Dunedin needs to send message: Taylor

Dunedin must make itself heard to ensure it gets a share of the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, Ian Taylor writes.

In six weeks' time, Dunedin city will lodge its application for capital funding from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) to help build the platform for the Steamer Basin Project.

What we do over the next six weeks may well determine the legacy we leave our children, and our children's children.

The coalition Government, and Shane Jones in particular, have offered us a chance to create that legacy. The significant funding already provided by the PGF to undertake the feasibility study for Damien Van Brandenburg's powerful vision for the Steamer Basin is a clear indication that they take this vision seriously. It is now up to us to prove we deserve it.

And how do we do that?

Well, first we have to show that we are in this together, not just as a city, but as a region.

We have to show belief in this vision and that, with help from the PGF, we WILL make it happen. Politicians are watching. They read letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and listen to talkback. They will note commitments from our various authorities, education institutions, business leaders and iwi. If you think that this vision for our future is important, then now is the time to make yourself heard.

And what messages should we send? Here's three for starters:

The Provincial Growth Fund is long overdue recognition by Government that we can no longer focus on simply making our big cities bigger. In this new digital age of high-speed connectivity, smaller cities can deliver a work and lifestyle balance that is moving beyond the reach of the younger generation in those larger centres. The Steamer Basin Project, and the unified support that it has generated, sends a signal that as a region we recognise this and we are prepared to make that investment for our future generations. The Provincial Growth Fund will enable us to accelerate that vision.

This project takes advantage of our strengths and carries with it a focus on the creation of high-value jobs - the University of Otago's Centre of Sustainability, developing research and development in an area of growing global interest; the engineering opportunities that have already been identified by companies such as Farra Engineering; the potential for a centre of digital excellence based around gaming and associated technologies; strengthening tourism and convention opportunities around the proposed hotel and cultural centre. And, of course, unlocking the value of our harbourside, finally connecting this wonderful resource to our city centre.

And then . . . there's the stadium. Against all odds we built a roofed stadium and Terry Davies and his team are making it work. We built it for $224 million dollars. The government at the time gave us $15 million. Last week, Christchurch announced that it hopes to have its $500 million roofed stadium in place in five years. It will receive $230 million in Government funding.

So, we also need to send a message that the Provincial Growth Fund should not just be about funding new initiatives.

It should also be about protecting bold visions made in the past.

The stadium was one of those and the Steamer Basin Project will be critical to helping us protect the value it has created for the entire region.

The Provincial Growth Fund is a unique opportunity to lay down this platform for our future.

Our city founders created great legacies which we still see around us today.

Let's make this one ours for future generations. We may not get this opportunity again.

Ian Taylor is chief executive of Animation Research Ltd (ARL).