Forum 'step in right direction'

Napier City councillor and secretary of Grey Power Napier, Maxine Boag.

Rotorua could be one of the first cities in New Zealand to officially be branded as age-friendly, according to a speaker at the Grey Power annual meeting.

In Rotorua yesterday, meeting delegates heard from Maxine Boag, a Napier City councillor and secretary of Grey Power Napier, on how councils needed to address the ageing population.

She later said the fact the Rotorua Lakes Council had started a process for a forum for mature residents was a step in the right direction.

"Setting up a forum is the next step and it sounds like Rotorua is doing well in this regard," Ms Boag said.

"What I'm finding in Napier is there's a lot of piecemeal stuff. People complain about bus stops, mobile scooter access and footpaths."

She said the World Health Organisation handled the accreditation process for age-friendly cities but New Zealand had none. There were eight dimensions to becoming age-friendly and it was up to local authorities to work on those they identified as needing to be improved.

Grey Power was hopeful the topic would be included in the 2016 Local Government New Zealand conference, she said.

"There are age-friendly cities around the world and we're lagging behind," Ms Boag said.

"We're going to outnumber the younger people in my lifetime."

Also discussed at the meeting, which closes today, was the partnership between Grey Power and some power and fuelling companies.

There was a partnership with Pulse Energy, which had 15,000 Grey Power members signed up to its discounted power scheme.