More than 700 people have been employed so far to build trails for the national cycle way, one of the central ideas to originate from the government's 2009 Jobs summit.
Prime Minister John Key gave the number of those employed when announcing the Otago Central Rail Trail would join the National Cycle Trail.
“The idea was to build a nationwide network of cycle trails that would emulate the benefits of the Otago Central Rail Trail and promote New Zealand as an international cycling destination,” Key said of the national trail.
More than 60% of the New Zealand Cycle Trail’s 2,400 kilometres of off-road trails had been completed, with four Great Rides now fully open and three more to open in the next three months, he said.
“The economic benefits of the New Zealand Cycle Trail are already apparent."
"More than 700 people have been employed so far to build the trails."
"Local bike shops, cafés and accommodation operators are also reporting strong interest from domestic and international tourists, as well as locals wanting to get out on their bikes,” Key said.
11 Comments
700 jobs is 700 jobs. I bet those employed don't think it's a joke, or their families. The only criticism I have is that Mr Key isn't shouting enough about what's been achieved already. Also, the public need to know that the individual cycleways are tied to a grander vision, decades away, where each and every 1 will be linked by a connecting trail, totally independent of and away from the state highway system, where it will be possible to cycle from one end of each island to the other without ever leaving the trail. FANATASTICA!!!
Too much vinegar on your fish 'n chips I reckon, Kleefer. Jobs need to follow a vision otherwise neither the employer nor the employee is invested sufficiently. But then, you know that already, you scallywag.
How about training young people to cut walking tracks into previously hard - t o - negotiate native bush? We've got plenty of that, right? Why stop at a cycle way? That's a vision that can supply work for many generations but even better, work that cannot be more easily or efficiently done via technology. Young men especially (but also some young women I imagine) would gain skills and fitness and a sense of self-worth the modern world is steadily denying them. See the bridge buster turned bridge builder last night on the box? See the of pride he felt in being part of a legacy that would benefit the entire country? Old buggers aren't the only ones capable of seeing past their navels: Youth just needs something to believe in.
Love the cycle way and glad we have one in Opotiki. And there has been large numbers of people from all over the globe riding it and it's not even officially open yet.
But is this the best this gvt and it's expensive summit can come up with? Better than the knowledge wave of ten years previous I guess.
When they say it's created 700 jobs, is that 700 permanent jobs? Or are they counting the total number of part-time workers who have worked on the cycle way over the last 3 years? Call me a suspicious old Aunt Sally, but I suspect that this is the case.
And this was just about the only job creation scheme that Jonkey came up with at the 09 summit.
It's pitiful - 200 temporary jobs per year for the last 3 years.
Thanks for asking Haggis. I'm not a NZer, so there was no point at all in me offering an opinion as NZers never listen to anything anyone from overseas says. How do I know this is true? Experience and also because I was told straight to my face not to bring my international experience to NZ and expect locals to listen.
So here is my advice, Haggis. The first thing NZ could do is learn from overseas job-creation experience. Stop reinventing the wheel - which, I might observe is a particularly NZ time-wasting, opportunity wasting habit. I offer the utterly useless RMA as my prime evidence. Home grown and half-baked!
700 jobs temporary jobs!? How may jobs are lost week by week in NZ manufacturing? It didn't even stem the flow, yet you are patting Jonkey on the back for a job well done. You obviously aren't serious about NZ's unemployed masses...I am!
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