Report to Council of the Strategy and Resources Committee 18 August 1997

27. 8. 97

STRATEGY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE

18 AUGUST 1997

A meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee
was held on Monday 18 August 1997 at 4.00 pm

PRESENT:	Councillor Alister James (In the Chair), The Mayor, Councillors Oscar Alpers, Carole Evans, Pat Harrow, Ian Howell, Denis O'Rourke and Ron Wright
APOLOGIES:	Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors David Close, Gordon Freeman, Garry Moore and Margaret Murray
	An apology for lateness was received and accepted from Councillor Oscar Alpers
	Councillor Alpers arrived at 4.10 pm and was present for all clauses except clauses 7 and 14
	The Mayor retired at 5.35 pm and was present for all clauses except clauses 5, 6, 9, 10 and 13

The Committee reports that:

PART A - MATTERS REQUIRING A COUNCIL DECISION

EVENTS MARKETING IN CHRISTCHURCH

RR 5716

Officer responsible	Author
City Manager	Jonathan Fletcher
Corporate Plan Output: Visitor Promotions

The purpose of this report is to obtain agreement on what are the gaps in the Council's work to maximise the economic benefit from attracting visitors to Christchurch.

The Council's major roles in attracting visitors to Christchurch include: ensuring that the physical infrastructure of the city is of a good standard; providing those facilities that are important to the visitor industry but which are not commercially viable for private providers (for example the Convention Centre, the Tourist Information Centre and the tram); supporting an active events and festivals programme which while it is primarily for Christchurch residents, plays a large and increasing role in attracting visitors to Christchurch.

This report is not about these matters, but more about the gaps in the marketing (widely understood) of Christchurch. The major Council input to this is its purchasing of outputs from the Canterbury Tourism Council, in particular:

A visitor information service provided via the Visitor Information Centre which handles large numbers of enquiries, walk in, by phone, and by mail from leisure tourists.
Leisure tourism marketing. The Canterbury Tourism Council marketing of Christchurch overseas is very much tied to working with the New Zealand Tourism Bureau, participating in its visiting media programme and its off shore marketing activities and involvement in trade shows.
The Convention Bureau which provides generic marketing material and assistance to associations and professional conference organisers and others making bids to host conferences and conventions. It also supports limited North American and Australian representation; participates selectively in off shore trade shows; and undertakes trade media advertising and targeted marketing campaigns. This work aims to develop/maintain the Christchurch profile, follow up interest shown by contacts and match enquiries with those in the Christchurch market place capable of responding to them.

The Council is also, through NCC, actively involved in marketing and selling its convention facilities and its, soon to be completed, Westpac Centre.

Discussions with people in the tourism industry indicate that the above activities are important to the marketing of Christchurch and should continue. There are some individual concerns about the priorities of some expenditure and as with most things, some fine tuning of their direction may be required and further resources would always be welcome.

THE GAPS

The major areas where more could be done in order to get a better return for Christchurch from visitors include: events marketing, events creation and specialist areas. In this context I am using 'events marketing' to mean marketing and building on our existing programme of festivals and events (excluded from consideration in this report is whether there is a need to review the festival and events programme). 'Events creation' covers both developing an event that would not otherwise be held and bringing to Christchurch an event that would otherwise be held elsewhere.

EVENTS MARKETING

The appeal of our festivals is primarily domestic meaning the South Island, the rest of New Zealand and possibly Australia with a decreasing pull the further way from Christchurch you get. To date however we have made little effort to exploit this appeal either by incorporating festivals and events into the marketing of Christchurch or by selectively building on and augmenting some of the festivals and events to increase their visitor appeal. An example of this latter activity would be to add to the Floral Festival niche marketing activities, for example, a rose growers convention which would fit with the festival and attract international visitors to both. Likewise, art visitors and arts events have big visitor attraction ability but this area is also under exploited at present. For example there may be scope for building events of specialist interest to industrial archaeologists and conservation architects around Heritage Week.

EVENTS CREATION

The range of possible events creation opportunities is enormous. It includes the type of events that we would hope to see as flat floor events in the new Westpac Centre such as livestock sales, grand prix equestrian jumping, arena motocross and "Mystery Creek" type agricultural field days. It also covers the encouragement of associations, sports clubs, groups of enthusiasts and special interest groups to bid for their national and international events to be held in Christchurch. A key to bringing more events to Christchurch is to energise and support local residents to bid for such events.

