Enterprise Board for Ashburton

Press, 16 July 1980, Page 6

Enterprise Board for Ashburton

A public meeting in Ashburton on Monday agreed that the town should set up an enterprise board, which would make it the first in New Zealand. The attendance of perhaps 180 people at the meeting delighted the Mayor (Mr G. J. Geering) and Town Clerk (Mr R. J. Ewen). The interim report on the study drew only 20 people but a greater promotion effort was re? warded this week. • Mr Geering said ’that while the Regional Development Council had ■ supported the Ashburton Borough Council’s commissioning of the study, there had been no Government money to help pay for jt. The meeting affirmed that it felt Ashburton could “pull itself up by its boot strap” and support the proposed development committee. It also wanted to see the enterprise board of three leading businessmen established ’ ana local authorities and others contribute to costs of feasibility studies. . " - Mr D. S. McKenzie said that if all Alford Forest Mill employees ended up on the unemployment register, Ashburton would have about 9 per cent unemployed compared with a New Zealand figure of 3 per cent. New Zealand needed to add value to natural resources but only where it could do it more cheaply than its comP®tit° rs - ' '■

Sugar beet could be the answer to the first-year target for extra jobs but it would need $4.5 million for plant. However, that could save $l5 million to $lB million annually or recover the initial expenditure in four months sugar production. Mr D. F. Caygili, member of Parliament for St Albans, said the meeting had given him some answers beyond economic polities. H 6 promised to help in the future, and fie hoped that Ashburton would adopt the proposed concept. •_