These things often pass the attention of most citizens, but when one considers the importance of community planning, such as Hutt City’s Urban Growth Strategy, it’s time more people got involved.

“The strategy is about growing the city over the next 20 years to make it a desirable city,” say Mayor Ray Wallace. While the plan focuses on housing options, we have little doubt that’s in part to cater for the growth mayor Wallace has been enunciating as a champion of the Technology Valley vision.

Underpinning everything of course is economic growth. That has to be driven from somewhere and it needs to be sustainable. That’s why Technology Valley in the Hutt Valley is pushing more emphasis towards high earning advanced manufacturing – towards more emphasis on the productive sector and perhaps away from habitual concerns about consumption (retail) and relatively passive industries.

Ray Wallace makes an important point when he says Hutt City needs to grow if it wants a sustainable future. “Standing still means our city will lose our young people who are essential to sustainable growth.”

If you’d like to know more and see a copy of the Urban Growth Strategy, click here.