New local and regional Councillors to tour Peninsula next week

Two-day combined tour to address important multi-agency matters.

Senior staff and councillors from Thames-Coromandel District Council (TCDC) and Environment Waikato (EW) will come together next week to discuss the important future issues facing the Coromandel Peninsula.

Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Glenn Leach says a bus tour and a series of joint briefings have been organised to enable both sets of councillors to look at District issues together and maintain a co-ordinated approach. The programme includes presentations, workshops, site visits and an aquaculture tour.

"We've also invited Community Board Chairs and will focus on bringing Councillors up to speed with the biggest, most important issues that both Council's need to address." These issues include harbour planning, growth management, forestry management and economic development opportunities including aquaculture.

"Aquaculture has the potential to generate economic opportunities over the long-term that could come close to 20% of the District's current GDP and also create a significant number of jobs," Mayor Leach explained.

"Many of the added-value facilities such as processing factories and research facilities could easily go to other parts of the country. Councillors need an opportunity to get their heads around it all and identify how we might attract these developments to the Coromandel before the opportunity passes."

The combined Council tour will begin in Thames on Tuesday (22 February) and finish on the east coast on Wednesday (23 February).

Further workshops for TCDC Councillors have been scheduled for April, focusing especially on local issues of interest particularly in Whangamata and Pauanui.