If we get together and build then the people will come

"I don't want to startle you, but they are going to kill most of us."

That's the opening line of a pacifist poem by the American jazz poet Kenneth Patchen, written in the 1930s in a time of desperation.

Thankfully, we in Wanganui are not living in such a time, but there is a sense of quiet desperation and it must be brought to conscious attendance. It could not have escaped anyone's notice that our city's future is in peril, due to a number of factors.

Central governments of both major parties have steadily determined that economic advancement of the country is to be tied to the larger metropolitan areas. The idea, while debatable in itself, has come to be expressed in policies of investment in cities like Auckland and Christchurch, supporting development of infrastructure, housing and subsidising of business opportunity.

Provincial cities like our own are below the radar of government except for plans to promote concentration of essential services into regionalised entities. Rather than the autonomous provision of those same services under local control and with local commitment, regionalisation gives further impetus to the decline of smaller centres.

The fact to be faced is this: The future of Whanganui cannot depend upon initiatives or even the largesse of central government. It's clear that we're on our own - and that may be the best thing we've got going.

This is as good a time as any to take stock of our assets and come up with imaginative prospects for the way forward.

Foremost is the natural beauty of our city and its surroundings. The river is the centrepiece that flows through our verdant landscape, but its sustaining presence has for too long been taken as a given with insufficient regard for its potential bounty.

On both its banks rises the city itself, and the physical structures erected by the early European settlers reflect not only their optimism and the prosperity they created but a sense of proportion and architectural aesthetics as may be found in cities of much greater ambition.

We are the beneficiaries of their foresight and, as a result, we have such structures as the Opera House, the Sarjeant Gallery and a small wealth of Edwardian heritage buildings that gladden the eye and spirit.

Land, river, buildings reflect the enduring, but the real vitality only comes from the people and activities that make that civic place go. It's where our true wealth comes from.

Ours is a diverse population with a multitude of skills.

Our agricultural community forms the backbone of our economy. Small manufacture thrives here. There is a vibrant arts community in our city. That presence constitutes another motive for people to move here for reasons of cultural enhancement. Our city's sports programmes have been world renowned.

We have a good hospital which we can keep - but only if we're willing to engage and fight for it.

The local iwi are making strides in education and health care. With the coming settlement of historic claims, the iwi is set to become an engine for economic growth.

The coming of city-wide high-speed broadband will make for enhanced business operations that should attract more jobs.

With these advantages of geography and people, we can reclaim and build our city for prosperity to come, but only if we act together. Beyond talk of unity we can act together with the energy of our differences as a source of collective strength.

With our river as a focus for economic development and cultural expression, we can create ourselves as that special niche in New Zealand where problems get solved.

The time for talk must give way to action. Council and iwi can take the lead but no one can afford to stand by. This community has come together in force before to face crises, to good effect - our present crisis is all too real.

And it needs all of us, working together, to address it.