Business South June 2021

16 | Central Otago District Council Enjoying the magic of Central Otago T T Richard Loader Cheers! Central Otago has an enivable lifestyle with a range of interesting tastes - and brews - to savour. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “When you come here you do find yourself day-dreaming about how you can stay here, how can you buy here.... what would life be like living here?” C entral Otago has a way of drawing you into the magic of its expansive and ancient landscape, and once under the spell of its gems you may never want to leave. Big bold skies preside over a horizon that stretches forever, revealing dramatic moun- tains and rocky outcrops while amazing cloud formations become part of the landscape. The scarred landscape of the Bannockburn Sluicing Track just out of Cromwell is a legacy of the 1860s gold rush days. While a barren desert akin to the Wild West, it is also a dramatic and beautiful reminder of man’s impact on the land. There’s the Poolburn Dam where part of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. A ‘near four wheel drive’ is needed to traverse the bumpy piece of road leading to an enchanted plateau with a lake and rocks taking pride of place in the High Country. Central Otago District Council Chief Execu- tive Sanchia Jacobs says hidden gems like that are in abundance. “You visit places that you don’t even know about because they’re not commercialised or necessarily a well told story, and you go ‘wow, these are amazing pieces of history or slices of natural landscape. “It’s like you’re on this continuous journey of really cool stuff. You think, ‘far out — why doesn’t the world know about this — but in equal measure you don’t want the world to know. “You want to keep that magic all to your- self. The lifestyle here is amazing. If you have any penchant at all for beautiful landscapes, nature, the outdoors and in particular hiking and cycling, there’s no better place in New Zealand.” Well known for the Otago Rail Trail, the district is in fact replete with cycling adven- tures including the Roxburgh Gorge Trail which links to the Clutha Gold Trail, the River Track in Alexandra, tracks in the mountains, in and around private and public land and then brand spanking new Lake Dunstan Trail. Central Otago’s four very genuine seasons conspire to define what it is to live in this neck of the woods. They all slap you in the face in their own really good way, especially the burn- ing cold. “I woke up to negative five this morn - ing, it felt like negative eight,” says Sanchia. “You get the extreme heat, the extreme cold and the beautiful autumn leaves.” The fourth largest district by geographic space in New Zealand, Central Otago encom- passes just on 10,000 square kilometres and in 2020 recorded a population just 100 short of 24,000. “That means you have really tight-knit little communities but lots and lots of open space,” says Sanchia. There are four main towns; Alex- andra, Cromwell, Ranfurly and Roxburgh. “The district population reflects a 3.5% increase from the previous year so we’re growing pretty fast.” In 2020 the national population growth was 1.4% (Year ended Decembeer 2020) and Sanchia puts Central’s growth down to people discovering the district and as they discover it there is an exponential impact as they spread the word to family and friends. “When you come here you do find yourself day-dreaming about how you can stay here, how can you buy here, how can you can get a holiday home, what would life be like living here?” Sanchia agrees that Kiwis returning from overseas in the Covid world have had an impact, but adds that the growth started well before the pandemic. Along with its rapid population growth, there is also quite a high aging population. About 23% of Central’s population is over 65 years of age compared to a national average of 16%. “So we’re already where the rest of New Zealand will be in another ten years which impacts on lifestyle, economy and future planning. “There are a lot of retired people here who have enjoyed living here for a very long time. But it’s also a desirable place to come and live some of your retirement years if you are active and like small tight-knit communities. Enjoying amazing pinot noir probably helps.” The flip side of living in beautiful rural/pro - vincial towns is a high exit rate of young peo- ple eager to enjoy the benefits of larger cities and grow themselves there, before returning to their provincial roots. While the district’s unemployment rate is very low at 1.6% in 2020 compared to the national average of 5.3%, it can sometimes be a challenge to fill vacancies. “There’s quite a seasonal need for labour especially in the horticulture, viticulture and agriculture sectors. In the past we’ve been very fortunate with seasonal labour in terms of the RSE scheme and visitors to New Zea- land on working holidays. “There have been some scary times during Covid especially when we came into the stone fruit and then grape harvest. We managed to get through, though I think some weather events earlier in the year helped curtail the labour need.” Agriculture leads the way in terms of Central Otago’s Industry, and that includes sheep and beef, along with horticulture and viticulture. “There are cherries, stone fruit and the pinot noir. We have an exceptionally high amount of organic and biodymanic wine here — one of the highest percentage regions in the world and that’s increasing all the time.” Construction is the district’s third fastest growing industry, which Sanchia says, is in part due to people working on their own properties but there is also a lot of central and local government capital investment going on. “Tourism is worth 6.8% of our GDP. For the season just ending, a number of operators are saying they are 30% up and above from the summer before Covid. Some are even saying 50%. Numbers on the Central Otago District Rail Trail are up 67% from the summer before Covid. We’ve been so grateful to New Zealand- ers coming here in such an uncertain time; it has really helped pull our economy through.”