 Heath Milne in 2020 | |
| Industry | Economic Development Agency |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Greymouth, New Zealand |
Key people | Heath Milne (Chief Executive), Renee Rooney (Chair) |
| Website | dwc |
Development West Coast (DWC) is a charitable trust that operates in the West Coast region of New Zealand. DWC is the economic development agency and regional tourism organisation for the region.
Development West Coast has its origins in the controversy over logging native trees by Timberlands West Coast Limited, a former state-owned enterprise based on the West Coast. In the late 1990s, Timberlands' actions were supported by then-prime minister Jenny Shipley and opposed by environmental groups, led by Native Forest Action. The controversy became an election issue in the 1999 general election, with the Labour Party committing itself to stop logging. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager published a book, Secrets and Lies , just prior to the election, alleging that Timberlands had hired a public relations firm, Shandwick (now Weber Shandwick), to run a smear campaign against Native Forest Action. [1]
Labour won the 1999 election and stopped logging on the West Coast. The forests were transferred to the Department of Conservation and in recognition this and the privatisation of much West Coast infrastructure in the late 1990s the region was compensated with an endowment fund of NZ$92 million. Development West Coast was set up in 2001 as a trust to administer this fund. [2] [3]
In the 2015–2016 financial year, Development West Coast approved 20 loans worth a total of $14.4 million; in 2016–2017 it loaned $12.3 million to 18 businesses. It returned a profit of $5.3 million, after running a deficit in 2015. It had 11.5 staff positions and the Chief Executive was Chris Mackenzie, on a salary of $223,000. [4]
In 2021, in its 20th year, DWC's fund had grown from $92 million to $146 million. In 2019 it approved 80% of loan applications received, distributing $2.2 million, and gave $1.9 million to community projects. [5] In the year ending March 2021, it issued $6.7 million in loans, distributed $3.5 million to the community, and made a $14.2 million net profit. [6] It had 20 full-time staff under Chief Executive Heath Milne. [6]
In the 20 years to 2021, DWC has invested $93.8 million into the region through commercial distributions and another $70.8 million through community distributions and projects. [6] [7]
In 2010, DWC contributed $3.25 million towards the development of the West Coast Wilderness Trail, and also invested $1.25 million in the creation of the 85 km Old Ghost Road, New Zealand's longest back country cycle trail. [8]
In 2015, DWC added a $5 million Business and Industry Stimulus Fund to provide loans to new or struggling West Coast businesses. [2] One outcome of this was the establishment of EPIC Westport, a Westport technology centre and business incubator able to house 25 full-time workers and a dozen "hot-desk" users. EPIC Westport was a spin-off of the Enterprise Precinct Innovation Centre in Christchurch. [9]
In 2016 Fox Glacier received $1 million for a new community centre and the RSA in Hokitika $400,000 for a new hall. [4]
DWC has financially supported the revival of Reefton, funding the Reefton Shop Front Project to restore its Victorian-era streetscape, and contributing to the Reefton Powerhouse Trust, which aims to restore the original 1888 powerhouse on the Inangahua River that gave Reefton the first electric streetlighting in the southern hemisphere. [10] [11]
DWC is a shareholder in Te Ara Pounamu Ltd, which will spend $17.87 million developing new visitor centres in Westport, Greymouth, Hokitika, and Haast. [12] In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and the loss of tourism revenue, DWC pledged $5 million to support businesses in Fox Glacier and Franz Josef. They approached Tourism Minister Stuart Nash for an additional $35 million in support, but Nash suggested DWC release 10 per cent of its fund instead, suggesting the "rainy day" it was set up for had arrived. [5] DWC supported the creation of Now Open, an online directory of 180 local businesses that were operating under Level 3 restriction, and funded rebates for businesses switching to online delivery. [13] [14]
Development West Coast Tertiary Scholarships were launched in 2022. Four scholarships are offered annually to first time tertiary students as a means to provide a pathway for West Coast students to attain tertiary qualifications and return to the West Coast to undertake their career. The scholarships are valued up to $32,500 per student. [15]
In October 2022, DWC launched a global recruitment campaign called 'Cut out for the Coast'. [16] [17] [18] The campaign was a collaboration between DWC, Te Whatu Ora – Te Tai o Poutini West Coast and the local business community aimed at attracting workers who are ‘Cut out for the Coast. The campaign initially targeted health workers and later expanded to recruitment in other sectors. [19] [20]
DWC invested $3 million into Westland Mineral Sands (WMS) in November 2023. WMS is a minerals, ports and logistics company, which extracts heavy mineral sands including ilmenite, garnet and rare earth elements for the global market, from a site at Cape Foulwind, near Westport. [21] [22]
In 2012, DWC won the 'Not for Profit' category at the AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards. [23]
DWC won a Gold Award for 'Best use of Media Relations' at the 2022 Public Relations New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards. The award was for DWC's media outreach around the Ōkārito GorseBusters initiative. [24] [25] DWC was also runner up in the 'In-house PR Team of the Year' category. [24] [25]
DWC's media outreach around the 'Cut out for the Coast' [26] campaign won a Silver Award for 'Best use of Media Relations' at the 2023 PRINZ Awards. DWC also received a Silver Award for 2023 'In-house PR Team of the Year'. [27]
At the 2023 Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ) Awards, DWC won the award for 'Best Practice in Collaboration' for the Upskill West Coast employment and training scheme. [28] [29]
DWC won a Gold Award for 'Most Innovative Campaign' for the 'West Coast Wikipedian at Large Project' at the 2024 PRINZ Awards. DWC also secured Silver Awards in four other categories: 'Best Use of Media Relations', ‘'Best Use of Digital and Social Media', 'Community Relations & Engagement', and ‘Best In-house PR Team’. [30] [31]
The West Coast is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,900 people, the West Coast is the least populous region in New Zealand. The population in the region grew by 0.4% over the year to July 2023.
Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is 3,120 as of June 2023.
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
Westland Savings Bank was one of 14 regional trustee savings banks operating in New Zealand. WSB was based on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Scenicland FM was a New Zealand radio station broadcasting on the West Coast of the South Island.
The Stillwater Ngākawau Line (SNL), formerly the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island. It was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history, with its first section, at the south end, opened in 1889, and the beginnings of the Ngākawau Branch, at its Westport end, in 1875. The full line was completed in 1942. The only slower railway projects were Palmerston North to Gisborne, 1872 to 1942, and the Main North Line to Picton, 1872 to 1945.
The Ross Branch, officially known as the Hokitika Line since 2011, and previously as the Hokitika Industrial Line, is a branch line railway that forms part of New Zealand's national rail network. It is located in the Westland District of the South Island's West Coast region and opened to Hokitika in 1893. A further extension to Ross operated from 1909 until 1980.
Paul Allan Maunder is a New Zealand film director, playwright and cultural activist. He is best known for his 1979 film of the novel Sons for the Return Home by Albert Wendt, his 1983 play Hemi about the life of James K. Baxter, and his work in community-based theatre.
Waiuta is the location of a historic mining town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is now abandoned and considered a ghost town. Located 58 km north of Greymouth and 21 km south of Reefton in Ikamatua, New Zealand, it was the site of a gold mine until 1951, when the collapse of the mine made it uneconomic. A number of buildings remain and there are still residents in what remains of the town. Nowadays Waiuta has become a tourist attraction, with few of the original buildings still intact that include the former police station, three cottages and the old barber shop.
The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival is an annual event held in early March in Hokitika, New Zealand. Its main attraction is an array of unusual foods, including huhu grubs, lamb's testicles, and horse semen.
The Westport News is an independently-owned evening newspaper published in Westport, New Zealand. It is published on weekdays, and is one of New Zealand's smallest independent newspapers. The Westport News is distributed from Karamea in the north to Punakaiki in the south and as far inland as Reefton.
Anthony Francis Kokshoorn is a New Zealand politician, publisher, and activist. He served as Grey District Mayor from 2004 to 2019 when he stepped aside.
Hokitika Museum is a museum in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand, and is the West Coast's largest museum and archive. It is housed in the historic Hokitika Carnegie Library building. Exhibitions include information about the gold rush and the unique West Coast stone pounamu (greenstone) and its value to Māori. The museum also holds a significant photographic collection. Seismic strengthening requirements closed the museum in September 2019. According to the Westland District Council Web site as of December 2021 the museum had not yet reopened.
Coast FM is a local radio station in Westport, New Zealand, to most of the West Coast Region. The station began in 1995 as Radio Fifeshire Westport in partnership with Fifeshire FM in Nelson, and started broadcasting in Hokitika and Greymouth in 1996. The station was rebranded as Coast FM in 1999, but is not related to Coast network that broadcasts in other parts of the country. It used to broadcast from the Westport News offices in the former BNZ building on Palmerston Street.
The Reefton Distilling Co. is a distillery founded in 2017 in Reefton, in the West Coast region of New Zealand. It specialises in gin, including one named "Little Biddy" after famed West Coast gold miner Bridget Goodwin.
Allan John Birchfield is a coal and gold miner from the South Island's West Coast of New Zealand. He is a West Coast Regional Councillor who served as chairperson from 2019 to 2023. He is known for his climate change denial.
Alison Hale is a New Zealand artist, based in Reefton, known for her depictions of horses and the natural environment.
The Pounamu Pathway is a $34.5 million New Zealand tourism venture, launched in 2020 by the Māori hapū or subtribe Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae, intended to create four linked visitor experience centres on the West Coast of the South Island. The visitor centres will tell stories of the West Coast's early Māori history and the importance of pounamu or greenstone.
The Barrytown Flats are a 17 km (11 mi) coastal plain north of Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. A series of postglacial shorelines and dunes backed by a former sea cliff, they was originally covered with wetland and lowland forest, including numerous nīkau palms. The sands were extensively sluiced and dredged for gold from the 1860s, centred on the small settlement of Barrytown. The drier areas of the flats have been converted into pasture, but significant areas of forest remain, including Nikau Scenic Reserve. The flats are bordered by Paparoa National Park and the only breeding site of the Westland petrel. There are significant deposits of ilmenite in the Barrytown sands, and there have been several mining proposals, but the possible environmental consequences have been contentious.