Kia Ora.

One of the highlights of recent weeks was attending the Wackrow Memorial Youth Award which recognises outstanding young people aged 14–19 from the Dannevirke area who show dedication to community service and voluntary work, and I want to start by congratulating Emma Green on being named this year’s winner.

Congratulations also to Zachariah Welsh, who placed second, Kyle Strydom in third, and all the finalists. It was genuinely inspiring to hear their presentations and learn about the positive difference each of these young people is making in their schools, clubs, and communities. They should all be incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved.

A big thank you to the Dannevirke Community Board for a wonderful evening and for being the custodians of these special awards.

More than 40 years after Constable Graeme Wackrow tragically lost his life serving our community at just 25 years of age, his legacy continues to inspire new generations. These awards are a fitting tribute to a life of service, commitment, and putting others first. Our future really is in very good hands.

Another exciting milestone has been reached, and this one could shape where our towns grow for decades. At an extraordinary Council meeting last Wednesday, we approved Plan Change A for public consultation - setting out where new housing and industry could go across the district.

This is something that has been a long time coming. Council was ready to move forward with the next stage of the District Plan Review at the end of the previous Council term, after several years of work had brought it close to formal public consultation. That progress was interrupted when the Central Government introduced its Plan Stop policy, which prevented councils from notifying plan changes.

Rather than let that work sit on the shelf, Council sought a Ministerial exemption and was successful. We can now move forward with Plan Change A, which is about making sure the Tararua District is ready to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

This represents a significant amount of work by our staff and councillors, supported by technical experts and informed by our community through the Growth Strategy work. I want to acknowledge and thank everyone involved. It’s taken a lot of work over a number of years to get to this point.

The plan provides for new residential growth areas in Dannevirke, Woodville, Pahiatua and Eketāhuna, as well as new industrial opportunities including at Woodville, Oringi and Pahiatua. It also puts in place a framework to ensure that growth is well planned, properly serviced and creates good places for people to live and work.

We know our district needs more housing and industrial zoned land if we’re going to support growth, attract investment and create opportunities for future generations. The Te Ahu a Turanga highway also opens up exciting possibilities for our district, and we need to make the most of them.

The next step is public notification, giving our community the opportunity to have its say which is a critical part of the process.

After years of work, it’s great to finally see this moving forward.

Ngā mihi nui, many thanks.