Matariki Strategy provides solid base

Matariki Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan, announced last week by government and local officials, aims to avoid past plan pitfalls. Photo / Warren Buckland

Last week a Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan for the Hawkes Bay, the Matariki Strategy, was launched.

International and local studies suggest that the success of regional development strategies are chequered to say the least. A common pitfall is strategies that surmount to "picking winners" or a few "grand projects". These more often than not lead to wasted resources and white elephants that local communities have to bear the cost of running. Another pitfall are strategies that struggle to get off the drawing board because they have not been developed in partnership with business and local communities. There is no benefit in having a strategy that is not supported by businesses, or whose goals do not reflect local social and economic development aspirations.

The Matariki Strategy appears to avoid both of these pitfalls. It has been developed from the bottom-up, with support from central Government. Local input includes Maori communities, the business and not-for-profit sectors, and local government. Two cabinet Ministers that I spoke with leading up to the launch were especially pleased by the cohesiveness of support they have seen from local governments in the Bay, given the role they will play in driving the strategy into action, and the at times rancorous amalgamation debate.

The strategy has also largely avoided the temptation of picking winners. The largest single expenditure item is the "no brainer" $25 million capital works programme to improve road access to the Port of Napier. This is needed not just to cope with the projected "wall of wood" and the Bay's expanding horticultural base. It also reflects the port's potential to become an export hub for the wider Manawatu-Wanganui and Taranaki regions. Road and rail transport from these regions to the Port of Napier can be a better economic proposition than transporting bulk cargo all the way up to the Port of Tauranga or Ports of Auckland.

The CEO of Napier City Council, Wayne Jack, sees that a key aim of the strategy is to "normalise enterprise culture across all households and whanau." This reflects the fact that in the Bay, and most parts of New Zealand, job and business growth depends upon the health of SMEs. It also reflects the fact that the Bay is unlikely to prosper unless Maori youth become significant future business owners and leaders.

The biggest constraints facing small and new businesses are access to the right information and funding sources. This is where the Bay with its small population size and willingness to work across different arms of government and Iwi organisations can be very effective.

Another source of frustration and cost for small and large business alike is dealing with regulation and compliance. It was pleasing that the Matariki Strategy recognised that removing unnecessary constraints and costs are at least as important as supporting business growth. The fact remains that planning processes and costs are not even across councils in the Bay, and this complicates and distorts business planning and investment decisions.

Present economic conditions in the Bay are buoyant, but future prosperity cannot be taken for granted. Nor can the sharing of success within and between different communities. The Matariki Strategy provides a solid foundation for building long-term success.

- Aaron Drew is an Associate of the NZIER and Chief Investment Officer of the Stewart Financial Group, whose head office is in Hastings. His show, Real Wealth, can be heard on Radio Kidnappers on Tuesday afternoons and on podcast.