Wānaka could play host to an artist “in the sphere of Dolly Parton” at a music event mooted for next summer.Alex Turnbull and Harry Gorringe presented their idea for a day-long concert featuring at least one top international act at Three Parks to the Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) today (Thursday April 18).Alex and Harry are respectively the founder and general manager of the successful and long-running Rhythm & Alps festival, which takes place in the Cardrona Valley each year. They said they envisioned a concert with somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 people at the outdoor space between the Wānaka Recreation Centre and New World Three Parks.Alex and Harry said they had been speaking with agents worldwide about possible performers.“I don’t want to speak too much about which acts…but if you imagine in the sphere of Dolly Parton, something like that,” Harry said. “I think the impact of an event like this would be profound.” Alex said the artists they were looking at were “pretty high level artists that are worldwide icons or heritage icons”.They pictured a one-day event with a focus on the 40 years and older market which would likely take place between late January and March.“I think [the Three Parks site] provides a great opportunity to have something that is inside the confines of Wānaka, one that doesn’t require us to bus people long distances to events,” Harry said. The first concert would be a pilot that would test the viability of a returning event, they said.Harry said the pair had approached Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) staff, who had recommended they speak with the board before formal planning with the council begins.For the most part WUCCB members were broadly supportive of the event but said they would like to ‘iron out’ some details regarding transport, crowd management and the like.Go deeper: The man behind R&APHOTO: Supplied

When Wānaka’s world-famous Cinema Paradiso was established 30 years ago, the town had three pubs and not much other indoor entertainment.So remembers the outgoing (in more ways than one) Paradiso owner Calum MacLeod in conversation on the The Outlet Podcast this week.Calum and his wife Andrea Riley, who set up Cinema Paradiso with Brian Hildreth in 1994, have now sold the cinema to Carolyn Whitaker and Hamish Menlove.Calum said going to the movies in early 90s Wānaka involved driving up to two hours’ across the gravel Crown Range, spending a “small fortune” eating out, and driving back.He wondered if a cinema “could maybe work here”, and the old town hall (then on Ardmore Street) had a projection booth on the end. It was a “cracking space”, Calum said, and it was boiling in summer and freezing in winter.“The screen came down and then every weekend … we hoisted it up to the ceiling and cleared the hall out,” Calum said.The rest is an entertaining and eventful history of Cinema Paradiso.“From there the seed was born and there's some fantastic stories that came out of that old town hall before council, in its infinite wisdom, decided to knock it down.” Those early days were community focused and Calum said the police sergeant at the time described the cinema as the best thing that had ever happened for young Wānaka people.The two opening weekend movies were Drop Zone and Legends of the Fall.The old town hall’s “hard ass” motivated Calum and Andrea to purchase some second-hand couches, but after people began fighting over them they bought enough comfortable chairs and sofas to accommodate their maximum audience of 50.“That meant that every time that we cleared the hall, we had to put all the couches and seats on the stage. So it was a Jane Fonda workout every weekend trying to get the food up and running. It was good times, really good times.”The cinema has moved site a couple of times: after the old town hall it shifted across to the old Central Electric Power Board building, (now Bottle-O). They built tiered seating and the business went from weekends to five days a week.“Thankfully [we] didn't have to lift the couches onto a stage every night and [we] operated there for 14 years,” Calum said. More recently it moved to its current site at the former Catholic Church of Our Lady of Fatima on Brownston Street, after a bit of redesigning and the addition of tiered seating, insulation, and sound dampening. The cinema expanded to two screens in 2019.Paradiso’s controversial intermissions were, Calum said, “a great way to generate an extra maybe a couple of dollars”. In the early days the intermission was a social occasion, but even after the move to Brownston Street punters wanted to keep the intermission - and the sofas.Andrea and Callum with their trademark half-time cookies.“So we kept the intermission and thank goodness we did because I think it's part of the experience. And if you look at Bollywood, which is a much bigger beast than Hollywood, it's all based around the intermission and eating and they approach it in a different way and it is a social occasion.”As for the “grunge” factor, Calum said most people loved it.“It's like going round to your mate's place to watch something, but it's a superb quality sound system and good projection gear. And … you can feel relaxed from the off.”Of the many highlights from the past 30 years, Calum recalled when dogs were allowed in the cinema (in town hall days). A Jack Russell called Baz was a regular cinema goer who would clean out the ice cream cartons on the floor when people had finished with them.  “So we were screening a film called Scream, the original Scream horror slash thing. And in the middle of this Baz licked this poor woman's leg. She hit the roof - off like the 4th of July. The whole place erupted … and it was just a poetic moment in terms of cinema.”On another occasion the chairman of the American Academy of Motion Pictures and Performing Arts came along to watch a film and left his card.“...On the back he'd handwritten ‘your fame has spread far and wide, keep up the good work’. I mean, this is the Scotsman in the back of the Wānaka, you know, you couldn't get further from anywhere on the planet and here he is going, ‘keep up the good work’.”Calum also recalled a young man coming in to see him, saying his parents had taken him to the cinema when he was one. They had told him when he went back to Wānaka he had to visit Paradiso and say hello to Calum. “I hugged him like a brother. And we had a couple of beers… When it sticks in their memory enough to send their son, you get that visitation back, that connection, that emphasis. It's gold. I can't think of any other industry that would have that sort of impact and that sort of feel that transcends 20 years.”His and Andrea’s decision to sell the cinema was “massive”, Calum said.“Thirty years is a long time doing anything. But … you find something you love doing, you'll never work another day in your life. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing and setting it up and all the changes.“It was incredibly hard, but it's time. It's just the right time.” Calum said his family was pleased to sell to another local family. “Hamish and Carolyn are really good people. I've been, as part of the handover, working and their kids are in there. And it's the same as when we started.“They'll be setting new memories and hopefully continuing the legacy… I like to think of it as a wee iconic bit of Wānaka that will hopefully stick around. It’s not necessarily just another place that's got beautiful vistas and whatever we've got around New Zealand. It's just that little point of difference which would be nice to see it carry on.”PHOTOS: Wānaka App

