Chester Borrows: Bravo, Whanganui - just do it

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

YOU can't but think Whanganui is on the cusp of something really big when you stand on the riverside and watch a massive ferry with a carrying capacity of 400 passengers slide gracefully into the water.

Built for the Auckland to Waiheke Island run, the expectation is that it will have a tenure of 20 years. That is 70,000 trips for a total of 20 million passengers.

And the extra good news is that there is another one just like it due in the water in June next year.

Once again, it is Miles Fothergill and Colin Mitchell with their team from Q-West turning it on for Whanganui Inc. Highly skilled workers and technicians turning heads around the country but also around the world.

In typical Whanganui fashion, these bosses are humble and under-stated, but the customer, Fullers Ferries, is ecstatic and can't say enough about the workmanship, the ease of doing business with Q-West and the fact that it is so pleased to be dealing with a company in regional New Zealand where nothing is a problem.

The buzz around the port with the business plan for expansion and the possibilities of what can be done to cluster like-minded and complementary businesses around the river is exciting. The fact that people are dreaming big is a truly positive shift. Whanganui has been licking its wounds for far too long.

On Monday I attended the celebration of 100 years of the Imlay Freezing Works in Whanganui, and a tour of the killing chain, boning room and packing process made a stark statement about how far the value-added meat industry has come from wrapping carcasses in muslin and exporting for breaking down overseas, through to precise and valuable fine cuts of meat individually vacuum-packed for quality markets offshore.

Every animal halal-killed to add value and every end customer supplied with traceable meat. Even the intestines were counted and emptied, flattened and packaged for another end use, the heads boxed and exported, the pelts further processed into fine leathers. The very tangible hallmark was the pride everybody took in their work as they were "growing the pie" for New Zealanders, not just their own pay packets, family income and local domestic economy. It was a privilege to be there. Some things never change though and a politician is always fair game.

When I got back to the marquee to take my coverall off my back was splattered with blood thrown from behind as I walked past, while the rest of the tour party were pristine white. I consoled myself that the knife didn't come with it. The humour of such a workplace wasn't lost on me and reminded me of similar pranks we used to play when I worked on the wharves in Nelson in the 1970s as a casual labourer.

It is heartening to see us all fizzing at the bung in expectation of the next big thing to happen in Whanganui. The council is starting to get together and make some positive noises, and I hope this will be ongoing. If everyone wants the best for the city and district, then the only debate should be around how we get the job done and not who is going to do it.

Everyone benefits from those who create opportunities, grab the chances they have to grow the business and make jobs for people willing to work and able to turn on the skills required to meet the customers' demand. Whether it is a customer wanting a multimillion-dollar ferry for Auckland Harbour or vacuum-packed sheep guts in China, lamb racks in London, or tongues in Cairo, a deal is a deal.