A retreat, planned in March this year to give older trustees and two new ones a chance to ''hammer out ideas'' for the Oamaru historic precinct, was held last weekend, trust chairman Peter Garvan said this week.
However, over the past month there has been increasing debate over the operation of the trust, ranging from rents charged and business survival in winter to whether the original 1989 ''Victorian Town at Work'' concept was still applicable.
Mr Garvan acknowledged one of the biggest issues facing the precinct was visitor and tourist numbers fluctuating, with winter a difficult period for everyone.
''The precinct is very much a seasonal business,'' he said.
Maintenance and restoration of the trust's buildings meant income had to be generated by carefully managing tenancy of the shops and the buildings so everyone was as successful as they could possibly be.
The trust also had to create an environment that attracted the best businesses suited to the area and, in turn, created visitor and shopper interest.
That led to the change in the mission statement to: ''Preserving Oamaru's unique Victorian buildings by developing Historic Oamaru into a place the local community is proud of and which visitors want to experience.''
During the retreat, presentations from a number of people associated with the precinct and with tourism, produced some ''really impressive'' ideas.
''While our core business is the actual precinct, we see that the precinct has an effect and, is in turn, affected by the entire historic part of Oamaru from the Boer War Memorial to the penguin colony ... We don't believe we can simply be blind to the other activities in this area.''
