Minutes of Economic Development Committee

Palmerston North City Council

Minutes of the Economic Development Committee Meeting Part I Public, held in the Council Chamber, First Floor, Civic Administration Building, 32 The Square, Palmerston North on 11 March 2020, commencing at 9.02am

Members

Present:

Councillor Tangi Utikere (in the Chair), The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Zulfiqar Butt, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Patrick Handcock ONZM, Leonie Hapeta, Bruno Petrenas, Aleisha Rutherford and Mr Ruma Karaitiana.

Non Members:

Councillor Lorna Johnson.

Apologies:

Councillors Rachel Bowen, Zulfiqar Butt (for early departure), Lew Findlay QSM, Billy Meehan and Karen Naylor.

Councillor Zulfiqar Butt left the meeting at 10.39am during consideration of clause 5. He entered the meeting again at 11.46am during consideration of clause 8. He was not present for clauses 5 to 7 inclusive.

Councillor Lew Findlay QSM was present when the meeting resumed at 11.08am. He was not present for clauses 1 to 5 inclusive.

Mr Ruma Karaitiana was not present when the meeting resumed at 1.09pm. He was not present for clauses 9 and 10.

1-20

Apologies

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Committee receive the apologies.

Clause 1-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Zulfiqar Butt, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Patrick Handcock ONZM, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Bruno Petrenas, Aleisha Rutherford, Tangi Utikere and Mr Ruma Karaitiana.

2-20

Public Participation at Meetings

Memorandum, presented by Natalya Kushnirenko, Democracy & Governance Administrator.

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Economic Development Committee set aside a public comment section of not more than 30 minutes at the commencement of each ordinary meeting of the Committee to provide members of the community the opportunity to comment.

Clause 2-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

3-20

Presentation - Agriculture and Investment Services, Ministry for Primary Industries

Messrs Andrew Clark and Blair Jamieson made a presentation updating the Committee on Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) activity in the region.

MPI’s focus was on encouraging provincial growth and developing and supporting rural innovations. This was achieved by promoting and advocating for the needs of primary industry, assessing and supporting grant proposals and/or loans and building effective partnerships with government agencies and industry.

Supporting Māori agribusiness was a priority for MPI. With more land being returned to Māori, MPI was providing assistance in deciding on the best use of the land. Māori business teams were facilitating Māori in getting products to market and producing feasibility studies and business cases. Some Māori land blocks are too small to be productive on their own, so a collective approach was being used to group several blocks together to make them financially viable. In the next few years, the biggest investment in agriculture would be from iwi.

Work was also being done to plant one billion trees on unproductive land. Although there had been criticism of the scheme when planting had occurred on productive soil, this was an exception and most trees were planted on unproductive hill country land. MPI worked with unsuccessful applicants to strengthen their applications.

MPI also focused on building skills, encouraging people to attend agri-based training courses and supporting the development of agri-technologies, eg. the rural-lab think-tank at Massey University was developing digital technology to make agricultural systems more efficient.

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

Clause 3-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

4-20

Presentation - Central Economic Development Agency

Ms Christine Atkins (Talent Advisor) and Ms Linda Stewart (CEO) made a presentation updating the Committee on recent work done by Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA).

CEDA’s goals were to develop talent in the city, attract talent into the city and retain talent in the city.

Palmerston North was facing a skills shortage in the construction industry and in filling middle management positions. CEDA was encouraging the development of skills in secondary schools and partnering with Immigration New Zealand to attract migrants to Palmerston North.

The pilot programme Next Step which promotes local organisations to skilled migrants had been successful at promoting Palmerston North as a place to live and work. The pilot runs for nine months and tracks people who register, interact with businesses and apply for jobs.

CEDA had developed an educational resource to promote what school was like in New Zealand to international students, with a view to encouraging more international students to study in Palmerston North.

The Careers Expo would be held in May, which would be an opportunity to showcase the industries and businesses in Palmerston North and the Manawatū.

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

Clause 4-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

5-20

Summary report on the December 2019 Palmerston North Quarterly Economic Monitor, 2019 Annual Employment Report for the Manawatū region, Major Developments and Quarterly Retail Report for January 2020

Memorandum, presented by Peter Crawford, Economic Policy Advisor and Linda Stewart, CEO, CEDA.

