Wellington the way it ought to be

OPINION: A powerful Chamber of Commerce shapes the future, in the vision of Charles Finny.

It is November 2030 and I have booked the boardroom at the Employers Chamber of Commerce on top of the Majestic Centre to celebrate my 70th birthday. It is now more than 20 years since the Chamber of Commerce and the EMA combined forces. Membership has quadrupled and the chamber has obviously more impact over policy makers than it did in my day.

I look out the window and see a Singapore Airlines 787 coming in to land. Remember all those hours we used to waste transiting Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney? On the harbour the fast ferry is just reversing into the dock. Clifford Bay was a bold move by the Key/Joyce governments, but it has allowed fast ferries back on to Cook Strait and with a crossing time of just over half an hour has had a dramatic impact on the Wellington and South Island economies. It is great to see Picton and the Sounds consistently rated as one of the great tourist destinations.

I look down at the port and old railway station. The area has been substantially re- developed in the past 20 years. Rutherford House, the old departmental building and the redeveloped railway area is now home to the Wellington School of Government and Law, the pre-eminent law and public policy school in Australasia, attracting increasing numbers of students from Asia and around the world.

The great work started by VUW has seen export education becoming a billion- dollar industry for the capital. The merger of Victoria, Canterbury and Otago universities was a bold move by the Robertson Government but has delivered obvious results, with the combined university now ranked in the world's top 30.

Twenty years ago the Majestic Centre used to have a good view of the Stadium. Now that is blocked by the concert and events arena built on the stadium walkway. And where logs used to sit awaiting export we have a series of world class hotels and a convention centre. This infrastructure has consolidated Wellington's position as Australasia's events capital. The hotel beds are needed to cope with the tourist influx that accompanied direct flights to Asia, and the opening of the marine education centre and film museum in Wellywood, as Miramar is increasingly known since the sign was put up on the hill.

Also, down by the waterfront I see the hospitality school. Again this is the best in the Asia-Pacific region, even attracting students from Switzerland. It has had an obvious positive impact on the standard of service around town, and contributed to Wellington's undisputed reputation as the food capital. Working in all aspects of hospitality has become a serious career option.

The Majestic Centre is still Wellington's tallest building but it no longer stands so far above the Willis St skyline. The whole street has gone highrise, as has Te Aro. It had to cope with the greater Wellington population now coming close to a million. The heavily concentrated population has allowed continuing investment in public transport by the private sector. This combined with the development of the highway between the airport and Levin, and a decent road pricing regime, has made Wellington's traffic congestion a problem of the past.

Oil prices did go up, but the demise of the private passenger car did not happen as predicted by so many in the first decade of the century. The vehicle fleet is now almost exclusively electric or hydrogen powered, but a few hybrids remain on the road. In the distance I can see some of the turbines from one of the region's multiple wind farms. We are producing far more electricity than we need as a region and are fully self-sufficient in hydrogen.

We have become more cosmopolitan. Partly, this reflects the growth of the universities, the film and computer gaming industries, and the explosion of other services exports in the past 20 years. Wellington is seen as a key finance industry hub, exploiting both its time-zone advantage and its expertise in fund management. Now that government is less bloated, the city feels more like a business capital than the home of the bureaucracy. It is pleasing also to think about how the small highly efficient public service is so highly regarded internationally.

Finally, I look down at the old city council quarter. A larger New Zealand flag flutters over the old council building. I wonder how many New Zealanders pine for the old version with the Union Jack and four stars? Even though he is best known for his business interests and his role as the region's first super mayor, the flag change has been a huge achievement for Lloyd Morrison.

The former council quarter is now dominated by restaurants, bars, and galleries. When we amalgamated local government in the region, the bulk of administration moved out to Hutt City. On a fine day, this area is my favorite part of town. The savings achieved by amalgamation allowed us to invest more in infrastructure and to keep the level of rates increase below the national average. This in turn attracted more business to the region.

I must be getting old. I can't see the New Zealand School of Music. Did we build it?

Charles Finny is chief executive officer of the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce.

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Eddie   #6   05:43 am Mar 09 2010

Can we sell them to the new Auckland city then we will save lots of wasted money they spend for spendings sake that way those dozy auks will not notice the loss as they will have 24 councilors to run the show but they only nead 12 like they do in England were they have 11 mil plus people to care for not 1 mil.

Wade T   #5   02:50 am Mar 09 2010

Nice,nice, Charles. But you did not mention how the Singapore Airliner 787 landed, or where?

Matt   #4   10:34 pm Mar 08 2010

Somewhat unimpressive Mr Finny. 1 million people in Wellington? The traffic jam at the Ngauranga Gorge would last 27 hours a day.

I'm moving to Palmie. That is a happening place.

The City is Ours Inc.   #3   07:47 pm Mar 08 2010

Charles Finny along with a certain Jeremy Harding often present their case at council on behalf of the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce when asked for imput on matters of concern to the "stakeholders".

He will, with confidence refer to the 1000 members surveyed and use the results to influence elected members making final decisions on matters they have a particular interest in. The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the transit station planned for buses in Manners Mall, a matter currently before the Environment Court and highly contested by the City is Ours Inc amongst others.

What Charles and Jeremy don't want to tell us is the members participation rate in these Chamberpot survey's, so long as the results look good. The membership however reaches outside our city limits and allows members in Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt etc to have a say on how they want Wellington's future shaped. This vocal minority is heard time and time again on important issues for our City and unlike others, are listened to. We suspect, like at the last local body elections in 2007, the Chambers involvement in local politics will see them ( the vocal minority) get involved making sure they get the right representative. Predictably so and as expected this finds them standing in the way of worthy candidates we the people deserve.

Just like the Majestice Centre itself the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce is full of air and pretends it is something it is not! Wake up Wellington.....now's good! VOTE VOTE VOTE

Jane Brown   #2   05:28 pm Mar 08 2010

And Charles Finny looked down on his creation and "It was good!" Haha

Miles Lacey   #1   04:21 pm Mar 08 2010

That is a vision? Just wait to you read my vision!

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