Auckland Business Chamber boss Simon Bridges labels Whanganui ‘a marketer’s dream’; should play to strengths

Business Whanganui chief executive Helen Garner (left) with Simon Bridges in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Former National Party leader Simon Bridges is full of praise for Whanganui.

Bridges, now the chairman of the Auckland Business Chamber and NZ Land Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, said the city had “incredible pedigree”.

He was in town this week after accepting an invitation from Business Whanganui chief executive Helen Garner.

“It’s really about playing to your strengths,” he said.

“There are amazing buildings here.

“I was reading on Air Chathams on the way down here about the Johnston and Co building [49 Taupō Quay] and what a couple has done there. It’s just phenomenal.”

Add the NZ Glassworks, the Sarjeant Gallery and the city’s Unesco City of Design classification and Whanganui was a marketer’s dream, he said.

“Some people might say the arts are a bit left-wing or something - no way.

“This is hard-headed commerciality and what could make a city, in economic development terms, go really well.”

Bridges said while not everyone would agree, Whanganui needed to have a population strategy in place.

Whanganui District Council is working to a high population growth scenario - an increase of about 370 people and between 54-108 households per year over the next decade.

“More people leads to more activity, more activation, more vibrancy,” Bridges said.

He said he “wouldn’t presume to give advice” on the council’s plan for a new hotel and carpark.

“If I was still in politics I certainly would.

“Sometimes, particularly in a smaller provincial centre, government, whether it’s central or local, does need to take the lead because others won’t.”

Whanganui’s attractions were all preconditions for a hotel, Bridges said.

“You need that branding and you need to be pushing in on your heritage, your glassblowing and so on.

“Then, people will say ‘You know what, we need to go and spend a long weekend in Whanganui’.

“That fills the hotel.”

Simon Bridges says Terrace House on Wicksteed St -"the criss-cross building" - would make an amazing hotel. Photo / Bevan Conley

He said he was a fan of “the criss-cross building” in central Whanganui.

Terrace House at 133 Wicksteed St is owned by dentist and former Whanganui district councillor Hadleigh Reid and a group of shareholders.

“That is an architectural something else and I’m sure people love it or hate it,” Bridges said.

“In the right circumstances, that would make an amazing hotel or Airbnb or apartment complex.

“I’m foolish enough to invest in something like that if I had enough money because I can see so much room for growth in this city.”

He said Whanganui had a cultural character that a place like Auckland did not and it was the city’s “secret sauce”.

The Sarjeant Gallery, due to reopen later this year, was more than just art, he said.

“It’s obviously beautiful and intellectual and creative, but it’s also economics and business and what makes a city sticky and brings people here.

“They spend money in the cafe and the restaurant and the hotel.

“Maybe they’ll do a little bit more and even invest here.”

Whanganui’s brand only needed a handful of niches - “not 40 things, not even 12 things” - to differentiate itself from the crowd.

Bridges said the creative sector, one of those niches, was increasingly tech-laden and there was potential to grow that in Whanganui.

“If you’re a budding artist, you’ll have to be thinking about technology and multimedia, and AI even.

“In the end, that niche combined with technology leads to a higher income and value economy.”

New Plymouth was an example of a provincial centre that had bound its political, business and cultural communities together and pushed them to do special things, he said

“They have had something like $8-9m worth of concerts in the first part of this year. That’s a niche for them.

“There will be regions - and we won’t name them because we’ll get in trouble - in decline in New Zealand and some, even though they are isolated and they’re not the next Silicon Valley, are going very well, thank you very much.

“There is absolutely no reason why Whanganui isn’t and can’t be one of those - even more so.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.