Meeting opened by Derek King welcoming everyone along including Leah from Hayes.

Discussion then moved onto the need to make sure that outside of Locals supporting Locals and our Maniototo businesses, that Business must also support each other and so maintain a positive story for our customers and visitors.

Blue Visitor Signs:

Following on from the news in January that the funding for relocation and provision of new larger blue facility signs further out from the Goff’s Road shortcut along the State highways, had been withdrawn, our CODC team have got this funding re-instated which is great news. Work is due to happen then over the coming months. This will hopefully encourage more travellers to divert into Ranfurly.

Janyne (emailed) and Kirstina then provided a signage update.

The signage committee met a short while ago to further refine the concept and key points on this are as follows:

• We are looking at two identical signs at both ends of Ranfurly - close to town to complement the relocated blue signs.
• The proposed signs will directly reference Ranfurly’s heritage (and reason for being) as a railway town
• We are going to have a face to face meeting with Petter Standring of NZTA/Aspiring Highways this coming Friday to share our draft concept design and get their feedback, thoughts and ideas prior to proceeding with any more formal approvals, designs and consultation. We want to make sure that our ideas work with their regulations, policy and strategy before spending any money on more formal designs or sharing a concept with the community.

Since the February meeting, further progress has been made, and Janyne will speak to this at our March meet.

A&P Show update (emailed) from Janine

Please report back to the group that the show was a very successful day for the community.

Approximately 700 people attended. Estimated funds raised for Jake Smith is $25,000, but we have not done a final tally up yet.

Our major concern is that the equestrian entries were well down, and this is the costliest section of the show.

Our next show (Wednesday 18 February 2026) is our 125th, and we will be asking for support from the whole community.

Discussion then held on do we set up as an incorporated Society?

Summarising the notes, it doesn’t suit with our current business environment. 

Formal proceedings, paying subs, finding office bearers and the technical requirements of being an incorporated society will put potential members off joining the group. 

Furthermore, in the beginning the intention of the group was as a networking group where businesses share information in an informal setting with very casual arrangements. 

If funds are required for worthy projects, partnerships could be arranged with existing Maniototo entities that already have the required established legal frameworks. 

So no, the MBG will not be looking to become an Incorporated society.

Social Service agencies will be having a regular drop-in sessions once a month at the Hospital – details to follow

Shirley Clark then spoke to us about the Isite:

The isite’s in Central Otago while known for tourism, we are also here to serve our local communities.

Aside from the usual bookings for accommodation, transport and activities across the country, aa well as providing maps, brochures and other tourism information, we also deliver/provide the following:

• We hold in stock passport forms and 18+ card forms. We also assist our locals in downloading multiple Government forms such as visa’s, community service cards, gold cards and many others. There is a large portion of our community that will not use the Govt websites for these, find it difficult, or just don’t have internet access.
• We also help our locals in the scanning and sending of applications for immigration and other facilities for our NZ residents and Working visa holders. These residents of the Maniototo may not have access to internet, be unable to scan or even photocopy their legal documents. We help them with this and provide the information of our local JP’s for the verification of important documents.
• Our visitors also get caught short while on holiday, as we regularly scan and copy legal documents for our visitors that need a quick resolution for that piece of their business. 
• New residents of the Maniototo need help in finding their feet in our piece of paradise. isite provides the assistance in finding the community groups contacts, the locations of services, where to find a plumber (that one is quite common) a builder, firewood and many other facilities one needs to live rural.
• We get twice daily weather reports, from QLDC, CODC, NZTA and Fulton Hogan over the winter months, and provide the information about road closures and other hazards to those moving from or through the district.  
• We also advise on which roads can be taken and with what. And no, you can’t tow a caravan through the Dansey’s Pass, or drive a motor home through the Old Dunstan Road, or go camping up at Boundary Hut in the middle of winter after a severe snowstorm. 
• Our isite team also sit in the Welfare Function of Emergency Management, with our team working in the EOC for any major local state of emergency in this area.
• The Maniototo isite also looks after our locals with providing the numbers for Health providers and assistance with the information regarding booking of the St John shuttle. This service comes through Ranfurly twice a week to help people attend hospital appointments in Dunedin.
• We sell fish and game licences, and stock the local fishing brochures, though we don’t give out the information about where the fish are biting.. 
• DOC is one of our stake holders in relation to the Otago Central Rail Trail and the conservation parks, and we stock the relevant DOC brochures. We also hold a large range of TOPO Maps in centre as well. We also hold information about keeping safe in the outdoors, and where and how to fly drones in relation to the CAA rules.
• But most of all we are detectives. We help locals and visitors that have a large range of weird questions. Such as; xxx used to live here 40 years ago and we are trying to find a contact number. There used to be a little shop here 60 years ago and we are looking for… or my great, great grandfather had a house in this area and we are trying to find it can you help? We link to the relevant CODC departments, community groups or museums to help people find the information they require.

To write about everything isite does, I would need a much large piece of paper, but this is a sample of what we do outside of the known tourism activities.

To put a long story short, we are here to work with and for our community. That includes the local businesses. We promote and provide visitors and locals the information on your business. 

The more we know the better we can help.