Great tuning into the positive

Chris Northover PHOTO/FILE

I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand the Saturday before last.

It was all about Wanganui - and what a programme. We were well represented by our people and the whole thing was positive. What a surprise.

Kim's parents moved her to Otorohanga as a 15-year-old "nerdy" girl and she has steadily made her way up the ladder at Radio New Zealand. At one time she was a masseuse in Christchurch - but nothing dodgy, of course. Then to journalism and on to Morning Report with the great and lamented Geoff Robinson.

Kim earned her name with snappy interviews with an intelligent incisive style. In fairness many called her "Kill Him" because of her obvious anti-male bias which tended to get in the way of balanced journalism.

But perhaps that was the old Kim - in fact, I heard her allow people to finish their sentences several times. Kim was in town as part of the A Place to Live conference held in Wanganui last week.

Mayor Annette Main came across well with the support of Marianne Archibald who is in charge of the town's digital and broadband strategies - all done with an appealing dose of "down home" honesty. Annette discussed Wanganui's unfortunate reputation with a well practised and fluid eloquence which convinced me that our problems are small ones.

Another who was allowed to finish most of his sentences was councillor Martin Visser .

Martin has a passion for promoting Wangas as a place to live or start a business - he has returned to his childhood city after 30 years and has got a very good grasp of the numbers; meaningful numbers.

Martin told Kim he is developing a New Zealand "social progress index" based on the work of Michael Porter of Harvard University. This index uses 54 measures of such things as access to sporting facilities, schooling and other factors that add up to giving a picture of the quality of life in that place.

This index is interesting because it doesn't concentrate on financial measures but rather those that affect quality of life or social progress. Of course, the quality of life is ultimately influenced by the financial measures. New Zealand rates first in Michael Porter's international index, well above Australia and the United States.

And our old buildings ... Martin says they bring about $40 million to the town every year and they are stronger than we thought. And who knew that we drilled for drinking water and found hot water? Good on ya, Martin - we need more thinkers like you on our side. I look forward to seeing more of the fruits of your labours.

Another asset to our town well "curated" by Kim Hill was the director of the Whanganui Regional Museum, Dr Eric Dorfman. This silver-tongued whiz kid has to be the most interesting American import into Wanganui since Kimble Bent.

Eric is a highly-experienced professional and is active in the promotion of the museum as well as Wanganui as a destination. He spoke about the museum's new art gallery and has certainly convinced me to see Billy Connell's War, an exhibition which features photos taken by a young Wanganui bloke on a camera he smuggled into the frontline. Eric also chairs the regional tourism organisation which looks to be succeeding for him as our visitor numbers are swelling monthly. If I didn't already live here, I think I'd move.

-Chris Northover is a Wanganui-based former corporate lawyer who has worked in the fields of aviation, tourism, health and the environment.