My hopes and dreams for 2022

What's coming in 2022? Photo / 123rf

To help bring in the new year Whanganui Chronicle reporters Mike Tweed and Ethan Griffiths asked a range of local people for their hopes and expectations in the year ahead. Here's what they had to say.

Domino's Whanganui owner, Neeraj Vishwakarma
This [last] year had been tough for businesses in general, but 2022 could prove to be even more of a challenge, Vishwakarma said.

"Covid-19 has impacted freight and construction costs, and prices in general are going up," he said.

"Then there are the issues of manpower and supply chains. I think things will get tougher in the next 12 months."

Vishwakarma said he hoped New Zealand's borders would fully open as soon as possible next year.

"Having them closed for so long is not good for our economy. It's giving us a pretty hard time in terms of keeping businesses turning over."

Keeping costs down at Domino's next year was also important, because he wanted the restaurant to still be an option for those who were going through a hard time financially as a result of Covid-19.

"It will be difficult for businesses to still deliver the same value on food products.

"We will keep doing fundraisers next year though, and our next one is on January 19 for the Coastguard at Castlecliff. I'm actively looking for people in need, or for ways we can help in the community. If a story hits my desk, and I feel like it's a cause we should be involved in, then I'm always into that."

Personally, Vishwakarma said he wanted to open another Domino's in Whanganui next year and visit his family in India.
"Seeing my family is a major goal. It's been three years now."

Cath Watson – Gallery 85
Watson hoped 2022 would allow more artists in residence to come to Whanganui.

"This last year has been a little bit fraught for people who haven't felt comfortable leaving home to come here, or haven't been able to get away from Auckland because of lockdown, Watson said.

"Our residency programme hasn't run the way we would have liked, but this coming year we're looking at a full complement of wonderful artists from all around New Zealand.

"I'm really looking forward to hosting them on behalf of the [Supporting Artists with Residencies] trust."

Two previous Glasgow Street Art Centre artists in residence, Wesley John Fourie and Brendon Kitto had now moved to Whanganui permanently, Watson said.

"They are two lovely additions to the city, and may it continue in the same vein."

Watson said she hoped Whanganui locals would buy more locally made art in 2022.

"I find that with a lot of sales, it's people from New Plymouth, Palmerston North or Kapiti who are coming across and purchasing.

"That purchase enables artists to create more art, and for some of them, it's their livelihood.

"It would be great if locals appreciated the art perhaps as much as out-of-towners do, and gave their support to something that is important for Whanganui."

Reverend Stephan van Os – St Andrews Presbyterian Church
In 2021 van Os marked 40 years of active ordained ministry, and after seven years at St Andrew's he has "drawn stumps and retired".

"Due to the unusual times in which we live we have not yet been able to have my farewell, but I imagine we will get around to that eventually," he said.

"The question is what happens as we head into 2022? The plans I had for retirement - going to see my grandsons in the UK and sorting out some business interests - are currently on hold because of Covid-19.

"So, what now? It's just as well that I'm a Christian with a firm belief that God has all these things under control, otherwise I might just go nuts."

Van Os said he might take a leaf of the book of some of his teacher friends who had also retired in 2021.

"They had hardly been retired five minutes before they were back in a classroom once again. Us preachers are a bit the same.

"Being a Christian is what motivates me to get up in the morning. I've loved the opportunities to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ over these many years, so I guess I will do a bit more of that, no doubt at a slower pace than before."

Vaughan Campbell – Good Bones Distillery
Campbell had a brilliant end to 2021, with his fledgling vodka distillery Good Bones taking out the inaugural Innovate Whanganui competition in October.

He came away with a $10,000 prize, which will go towards realising his dream of creating Whanganui's first sustainable, locally sourced eco-distillery.

A primary ingredient for his vodka will be surplus baked goods otherwise destined for landfill.

His primary focus for 2022 is fully launching the venture.

He wanted to put Whanganui on the "distilling map" and hoped to launch his business in the first quarter of the year.

"I just want to get that cranking and get some awesome vodka out there."

Campbell said he sometimes thought back to where Good Bones started and where it was now.

"I'm still pretty blown away by how things have gone. The to-do list is still endless, but I'm ticking things off pretty quickly. I've had awesome help from the guys at Lads Brewery. I couldn't do it without them, really.

"In terms of Whanganui next year, I think we should just keep going the way we are. We've got a good thing going here.

"Having my family happy and healthy is also a must."

Lucy Brickley - NZME Whanganui
Lucy Brickley, 27, said her biggest hope for 2022 was the ability to travel, after what had been a difficult 2021, marred with scuppered plans and high-intensity work.

"I'm really looking forward to getting out and seeing more of the country, to be honest," Brickley said. "I would really love to do Queenstown next year, and just visit some of the stunning places around the country."

"It's been a hard year with lockdowns and restrictions and even work, too. It's just been hard to plan anything."

Brickley also suggested a trip overseas might be on the cards if New Zealand's borders opened in 2022. A Pacific Island was high on her bucket list.

"That would really be something I'd love to do."

Outside of travelling, Brickley said 2022 might also lead to another item on her bucket list ticked off.

"I've always wanted to do a skydive, and I think 2022 might be my year."

The 27-year-old also said she planned to get a new tattoo - a row of English roses drawn by her grandfather before he died.

Bronwyn Labrum – director of the Whanganui Regional Museum
Labrum took up the role of director at the museum at the end of 2020.

"I'm hoping next year will bring a continued team effort from New Zealanders to carry on in this pandemic world we're in."

Labrum said art, culture and creativity were things people needed in uncertain times.

"Hopefully we continue to support our local institutions, like Whanganui Regional Museum, in 2022.

"What we are aiming to do now we are in the traffic light framework is to take the museum outside the walls - to develop our digital experiences and take the museum to where people are."

One exhibition she was excited about for next year was Hei Awa Ora, due to open in May.

"It is an experience around the [Whanganui] awa. It's not so much about telling the history of it, although that's there, but actually helping people understand its importance to the many communities that relate to it, and how it needs to be cared for into the future."

Personally, Labrum said 2021 had been a tough year.

"My mother passed away, so I'm hoping next year I'll continue to be around my family.

"I was also really inwardly focused, but now I can look out and up and around and really settle into the Whanganui community."

Mayor Hamish McDouall

Hamish McDouall said his biggest hope for 2022 was to live in a world where a global pandemic wasn't the only show in town.
"Obviously we're going to have to live with Covid, but I just really hope it doesn't dominate our lives as much as it has. It would be great for it to be as minimal as it can be," the mayor said.

When it came to council operations, McDouall said he would love to see more government support for the district.

"I'm really wanting to see our major projects completed, after suffering from Covid and supply chain pressures."

But the thing McDouall said he was most hoping for in 2022 was a change in discourse among members of the public.

"This uncivil discourse has been around for a while now. Whether it's on Facebook, in emails or in public, people are just yelling at each other."

The issues around the treatment of public officials and council staff has reared up since the beginning of the pandemic, with Whanganui a more confrontational place than it was just 24 months ago, McDouall said.

"2021 has been the most difficult year of my mayoralty, and elected officials have felt the angst and uncharitable way some people communicate. Some of us have struggled.

"I'm hoping 2022 is the year we bring civility back to the way we get things done."