Otago Regional Council (ORC) has defended its decision to publicly notify its draft Land and Water Regional Plan (LWRP) in the wake of criticism from Federated Farmers Otago.Councillors voted 7-5 to move forward to the next step with the plan (which is designed to protect Otago’s lakes and rivers) at a meeting on March 27, which Federated Farmers environment spokesman Colin Hurst said was “a poor decision”."The last thing farmers struggling through high interest rates, low payouts and drought conditions want to be waking up to is news that more red tape is likely on the way later this year,” he said.Colin said the government was reviewing national freshwater direction and it had relaxed its timeframes, meaning the LWRP could be a “big waste of ratepayer money” and he asked “why on earth would ORC or other councils choose to push on?”ORC chair Gretchen Robertson told the Wānaka App the council had no legal basis to delay the LWRP.“The government has not directed councils to stop their programme of works towards new Freshwater Plans which include the LWRP,” she said. “The 2027 date for all councils to notify a new plan remains in place.” “Creating a plan is a very long process, ORC has been working on this plan for five years already. All councils are currently working on their plans to meet the 2027 date.”She said any review of national freshwater direction would be a lengthy process and did not mean the ORC would stop work on the LWRP.“While key ministers recommended ORC wait for further direction, they also said [the] government intends to use robust democratic processes to change the current National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPSFM). This will take time.”“Councils have been dealing with constant policy change and must navigate this while undertaking its role responsibly.”The LWRP is an important plan for Otago’s future, Gretchen said.“Otago’s competitive advantage is its outstanding freshwater environments,” she said. “Our job is to ensure we can thrive here in outstanding Otago and not live to regret our decisions.”At last week’s council meeting, ORC councillors agreed to notify the LWRP before October 31 this year.Staff will report back to council at its May 22 meeting with an updated programme of works.PHOTO: Wānaka App

