Southland's aquaculture industry could be worth $1.5 billion a year — half of the country’s $3b target — the region’s development agency says.

Great South regional strategy general manager Bobbi Brown told the Otago Daily Times after a 12-month review of its Beyond 2025 Southland Long-Term Plan, despite some challenges, she believed the region was in a better position than expected.

Southland contributed a record $8.27b towards New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP), making it the third-highest contributor per capita of any region in New Zealand.

"We are punching above our weight.

"I hate that term, but it means a contribution of over $80,000 a person towards the New Zealand economy — that’s phenomenal."

Mrs Brown said Great South’s plan was to create a path for diversification of the region’s economy in case New Zealand Aluminium Smelters decided to permanently close its Tiwai plant.

However, the company announced a 20-year power deal in June, which secured the operation of the plant for another two decades.

While this was great news, it did not mean the work towards diversification would stop.

One of the areas which was targeted for expansion was aquaculture.

In the original plan it was estimated the region could expand its aquaculture industry into a $1b-a-year industry, but Mrs Brown said this value was reviewed and was now estimated to be a $1.5 billion industry — half of the country’s target of $3b.

"We are working with the government, because they are looking at doubling its exports and aquaculture is a big part of that and we are the best place in the country to do that — but probably not the most developed place.

"We need a significant amount of infrastructure."

Agriculture also continued to be the backbone of the region.

"It contributes over $4 billion to our economy — so over half of the whole GDP.

"There have been ups and downs, because it’s a commodity-based sector and there was a very wet summer as well.

"It’s been very, very challenging, but we need that foundation to continue because it allows us to play in other areas and to be innovative."

The major challenges were infrastructure and housing.

They had been working with councils to address the problem, but there were two issues — not enough housing and the age of their housing.

The market would play a key role, she said.

"There is a challenge for developers because when they look at Southland, the houses are so affordable, which is good for you and I if we want to buy a house, but to someone trying to make money on housing development, there’s probably places elsewhere that are more profitable.

"So we’ve got a big push at the moment to work side by side with them and there’s been a lot of interest."

The majority of Southland’s housing stock was family homes with three or four or more bedrooms, she said.

"You’ve got a lot of older folk who are stuck in the family home and we need them to move out into a nice warm one or two-bedroom home to free that up for a workforce.

"That is going to power our economy."

Source - https://www.odt.co.nz