Acting Mayor's Message: Activating our city takes everyone

We’ve heard a lot recently about the need to get our city activated and thriving, to bring people back into its centre and give a boost to our local economy, especially after a challenging few years. It’s something I spend plenty of time on – talking to residents, business and building owners, workers and external experts. It’s clear the shared intent of achieving more is there, it’s just about getting together and actually taking action.

And we don’t need to start from scratch. We’ve already kicked off our summer events programme strongly this year with an incredible 11 days of the Nelson Arts Festival, filled with challenging, entertaining and thought-provoking pieces. Followed up immediately by the privilege of hosting Te Mana Kuratahi, celebrating the incredible talent of primary school kapa haka, we’re seeing the benefits of partnering across business, iwi, community and Council to bring added vibrancy and people to our region.

I’m incredibly proud of the effect both those events have had on our community – enhancing our creative and cultural wellbeing, and bringing incredible locals into the spotlight, alongside national and international talent. Their success is a testament to the hard work of the organisers and the support of residents in getting along to enjoy what’s on offer. 

Looking ahead, we’ve got a summer filled with events, from the Santa Parade, the Multicultural Festival and Tāhuna Summer Sounds, to New Year’s Eve, L.A.B and Sublime with Rome, and international cricket. Of course, activation is about more than just events and, in the background, Council is deep into its Long Term Plan work, laying out a pathway for the next 10 years and looking at permanent improvements to make our city an even better place for us to enjoy. Even in challenging circumstances, we’ll be looking to keep investing in our people and our place. 

While there’s more work for us to do, getting our city activated is about supporting and empowering the residents who make up our city to shape, influence and lead the changes you want to see. We need to continue to build a local economy and environment that encourages the innovation and inspiration already present within our community, and to create the buy-in and sense of ownership of having a clear stake in our city’s future.