Positive numbers revealed at committees meeting

The Clutha River is running at the highest levels recorded since November 1999. Photo: Richard...
The Clutha River. Photo: Richard Davison
Clutha District Council committees met in Balclutha this week, and were presented with a range of positive statistics for the area.

A report from library-service centre manager Vicki Darling painted a rosy picture for tourism in South Otago in April, following a 16% increase in total monthly information centre visitors (5719) compared to last year.

The increase is the first rise after a consistently downward trend during the past four years, where visitors had dropped 39% from a five-year April high of 8021 in 2014-15, to 4920 in 2017-18.

Key beneficiaries of the boost were Balclutha and Lawrence, with respective increases of 28% and 25% this April.

Building statistics for Clutha were detailed in a report from regulatory services administrator Wendy Copeland.

Both March and April experienced significant increases in total project value district-wide, compared to the same period last year.

March was up nearly 70%, at $4,524,412 (45 projects), and April up 78%, at $4,030,023 (41 projects).

The year to April, from July 1, 2018, was also up compared to the previous year, by 30% to $35,123,701 total (406 projects).

There were 349 projects during the same period last year; the biggest gains in project numbers this year are in commercial/industrial, farm, and new dwelling buildings.

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