The government has announced a plan to make it easier and cheaper for builders to use overseas building products by loosening rules.Instead, builders could rely on building standards from trusted overseas jurisdictions, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk announced on Thursday (April 4).He said it was currently about "50 percent more expensive to build a stand-alone house here than in Australia".The changes announced include:Recognising building product standards from trusted overseas jurisdictions, removing the need for designers or builders to verify standards.Requiring building consent authorities to accept the use of products that comply with specific overseas standards that are equivalent to or higher than those in New Zealand.Approving the use of building products certified through reputable certification schemes overseas. For example, the approval of one Australian scheme, WaterMark, could immediately provide Kiwis with access to 200,000 products.Penk said the government hoped to pass legislation to enable this structure by the end of 2024.While looking at products in Australia was a start, Penk said the government would also look at products from countries that had a good engineering reputation."The building consent authorities will have to approve the building project overall. For example, not only that the product is robust and of high quality, but also that it's going to be used in a way that's appropriate."Prime Minister Christopher Luxon pointed to North America, saying "great houses are being built in other countries around the world that have equal if not better standards than New Zealand".New Zealand should not be afraid of importing those international products, he said. He suggested New Zealand could also shift away from having councils act as building consent authorities, saying overseas jurisdictions had far fewer - sometimes just one - for the entire country.Penk said the cost of building a house in New Zealand had gone up 41 percent since 2019."This is a major shakeup that will drive down the cost of building without compromising on quality, to make it easier and more affordable for people to build or renovate a home."It will also help improve the country's resilience to supply chain disruptions and reduce barriers for Kiwi businesses trying to find alternative approval pathways in New Zealand and export their product overseas," Penk said.Luxon and Penk had been visiting the EasyBuild Homes factory ahead of their announcement, a New Zealand-owned company making New Zealand-designed housing products.EasyBuild co-founder Michael Fox told RNZ the system was like the "Ikea of the building industry", putting the materials needed to construct a home - frame, wall panels, windows and all - flat-packed into a container crate, so it could be quickly constructed by a pair of semi-skilled labourers."Only thing you don't get is your floor coverings, your electrical wiring ... and your plumbing which goes behind the wall," Fox said. "We're like the Toyota Corolla of the housing industry, so we're producing lots of houses that are similar but they can be customised to actually make them a little bit unique."What New Zealand needs to understand ... is that we need a two-tier building industry. One where you can buy houses at a price point that are efficient, economical and can produce quickly - and then if you want your own bespoke house then you can have one, but then you pay a premium for that."The changes from the government were a "really good first step" for making it easier to build homes, he said."Coupled with, I suppose, freeing up the supply chain so that when these new products can come in they are actually freely stocked within the existing supply chains."If they close ranks and the merchants don't, say, support products coming in from overseas, then we won't get much change - but this first step is a very good thing the government has done."He said the change was an important piece to the puzzle for boosting productivity.Luxon this week laid out a new "action plan" that includes 36 goals to be achieved by 30 June 2024.It included releasing a draft plan to ease restrictions on building materials from overseas for public consultation.In March, the government asked councils to publish their building consent data.Applications for building consents and code compliance certificates must be completed within 20 days, but Penk had said the sector was telling him that was often not the case.He had signalled Thursday's move in February, saying it would help avoid disruption to supply of specific products, such as the Gib shortage which came to a head in 2022.PHOTO: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The organisers of the biennial Easter event Wheels at Wānaka have announced today (March 28) that the 2025 event will be its last.Since the first event in 2019, then subsequent events in 2021 and 2023, Wheels at Wānaka has grown to become a biennial migration for vehicle owners and enthusiasts, a gathering of passionate individuals sharing their love for classic, vintage, modern and unique machines."Wheels at Wānaka 2025 will be the fourth and last show,” event general manager Allan Dippie said. "Anyone who loves machines, cars, tractors – anything and everything with wheels or tracks really - would be mad to miss it.”Event founder Allan Dippie (centre).From roaring engines to gleaming chrome, the event celebrates New Zealand’s automotive, agricultural and construction history and the craftsmanship that goes into creating and maintaining the mechanical masterpieces.Allan said next year's final event is on track to be the biggest and best yet featuring a celebration of 100 years of Caterpillar, new interactive attractions, and further additions to be announced in the coming months. Organisers expressed gratitude for the unwavering support from partners, participants, exhibitors, and the community, acknowledging the event's financial contributions to many local and national charitable causes.The last Wheels at Wānaka will be held Easter weekend, April 18-20, 2025 at Three Parks, Wānaka.Tickets are now on sale here.PHOTOS: Supplied

More than 50,000 people are expected to attend the Warbirds Over Wānaka international airshow this Easter, and campervans and other vehicles have already begun to flood into Wānaka.The airshow is returning after a six-year hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions, and people will be travelling to Wānaka not only from around the country but also the world.“The town has been really looking forward to having Warbirds back. It’s seen as one of the key community events which everybody celebrates,” Lake Wānaka Tourism general manager Tim Barke told the Wānaka App.“A lot of people come from out of town and come back every year, it’s something of a reunion for people - but it’s been six years since the last one. I think the excitement’s been building for the last six years.”Tim said it had been “pretty cool” to watch the aircraft returning to Wānaka’s skies.“It’s great that the weather is looking pretty good for it, and we’re just happy to see our friends back after such a long break.”“It’s also a cool celebration of the history that has helped develop the culture here. Sir Tim Wallis and others who were so innovative and led an era where deer recovery was a big part of this region,” he said, adding that the passion for the old aircraft and their restoration is part of that culture. “Also, remembering the people who used to fly them and didn’t come home.”An economic boostTim said Warbirds is a stimulus event which brings people here for a longer holiday to make the most of what Wānaka offers. Regular visitors to Warbirds also build relationships in the area. “They do a lot of stuff while they’re here, they populate the restaurants and cafes,” he said.Tourism boss Tim Barke says Warbirds is a “stimulus event” and an economic boost. PHOTO: Supplied“From an economic perspective it’s a great injection into the economy before we head into winter.”The flip side: trafficWānaka police said locals should expect traffic to be “manic” during Easter, and have advised drivers to be patient and plan ahead.Read more: Crimeline: Fraud cases continue, ‘manic traffic’ expectedMt Iron roundabout is complete except for landscaping. PHOTO: SuppliedFortunately the new roundabout at Mt Iron Junction (a key entrance to Wānaka) is now operational with traffic flowing on all of its five legs. Work at the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) roundabout project at Riverbank and Ballantyne Roads will be paused for Easter, which will ease traffic along Riverbank Road.QLDC will open the intersection of Ballantyne Road and Riverbank Road as normal from midday today (Thursday March 28) through to Tuesday (April 5). “During this time, the surface will be compacted gravel so maintenance crews will be on standby in case any upkeep is required. Drivers are asked to take it slow and follow all signage instructions,” Waka Kotahi media manager Frances Adank said. The Tuesday after Easter (April 2) is Southland Anniversary Day so locals can expect to see plenty of travellers around Otago and Southland until then.

