Masterton mayor backs economic zones

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson said economic zoning would encourage business and market development throughout the country. FILE PHOTO

Masterton District Council Mayor Lyn Patterson is supporting the proposal of establishing special economic zones as a means of encouraging regional development.

The focus of the proposal by The New Zealand Initiative research institute is to allow a more tailored approach in policy-making decisions in the regions by redistributing power from Central Government to local authorities and their communities.

Ms Patterson said the zoning would encourage economic development throughout the country and would open up the doors for regional growth studies which she said is currently not an option for Wairarapa.

"It's disappointing that we can't carry out a regional growth study here, as they have in the Far North, Bay of Plenty and Manawatu, because they consider us to be part of the Wellington Region, although our economic drivers are very different," she said.

"One constant annoyance is that we know what the issues are in our community and we know what we need to do to lift economic performance, much of it is around education and support for our businesses, but the purse strings are held by central government for just about everything we want to do.

"The budgets are all held by different departments with differing policies and there's no coordinated approach specific to the regions.

"Isn't it about time that New Zealand had a national economic development strategy with an equal emphasis on metropolitan and provincial development? I believe it is."

Local Government New Zealand president Lawrence Yule also supported the proposal to give more power to local government as it would allow for better management of significant issues such as regional economic development, demographic shifts, climate change and rapid technological advancement.

"This innovative report ... outlines the way forward for regions to address location-specific policies and regulations, and provides the right tools and incentives to meet environmental and economic goals, and minimise barriers to growth," he said.

"Providing an environment that supports local government's ability to partner with others to efficiently achieve shared goals, and the incentives for all parties to encourage local economic growth, are vital parts of the conversation."