Councillor Zulfiqar Butt left the meeting at 10.39am

Moved Leonie Hapeta, seconded Vaughan Dennison.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Summary report on the December 2019 Palmerston North Quarterly Economic Monitor, 2019 Annual Employment Report for the Manawatū region, Major Developments, and Quarterly Retail Report for January 2020, be received.

Clause 5-20 above was carried 12 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Patrick Handcock ONZM, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Bruno Petrenas, Aleisha Rutherford, Tangi Utikere and Mr Ruma Karaitiana.

The meeting adjourned at 10.51am.

The meeting resumed at 11.08am.

Councillor Lew Findlay QSM was present when the meeting resumed.

6-20

Manawatū Region Retail Health Check (2019) Report

Memorandum, presented by Peter Crawford, Economic Policy Advisor and Linda Stewart, CEO, CEDA.

Moved Patrick Handcock ONZM, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Manawatū Region Retail Health Check (2019) and Manawatū Region Retail Health Check Executive Summary (2019) be received.

2. That the Chief Executive be instructed to identify and report on other retail zones within the Central Business District.

Clause 6-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Lew Findlay QSM, Patrick Handcock ONZM, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Bruno Petrenas, Aleisha Rutherford, Tangi Utikere and Mr Ruma Karaitiana.

7-20

Timetable for Updating Sector Profiles

Memorandum, presented by Julie Macdonald, Strategy & Policy Manager.

During discussion Elected Members acknowledged the timetable was a good starting point, but felt that it needed to be confirmed and endorsed prior to publication.

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the timetable for updating sector profiles be received as outlined on page 124 of the Economic Development Committee Agenda dated 11 March 2020 be confirmed.

2. That all sector profiles be subject to the Economic Development Committee’s endorsement prior to publication, and that the work schedule be updated to reflect this.

Clause 7-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

8-20

International Relations 6-monthly update

Memorandum, presented by Toni Grace, International Relations Manager.

Councillor Zulfiqar Butt entered the meeting at 11.46am

Moved Susan Baty, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Committee notes the progress of International Relations activity over the past six months, contributing to the International Relations Plan and Economic Development Strategy.

Clause 8-20 above was carried 14 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Zulfiqar Butt, Vaughan Dennison, Renee Dingwall, Lew Findlay QSM, Patrick Handcock ONZM, Leonie Hapeta, Lorna Johnson, Bruno Petrenas, Aleisha Rutherford, Tangi Utikere and Mr Ruma Karaitiana.

9-20

Housing Portfolio Update (February 2020)

Memorandum, presented by Councillor Susan Baty.

After discussion Elected Members agreed that financial modelling should be undertaken regarding the possibility of retaining one third of sections at Whakarongo for public rental housing at market rates, in view of the current housing shortage.

The meeting adjourned at 12.01pm.

The meeting resumed at 1.09pm.

When the meeting resumed Mr Ruma Karaitiana was not present.

Moved Susan Baty, seconded Lorna Johnson.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Housing Portfolio update report for February 2020 be received for information.

2. That the Chief Executive be instructed to undertake financial modelling on the possibility of retaining one third of sections at Whakarongo for public rental housing at market rates and reported back to the May 2020 Finance & Audit Committee meeting.

Clause 9-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

10-20

Committee Work Schedule

After discussion Elected Members agreed to the additions to the Work Schedule.

Moved Tangi Utikere, seconded Leonie Hapeta.

The COMMITTEE RESOLVED

1. That the Economic Development Committee receive its Work Schedule dated March 2020, with the following additions:

      -     June 2020            CEDA Projects/Activities Report
-     June 2020            Portfolio Update – Inner City/CBD
-     June 2020            Sector Profiles Timetable
-     October 2020      Portfolio Update – Science, Technology &                                               Innovation
-     December 2020   Portfolio Update – Defence
-     December 2020   Portfolio Update – Education & Students

Clause 10-20 above was carried 13 votes to 0, the voting being as follows:

For:

The meeting finished at 1.19pm

Confirmed 3 June 2020

Chairperson