His Worship Mayor Grant Smith on Palmerston North: Our City, Our Future

When Grant Smith walks into a room you know straight away this is someone who genuinely loves where he lives. Introduced warmly by President Barb, he arrived in relaxed form and delivered one of the most engaging and entertaining addresses the Club has heard in a long time. Part civic briefing and part personal passion project, his talk covered the city's real strengths, some honest challenges, and most compellingly a vision of opportunity that left the room feeling genuinely upbeat about where Palmerston North is heading.

He opened with heartfelt acknowledgement of the Rotary Club's more than 50 years of service to the community. He spoke with real pride about the river pathway project, championed by a club member around a decade ago and now attracting some 1.3 million visits a year. He also praised the Club's recent fundraising efforts including the remarkable $2.5 million raised toward the new robotic surgery unit at the regional hospital. That achievement will make Palmerston North the first public hospital outside Auckland's North Shore to offer robotic surgery. A bit of a game changer in his words. He was absolutely clear that service clubs like Rotary bring massive value to this community and he is proud to champion them.

One of the themes running through the Mayor's address was a good-humoured frustration that Palmerston North sometimes does not get the credit it deserves. He recalled developers from Hawke's Bay visiting for the first time and being visibly astonished at the scale and quality of what they found. And he clearly enjoyed retelling the story of a real estate agent from Queenstown who arrived with a dismissive attitude, only to go quiet when the Mayor asked him where his nearest university was, his regional teaching hospital, or his nine high schools. We've got that, Grant said simply. And you've got this. So we're not so bad after all.

The substance behind his confidence is real. Palmerston North is a genuine regional hub with an impressively diverse economy. Healthcare is actually the city's largest sector, perhaps surprising to some, built around a regional teaching hospital serving approximately 600,000 people. Education is world class with Massey University approaching its centenary, alongside UCOL and IPU. And the city's research community is extraordinary. Grant noted with evident pride that Palmerston North is home to one of the greatest concentrations of food scientists anywhere on the planet, bringing together Massey University, Plant and Food Research, and Frontier Agri-Science.

Logistics and distribution has quietly become the fastest growing sector in the city, cementing Palmerston North as the third critical spoke in New Zealand's national supply chain. Defence adds thousands of service personnel and their families to the local economy, with Linton and Ohakea having recently received hundreds of millions of dollars in long overdue investment. And underpinning it all is the rich agribusiness heartland of the Horizons region, the fifth largest dairy area in New Zealand, the chicken and beef capital of the country, surrounded by cropping, horticulture, forestry, and a wool industry quietly making a comeback.

The city is also younger than most New Zealanders realise. With an average age of just over 35 compared to the national average of nearly 40, Palmerston North has the energy and momentum of a city with plenty ahead of it. One in five residents was born overseas, lending the community a genuine diversity and a strong outward looking character.

What sets Grant Smith apart as a communicator is that he does not shy away from complexity. He spoke candidly about the challenges the city faces, not with alarm but with the calm practicality of someone who has been working on solutions for years.

Transport is a pressing concern. Logging trucks, B-trains, and stock trucks currently make their way through the heart of the city and the Mayor was direct about it. A ring road is not a nice-to-have, it is an absolute necessity. The proposed route runs from Camp Road, past the military camp and the prison, across a new bridge over the river and through to the industrial park. He is actively lobbying for it with both major parties and the minor parties. It will take time he acknowledged, but the hard yards are being done.

Water infrastructure reform has seen the establishment of Central Districts Water, an entity with $1.8 billion in assets, a manageable debt level, and over 200 employees. The Mayor was keen to reassure members that the finances are not as alarming as headlines sometimes suggest. People seem to think everything is debt, but it actually isn't. The city itself holds a Double-A Minus Stable credit rating from S&P Global, one of only around 20 New Zealand councils in positive territory.

Housing affordability is on the radar. Palmerston North is currently ranked the third most affordable city in New Zealand with average house prices around $630,000 to $640,000, a significant contrast to the major centres. But the Mayor is thinking ahead, recognising the need for more medium density housing and a broader range of aged care options as the population grows.

He also spoke honestly about the challenge of retaining executive talent. The city has nearly 60,000 jobs but attracting senior professionals remains competitive. He is undaunted. As awareness grows of what Palmerston North genuinely offers in education, theatre, sport, and liveability, so too will the city's ability to attract the people it needs.

Continued in Part 2: Opportunities, Community, Q&A and Vote of Thanks

The Opportunities Are Enormous 

If there was one note that ran through the entire address, it was genuine infectious excitement about what lies ahead. The Mayor practically lit up when he talked about Palmerston North's unique position as the only place in New Zealand where rail, road, air, and proximity to seaports all converge. The potential of a properly developed intermodal rail hub is transformative he argued. He joked that he hoped to still be alive when it finally opens but his commitment to laying the groundwork now was unmistakable.

