Source: Business Canterbury
Business Canterbury has today released a to-do-list for incoming councillors across the region, as voting papers start getting delivered and returned for this year’s Local Government elections.
Business Canterbury Chief Executive, Leeann Watson says, “Canterbury is at a pivotal time in its growth story.”
“Sustaining our success as a region will take bold and coordinated leadership from our local councils.
“At present, and as a general rule, businesses view their councils as passive at best at championing growth. The prevailing sentiment is often that councils are not necessarily doing anything wrong, but not really ‘out there gunning for businesses’ to succeed either.
“Our to-do-list sets out some of the steps council candidates should think about as they close out the campaign period – and take into the job when those who are successful take their places at council tables across the region.
We are asking candidates to:
– Invest ahead of demand
– Back innovation
– Advance our competitive advantage in affordable housing and lifestyle
– Demand more from procurement
– Get rates under control
– Spend where the impact is greatest first
– Review levels of asset ownership
– Speed up consenting
Plus, more in the document linked below.
“The business community want councils to focus on the basics and ensuring that every dollar spent in their operating and capital budgets deliver real, tangible value, with resources directed toward the areas of highest growth impact first.
“It is consistent, sustainable growth that delivers strong community outcomes across the region, and councils have a significant role to play in enabling it.
“It is also clear that businesses want to see councils sharpening up internally. This means operating efficiently, streamlining processes, and removing unnecessary bureaucracy that slows progress and hampers business confidence.
“We need all councils to take up the role of being a champion for growth seriously, rather than seeing their role as enforcers. Some of our councils are already a long way toward making this a default mindset, and the resulting uplift in business confidence and investment speaks for itself.”
Separate to Local Government Elections, Business Canterbury has been leading a piece of work over the last year with the Canterbury Mayoral Forum to create a ‘Canterbury Ambition’ for the region which ensures we have a collective private sector led ambition that is enabled by local government. Those selected at the next local government elections will play a crucial role in realising this ambition and ensuring we keep the momentum we have as a region right now. We are looking forward to announcing further details of this work in the coming months.
About Business Canterbury
Business Canterbury, formerly Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, is the second largest Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand and the largest business support organisation in the South Island. It advocates on behalf of its members for an environment more favourable to innovation, productivity and sustainable growth.