To develop such an approach in a systematic way requires information, particularly a data base of opportunities, leads and contacts. To be truly effective this should include information on most interest groups, clubs, associations and interests within the Christchurch community which have national, and especially international, affiliations. It only takes one enthusiastic member of an international society in Christchurch to extend an invitation to the world body to hold its convention here. Such a data base is the first step in being able to follow up every possible lead.

The second requirement is somebody with the time and ability to keep in touch proactively with all these contacts and ensure that not only are they excited by the possibilities of being involved in holding their special interest event in Christchurch but are 'held by the hand' as they go through the processes from 'bidding' to hosting the event. The keys to success are firstly to excite people who are not skilled or experienced in hosting an event in the value and benefit of bidding for one; and secondly to make it easy for them to put on the event once they have gained it. In this context it needs to be appreciated that the executive members of many associations, sports clubs, and other organisations are very much part time amateurs and will be daunted by the demands of bidding for and putting on an event unless it is made straight forward for them. Likewise, for example, the local Aardvark Breeders Association may not have thought of holding the annual aardvark sale in Christchurch but if the opportunity could be presented to them and they were given a clear understanding of the benefits, while having the more onerous aspects of hosting arranged for them, they may jump at the chance.

To foster events creation effectively requires a relatively small support team able to establish and develop the data base, build up an extensive network of contacts within Christchurch and possessing the skills to prepare and make formal presentations and to help 'amateurs' through all the necessary work to put on an 'event' (with the help of PCOs or event organisers where appropriate).

SPECIALIST AREAS

There are numerous 'visitor intensive' activities that contribute positively to the economy but which are not usually regarded as tourism. An example relevant to Christchurch is film shooting. If the Westpac Centre is booked as a film set for a six week 'shoot' that may bring several hundred visitors to Christchurch and have significant spin offs in areas ranging from catering to scaffolding hire. It may also mean that other sites in the Christchurch environs are used as locations for parts of the film. The economic benefit will be large. Likewise, although education is not generally considered part of the visitor industry, education visitors be they people attending week long specialist seminars, English language schools, secondary schools, or degree courses contribute positively to the visitor economy of Christchurch.

CDC is actively involved in Christchurch initiatives in these areas, but they and other areas (e.g. bio-dynamic agriculture and antarctic study) are worthy of further investigation, and with careful nurturing could well grow to contribute significantly to the Christchurch economy.

EVENTS CORPORATION

The Government announced in early July that it intends to establish an Events Corporation with a brief to put together proposals and make bids to bring world events to New Zealand. To date details of what it intends are still sketchy. However, it would seem desirable to investigate how best to position Christchurch to take advantage of this Government initiative.

CONCLUSION

The core recreational visitor servicing, destination and convention marketing activities provided through the CTC and the Council's city promotion section should continue.

The major opportunities for growth in the positive impact of visitors to Christchurch lie in the areas of developing the events associated with our festival programme, creating events and developing niche markets in areas where we have specialist expertise or location advantage (eg education services).

Recommendation:

That the Council work with other interested parties in Christchurch to determine the best way to address and finance the following:

Developing elements of some of the current events and festivals to a standard where they can be marketed overseas and then marketing them;
Developing and promoting specialist activities to be held in association with our events and festival programme;
A structure to identify opportunities to bring special events and conferences to Christchurch; and either encourage Christchurch people to bid for them or bid for them directly as appropriate;
The marketing of Christchurch as a centre for specialist activities.
How Christchurch should organise to take best advantage of the Government's recent announcement that it intends to establish an Events Corporation to attract major world events to New Zealand.

COMMUNITY FUNDING 1995/96

RR 3455

Officer responsible	Author
Leisure and Community Services Manager	Peter Walls
Corporate Plan Output: Grants Administration

The purpose of this annual report is to inform the Council of the major details in respect to the main community funding round and to make recommendations in respect to the 1997/98 community funding process.

The principal funding round for 1996/97 has been completed and summary sheets and accountability forms have been forwarded to the Hillary Commission.

