I know the Christchurch City Council is struggling to get things right now there is some more action in the CBD BUT (there is always a but) I see little in the way of vision, futures thinking and the alignment of projects, road design, open spaces, activities and other development that will create a City with a unique selling point.

Our traditional, 150 year old USP has been the Garden City and again I have yet to hear one councillor or the mayor use this in any debate. It almost suggests that there is an underlying move to develop a new slogan for the City.

We tried that once before and after 10 years we returned to the Garden City.

In my view we need to take “The Garden City” and future proof it in such a way that everyone – business, arts, IT, sports, education, rural sector, retail etc can use it to promote their brand, activity or event.

Its not rocket science. Coca Cola, McDonalds, Harcourts, Banks and others are consistently keeping their brand up to date and do not ignore their proud history; it’s great marketing.

We should be proud of “The Garden City” and we should be so confident in it that we are able to keep “The garden City” modern and grow the brand together. This requires integration and leadership from the Council and also organisations like the CHS.