A representative for a proposed ‘health hub’ in Wānaka shared plans for the project at a health services meeting on Wednesday night (March 20).James Reid said the resource consent application for the project was lodged a few days ago and conversations had already begun with potential tenants, including a day surgery.“We think instead of spreading health services across Wānaka it makes sense to have a centralised hub that can serve that purpose,” James said.He did not specify whether the services would be entirely private or would include private/public partnerships.The development would consist of three building blocks comprising around 3,700m2 and discussions with potential tenants have already begun, a representative said.If approved, the hub would be located on Cardrona Valley Road next to the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre with the Aspiring Enliven Care Centre just beyond it.The location is a “common sense” one, James said.James said he represented the Gordon family, which is involved in aged care services in Wānaka.“We want to develop health services in the Upper Clutha region with a focus on medium to long term,” he said.The subject site, in green, is next to the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre and near Aspiring Enliven Care Centre and Aspiring Lifestyle Retirement Village.“I would love to think that down the track the Gordon family could also be involved in a satellite, small hospital that can assist Dunstan [Hospital].”Resource consent application documents say the development would consist of three building blocks totalling around 3,700 m2 “for a comprehensive complex of health care facilities, commercial and retail and /or office activities”.Each building would contain a range of activities including healthcare and day surgery “with these two activities making up the larger individual tenancies,” the application said.The site (45 Cardrona Valley Road) is split between Local Shopping Centre Zone (LSCZ) and Lower Density Suburban Residential Zone (LDSRZ) and the proposal seeks to develop only the LSCZ portion.Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) is currently vetting the application.PHOTOS/IMAGES: QLDC Edocs/Supplied

Local business Home & Co has been named Property Management Company of the Year in the 2023 Leading Property Managers Association (LPMA) Awards.Home & Co also received the Excellence in Team Culture Award, Industry Educator Award, and Excellence in Business Performance Award, as well as an individual award – Excellence in Administration – for Home & Co team administrator Jeanette Sharpe.The wins meant a lot to the Home & Co team, director Colleen Topping said.“The LPMA is an international organisation of property managers from New Zealand, Australia and the United States, so it’s particularly pleasing to be recognised by our peers that our team of five here in Wānaka is doing an outstanding job.”Home & Co had been operating in Wānaka for 19 years and Colleen said it was always satisfying to be able to help tenants find a rental property.She pointed to a recent situation where Home & Co was able to help Shashika Jayasinghe and his brother-in-law, both from Sri Lanka, find a long-term rental.Jeanette and Colleen with tenant Shashika Jayasinghe, who recently secured a long-term rental. Both Shashika and his brother-in-law have full-time jobs in Wānaka – Shashika’s role is in hospitality – and have been looking for long-term accommodation for around five months.Shashika says being able to secure a residential rental means they can bring his sister and her three children from Sri Lanka to join them in their new hometown. “We haven’t seen our family for more than a year so I can’t thank everyone at Home & Co enough for helping us find the right property.”Colleen acknowledged the rental market can be very challenging for tenants.“We also know how important immigrant workers like Shashika are to our local businesses, so these situations are definitely win-win for the local community.”The LMPA awards took place on February 24.Judges highlighted Home & Co’s commitment to sustainability, which they said had never been mentioned by entrants before. Colleen said Home & Co considered its carbon footprint after participating in Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) ‘Measure What Matters’ workshop last year.They now provide education on recycling to new tenants, and provide a reusable coffee cup and Plastic Free Wānaka tote bag with each welcome pack; and in the office have implemented measures like reusable ‘for rent’ signs and new recycling initiatives.PHOTOS: Supplied