Some funding committees have retained funds for late applications and subsidiary funding rounds, but the majority of the available resources have been allocated. The issue of unallocated resources at the end of the financial year needs to be closely monitored to ensure that the majority of these resources are allocated prior to the main funding round, for which applications close at the end of March each year.

Tabled is a full list of the successful applicants responded to by the Metropolitan Funding Committee.

It is a requirement of the Hillary Commission that a list of successful applicants is made available to the local newspaper.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE UNDER THE VARIOUS SCHEMES

Scheme	Source of Funds	1996/97
Community Development Scheme	Christchurch City Council	$313,000
Community Sport Fund	Hillary Commission	$423,858
Community Loans Scheme	Christchurch City Council & Hillary Commission	$270,000

The Community Development Scheme is based on $1 per head of population plus an inflation component. Population growth over the last two years has, however, effectively reduced the inflation component so that the figure works out at $1.00 per head of population. The Local Funding Scheme from the Hillary Commission is based on $1.35 per head of population (313,969 population).

ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

As Councillors will be aware, these funds are apportioned to the seven assessment committees on the following basis:

Metropolitan Funding Committee

All loan funds
30% of the Hillary Commission's Community Sport Fund
50% of the Council's Community Development Scheme funds

The Six Community Funding Committees

70% of the Hillary Commission's Community Sport Fund
50% of the Council's Community Development Scheme funds

Note: The allocation of funds to the six community funding committees is apportioned according to each community board's population.

APPLICATIONS

Applications were received as follows:

Community Funding Committee	Community Sport Fund
	92/93	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97
Hagley/Ferrymead	41	60	57	64	71
Spreydon/Heathcote	55	74	53	42	52
Riccarton/Wigram	48	65	80	81	95
Fendalton/Waimairi	41	54	56	63	65
Shirley/Papanui	44	46	64	29	43
Burwood/Pegasus	45	66	70	57	36
Metropolitan	125	188	128	155	199
Totals	399	553	508	491	561

Community Funding Committee	Community Development Scheme
	92/93	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97
Hagley/Ferrymead	29	26	44	41	51
Spreydon/Heathcote	25	35	31	31	30
Riccarton/Wigram	39	32	22	26	20
Fendalton/Waimairi	13	16	17	25	26
Shirley/Papanui	18	21	37	27	27
Burwood/Pegasus	24	22	42	23	25
Metropolitan	122	143	138	110	124
Totals	270	295	331	283	303

Percentage Breakdown of Applications

Community Funding Committee	Community Funding Committees
	92/93	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97
Community Sport Fund	69%	66%	75%	69%	65%
Community Development Scheme	55%	52%	58%	61%	59%

Community Funding Committee	Metropolitan Funding Committee
	92/93	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97
Community Sport Fund	31%	34%	25%	31%	35%
Community Development Scheme	45%	48%	42%	39%	41%

The basis for apportioning the resources available under the Hillary Commission's Local Funding Scheme (70% community funding committees and 30% metropolitan) still seems appropriate. The Community Development Scheme (50% community funding committees, 50% metropolitan) is not proportionate in respect of the number of applications but because metropolitan organisations tend to apply for greater amounts to provide citywide service the 50:50 split still seems appropriate.

COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES ON THE ASSESSMENT COMMITTEES

The 1996/97 funding round was the first year of a three year term for the new community representatives on the various funding committees.

The three year term for these community representatives is designed to link with the Council's three year elections and the timing results in the possibility that only half of the committees could change at any one time thus providing some continuity in the process of assessment and allocation of resources.

The Metropolitan Funding Committee is going to give consideration to splitting the process between Hillary Commission and Community Development Scheme and to look at adding two more community representatives for each of these. This would provide greater input from relevant representatives into the assessment process under the two separate schemes.

SUMMARY OF RESOURCES ALLOCATIONS AND BALANCES

The following table outlines the situation for each Funding Committee as at 30 June 1997. The funds available also include any balances remaining from the previous years (1995/96) funding, which will account for any significant differences between the Community Boards. It should also be noted that some Community Boards use their discretionary funds to add to the available resources.

