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2 years ago, the somewhat fragmented town of Ōtaki cast their eye-sight sideways, and local leaders realised that the future was uncertain given the access into the town (a current focus of which National seek to resolve) - for their young people, and for their connectedness. It is a town that has been disconnected, at times, by the transient relationships and transitions that have moved through this place.

A town divided by hills, beach, town, and culture. A town full of diversity, figuring out its own identity. But a town committed to their culture and values!

When arriving on the foreshore of Ōtaki, you learn that the local Waka Ama is one of most of the most thriving in the country. The speech from their local leaders during practice makes your hairs stand up on end. At first, you think perhaps it's a tough place, and it is. Tough on values. But the larger driving force here is a need to instill passion within their young people.

"They are our future" - says Libby Hakaraia, an acclaimed storyteller of Aotearoa.

The National push is for roads, transport, a rail network into Ōtaki, in fact. It only takes a recent news headline to know that it's a wee hub in the lower North that's perhaps targeted as the little (big) extension to Wellington? The sweet little slice of Aotearoa that perhaps reflects the values we all want to instill as New Zealanders? Small and humble. Big in heart and mana. Full of Manakitaanga. After all, it is one of the most bilingual townships of Aotearoa(!!)

If all townships across the country were to invest in the mana of their young people - just how enriched would Aotearoa be? How revitalised would culture and language be? This was one of the driving forces behind the local councilors, community groups, business owners, and locals that came together to tell the stories of their place?

"Community and local engagement are what we need, now more than ever. We are learning, the hard way, that if we don't invest in our people and our places, they will leave our lands in one way or another. This new life for Ōtaki is about celebrating mana, people, stories, ancestors, and aspiring for the future. The future, right now, might seem disconnected. But this town is saying, "this is what we firmly stand for and believe in. We are Aotearoa, New Zealand".

.........And the leaders of this place are right behind it, sharing a collaborative vision and regional development strategy across their place, collaboratively.

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