If Queenstown were Sesame Street, I suspect 2012 will be the year brought to us by the letter ‘i’.
I’m predicting that in 12 months the most overused ‘i’ word most of us will want to see the back of is ‘infrastructure’.
I always thought it meant “built stuff that makes our lives easier” – which in a simplistic way is sort of correct.
Yet Wikipedia tells me ‘infrastructure’ is defined as: “The basic physical and organisational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.”
So – it’s the built stuff and the organisations that build the built stuff and organise other stuff that is not built but will help build our economy.
Listen in at any Queenstown cafe or bar and you’ll hear heated debate about local infrastructure on a daily basis:
- “The Earnslaw Park toilets are a disgrace”
- “Why can’t we sort out somewhere to build our schools that suits us?”
- “Will Hendo’s Hole ever get filled in?”
- “Are there enough police on the streets at night?”
- “Will they ever stop fixing Frankton Road?”
- “Has freedom camping really been stopped by instant fines that aren’t instant?”
- “Is gondola/monorail/tunnel access to Milford Sound good or bad for the economy and the environment?”
And the best infrastructure question of the lot: “Can we afford it?”
I was marvelling at my five-year-old son’s view on infrastructure the other day.
It related to new bits he said were needed to extend his Thomas the Tank Engine train set. Very forthrightly, Jack told me what he required – sawmills, crosstracks, bridges, shunting yards, switch points and several sections of the most expensive wooden train track ever produced by a toy company.
He never batted an eyelid as he laid down what he required. It was like he was channelling an Italian – all passion and vision and no fiscal responsibility.
At the very least, I expected The Fat Controller would be submitting a proposal to central Government on the economic benefits and return on investment of such a massive and risky enterprise.
But no, young Jack just shrugged his shoulders at me – that Italian thing again – and said: “We need it.”
I believe the big debate of aquatic centre proportions that will rage in 2012 will be over the ‘groundhog day’ issue of the funding, design and construction of a convention centre.
It’s really a no-brainer.
The devastation of Christchurch has meant the highest-spending segment of the tourism market is now gravitating to beautiful Rotorua – and soon to Auckland once the National Convention Centre is built.
The South Island could miss its biggest tourism opportunity in a generation while we wring our hands over the same old issues – where should it be, how big should it be, who should pay for it and can we afford it?
Jack would have his simple shoulder-shrugging answer: “We need it.”
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