A combined hot pools and dark sky facility for Te Anau could be on the cards as a way to reinvigorate the town’s business prospects following the demise of international tourism to the region.

The ambitious hot pools and dark sky idea was one of several that has been selected for further investigation and feasibility from a raft of ideas that emerged from a community meeting in June.

The meeting, called by Southland District Council Deputy Mayor and Te Anau Ward Councillor, Ebel Kremer, where he asked “what sort of infrastructure was needed to carry on without tourism?”,

was in response to the devastating impact on the local business community firstly from massive floods in February and followed by the border closures in response to COVID – 19.

In a followup, Mr Kremer has informally appointed a group of seven business and community people tasked with collating the meeting’s ideas and identifying those that could have a chance of reality.

At the June meeting, Mr Kramer acknowledged the impact on the district and said Te Anau had been the hardest hit region in Southland.

He said it would be quite some time into the future “three to five years” before international tourism could be counted on and so traditional work and business opportunities were no longer available.

Other highly probable ideas that made it past the vetting group included establishing a Business Association in the town and moves are already underway for the Southland Chamber of Commerce to meet with business owners in Te Anau to help initiate the process.

Another idea that placed high on the list of achievable outcomes was to establish an education facility in the region in cooperation with Southland Institute of Technology (SIT), Great South, Fiordland Community Board and Fiordland College.

The idea was based on the fact that many businesses in the wider region would need to refocus and would need employees with different skills sets. Creating an opportunity to attend an education facility in Te Anau to obtain skills and qualifications could bring real benefits to the town in terms of employment, increased spend and by adding to the ratepayer base.

“It could encourage people (who may be looking to move away) to stay in Te Anau and potentially bring others to live there.”

Initial discussions with the various agencies were already underway, according to Mr Kremer.

Establishing Te Anau as an events destination also made the list.

There was already a raft of quality events held annually in the town complemented by a range of facilities such as accommodation, restaurants and bars. 

Mr Kremer said a full-time coordinator to manage and promote a programme of events would be vital and an immediate start would be to appoint someone to that role.

The next steps to getting some of the ideas off the ground would be to have conversations with the right people regarding investing interests and funding streams, Mr Kremer said, and they would be looking for momentum and possible buy-in from business investors, as well as from private individuals and community investors.