Assessment Committee	Carry Forward 1995/96	Funds Available 1996/97	Late Allocations 1995/96	Funds Allocated 1996/97	Balances	Comments
Metropolitan
HC	669	127158	-	127627	200
CDS	2129.76	156500	1816	152468	4345.76
Fendalton/Waimairi
HC	2162	49845	-	73858	990	+22841 to HC
CDS	1490	25292	500	33660	781	+7159 to CDS
Burwood/Pegasus
HC	8311.37	48363	6600	28954	21120.37
CDS	2991.31	25509	2815	23123	2562.31
Shirley/Papanui
HC	26128.97	49846	25675.15	31670	18629.82
CDS	8481.87	26292	9235	22064	6252.33	+2169.96 Ret Cheque CDS +607.50 Re Cheque CDS
Hagley/Ferrymead
HC	3582.50	48955	3500	35474	13,563.50
CDS	-	25822		50882	-(60)	+25000 to CDS ___________ +7845 to HC
Riccarton/Wigram
HC	-	50735	-	60560	-(700)	+1280 Ret Cheque HC
CDS	7729.20	26763	3550	29361	3736.20	+2155 to CDS
Spreydon/Heathcote
HC	25215	48956	19210	26625	28660	+324 Ret Cheque HC
CDS	10514	25822	10514	15500	10322
Totals HC	66068.84	423858	54985.15	384768	82463.69	32290
Totals CDS	33336.14	313000	28430	327058	27939.60	37091.46

HC = Hillary Commission Community Sport Fund

CDS = Christchurch City Council Community Development Scheme

LOANS

Ten loan applications were received of which all were approved in full or part and a total of $257,400 of loan funding has been allocated/committed. These funds are currently loaned out over a five year term (some exceptions go to ten years) at 4% interest per annum.

GENERAL

The overall procedures for operating the Community Funding Schemes now in place appear to be working fairly successfully.

Several organisations which have been granted financial assistance seem to be reluctant to return receipt forms for accountability purposes and all funding committees have now agreed that any organisation that does not forward the appropriate accountability form will not receive funding in the following years.

Database

This funding round was the first to utilise the funding database that was established over the preceding year. The database has proved very successful with only minor problems being encountered. The benefits will be in future years when the existing information on the database can be transferred to the current round and therefore cut down significantly on staff inputting time. Penelope Goldstone (CAO Sockburn Service Centre), Paul McOscar (CAO Shirley Service Centre) and Phil Gnad (MIS) should be congratulated on their work in setting up the database.

Community Development Scheme

There are still some concerns from the assessment committees that the resources available under the Community Development Scheme are inadequate.

In 1995/96 the Council agreed to inflation adjust the $1.00/head of population but in each of the subsequent years the population growth has meant that the figure has remained at about $1.00 per head of population i.e. 1996/97 population 313,969 and $313,000 was allocated. The $1.05/head recommended for 1997/98 $330,000 should help address this issue.

Many of the Community Assessment Committees have indicated concern at the number of Early Childhood organisations applying to this scheme for financial assistance and along with health related organisations they have a major impact on the resources available. A combined meeting of representatives from all assessment committees is proposed to investigate this issue prior to next years funding round.

For the 1997/98 funding round the Council's Community Development and Social Well-being Policy will be incorporated to set priorities and guidelines for consideration of the Community Development Scheme applications.

Recommendation:

That the information be received.
That to adjust for inflation the contribution for the Community Development Scheme be increased to $1.07 per head of population for the 1998/99 financial year.
That the Community Development Scheme resources be split 50% to the Community Funding Committees and 50% to the Metropolitan Funding Committee for the 1997/98 funding round.
That the split of 30% to Metropolitan and 70% to Community Funding Committees remain the same in respect of the Hillary Commission's Community Sport Fund.
That the interest rate for the Community Organisation Loan Scheme remain of 4% p.a. for the 1997/98 funding round.
That the Council's Community Development and Social Well-being policy be used to guide the assessment process for the 1997/98 Community Development Scheme funding applications.

3. RENEWAL LOAN RR 5872

Officer responsible	Author
Funds Manager	Paul Baldwin
Corporate Plan Output: Volume. I Page 5.2.text.4 Loans System Management

The purpose of this report is to seek Council authority to raise refinancing loans totalling $11.7M.

