The Canterbury Mayoral Forum and Regional Transport Committee’s freight tour of Christchurch and Timaru on 18 and 19 February saw members experience two coastal ports, an airport, and logistics and freight companies.
On Thursday, members gathered at Rolleston, to be taken by coach to Christchurch International Airport. There they learned about the airport’s role in Canterbury’s freight network, and received a tour of the freight area within the airport.
From there, the group was transported across the city to Lyttelton, where they boarded a ferry with Port staff to view and learn about the Port’s wide range of operations from Lyttelton Harbour.
The group then moved on to i-Port in Rolleston to visit Move Logistics, a key road freight business in Canterbury.
The day finished in Timaru, where the members heard first hand from those in the business of freight: Garry Aitken from Temuka Transport and Kris Webster from Sorted Logistics.
On Friday morning, the Mayoral Forum held its first quarterly meeting for 2021 at Timaru District Council. Mayoral Forum Chair, Mayor Sam Broughton, thanked Timaru District Council for hosting the Forum.
“It was a pleasure to hold our quarterly meeting in Timaru, and we thank the council and staff for making it so easy,” Mayor Broughton said.
“At today’s meeting we were able to progress a number of significant discussions on topics such as Three Waters, freshwater reforms and resource management reform.
“The Forum continues to put Canterbury and its communities at the heart of everything we do, providing a strong and unified voice on the priority issues for our region,” he said.
After the Mayoral Forum, members rejoined Regional Transport Committee colleagues to travel to the last stop on the tour, PrimePort Timaru, where the group toured the Port and learned more about how it operates within the Canterbury freight system.
