Growth "very encouraging"

POPULATION estimates recently released by Statistics New Zealand showing Manawatu, as well as Palmerston North, continuing to experience strong growth for the third consecutive year, have been described by District Mayor, Ian McKelvie, as “very encouraging”.

Mr McKelvie said it showed the region was starting to make some progress and that Feilding and the district were turning into great residential offshoots for Palmerston North.

“That’s why it is so important to get Palmerston North moving along, because it will continue to happen,” he said.

The population of Manawatu District is now estimated to have reached 30,000 – after an increase of 280 people last year – with “natural” growth the main contributor.

A total of 427 births were registered in the district in the year to June 2011, compared with 364 in the previous 12 months.

Mr McKelvie said the increase in the number of births was not a surprise.

“There has been strong growth in incomes in the region,” he said, “with salaries and wages in the district increasing by seven percent in the year to June 2010.”

He believed future growth centred on better quality jobs and if the level of pay for Manawatu improved then this would continue to attract people to the area.

“If we can stop the flow of people out of broader rural areas it will make a big difference to New Zealand,” he said, “because it is important that we keep a spread of population.

“We are fortunate with our proximity to Palmerston North, and if we can get the city working as well as it can, then we can all do better.”

Mr McKelvie said there was no doubt that Feilding was attracting people to the Manawatu, and maybe even to Palmerston North as well.

“I hear positive comments about Feilding from all over the place and the work the community has put into the town has been pretty spectacular.

“And I think if we get to the point of a boundary change, we will see more committed steady growth.”

Palmerston North’s population is estimated to have reached 82,100 people, an increase of 870 people from the previous year, while growth for the wider Manawatu region (incorporating city and district) also compared well with surrounding regions.

Manawatu reached a population of 112,100 in June this year, an increase of 4600 people (4.3 percent) over the past five years.

In comparison, growth rates in adjacent regions were Hawke’s Bay (2.1 percent), Taranaki (2.2 percent), Bay of Plenty (4.4 percent) and Wellington (4.6 percent).