Great South committed to improving 'common understanding' with shareholders
Great South is fully committed to working more collaboratively with its shareholders, according to chief executive Chami Abeysinghe. The Invercargill City Council, a leading funder, has made public a report finding that Great South needs to have its constitution and its activities brought back into sync . Key performance indicators had evolved and diverted from those previously agreed, and must align with the levels of service set out in Great Souths constitution, the report from strategy, policy and engagement manager Rhiannon Suter said. Asked if this was a case of the council wanting document changes to sync with Great Souths current activities, or the activities themselves to change to bring them back into line with the documents, ICC chief executive Michael Day said this was largely a procedural matter rather than an issue of Great South working on the wrong areas of activity. It was for the shareholders and the Great South board to work together to determine whether the annual statement of intent or constitution should be amended to improve alignment, he said. Abeysinghe said the agency was already working towards that goal. As part of the annual work cycle, shareholders issue Great South a letter of expectation, and Great South responds with a statement of intent. Changes would be reflected in both the letter and statement from 2024/25 onwards, she said.. This follows a strategic workshop in May at which shareholders had taken the view that Great Souths priorities needed to be revised to reflect those seen in its current statement of intent. These included regional development leadership through the Beyond 2025 long-term plan; business support and diversification; regional promotion (which includes tourism and events); and Net Zero Southland which places Great South as the lead for climate change and decarbonising activities with businesses in our region. A second meeting had been held in August to better align the planning processes of Great South, Beyond 2025 and the councils long-term planning processes. To ensure Great South had the ability to meet council requirements, shareholders would make funding commitments for a three-year period, rather than year by year as had been the case since Great South was first established, Abeysinghe said. The three-year commitment would be reviewed each year and any changes would be reflected in the letters of expectation and statements of intent. Great Souths governance group has eight shareholders Invercargill, Southland and Gore councils, Environment Southland, Invercargill and Mataura licensing trusts, Southland Chamber of Commerce, and Southern Institute of Technology while Community Trust South has status as a member organisation. Four papatipu runaka provide guidance and cultural narrative. Getting to a point where we have a collectively agreed list of priorities for the region, and establishing Great South deliverables in line with these with limited resources is essential for delivering the best possible outcomes for the region, Abeysinghe said. Great South is scheduled to release its Murihiku Southland Destination Strategy 2023-29, on the future for Southlands tourism sector, at Bill Richardson Transport World, Invercargill, on September 12, Rakiura/Stewart Island on September 14, Te Anau on September 19 and Gore on September 21.