BIG PICTURE
The financial market crash of 2008 signalled the end of the credit fuelled expansion the world had witnessed since the early 1980’s, and the dawn of a new era of tighter credit and economic restriction, which will continue until all the excesses of the prior expansion have been eradicated.

This cycle of credit expansion and boom to credit contraction and bust and then back again has existed for millennia, and whilst the nature of the booms have always been different, the outcome has always been the same – after the party always comes the hangover!
Since the financial market collapse, global economies have experienced mixed fortunes, some staging occasional half-hearted recoveries, others plummeting into turmoil – however until all the previous wild excesses have been finally unwound, we will remain in the doldrums of creeping recessions interspersed with recoveries that don’t feel much like good times.

Whilst this is clearly a global problem, it has particular ramifications for NZ generally, and Nelson/Tasman specifically, because of our reliance upon primary industries and tourism.
As a result, we may have to reconsider a number of things on our wish-list and make-do with ‘robust and functional’ rather than ‘state of the art’. With a new mindset of good planning and creative thinking rather ‘big-spending’, we can be proactive about change and ensure a bright future.

Each of us understands the increased need to manage our personal finances wisely, and Council must do the same

FINANCE

1. Council must issue a Bond to minimise exposure to rising interest rates and lend certainty to future planning. It is the only way to insulate the councils’ debt from the impacts of rising interest rates, and without it the councils’ debt servicing costs will become crippling in the years ahead.
2. Undertake a top down review of Council spending to discover where efficiencies can be made and Council staff best deployed. Council’s current spending must deliver value for money for ratepayers.
3. Council cannot allow its budget to inexorably rise, thereby requiring perpetual rate increases. Future spending must be decided on a ‘needs before wants’ basis, backed by robust, comprehensive analysis and linked to ratepayers' ability to pay.
4. Bolster and encourage local banking and finance, keeping funds within the region, increasing financial security for both the region's borrowers and depositors and ensuring security of credit lines.

MOTUEKA FOCUS

1. Lower Motueka River Flood Control – This remains a high priority for the Motueka area, and the process must be pursued speedily. We need to ensure that the remedial work proceeds swiftly.
2. Wastewater Treatment Plant – The current preferred option still appears expensive and the assumptions on the useful life being 35 years would seem optimistic against the current projections for sea-level rise. Have low tech solutions genuinely been looked at and discarded, or have we gone immediately for a complex and costly option?
3. Library Development – I strongly support the development of a new improved library, incorporating a youth centre and acting as a true community hub.
4. Making Motueka a stopping point – With both the Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay attracting many visitors throughout the year, Motueka sees many prospective customers drive down its main street. We need to have a cohesive policy as to how we encourage people to stop, shop and enjoy our town rather than just drive through. We can make Mot attractive and welcoming by ensuring that communal areas are clean, tidy and colourful (the Vision Motueka inspired murals are a great start!), that clear, purposeful signage is utilised, a brand could be devised to market the town as a stopping point, best place to stock up before the Abel Tasman or heading over the hill etc.
5. Foster and encourage a local food collective with a food box scheme, and a midweek farmers/artisans market.
6. We should embrace the scheme championed by Dale Williams, the mayor of Otorahanga and the chair of the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs, designed to ensure the community works together to provide jobs for youth and stays connected as a community.
7. We should encourage and support any of our local companies involved in primary production that want to expand into ‘value added’ products. We should be aiming to retain as much of the entire production chain as possible, as the benefits are an increase in jobs in the area and more wealth generated.

BUSINESS

1. Aid existing businesses to adjust and profit in the new economic landscape.
2. Attract new businesses to set up in or move to Tasman (using development zones, rate incentives etc) that will prosper through Peak Oil and the ongoing financial crisis, or that are contra cyclical. Tasman could be a centre of excellence for Alternative Energy technology, Permaculture, Food Forests, Neutraceuticals and more.
3. Assist and facilitate our primary industry sector to capture more margin by ‘adding value’ rather than just exporting the raw materials.
4. Tasman should be a great a winter destination with its fabulous scenery and climate. We should thoroughly explore options for sports events, rallies, festivals and so on to ensure we are getting maximum bang for our buck.
5. Plan and prepare Tasman for the impacts of Peak Oil, especially primary exporting industries and the tourism sector.
6. The boom we have experienced since the 1980s was largely fuelled by cheap and widely available credit. This bubble finally burst in 2008, and now as the Global Financial Crisis rumbles on to its inevitable conclusion, we must strive to find alternative drivers of genuinely sustainable economic prosperity.
7. Assess the security of our power supplies.

SOCIAL

1. The current set-up of community boards feeding back to Council is a good starting point; however I do think that the process needs to be more robust. Because of the differing objectives of the boards and the council (the former taking a purely local view, whilst the latter takes a big picture view) it is obvious that there will not always be agreement, but on the subject of where the money is spent rather than how much is spent, there appears room for improvement. The community boards should be empowered and given the necessary resources and funding to ensure they are equipped to adequately relay to council both their list of priorities and their reasoning, council should then factor this into their decision making process and where appropriate allow more flexibility in where the funds can go.
2. The credit fuelled boom in house prices has created an affordable housing issue throughout the country. Currently we have many of the people that Tasman needs the most (those just starting their career path and those with young families), having the greatest financial struggle to buy their own home. There is only so much Council can do about the cost and supply dynamics involved in new house building, but I think it can do more about allowing flexibility in living arrangements. Currently the rules seem quite rigid and the costs quite high in regards to either allowing owners to make alterations to the properties for the purposes of rental or subletting etc, or allowing owners to have additional structures on their properties (be they yurts, shipping container housing, caravans etc) that they rent out. I am not advocating some kind of free for all, but I do think council needs to be innovative in its solutions and show greater empathy for many people’s plight.
3. Explore the ways Motueka can devise a ‘point of difference’, promote our uniqueness, and make town a more attractive destination for locals and tourists alike e.g. – The Vision Motueka Murals campaign is a fantastic idea and should be encouraged and developed, ensuring pedestrian zones and seating areas are welcoming, inspiring and novel, more simple ideas like Mike Ward’s painted drain-hole covers, initiate and develop annual festivals such as Shakespeare/Mediaeval/Dance/Fashion/Cars etc that offer opportunities for us to get together and strengthen community bonds.
4. Assist the setting up of a 'youth centre' in Motueka, giving members a safe, alcohol-free environment in which to socialise.
5. Help find ways to increase our social well-being and connectedness to assist our progress to a resilient community, able to provide help and support through challenging times, and act as a safety net in times of need. The Victory community in Nelson being a shining example of what can be achieved when a few good people get motivated.