During the year commencing 1 July 1997 the Council has a number of loan issues maturing for Works Development Loans and the fourth issue of Renewal Loan 1993 No. 1 for housing loans which will need to be refinanced by way of a renewal loan. A portion of the maturing loans will be redeemed from accumulated sinking fund reserves set aside for that purpose and from General Rates or housing revenue. The balance of the maturing loans will be required to be refinanced by raising a renewal loan.

Provision has been made in the Christchurch City Council Plan 1997 Edition for refinancing the loans.

The maturing loans and refinancing requirements are scheduled below:

	Rate Funded	Separately Funded	Total
Gross Amount Maturing	12,000,000	1,000,000	13,000,000
Financed by:
Accumulated Sinking Funds	1,141,996	74,379	1,216,375
Revenue ex Rates and Housing	58,004	25,621	83,625
Renewal Loan Required	$10,800,000	$900,000	$11,700,000

In order to refinance the maturing loans, it is necessary for the Council to pass the following resolution:

Recommendation:

That the Christchurch City Council resolve to raise Renewal Loan No. 1 1997 of $11,700,000 for the purpose of repaying those loans set out in Table A attached maturing on the various dates stated, less the amounts of $1,216,375 to be paid from sinking funds and $83,625 from Rates and housing revenue. The term of the loan shall be a maximum of 18 years; the annual sinking fund contribution shall be 3% and the interest rates and maturity dates shall be such as determined by the Director of Finance and the Funds Manager.

REMISSION OF RATES - ADDINGTON BUSH SOCIETY INC 41A SPENCER STREET - REFERENCE NO. 2631/371/0100

RR 5757

Officer responsible	Author
Funds Manager	Wayne Hann
Corporate Plan Output: Volume I Page 5.2.text.6

The purpose of this report is to obtain Council authority under Section 179 of the Rating Powers Act 1988 for a remission of rates in respect of the above property.

The land in question, to the rear of several adjacent sections, was purchased by the above Society following its establishment in 1994. Some 2,500 trees have been planted in the area and in the surrounding backyards. The bush includes carefully selected trees native to the area and will in time become a protected conservation area for native bird and insect life.

Present members of the Society include interested individuals, the Addington Neighbourhood Association, local primary schools, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society and the Water Services Unit of this Council.

The property qualifies for a mandatory 50% remission of rates under Clause (c) of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Rating Powers Act 1988. Remission of the balance 50% of rates would not seem unreasonable and provision for this is contained under Clause (e) of Part I of the Second Schedule, ie land owned or occupied by or in trust for any society or association of persons, whether incorporated or not, for conservation or preservation purposes and not used for private pecuniary profit, where the general public are allowed access to that land. Likewise remission could also be granted in accordance with Clause (c) of Part I of the Second Schedule, ie on land owned or occupied by or in trust for any society or association of persons, whether incorporated or not, and used as a public garden or reserve.

While remission would constitute a precedent, there are no other comparable parcels of privately funded land in the city, I would not see this as creating any problem for the Council. Similar parcels of land, if in the ownership of the Council, would be granted a 100% remission. Take for example neighbourhood reserves and local parks etc.

The property has a 1995 capital valuation of $42,000.00 comprising land of $41,500.00 and a nominal value of improvements of $500.00. The 1996/97 rates were assessed at $313.20.

Recommendation:

That remission of the balance 50% of rates be granted by the Council under the provisions of Section 179 of the Rating Powers Act with effect from 1 July 1997.

CONVENTION AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES - AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE REDEEMABLE PREFERENCE SHARES

RR 5870

Officer responsible	Author
Director of Finance	Ian Hay
Corporate Plan Output: Convention and Entertainment Facilities

The purpose of this report is to formalise the approval in principle given by the Council in June 1997 to purchase redeemable preference shares in Christchurch City Facilities Ltd to fund ongoing operational and capital needs.

