Committee charts pathway for stronger, more resilient Waikato economy

Issues and opportunities relating to the Waikato regional economy and community adaptation planning were laid bare at the first meeting of the Regional Growth and Resilience Committee this week.

The Regional Growth and Resilience Committee was one of two new committees established by the new council in November last year. 

Its purpose is to provide strategic leadership and governance oversight of the council’s work in regional economic development and resilience, issues including community adaptation planning, water and energy security.

Committee Chair Councillor Keith Holmes said the committee was set up by the new council to help it influence what it could do differently to improve regional productivity and profitability in the region.

“We want to get outcomes and fast for the Waikato region, and bring together all stakeholders on this journey.”

The committee heard from Infometrics Chief Executive and Principal Economist Brad Olsen, who shared his economic insights and opportunities for the Waikato region, and got an update on the progress of the Regional Economic Development Strategy.

Olsen told councillors the regional council had levers it could pull in terms of planning and regulation to support new activities coming forward, rather than providing the services to grow the economy.

He identified industries of utilities, mining, telecommunications and financial services as currently being the most productive in the Waikato region.

“In terms of creating the right settings for industries coming through, those industries are very much the ones where further work can start to produce quite significant gains for the local economy,” said Olsen.

Regional Economic Development Lead Tariq Ashraf, who presented on progress of the development of the Regional Economic Development Strategy, said improving productivity would be incorporated into the strategy.

“The council’s role of improving productivity is coordination and to be as efficient as possible in the delivery of its functions,” he said.

“There are roles by a number of different actors, including iwi, territorial authorities and industries, and the approach we are taking is around partnerships. Joined-up conversations and a coordinated approach is required for locally-led economic development.” 

The council is currently seeking stakeholder feedback on the region’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, before developing the strategy vision, outcomes and actions. Adoption of the implementation plan is expected in May 2026.

Councillors also received an update on council’s response to the State of Emergencies declared in the Waipā and Ōtorohanga districts following the significant rainfall event on Friday evening.

About 20 regional council staff are working directly in the Group Emergency Coordination Centre and the Emergency Control Centre in Ōtorohanga, and many other staff from the council’s regional resilience, catchment and river management, environmental monitoring and communications teams are heavily involved on the ground. 

Councillors heard the event happened quickly and that the regional council’s rain gauges showed accumulation over six-hour periods of an Annual Return Interval of more than 250 years. 

Planning and Support Manager Dave Wade told councillors it was important to recognise that the council had a fundamental role to play in the development of community adaptation plans by territorial authorities, “particularly from a science perspective, a technical information perspective and to flood modelling and community engagement”.

This council meeting was livestreamed. Links to the recordings are found here.