Taxes, tolls and quotas were some of the suggestions put forward by more than 250 community members across the district on how to manage tourism.Not-for-profit community group Shaping our Future (SOF) has released a report following community engagement undertaken late last year which looked at “describing, quantifying and managing” the impacts of tourism on our community.“Pre and post Covid the community sentiment that there were just ‘too many’ tourists was frequently heard,” SOF board chair Vanessa van Uden said.“Asking the question ‘why do you think that?’ helps verbalise the impacts which is the starting point for developing strategies to reduce the impacts.”SOF executive officer John Glover said the phrase ‘over tourism’ was not only a function of the number of tourists, but also “a perception or feeling that arises when the negative impacts of tourism are too high”.Community members at a SOF workshop last year. PHOTO: SuppliedMore than 250 members of the public participated via workshops, college visits and an online survey last year, capturing a range of views on the positive and negative impacts of tourism.Feedback from the community included the expectation that decision makers “can and should act to manage the impacts of tourism”, the report said.People provided examples of how this could be done, suggesting planning policy, taxes and tolls, among others. “As expected there was strong support for tourist taxes to pay for the cost of infrastructure with the suggestion that visitor numbers be limited to match the ability of existing infrastructure to cope in the short term,” the report said.“Rental car taxes and road tolls were frequently mentioned as actions to reduce traffic.”The use of visitor give-back schemes, restricting numbers of tourists at various sites, and shifting the focus to the environment were some suggestions to deal with the pressure on the environment.SOF said the district’s communities value the connection with visitors and the diversity of culture they bring. The report presents a community perspective on the positive and negative impacts of tourism and identifies priorities for action. The negative impacts were grouped into three themes: loss of sense of place, living in a two-tier society and how overloaded infrastructure, services, and environment affect our social well-being.John said the work was supported by tourism and hospitality businesses in both Wānaka and Queenstown, resulting in “some really constructive conversations”.SOF will at some stage present the report to Destination Southern Lakes (holders of the local destination management plan).Read the full report here.

A draft economic diversification plan developed by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) alongside local businesses and industry experts has been shared for public feedback. Councillor and local business owner Matt Wong said the draft plan - ‘New pathways to a thriving future’ - aims to support the diversification work already happening across the district.“A variety of local businesses and individuals are already creating income streams outside of traditional core sectors like tourism and construction, and this in turn is nurturing a new range of suppliers and associated businesses supporting them,” Matt said. “This new plan aims to boost these innovations further, creating a local economy better able to withstand potential disruption and capitalise on new opportunities.”QLDC economic development manager Peter Harris said the draft plan proposes a key project with three strategic pillars, each with its own objectives and supporting projects.“The intent behind the keystone project is to acknowledge the international experience and outlook of our locals and how this can be channelled for the benefit of businesses across the district and wider region,” he said. “The three pillars then outline the need to, respectively, create the conditions that will help retain and attract diverse businesses, build on the district’s tourism expertise to grow related sectors like film and screen, and foster new niche industries.”.“With tourism and construction currently so dominant, change will take time but it’s really encouraging to see some amazing businesses flourish outside these sectors and there are many other people keen to support them to grow. ‘Fresh opportunities will inspire budding junior entrepreneurs and encourage homegrown talent to remain in the district.”The draft plan sits alongside the district’s regenerative tourism plan ‘Travel to a thriving future’ and the Queenstown Lakes Spatial Plan. Together, these will form the economic development strategy, Peter said.QLDC is hosting a lunchtime webinar to provide more insight into the draft plan, at 12.30pm on Tuesday November 21. During the seminar, Peter will be joined by Benje Patterson, a local economist specialising in regional economies, QLDC strategy and policy general manager Michelle Morss, and Patrick McVeigh, People and Places Lead at consultants MartinJenkins. Public feedback on ‘New pathways to a thriving future’ closes on December 8 with the final plan expected to be presented to councillors in early 2024. ­­­Full details on the plan, as well as a webinar registration link can be found here.

