Driving development

The Queenstown Chamber of Commerce has played a pivotal role in initiating the Shaping our Future process which is focusing attention on the economic future of the Queenstown Lakes District and the role of events in the district. Chamber chief executive Ann Lockhart outlines the process.

In 2009 the chamber board invited key players from the Whistler local authority in Canada to visit Queenstown and discuss with members how the Shaping Our Future community consultation process, used in several places around the world, was effectively introduced in Whistler.

The Whistler representatives outlined the successful engagement of the programme into their wider community and provided the chamber with the impetus to approach the council to establish a steering group, representing sectors of both the business and wider Wakatipu communities, including the council.

The chamber applied for, and received funding from the council's 2010 Annual Plan, for the community consultation forums.

The steering group of the newly-formed Shaping our Future selected the Otago Polytechnic's Centre for Sustainable Practice to facilitate the forums.

The consultation is significant because it allows residents and ratepayers to have an influential voice in decision-making for the district, and it will unite the community with tackling a shared vision for the future.

The forums also take advantage of the knowledge and skills within our community, avoiding costly consultants' fees.

Two Economic Futures Forums have been held and the suggestion is that a successful future would consist of an empowered and engaged community of people living in a safe environment with a diverse economic structure.

Diversity in terms of the economic base and reliance on tourism was a key theme at the first forum along with population growth, infrastructure, environmental health and accessibility, improved technology, climate change, resource costs and central and local government policy.

The significant themes arising from the second forum were to create centres for world-class education from cradle to adulthood and centres of excellence for wine, hospitality and other areas where our community excels.

There was also wide discussion on the merits of a conference centre for Queenstown to enrich the resort's economic future.

Strong arguments for change were promoted at the Events forums and included the importance of a coherent events strategy, improved accessibility to the region, sponsorship, funding and facilities. The recognition of a small rateable population compared with the big demand for events, the significant role of volunteers, protecting the region's unique point of difference and a shared strategy for events were also highlighted.

The next and very important stage for the forum participants will be to transform the ideas promoted during the workshops into action. We are looking for ongoing support from all our members and others in the community to help ensure this happens.

Supporting the Shaping Our Future process is the first step for the chamber in its bid to foster economic development.

Simultaneously we are planning to undertake an economic model for the district, and have had the funding approved for this project by the council from its 2011 Annual Plan.

The district's economic situation along with the main economic contributors will be analysed in this study, but more importantly, opportunities will be identified to grow and diversify the local economy in the future.

We are looking to the economic model to give us some hard analysis which we have not previously had access to.

It will also provide a foundation for us to examine economic opportunities and threats, highlighting vulnerable areas as well as our areas of strength.

The combination of the Shaping Our Future outcomes and the economic modelling of the district will provide an excellent platform for the council, planners and the wider business community to go forward with confidence to achieve fresh economic development goals.