Upper North Island Strategic Alliance working for Northland and NZ

Published on 19 August 2024

On Friday 9 August 2024, representatives from Whangarei District Council, along with Northland Regional Council, travelled to Auckland to attend the quarterly meeting of the Upper North Island Strategic Alliance (UNISA).

Established in 2011, UNISA is a collaboration between Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty Regional councils, Auckland Council, Whangarei District Council and Hamilton and Tauranga City councils. Mayors and chairs from these regions make up the alliance, which in total represents more than half of New Zealand’s population and 55 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Working together means we’re able to make decisions for the growth and economic viability of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It also means we’re able to make strategic decisions of a broader, more national significance.

At our most recent UNISA meeting, we discussed the Clean Hull initiative, Local Waters Done Well, Resource Management Reform and the importance of freight transport. We also welcomed the new Mayor of Tauranga, Mahe Drysdale. 

The Clean Hull initiative is of particular importance to our community, as it directly impacts on the biosecurity of our local marine life. Caulerpa is an exotic seaweed that is spread on the hulls of boats (along with other undesirable marine organisms). To help combat invasive exotic marine pests, we discussed the importance of having a dry dock based here in Whangārei. Having this dry dock infrastructure in place would give overseas vessels a hull inspection and cleaning service, ensuring any undesirables don’t spread around New Zealand. 

Another one of the major concerns raised was the security and safety of freight, and the transport of goods to and from other parts of the world, and around New Zealand. As a group, we need to look at our roads and ports, and how they all link together. 

Since UNISA represents the fastest-growing areas in New Zealand, it is natural that discussions are had about how businesses interact, tourism (and the need for it), transporting goods, providing working, studying and retirement environments, and everything else that supports a growing economy.

UNISA agrees on the need for regional funding and development opportunities, such as the Northland four-lane expressway, the Northport expansion proposal, the dry dock and the importance of getting all the parts working together as one. With the combined support of the upper North Island of New Zealand’s local and regional authorities, why wouldn’t Central Government act in Northland’s favour?  

With all the might and power of UNISA, it still comes down to individuals like yourself and myself being actively involved in the future development of Whangārei. One of those ways of being actively involved is through having your say about shaping Whangārei’s growth over the next 30 years. 

Our draft Future Development Strategy is currently open for your feedback. This is your chance to let us know what density you’d like our future housing developments to be, how you want to move around the District and where you’d like to see more commercial growth. 

Update: Our consultation on the draft Future Development Strategy closed at 5:00pm on Monday 2 September.