The revitalisation of the city centre is already underway and gathering momentum. A major new retail and commercial development from Safari Group is due to open in late October, the result of five years of patient negotiation. The Mayor was visibly pleased about it. Safari has built 18 similar developments and crucially intend to own this one rather than sell it on, a clear signal of long term confidence in the city. New office buildings, hospitality venues, bars, and restaurants are following, and the Mayor spoke warmly about the cultural vibrancy that comes with them. The Regent Theatre, the professional theatre scene, and the International Jazz Festival just weeks away are things many larger cities would envy.

His passion for Massey University was evident and personal. After a difficult period he is genuinely optimistic. A new Vice-Chancellor and a refreshed senior leadership team have changed the feel of the institution dramatically. Students are back on campus, partnerships are being rebuilt with Crown Research Institutes and local businesses, and the energy is palpably different from a year ago. Massey is 100 years old at year's end and the Mayor clearly intends to celebrate that milestone with the institution firmly back on its feet.

A new wind farm with Meridian Energy will bring approximately $700 million into the local economy and further strengthen the city's already impressive energy resilience. The electric bus fleet is up and running. Stormwater infrastructure and climate resilience investment is ongoing. The city is not just coping with change. It is actively shaping its own future.

Throughout his address and woven into almost every topic he touched was the Mayor's deep regard for the people and organisations that make Palmerston North what it is. He spoke warmly about the city's youth. The Mayor's Task Force for Jobs takes young people who have fallen out of the education system and finds them a pathway forward. It's really good for the soul he said, when you see a dozen kids who probably could have ended up in a bad state and they've got jobs and they're giving back.

He spoke about the 30 per cent of his time he devotes to social wellbeing, working alongside churches, the Salvation Army, Mesh Trust, and other community organisations. He acknowledged that this side of the mayoral role surprised him when he first took office but he has come to see it as essential. If you don't tend to the community's fabric it can become a serious problem down the track.

His vision for Palmerston North is captured in a phrase he returned to more than once. Big on opportunity but grounded in community. It is a vision of a city that is aspirational without losing itself, that grows without forgetting its people, and that competes on the world stage while remaining a genuinely wonderful place to live. After listening to Grant Smith speak about it you leave feeling that Palmerston North is exactly that kind of place.

Questions from the Floor

Members took full advantage of the Q&A session and the Mayor engaged with every question with the same openness and good humour that had characterised his presentation. Here is a summary of the key exchanges.

How do you actually count the population and does it matter?

The Mayor explained with a wry smile that population figures vary quite significantly depending on the source. Health records suggest around 95,000 residents while Statistics NZ sits closer to 92,000. The difference comes down to how international students, defence personnel, and temporary residents are counted. The practical consequence is that the city is often underfunded on population linked allocations from central government, an ongoing frustration he is working to address.

What is your honest assessment of the relationship between local and central government?

Frank and a little rueful. The Mayor described a relationship that has become increasingly difficult, with central government politicians often lacking any real understanding of what councils actually do, around 65 to 68 different services he noted. He spoke about the frustration of political point scoring at councils' expense and expressed a genuine desire to improve the relationship by keeping it focused on substance rather than personalities. He remains optimistic but clear eyed about the work required.

What keeps you up at night? What is the biggest risk facing the city?

A major natural disaster would be the hardest thing to recover from he said. The funding environment that helped Christchurch rebuild simply does not exist today. Economically the city's diversity is a genuine buffer against sector shocks and he feels for regions like Hawke's Bay facing major job losses in a single industry. But if he had to name one thing that would genuinely hurt Palmerston North it would be the loss or continued decline of Massey University, which is precisely why he is so invested in its recovery.

How confident are you really about Massey's future?

Very. The Mayor was emphatic on this point. The new Vice-Chancellor has brought a different energy to the institution, campus life is visibly recovering, and the connections being rebuilt with industry, Crown Research Institutes, and community partners are real and growing. A year ago the campus felt empty. Today it feels like itself again. It will take time to fully recover but Grant Smith clearly believes the corner has been turned.

Can you walk us through the ring road proposal?

With evident enthusiasm the Mayor outlined the proposed route from Camp Road, past the military camp and pharmaceutical facilities, past the prison, across a new bridge over the Manawatu River into the Sheriffs area, through a major roundabout connection and eventually to the back of the industrial park. The goal is straightforward. Get the logging trucks, B-trains, and stock trucks out of the city centre. He is lobbying hard across the political spectrum to get the project designated and into planning. I can't see that one failing, he said with a grin. We just need to get it started.

President Barb extended the Club's warm thanks to Mayor Grant Smith for what was by any measure an exceptional address. His willingness to speak candidly, his obvious passion for Palmerston North, and his genuine regard for the work of service clubs like Rotary made for an evening that members will be talking about for some time. We are fortunate to have a mayor who not only knows his city intimately but loves it and is working every day to make it even better.