Palmerston North city councillor Kaydee Zabelin: The council needs to proactively engage with farmers

Palmerston North city councillor Kaydee Zabelin says a rural voice is needed in decision-making. Photo / Kevin Bills Media

OPINION

March’s New Zealand Rural Games in The Square triggered a nostalgia trip: I was transported back to the 1990s, arriving at the Pahiatua A&P Show on the back of my grandad’s ute with my pet calf and a $20 note (riches!) itching to be spent on rides, games and highly-commended pikelets.

Despite being a pikelet-free event 45,000 people attended the Rural Games - an economic boon for Palmerston North. It’s caused me to reflect that, despite the importance of our farming community to the social and economic strength of our city, we hear very little about it in the council.

Palmerston North hosts thousands of visitors to the city daily, and regional loyalty spend rates at 82.6 per cent show a major proportion of them are coming from the rural belt that surrounds the city. In dollar terms, we’re talking about a spend of more than $80 million at city businesses and services this year.

Our city is surrounded by a ring of food producers eking out a living amid back-to-back rainy seasons, relentless price hikes, crushing bank and compliance costs, and volatile international markets - the price of whole milk power dropped to a five-year low just a fortnight ago, casting a grim outlook for the payout.

What happens to these families has a direct impact on the city, and while next year we expect an agrifood sector profile report, giving us an economic snapshot of the sector from paddock to plate, there appears to be a void in council when it comes to hearing from our rural communities about the pressures they’re facing.

It’s concerning because when we at a governance level are looking solely through an economic lens, we are in real danger of losing sight of the human communities who are driving this sector and what kind of support they might need from us.

We are currently developing the bone structure for the next long-term plan, which will set the course for council spending and development priorities for the next decade. Part of this work will include developing a food resilience strategy, and input from the farming community will be essential to building a complete picture of food security and innovation potential across our area.

Those living on the plains have practical knowledge of flood patterns that would be invaluable input into our flood protection plan. Biodiversity projects to support crop pollination, waste minimisation initiatives - there are so many areas for collaboration and support, so much developing strategy that would benefit from rural insight.

I’ve begun having conversations with farmers and people in the sector and it’s clear there is no shortage of ideas! I’d like to see the council more proactively seeking engagement here as it does with other communities on the strategic vision for the city, especially where strengthening our food-producing communities in turn strengthens the resilience and sustainability of our food infrastructure. After all, we all need to eat!

Kaydee Zabelin is a Palmerston North city councillor.