In June 1997 the Council approved the setting up of a company to hold and operate the assets of the three facilities managed under contract by NCC (New Zealand) Ltd. The report also set out under the financial structure heading a mechanism for transferring the funds that are approved as part of the annual budget process to the company but the resolutions omitted to give the necessary specific approval. The text of the June 1997 report stated:

"It is preposed to find the current operational deficit by subscription for redeemable preference shares in the company. This means that the $1.8M budgeted for the operating of the facilities next year will be provided and funded by the Council purchase of redeemable preference shares."

In addition the budget has provided for $250,000 to meet projected capital requirements of the operation and it seems appropriate to transfer the funding by the same mechanism and make provision for future needs.

Recommendation:

That the Council approve the purchase of redeemable preference shares in Christchurch City Facilities Ltd to a value equal to budgeted operational and capital expenditure in each years Annual Plan.

POSTAGE AGREEMENT WITH NEW ZEALAND POST

RR 5875

Officer responsible	Author
Inventory Manager	Roger Lancastle
Corporate Plan Output: Agreements - Page 5.6.5

The purpose of this report is to advise the Council on the current position with regard to posting of mail and to obtain authority to enter into an agreement.

Agreement No. 378 with New Zealand Post Ltd for postage expired on 31 July 1997. New Zealand Post will continue acceptance of mail at the same rates to enable the necessary approval to be obtained from the Council for the agreement to be extended for a further period.

The possibility of using alternative suppliers for delivery of Rate Demands and similar bulk mailing has been considered by the Purchasing Section. The Legal Services Manager advises:

That rate demands are a 'legal instrument' and as such they may be delivered by persons other than NZ Post provided that these persons meet the requirements of Section 3(2)(c) of the Postal Services Act. The wording of this section is as follows:

"(c) Letters delivered by a messenger employed by the sender especially for the purpose, not being a person employed or engaged in the course of his or her business or employment in delivering or procuring the delivery of letters."

As a general principle the Council is not confined to using New Zealand Post Ltd in the delivery of its correspondence and can contract with another person to deliver that correspondence so long as that person is not in the business of delivering or procuring the delivery of letters.

However it is recommended that specific legal advice be sought in relation to a particular proposal before any decision is made on this type of matter.

Other factors that would have to be considered should the Council decide not to use New Zealand Post for its deliveries of Rate Demands or similar bulk mailing items are:

Loss of discount on general mail items.

Loss of discount on items unable to be delivered by the contractor ie out of town deliveries.

How will 'Return to Sender' or other undeliverable items be accounted for with particular regard to Section 122 of the Rating Powers Act.

Reliability and efficiency of the contractor.

Who would qualify under Section 3(2)(c) of the Postal Services Act.

With the advent of the deregulation of the Postal Services, the situation is likely to change and other options will certainly arise. The timetable and full details of deregulation are unavailable at the time of this report and New Zealand Post is unable to give any indication as to how it will be handling the deregulation issue.

It would be prudent to be able to terminate our agreement with New Zealand Post by giving 30 days' written notice to take advantage of any new offers should the situation arise.

Council staff have in the past worked closely with New Zealand Post and this has enabled the Council to obtain discounted rates for the posting of bulk mail items. In addition to the bulk mail rates further savings have been negotiated that reduced the cost of postage on all standard mail posted by the Council, provided that these items were posted in accordance with the permit system.

The expected saving to the Council in continuing to use this agreement compared with the full standard postage rates will be in excess of $70,000 per annum.

Recommendation:

That the Council authorise the Inventory Manager to enter into an agreement with New Zealand Post for the mailing of General Post, Courier Post, Parcel Post and Bulk Post items, subject to:

The provision for the agreement to be terminated by giving 30 days' written notice.
All other terms and conditions being acceptable to the Inventory Manager.

REINSTATEMENT OF SHIRLEY LIBRARY AND SERVICE CENTRE

RR 5098

Officer responsible	Author
Director of Finance	Peter Francis and Bob Lineham
Corporate Plan Output: Asset Improvement Property Budget 8.9.30 VOL 2 Corporate Plan

The purpose of this report is to seek approval for additional cost on reinstatement of the above mentioned building following the recent fire.

At its May meeting the Council gave approval to the Chairman and Director of Finance to approve additional expenditure of up to $100,000 over and above the insurance provision to effect improvements to the building which would facilitate a joint Service Centre/Library. The tenders for the additional work have now been received and the total additional cost is $164,035.

