Todd Talks with Todd Muller National MP

Happy New Year. It's great to be back at work, with 2022 already well underway for many of us. Thank you to all of the people who kept working throughout the summer break, providing warm hospitality to our visitors and to locals enjoying stay-cations.

Each summer our region is a drawcard for domestic tourists and I appreciate the effort that goes in to keeping our cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops, galleries and other visitor attractions running.

There have been greater stresses to businesses and their staff than in previous years thanks to Covid-19 requirements around mask wearing, pass scanning and hand sanitising. Masks are no fun at all in hot weather, but thank you to everyone who wears one for our safety and theirs.

In this ever-changing Covid landscape it's going to be another year of challenges for many in our community, and my team and I are available as always to help constituents find their way through difficulties with bureaucracy or to provide advice where possible.

I'll be holding a series of public meetings in the coming months and I'm looking forward to connecting with more of the community throughout the Bay of Plenty electorate. Meetings will be advertised via: www.toddmuller.co.nz when dates and locations are confirmed.

Our city has some exciting projects on the horizon, and I hope that 2022 is the year that central government addresses the infrastructure needs to support these. I'm especially keen to see plans for the Belk Road and Te Okuroa Drive roading upgrades, so that progress for housing and other developments can get underway.

The needs of New Zealand's fastest-growing city must be treated with the same urgency as larger cities, and I'll continue to advocate strongly for this in Wellington.

I hope you have a great weekend, and perhaps I'll see you at one of the local markets if you're out and about.