Waitara business group revamps

CAMERON BURNELL

Fresh focus: Melissa Willis, community and development adviser for Waitara, is looking at ways to revitalise the business community.

Relevant offers

New Plymouth has got City Business. Inglewood has got Inglewood First. And now Waitara has got the Waitara Business and Promotions Association.

But the rather unwieldy name doesn't look destined to last long. It's to be quickly changed into something more upmarket as Taranaki's northernmost town revamps its business and promotions efforts.

Last week more than 50 people attended a special meeting in Waitara to re-launch an organisation that would co-ordinate all of this.

The town's community development advisor Melissa Willis said the meeting was helped no end by a presentation by Inglewood First's Derek McInnes on the success of that town's business and promotions organisation.

"A lot of people were excited about it all," she said.

"We asked those at the meeting to indicate if they were interested in going onto a committee or simply being a member of the association. Several said they'd be happy to do committee work, and 100 per cent said they'd like to be a member."

Mrs Willis said that while in past years Waitara had been well-served by its Beyond 2000 organisation, it was felt that the promotion of the town needed revamping.

"So now the whole thing is going to take off again. The next step is to get the committee formed, which we hope to do before Christmas, and then begin to co-ordinate retailing and promotional activities in the town."

Mrs Willis said the name Waitara Business and Promotions Association would suffice in the meantime, but she expected a more snappy title would be created in the near future.

- © Fairfax NZ News