The Influencers: Amy Carter
I was amazed to learn that there are just over 2100 registered charities in Christchurch. On top of that, there will be many, many other causes that most of us don’t even know about unless they have touched us in our private lives. The problem is, if you are wanting to […]
The Influencers: John Bridgman
On 25 November Ōtākaro will be holding the City Promenade Scavenger Hunt to mark our completion of this key feature of the wider Te Papa Ōtākaro/Avon River Precinct; $10,000 worth of prizes will be on offer from businesses along the promenade. By answering 10 simple questions about some of the features […]
The Influencers: Ivan Iafeta
On a wet Friday in mid-October, a significant milestone in the regeneration of Cathedral Square was reached. The doors to Tūranga – the new central library – were opened to the public. At nearly 10,000 square metres, it is the largest public library in the South Island. But its significance for […]
The Influencers: Mason Reed
One of the biggest on-going problems facing engineering consultancy firms is the lack of engineering professionals available. This creates problems with resourcing projects and growing businesses. I heard recently that the average age of engineers is 45 and that a lot of the more senior engineers are fast approaching retirement. The […]
The Influencers: Dr Megan Woods
It was a pleasure to announce the establishment of the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service (GCCRS). After the release of the report of my Independent Ministerial Advisor into EQC earlier in the year, it was clear that more needed to be done to help people who have been waiting for their […]
The Influencers: Leeann Watson
The council’s decision to recommend to Government that the Multi-Use Arena be funded as the lion-share of the Capital Acceleration Fund allocation caused comment around priorities for Christchurch in the regeneration of the city. However, this is not an example of sacrificing one priority in favour of another. The new arena […]
The Influencers Column: Tony Mounce
The relatively flat housing market in Christchurch is fuelling interest from first home buyers keen to capitalise on the largely stagnant prices. But buying your first home is far from easy, although KiwiSaver and HomeStart grants are fantastic tools to help get onto the property ladder. A young couple recently came […]
The Influencers Column: John Bridgman
Ōtākaro recently ran a series of walking tours around the central city as part of Explore Christchurch, a campaign to encourage locals to come and see what’s going on in town. With around 300 people joining us across the eight tours, the level of interest surpassed our expectations. At first glance, […]
The Influencers Column: Ivan Iafeta
The Christchurch City Council recently announced the development of an action plan to increase the pace of regeneration in Christchurch’s city centre. The stimulus was an assessment by Regenerate Christchurch of progress in the central city and five key recommendations regarding leadership, growth, people, activation and implementation. The council’s action […]
The Influencers Column: Matt Harris
One of the repeated issues that we see in NZ business is the ongoing difficulty in attracting skilled labour. In the construction sector, an area often in the news lately, we are faced with a continual shortage of trained and experienced engineers, architects, planners etc. If left unchecked, this can impact […]









