Campground
Hi Grant,
Not sure how much WDC is taking on ideas/suggestions around the Park development or whether it's already a done deal, but I have discussed with a couple of people (including Dan Gordon) the idea of using part of that area for a "Centre Ville" style campground.
My thinking is based on my experiences travelling throughout France (& Europe) as well as over a decade of working in Travel Tourism (corporate, wholesale, inbound, outbond, travel agent and Marketing and Sales with Singapore Airlines.
Throughout Europe, and esp France, you find centrally located (centre ville), modestly priced, council run facilities for holiday makers. As we all know Rangora is not a tourism destination, which ironically has served us well in terms of the impact of Covid on the economy - we haven't had any tourism business to impact! My partner and I have been running Fools of Desire Cafe in central Rangiora for 4 years and at the height of summer we see a downturn of business, not an increase, as locals leave for other tourist spots.
But as the vaccines take effect and the long term impact of the structural changes to international tourism hit, I think the domestic tourist market will increase and be strong for a number of years, followed eventually by an inevitable increase again of international tourism. If Rangiora can make some changes now and start to market itself as a domestic tourist destination we will only see increased benefits when international tourism comes back. To do that we need a much stronger emphasis on marketing this amazing region we live in - mountains, rivers, beaches, wineries, small towns, food producers. But we also need infrastructure to support it.
Talk to anyone in tourism and they will tell you that to grow a destination you need to get people talking about you, welcome them, make it easy for the FIT (Free Independent Traveller) to come to your region. Once they are talking about you, the higher end groups, VFR (Visiting friends & relatives), tour groups will follow.
A simple way to engage these people and make it easy is to provide a facility close to town, it has to be walking distance, so they can not only have a base for exploring the region, but can also easily access cafes, bars, restaurants, cinemas, doctors, supermarkets. The Millton park location is perfect.
With a relatively simple addition of walking paths to central Rangiora, a "Welcome to Rangiora Village and Campsite" or similarly friendly name, could be a perfect location. Walking distance to all of the facilities, close to the river and on a major road intersection to head north or south.
I would suggest a modern design that provides accommodation for tents/campervans, and utilising technology to make it self managing (self cleaning toilets and shower areas, solar powered, composting toilets, automated check ins). Modern design and technology would allow you to create a low maintenance, self sustaining facility - where the income would also allow for a small number of staff - at no cost to the council long term. I would also suggest a competition to design the facility and a bold, world class look. You only need to look at the Hundterwasser facilities in the North Island to see how a unique and inspirational design can turn the most basic of facilities into a world class tourist attraction! ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasser_Toilets).
The facility would not compete with the very limited, existing accommodation providers in Rangiora. They would be a market that would not normally stay in motels and unlikely to stay in a campground a long way out of the town.
It is also something that could easily be incorporated into the arboretum idea, but would provide a lot more in combination economically than a standalone arboretum. As much as I like the idea of an extended dog park, model train club, and arboretum, none of those ideas will attract more people to the region, contribute economically, provide jobs and be self sustaining. They all already exist in one form or another - gardens, parks, dog areas, enthusiast clubs etc. It would be good to do something bold and innovative - perhaps even combine the arboretum and the "designer" camp village with a true sculpture park! We certainly don't have an over supply of public artworks in the region!
*One other additional thought - I also run a number of events and a centrally located, unique and "well designed" facility like this would certainly be something that event organisers could also publicise to increase event attendance.
Cheers
Karl
Karl Horwarth
027 77 77 412
Fools of Desire Cafe
Waimakariri Winter Festival
Rangiora Festival of Colour
Rangiora Light & Sound