CHAIRS REPORT
Spring Edition 2026
Welcome to the Spring edition of WEst magazine.
This will be the last publication of WEst before the Business West (Inc) Business Association AGM in October, and election of members representing the association on the board, together with Secretary, Treasurer and Chair.
It has been a privilege to Chair the Association, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the board members for freely giving of their time to support our mission of driving positive change to the business environment within our Business Improvement District.
Which brings me to comment on what is probably one of our biggest frustrations.
BWBA’s efforts to further extend CCTV coverage to offer enhanced security and protection to businesses and the community at large as has been reported previously in WEst. Sadly, despite the matter passing through the hands of many people in council and AT, our efforts continue to be hindered by bureaucracy.
Most recently even the suggestion that nothing can happen until the merging of AT activity into core Council operations; this all happening at a time when reported activity from our security patrols highlights increased antisocial behaviour and crime including consumption of alcohol in public, graffiti, dumping and disorder in public places. We remain committed to seeking a resolution in this matter.
It is encouraging to see healthy numbers of new attendees attending the BA5 and ConnectHer events. We are grateful to our sponsor organisations for making these possible, and Business West is committed to ensuring these valuable networking events continue.
Of course, a highlight of the last 3 months was June’s breakfast event with guest speaker Brad Olsen, the now former CEO of Infometrics who provided an informative and broad round up of the economy and the state of the country as we head into the elections later this year.
I hope you enjoy this edition of WEst and wish you the best in business and health.
MICHAEL POWELL, CHAIR BUSINESS WEST
mike@businesswest.co.nz