Shaping region’s economic future

Birds eye view of Okitu, where a proposed 500km coastal multiple-use trail, Te Ara Tīpuna, is set to start. The Tairāwhiti Economic Action plan aims to support this initiative, which will wind its way to Ōpōtiki, connecting 22 communities and 64 marae. File picture by Ben Cowper

Gisborne is undergoing an economic refresh aimed at improving standards of living and boosting local business opportunities.

After Covid and devastating weather events, the 2019 Tairāwhiti Economic Action Plan (TEAP) has had a revamp as it sets out the region’s approach to growth.

The new plans consider the environment, and “while ambitious it is tempered with pragmatism”, says Amohaere Houkamau, TEAP evolution co-convenor and director of the organisation Rau Tipu Rau Ora.

Rau Tipu Rau Ora was set up during COVID-19 to create a regional response plan and includes representatives from local iwi, Te Whatu Ora Health NZ, the tertiary education sector and Eastland Group.

“You can’t have an economic action plan without looking at the people and the environment. So the new TEAP builds from iwi strategies, environment reports, council plans, recovery plans and actions from the ‘Tairawhiti Tomorrow Together’ summit,” she  says.

“We can’t be continuously in planning mode, so we need to either add value to something that’s already happening or remove a roadblock.”

The new TEAP reflects the need to be more resilient to pandemics and severe weather events, and builds on specific recommendations from the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use report, she says.

“Basically, if we don’t do something (about our environment) in the next 10 years then we are faced with a region that’s going to be crumbling around us,” she says.

The Māori Economic Development Plan was developed alongside the first TEAP in 2017. In 2019 both plans were synthesised into the refreshed 2019 TEAP, to ensure both plans were prioritised, she says.

“While the TEAP 2024’s vision and purpose is still ambitious it narrows its focus to four key areas: Te Taiao (environment), People, Infrastructure, and Economic initiatives.

“We want a plan where Tairāwhiti works out our priorities, understands our strengths and emerging opportunities, as well as identifies and addresses our challenges”.

To gain insight into what Tairāwhiti needs, the TEAP steering committee, Rau Tipu Rau Ora and Habilis, the lead consultant for the TEAP, have been meeting with communities up and down the Coast.

They have also met with Trust Tairāwhiti, iwi, council, businesses, the chamber, tech, environment and industry sector forums, and read relevant research reports to craft the TEAP goals.

“The next part of the plan is to identify who the partners are. Some of those partners will be central government, and some of those partners will be public and private sectors and philanthropists.

“The new TEAP isn’t just about healthy balance sheets and GDP, which is important, but it’s also about improved standards of living.”

Lead Habilis consultant Kent Duston says the agenda is unlike other economic development plans, as it works from the bottom up.

“Other economic plans work from the top down. They try to pick winners and go ‘we think this industry or that business or this sector is going to be a winner’.

“We have taken a very different approach, which is to look at it from the bottom up and say, ‘what are the aspirations of the communities and how do we help realise that in a regional economic sense’.”

Both believe that since the cyclone, it has become more apparent that the Coast needs to become more self-sufficient and have its own micro economy.

This understanding led TEAP to look into the possibilities of connecting the Coast with renewable energy microgrids and micro infrastructures to help them when they disconnect from the main power grid.

This possibility also has other business incentives.

Amohaere Houkamau gave an example on how the TEAP builds on supporting existing initiatives.

She referred to the proposal to create a 500km coastal multiple-use trail, Te Ara Tīpuna, which would wind its way through the East Coast from Okitu to Ōpōtiki, connecting 22 communities and 64 marae.

Resource consent applications have been filed with Gisborne District Council, Ōpōtiki District Council and Eastern Bay of Plenty, to develop Te Ara Tīpuna.

The track is a great initiative for the TEAP to support, she says.

Te Ara Tīpuna serves multiple purposes, including creating business opportunities, tourism attraction, and “as an alternative emergency services route if Highway 35 goes down”, she said.

In regard to tourist attractions, “the trail could act as a catalyst for micro- businesses. There’s a whole lot of service industry opportunities.”

“If you’re on the Coast and are close to Te Ara Tīpuna, there’s a possibility to start a small business charging e-bike batteries  and with the development of locally-sourced renewable energy options, it means they will have access to cheap energy.”

The creation of solar energy on the Coast offered opportunities for training and employment in the installation and maintenance of panels.

“TEAP is about giving people the ability to contribute to the region’s economic plan and sharing the responsibility for its success.

“It encourages more people to be active participants in creating the conditions and economies that will enable Tairāwhiti whānau, communities and businesses to be better off.”