In meetings with the Quantity Surveyor and the possible successful tenderer, it was revealed that the unexpected cost over-run were caused through a complete re-design of the building's air conditioning at an additional cost of $43,000.

The redesign was undertaken for the following reasons:

It was felt that the original installation was of a poor standard and responsible for many of the problems experienced in the two years of operation.
These were: mechanical vibration, air noise, leaks in the roof and uneven and continual varying room temperatures.
In addition, there were no return air ducts installed with venting taking place in the roof space. This form of ventilation is considered to be of concern with respect to health and safety issues.
The staff room in the former building had no air conditioning at all and this did have an adverse effect, especially in the heat of summer.

The redesign has made provision to address these problems adequately.

Discussions with the insurance assessor and the Property Unit have identified savings of $33,000 from the insurance reinstatement and the sprinkler contract. A meeting was held with the likely successful tenderer to look for items in the revised estimate that may have been the responsibility of the insurance company. Unfortunately no further savings were found.

While the improvements to the air-conditioning could be excluded from the job it would seem to be false economy as it would undoubtedly be necessary to address the inadequacies at a later date probably at some additional cost.

The additional sum of $31,000 could be funded from a property contingency sum in the budget and this is recommended.

An assurance was given by the Property Manager that mechanical air conditioning was the best solution for the ventilation of the building.

Recommendation:

That the additional expenditure outlined in the report be approved and funded from the Property Contingency in the Council Plan.

NEW CHRISTCHURCH ART GALLERY

RR 5849

The Committee gave consideration to the proposed terms of reference for the new Christchurch Art Gallery project which had been prepared by the Art Gallery Project Team.

In response to concerns expressed by several members of the Committee regarding the aims and objectives of the new gallery as defined in the draft terms of reference, it was agreed that a sub-committee should be established to review the terms of reference.

Recommendation:

That the Council establish a sub-committee of six elected members including the Mayor, Councillors Harrow, Moore and Wright, to consider all aspects of the terms of reference.

9. COUNCIL REPRESENTATION ON THE MAYOR'S WELFARE FUND COMMITTEE

The six monthly report of the Mayor's Welfare Fund Charitable Trust was presented to the August meeting of the Committee. During discussion on the report Councillor Alpers, the Council's current representative on the Trust, advised that he wished to resign, in favour of the Chairman of the Community Services Committee. Councillor Moore has confirmed his availability to serve in this capacity.

Recommendation:

That Councillor Moore replace Councillor Alpers as the Council's representative on the Mayor's Welfare Fund Charitable Trust.

10.

ORDERS FOR SUPPLIES EXCEEDING 50% OF DELEGATED AUTHORITY

RR 5873

A schedule listing the orders for supplies and works approved under delegated authority and exceeding 50% of that authority is tabled.

Recommendation:

That the information be received.

PART B - REPORTS FOR INFORMATION

11.

SUBURBAN SERVICE DELIVERY

RR 4586

The City Manager presented a report prepared by Stephen Phillips, Community Manager, outlining the cost/saving implications of the proposed suburban service delivery strategy as presented to the February meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee.

The Committee decided that the report and recommendations (with two minor amendments) be referred to the Community Boards for comment.

12.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE, 1997

RR 5897

The City Manager, the Director of Policy and the Senior Transportation Planner (Stuart Woods) reported on the highlights of the Local Government Conference which was held in Wellington from 7 to 9 July 1997.

The Committee decided that an appropriate seminar(s) be arranged for Councillors and relevant senior staff to discuss strategic directions for local government to 2010 and the social issues papers presented at the conference.

13.

MAYOR'S WELFARE FUND CHARITABLE TRUST - SIX MONTHLY REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1 JANUARY 1997 TO 30 JUNE 1997

RR 5880

The Committee received the report of the Mayor's Welfare Fund Charitable Trust for the six months to 30 June 1997.

PART C - REPORT ON DELEGATED DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE COMMITTEE

14. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

In the absence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman the Committee appointed Councillor James to chair the August meeting of the Committee.

The meeting concluded at 5.45 pm

CONSIDERED THIS 27TH DAY OF AUGUST 1997

MAYOR

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