Sector-led recovery plan for Taupō District now underway
A new sector-led working group has been brought together to address the effects of COVID-19 and develop a recovery plan for the Taupō District.
The recovery framework will cover the four wellbeing areas with participation on the working group representing economic, cultural, social and environmental interests.
Group chair and Taupō District mayor David Trewavas said the effect on the district from COVID-19 was likely to be long lasting and far-reaching and the need for a collaborative approach to recovery was imperative.
“As a tourist destination, we know that we are going to be one of the most affected areas in the country and it is going to be a long road ahead for our economy to bounce back. That has wide-spread effects across our community – not just in terms of our businesses but also in terms of the wellbeing of our people,” he said.
“We need to ensure that we understand what those effects are and how to address them. The best way to do that is to ensure a local, sector-led response that has the ability and insight to identify opportunities for our district, that can then be supported at a regional and national level.
“In essence, it’s about taking a collaborative approach and making decisions that are united and clearly focused on how we will not only recover, but ideally flourish, in a post-COVID context.”
A ‘state of the district’ report is now being developed to clearly identify the effects of COVID-19 across the Taupō District.
“Once complete, the report will be the first step towards developing a wider recovery plan that will provide clear direction for restoring and reimagining the Taupō District,” Mayor Trewavas said.
“Of course, work to support our community is already well underway with a commitment by council to a zero percent general rates rise in the 2020/21 financial year, a fee waiver for commercial and community tenants, and no increases on the majority of our fees and charges for next year.
“Further efforts to stimulate the economy have included the council’s application for more than $316 million of government funding for community projects along with a ‘love this place’ campaign to push the message to buy and support local wherever possible.
“Enterprise Great Lake Taupō have also delivered intensive additional business support services and Destination Great Lake Taupō have developed a marketing plan to attract domestic visitors as soon as alert conditions allow.
“It’s also heartening to see many groups and communities across the district initiating proactive programmes and activities to help the local community recover. We need to harness this positivity,” he said.
The next steps will include a series of stakeholder engagement activities to ensure we are hearing from as many people as possible, including wider ideas and voices to feed into the plan. Anyone interested in being involved in this process can fill out this form here.
“We know there are people hurting from this and it is up to us as a community to take the lead in developing what our new normal will be,” Mr Trewavas said.