait in the north to the Ashley River in the South, the electorate, which embraces 26,000 km2 is New Zealand’s fourth largest and is presided over by National MP Stuart Smith. “Fifty percent of Marlborough is counted as mountainous or steep hill country and boasts more than thirty peaks over 2000 metres above sea level,” says Stuart. “With the Marlborough Sounds and all of those mountainous features, we have a truly beautiful area to live in.” Of the electorate’s 68,000 population, 50,000 souls live in Marlborough, which accounts for 12,500 km2, with more than half the electorate calling the district’s main city of Blenheim home. While the district’s population is growing, there is a significant proportion over 65 years of age, with many people choosing Marlbor - ough’s sunny climes for their active golden years. As at March this year unemployment for Marlborough was 2.5% compared to 4.7% for the rest of the country, much of the low unemployment the result of the wine industry and the associated service industries. Picton is Marlborough’s next biggest town. KiwiRail recently signed a half billion-dollar contract to have two new and significantly larger interislander ferries built in South Korea to replace the existing fleet, meaning an upgrade to the ferry terminals at either end of the Strait. Given the significant impact the ferries have on Picton’s economy, one of the projects Stuart has been championing is a floating dry dock for New Zealand based in Shakespeare Bay, just over the hill from Picton. “There are very few places where a large floating dock could easily be situated and Shakespeare Bay is the top of that list as a naturally deep-water port. “It would be very convenient for the ferries to have a dry dock at one end of their route and KiwiRail has indicated if a dry dock was available in New Zealand they might dry dock the ferries more often.” The fuel cost to get a ferry from New Zealand to Singapore is significant and while there are dry docks in Australia, space in those dry docks is hard to secure, something that will only get worse as the Australian Navy increases its defence spend and fleet. “There’s a very strong business case for the dry dock at Shakespeare Bay — it just needs someone to have the courage to put some capital up.” Marlborough’s other towns include the fish - ing settlement of Havelock — a mussel capital of New Zealand as well as a tourist favourite —a small settlement in the Rai Valley, Seddon and Renwick. Marlborough’s key industries include viti - culture, agriculture, aquaculture, forestry and tourism. “Marlborough is really driven by the wine industry, it’s such a big engine,” says Stuart. “The wine industry dominates most busi- nesses in Marlborough. By grapes harvested, Marlborough also accounts for 75.2% of New Zealand’s vintage. The issue for Marlborough this year is that the vintage was down and several hundred million dollars taken out of the economy because there simply weren’t the grapes harvested mainly due to environ - mental issues like frosts.” Sixty percent of New Zealand’s aquaculture comes out of Marlborough with mussel and salmon farming. There’s also aviation. “We have Airbus New Zealand based in Blenheim who service the big military NH90 helicopters for Australasia.” In addition to Marlborough’s 71,500 hec - tares of plantation forestry, Pinoli Pine Nuts has 550 hectares planted in the Wairau Valley, producing premium pine nuts sold locally and for export. Regretfully, because of the rule of the Kyoto Protocols, pine nut trees cannot be counted as a carbon sequesters, something Stuart says could be easily changed. “They are a relation of pinus radiata so they’re definitely sequestering a lot of carbon. If the pinecones were burnt for fuel they would count.” The Marlborough Sounds has long been a favoured destination point for domestic and international tourists, though Covid has hit it hard. Stuart says the absence of cruise ships that used to call into Picton has made a big differ - ence to tourism in Marlborough. One of the big opportunities for Marlbor - ough is the Whale Trail, an incredible world class cycling and walking trail that connects coastal communities between Picton and Kaikoura. “Ultimately the aim is to go from Meretoto/ Ships Cove in the Queen Charlotte Sound to Christchurch. “Preparations are now underway to com - mence the Blenheim to Seddon part of the track.” A ten-minute flight for those who choose to work in Wellington and live in Blenheim, with vineyards and wineries aplenty, the Marlbor- ough Sounds on your doorstep and one of the sunniest places in New Zealand to call home, Marlborough offers more than a great lifestyle — it offers the rich bounty of New Zealand.