For 30 years, the closest Justine and Geoff Ross had come to cows was two cowhide chairs in their Auckland living room.But that didn't stop the couple behind the successful 42 Below vodka business from buying a high-country station at Lake Hāwea and embarking on a new way of farming.The station isn't just carbon neutral, it's carbon positive.They detail the struggles, even outright hostility as well as the triumphs and deep satisfaction from having a dream, and the courage to chase it in their new book, Meet You At The Main Divide: A Family's Story Of Life On Lake Hāwea Station.When she first set eyes on the property it was a “hard no” Justine Ross tells Jesse Mulligan (RNZ Afternoons), but a trip to the back country on the property changed her mind.“There's a stream there and we sat there as a family and had a bit of a picnic, and I just couldn't believe it, it was unfathomable and it still is really, that we could actually own this piece of land.”Geoff, despite years in the marketing game in Auckland, felt the pull of the land strongly, he says.“I thought I'd suppressed it after being in Parnell and the agency worlds, but it was always there actually and after a couple of trips down here for recreation, the pull finally got the better of us.”Their first year on the property wasn’t plain sailing, Justine says, but gradually the family settled into life on the farm. They were also driven by a desire to do something tangible for the climate, Justine says.“Geoff was part of Pure Advantage, a lobby group for the business case for the environment, which does amazing work.“And I've been involved with Greenpeace, there was just so many factors pointing to having the need to do something significant about what we believe is the existential threat that our planet is facing.”Having made their money “selling booze” they wanted to leave a more wholesome legacy, she says.“A legacy that's really about what we believe in, to become climate advocate people through farming was just a no brainer for our whole family.”They acknowledge they met some resistance to the way they planned to farm at the outset, Geoff says.“It was probably at a ram sale, the first ram sale I went to actually and the subject of climate change came up, over smoko.“And there was a sense of resistance at that point. But it's amazing how much that's changed in the last few years.“And in fact, the last ram sale I went to, now the conversation is that the climate is definitely changing.”Seasoned farmers from the region know better than anyone how the climate has changed, he says.“One of the drivers for coming here, with a lot of discussion in the media was around farming as a problem in climate change, I guess what we wanted to disprove that and show that farming can be part of the climate change solution.”Being a carbon positive farm means they sequester twice the amount they emit, Geoff says.“We emit largely through our stock and tractor hours, we emit 2500 tonnes of greenhouse equivalents every year. So, it's a big number.“But thanks to a lot of that bush, a lot of the plantings, we’ve planted 22,000 trees, a lot of the regenerating gullies and and steep faces which have little farming value, because we've protected that, it's sequestering 5500 tonnes.”Country Calendar featured them last year, and they copped some pretty virulent online burns, being called ‘Instagram farmers’ and ‘five-minute farmers’.“I mean, all those things are true. In many regards, we are, we've only been here six years, so in many contexts, it's a short period of time.“But there is often a case for fresh eyes. And if you look to other sectors, to use an obvious one like air travel, Air New Zealand don't always hire pilots to be the CEO, they often have expertise and experience from other sectors to drive that business forward.“Farming, as in all sectors, has got to keep the change reflex, we've got to have fresh eyes, we've got to keep looking to what our customers are doing.”“And whilst I can't claim to be an expert with a team of dogs, hopefully there's some skills from what Justine and I've learned, maybe on the market facing side, that can be useful to farming,” says GeoffAnd it’s not all soft and fluffy, hard economics lie behind the farm strategy, he says, the farm turns a profit.“When you're in marketing, you spend a lot of time speaking to your customers and finding out what they want and then looking at what you can offer and then searching for your competitive and ideally a unique competitive advantage.“And New Zealand has many particularly in farming, and I don't think they've been articulated or potentially heard well enough.”And if they are ‘Instagram farmers’ there are hard-headed reasons for that, they say.“There's 50,000 farms in New Zealand, if each of those had as we do for instance 1000s of followers for our Instagram, from countries around the world, let's say in New Zealand each farm had 2,000 followers, that's a 100 million people worldwide listening to the great work that New Zealand farmers are doing,” Geoff says.It's the way they find business, says Justine.“We connect with those clients is through Instagram. So, if that makes us Instagram farmers, we’ll take it.”PHOTOS: Lake Hāwea Station

The 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup CEO David Beeche has taken on a new position as CEO for tourism giant RealNZ.RealNZ owns a broad range of popular tourism businesses in the lower South Island including Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone Ski Area.“The tourism industry has been through an incredibly tough period, and I look forward to helping continue the rebuild and drive a successful future for RealNZ,” Dave said. With a background in both sport and tourism, he said it was “an honour to take up the reins as leader and kaitiaki” of the company.“We are thrilled to have Dave lead RealNZ into the future,” RealNZ chair Martin Dippie said.“His experience managing complex multi-site businesses, strong people and leadership skills, and passion for conservation give him an excellent foundation to grow this iconic South Island business.” A keen outdoorsman and multi-sporter, Dave has strong connections to the South Island. “The family and I love the deep south, have spent many years working and holidaying here at our home in Arrowtown,” he said. “We’re looking forward to permanently relocating and integrating into the local community.”Dave replaces Paul Norris, who has been acting CEO since April, following Stephen England-Hall’s resignation. PHOTO: Supplied

