Masterton the 'go-to' town for regions

Tina Nixon, MDC economic development project manager, said the most important policy in decision making for regional development success is to stay true to the "flavour of Wairarapa".

Masterton is setting the example for economic development in the regions, says Tina Nixon, economic development project manager for Masterton District Council.

At last week's Economic Development Update session at the town hall, Mrs Nixon said Masterton has become the "go-to" place for regional comment.

More than 50 people attended the session which presented results of the My Masterton campaign among other Masterton Updates.

Mrs Nixon said the most important policy in decision making for regional development success, especially with the My Masterton Campaign, is to stay true to the "flavour of Wairarapa".

"One of the things that we wanted to do early on was to capture the hearts and the minds of people," she said.

"The My Masterton campaign, I think, has been pretty successful.

"We have used our own community to define the answer of what it is that is really great about the place where we live and I think we have pretty much done that, so the public own it.

"It's not many days that I can't walk down the street when one of the business owners comes up and says hey things are feeling better and they're really positive about their town."

Topics discussed at the update session included the making of a promotional video for Masterton, the Auckland Attraction Campaign, WaiConnect, and council's attempts to get back an air link to Auckland.