Tackling Poverty initiatives in the Queenstown Lakes District

Identifying the main causes and consequences of poverty in the Queenstown Lakes District is the first step towards finding solutions, Mayor Vanessa van Uden says.

In March, a workshop brought together community representatives to begin a collective conversation on “tackling poverty” – the first of a series of local workshops around the country that spun off from a national TacklingPovertyNZ workshop, which was a joint initiative between the McGuinness Institute and the Treasury last year.

The group identified four significant groups whose behaviour influenced or was affected by poverty in the district: transient workers, tourists, holiday home owners, and “locals” – those who live here permanently.

Housing, community and business were the three most significant areas where poverty manifested itself.

The report on the workshop described “an underbelly of poverty”, created by growth pressures in the district.

Those at the workshop suggested 28 ways in which poverty could be tackled. Mayor van Uden said they ranged from initiatives that could be actioned locally to those which would need to be implemented nationally, or in partnership with the government. None of them were quick fixes but some, such as large businesses providing worker accommodation, were already being explored.

Other ideas revolved around strengthening community networks and building a stronger sense of social cohesion, and could be implemented as local initiatives with some support from the Council and government agencies.

“Many of the solutions are in our hands; there is no better time than now to look out for one another,” Mayor van Uden said.

ENDS

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