Wanaka based lawfirm Aspiring Law has acquired the Suburban Law practice in Christchurch, expanding its South Island presence to its other locations in Wanaka, Arrowtown and Dunedin.“This acquisition reflects the importance of the Christchurch market to us and our longer-term strategy," Aspiring Law co-director Janice Hughes said."Being available to our clients wherever they are, is important to us, and this will make it easier for clients to visit us outside of the hustle and bustle of the central city."Aspiring Law co-diector Steph Gifford said the decision to merge with Suburban Law was an easy one."We’re both locally run legal practices with shared values and similar ways of doing business so this couldn’t be a better match," she said. "It’s been a comfortable and seamless transition aided by the fact that our people are like-minded and the teams complement each other beautifully.”Steph said for Suburban Law clients, it’s business as usual, just with a few new faces added to the mix.

After a mixed - but ultimately successful - winter on the slopes, the South Island’s 2023 ski season was seen out at Cardrona Alpine Resort’s annual closing day on Sunday (October 15). Snow was slow to arrive, but when it eventually did Wānaka welcomed thousands of skiers and snowboarders from around the world.This year was the first time Cardrona and Treble Cone used ticketing systems to manage capacity and improve the guest experience. “Over the last few winters our experience wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be, without the ability to moderate the number of guests we welcomed onto our mountains,” Cardrona and Treble Cone Experiences general manager Laura Hedley said. Snow was slow to arrive. PHOTO: Wānaka App “Implementing a system used by many of the world’s biggest ski resorts allowed us to limit the number of passes sold on any given day, to keep the number of skiers and snowboarders at a manageable level.” She said the skifields didn’t always get it right, but they continued to learn through the season.Laura said the early-season snow “led to some challenges”, but feedback from guests was that their experience at Cardrona and Treble Cone had been much better than in previous years. Highlights of the winter included hosting world-class events where Kiwi snow sports stars took on their international counterparts on home soil, like the Winter Games NZ Junior World Championships.US Olympian Jessie Diggins at the Snow Farm with a young fan at the Merino Muster last month. PHOTO: Wānaka App“Seeing Lucia Georgalli, Rocco Jamieson and Mischa Thomas all on the Junior World Champs podium at home was really special – it’s incredible to watch the next generation of New Zealand snow sports athletes step up, and exciting to see how that has inspired kids who will take their turn in a few years’ time,” Laura said.The Snow Farm also experienced challenges this season, with delays to its base building project meaning temporary facilities, such as containers and portaloos, had to be transported to the Pisa Conservation Area.The Waiorau Nordic Ski Club said the season’s challenges brought the club closer together, providing a sense of community and momentum for the future.The Snow Farm’s annual Merino Muster (part of the Worldloppet International cross country circuit) in September welcomed a sizable field of international competitors and featured “the world’s fastest course”, according to three time Olympic medalist Jessie Diggins (USA).

Aurora Energy has reported $11.1M in net profit (for year ended June 30, 2023) and is happy with the progress on the second year of its five-year-long $563M investment programme.The forecast profit for this year was $9.9M. Last year’s profit was $7.8M, and June 2021 was $0.68M.The company said the positive result against forecast was driven by higher revenues due to strong residential demand and the removal of some historical pricing structures from April 2023. Chief executive Richard Fletcher said the company has completed a significant amount of work over the last couple of years and despite economic inflation and rising costs for labour and materials, they have delivered largely to plan.“We have now cleared a backlog of higher-risk poles, which is a significant milestone, and continue to bundle work in the same area into larger packages. This means we can minimise the disruption for customers as well as reduce delivery costs,” he said.There will be a community drop-in event to share results from the annual delivery report on Thursday October 26 (11am -1 pm) at Alexandra Community House on Centennial Ave.There will be information relevant to the community and Aurora Energy will be available to answer questions.The annual report, the annual delivery report and the media release can be found on Aurora Energy’s website.The annual delivery report is a requirement under Aurora Energy’s customised price-quality path (CPP), to outline how they are performing against their plans, following approval from the Commerce Commission in 2021 for the five-year investment programme to undertake essential maintenance and upgrades on the network.Richard said they were happy with progress and continuing to deliver against the ambitious work programme to upgrade the network. “A robust and efficient electricity network is central to reducing carbon emissions through electrification and that’s why our investment programme is so important.” Capital expenditure of $99.3M (it was $83.0M in 2022) went to new network assets in Central Otago, Dunedin, Wānaka and Queenstown during the year.

