increase font size
DairyNZ chairman and former cabinet minister, John Luxton, is chairing a high-powered group overseeing the development of a Waikato regional economic strategy.
The strategy is an initiative of the Waikato Mayoral Forum made up of Waikato mayors and the regional council chair. It is one of four streams of work underway by the forum to boost the regional economy and deliver millions in cost savings across local government.
Luxton held a number of National Party ministerial positions between 1990 and 1999 including Minister of Industry and Minister of Agriculture. He is currently co-chair of the Waikato River Authority.
The governance group includes Waikato District Health Board chair Graeme Milne, Stainless Design Ltd managing director John Cook, University of Waikato economics professor Frank Scrimgeour, chair of the Federation of Maori Authorities Traci Haupapa, and Parekawhia McLean, chief executive Waikato-Tainui.
Waipa Mayor Alan Livingston, Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker, Hauraki Mayor John Tregida and Waikato Regional Council chair Peter Buckley represent the Mayoral Forum on the group.
A contract to develop the economic strategy has been let to a partnership between consulting firms MartinJenkins and Beca. A draft will be ready in September this year with a final strategy expected by early in 2014.
Luxton said that while the Waikato had a range of strengths, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing, it needed a more collaborative and integrated approach to further stimulate regional economic development and jobs.
"Developing a regional strategy, like other regions have, will help move the Waikato economy forward and facilitate more effective partnerships between business and industry, local government and central government."
Luxton said the governance group would encourage the regional business community to be involved in strategy development. The governance group met for the first time last month.
The Government has announced it will pause key parts of Waikato Plan Change 1 (PC1) in a decision that is set to give Waikato farmers a reprieve from new consenting and farm-planning requirements while the wider resource management system is overhauled.
When Fraser Hasnip returned to his family farm in Pirongia, Waikato, he saw an opportunity to do things differently.
For Taupiri dairy farmers Logan and Sian Dawson, their involvement in the NZ Dairy Industry Awards has been a key catalyst in the growth of their business - the experience helping shape how they approach the farm ownership pathway they are pursuing today.
Halter has announced the six winners of its 2026 One Year Free competition, marking the biggest year yet for the annual award and the first time the company has expanded the field beyond its usual line-up.
A Morrinsville business celebrating its 30th birthday has shaken up the street scene in the Waikato township.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to put pressure on household grocery budgets, new figures show pork remains one of the most affordable fresh meat options for New Zealand families.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.
Farmers can spend less time on paperwork, thanks to a new data sharing agreement between DairyNZ’s DairyBase and LIC’s MINDA software.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Interest in agritech and production animal systems has prompted Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment to new majors to its popular animal science degree.
OPINION: After hogging the media limelight for telling a NZ Chinese MP to "go back home", Winston Peters has decided…
OPINION: With fuel prices soaring, one would have expected most farmers to be reclaiming excise duty on petrol.
