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| Wairoa (Photo supplied, Wairoa District Council) |
The small town problems of Wairoa discussed below by Alex Braae are typical of much of the country. And the solutions are reasonably obvious. If it's the absence of a dentist, have mobile dentists servicing a number of nearby small towns, or provide a free bus service to travel to the nearest town that does have a dentist, as is the practise between Porirua and Wellington for hospital treatment.
Small towns lose dentists and other services because of their small population. For some towns, tax incentives, low rental costs, income support and other incentives could attract new business leading to more jobs and an increase in population. I recall the old teaching service where incentives were offered to teachers to do country service (see note below). But some towns will never attract new business. They can only hope for subsidised links to larger towns that do have the services required.
The recent Covid-inspired working from home initiatives, the widespread business use and dependence on computers, and the prospect of four-day working weeks all offer opportunities to rethink the relative sizes and economies of all our towns and cities.