Wānaka’s third retirement village could be operational as soon as 2025.Retirement village giant Metlifecare has submitted a resource consent application for a new village in Three Parks.The company purchased a 5.42ha site near the Wānaka Golf Course last year and its application, lodged in August, provides more information about its plans for the site.Layout plans for the proposed retirement village. IMAGE: SuppliedIf the project gets the go-ahead, it will feature 93 villas, a care home, and an amenities building. Plans have changed since last year, when Metlifecare head of development Matt Wickham said the company planned for 120 villas and seven apartments.Application documents say the villas would be a mix of two and three-bedroom terrace-style homes, each with garages, and the care home would feature 30 suites.The amenities building, according to architectural drawings, would feature a billiards room, cafe, salon, dining room, lounge, and activities room. An artist’s impression of the amenities building. IMAGE: SuppliedIn its application Metlifecare said there was “high demand for elderly housing in this location”.The Wānaka retirement village would be Metlifecare’s first in Otago and third in the South Island. The company also has almost 40 retirement villages in the North Island. The Wānaka retirement village could create up to 140 construction jobs in the community during the building phase and another 50 once operational, across nursing, gardening, kitchen staff and more, the application said.Queenstown Lakes District Council is currently considering the Metlifecare application.

Dates have been confirmed for the phased rollout of freshwater farm plans in the region, Otago Regional Council (ORC) says.ORC environmental implementation manager Libby Caldwell said this will give farmers and growers certainty of when they need to begin work on preparing their plans - a new regulation which mandates farms over a certain size need audited freshwater plans.She said ORC had already fielded a number of questions about this farming community. “It’s great to see such interest in an area where we can see so much potential to focus on freshwater while helping farmers and growers plan for the future.”More than 3,500 Otago farmers will need freshwater farm plans, from about 34,500 across the country.The plans will apply to all pastoral or arable land of more than 20 hectares and all horticultural land of five hectares or more.The freshwater farm plans are a key part of the government’s wider Essential Freshwater reforms, which aim to protect and improve freshwater quality and ecosystems across New Zealand.The roll-out of freshwater farm plans across Otago’s six freshwater management units will begin next February. Farmers will have 18 months following the start-dates in their part of Otago to have their freshwater farms plans created and certified.The Upper Clutha has a start date of February 2025.“ORC will have staff available to help support this implementation over the next couple of years including workshops and one-on-one meetings with farmers to ensure they understand the process and are confident in creating a freshwater farm plan,” Libby said. “We will soon be calling for expressions of interest from those looking to train as certifiers and auditors of freshwater farm plans in Otago.” PHOTO: Supplied

A large site on Ardmore Street with super-sized development plan approval is on the market. Approval for a wide-ranging commercial and residential development on the 5,600 sqm site on the northern side of Ardmore Street was granted earlier this year. The plans include a large hotel, 58 residential units, and a handful of retail and food and beverage tenancies.Read more: Five-storey Ardmore Street development in the worksIt would fill the substantial site, made up of six individual parcels, which are located between ANZ and Heartland Design and Print.The site is currently on the market. PHOTO: WanakaDevelopers Wānaka Central JV Ltd are hoping to sell the property less than six months after receiving approval from Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC). The company’s directors are developers Brett Gamble and Anthony Gapes. Auckland-based Anthony is a former director of the company behind Queenstown’s Five Mile development. BusinessDesk reported earlier this month that three of his entities are in liquidation owing more than $10M.The Ardmore Street property is listed with Bayleys Wānaka. 

A record number of Māori businesses throughout the southern region have been selected as finalists in the 2023 Kupeka Umaka Māori ki Āraiteuru (KUMA) Southern Māori Business Awards.They include Wānaka companies WanaHaka Tours, which offers a range of experiences combining Māori culture and local tourism, and EASI NZ, a human resources business. Judging panel convenor Jeff Broughton said judges were impressed with the high calibre and number of quality candidates and applications received. “The applications came from a diverse range of industries, and it is clear that Māori business is continuing to expand across Otago and Southland,” he said. “It was an honour and a privilege to be part of the judging process and we congratulate all those that gave us an insight into the amazing mahi that is undertaken by pakihi Māori (Māori enterprise).” “We have seen the scope of what pakihi Māori are achieving in our takiwā and couldn’t be more proud of and excited by their achievements. Now it’s time to celebrate their successes.”An awards evening will celebrate these businesses.The awards gala dinner takes place this Saturday, September 30 at community cultural and art space Te Atamira in Tahuna (Queenstown). This year’s awards theme centres on mātauranga, which embodies the significance of Māori knowledge, wisdom, and culture in the world of business.Victoria Campbell, the awards dinner’s keynote speaker. PHOTO: KUMAKeynote speaker at the event will be Kāi Tahu astronomer Victoria Campbell, who is currently leading a new research project at Tūhura Otago Museum to explore the southern cosmos from a Kāi Tahu perspective.