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25. 6. 97
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMITTEE
11 JUNE 1997
A meeting of the Parks and Recreation Committee
was held on Wednesday 11 June 1997 at 4.00 pm
PRESENT: Councillor Gordon Freeman (Chairman), Councillors Carole Anderton, Graham Berry, Graham Condon, Ishwar Ganda and Gail Sheriff.
APOLOGIES: Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors David Buist and David Cox.
Councillor Ganda retired from the meeting at 6.40 pm, and was present for all clauses with the exception of clauses 13, 16 and 18.
The Committee reports that:
PART A - MATTERS REQUIRING A COUNCIL DECISION
1. KERRS REACH BOAT HOUSE PROPOSAL RR 5328
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Parks Manager | John Allen, Area Parks Officer |
| Corporate Plan Output: Consents and Applications - Leases (9.4.14) |
The purpose of this report is to obtain Council permission to lease an area of Porritt Park to the Canterbury Rowing Association to enable the Association to relocate a building to the site and convert it into a boat house.
THE BUILDING
A building has been purchased that was used by the Western Timber Company in Sydenham. It is approximately three years old, of steel portal design with wooden framing, clad with galvanised trim deck sheeting and measures 20 m x 17 m and 5.8 m to the ridgeline. Alterations will be required to provide two large roller doors facing south onto an apron in front of the building on which to rig the boats before launching them down the existing slip ramp situated in front of the Union Rowing Club's building. A plan of the building will be available at the meeting.
REASON FOR PROPOSAL
The existing boat houses on the southern end of Kerrs Reach were established in the early 1960s and have met the needs of Canterbury Rowing for the past 35 years. The Canterbury Rowing Association has, however, experienced considerable growth over the past few years, particularly in the area of schools rowing. As each school has become established it has gradually acquired plant and equipment of its own. The point has been reached where the existing clubs, each of which sponsors schools, are unable to accommodate any further growth.
The new boat house would only be used for storage purposes. There would be no toilets/showers included in the facility, as these facilities are already provided in the existing buildings. The schools would retain their affiliations with the existing clubs, so that these facilities would remain available to them.
The proposed new building would be owned by the Canterbury Rowing Association, and would remain under its management. It would be made available to Christchurch schools and clubs for boat storage purposes in accordance with need.
Officers have made it quite clear to the Canterbury Rowing Association that the Council would not be favourably disposed towards a proliferation of buildings in this area, and have therefore asked that the Canterbury Rowing Association consider future needs before bringing this application to the Council for consideration. In their assessment the Association see this proposal as meeting the needs of rowing in Canterbury for at least as long as the present structures have been in place, i.e. the next 35 years.
THE SITE
The site chosen for the proposed building on Porritt Park, and associated rigging area, is to the north of the present apron area. This is in front of the Union Rowing Club's building, nestled into the present mound which is situated between Kerrs Reach and the drive which services the Christ's College Rowing and Arawa Canoe Clubs buildings further to the north. This site was chosen for the following reasons:
1. To enable the use of the present Union Club's launching ramp which may be widened, if required, in the future.
2. To enable the large building to be integrated into the present environment by nestling into the existing mound.
3. To enable the boat storage building to be as close as possible to the present clubs to enable Christchurch schools etc who retain their affiliations to the present clubs to use their present facilities (toilets, showers, and weight training facilities etc).
LANDSCAPE CONSIDERATIONS
It will be necessary to remove a portion of the present mound at the southern end on the eastern side to provide for the building and rigging area. A landscape plan will be tabled at the meeting This will enable the building to be "nestled" into the mound thereby reducing its impact on the surrounding environment. Some of the material from the excavation will be used to create a new crest to the mound closer to the river. This crest will be planted with suitable species so that ultimately the proposed building will not be visible from the river and residential area further to the west. Limbs will be removed from established trees to provide sight lines beneath the canopy at close range, thereby complying with safer parks design principles.
The footprint lease site will be set back approximately 7 metres from the present driveway to enable low mounding to be provided on the eastern side of the building. A mixture of shrubbery and lowland cypresses will provide a connection to the existing landscape of Porritt Park further to the east and will be planted on the mounding, thereby integrating views of the building from the eastern elevation into the surrounding landscape. The excavated face of the mound will have a maximum gradient of 35% and be covered in groundcover to stabilise it.
Approval will be conditional upon the building being painted in recessive colours as specified by the landscape architect.
All material excavated from the site not used to create the new mound crest will remain the property of the Council, and will be available to be used on Council projects elsewhere. The Association will be required to pay for all excavation, topsoiling, and landscaping costs associated with this application.
LEASING AND PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
The land concerned is held by the Council for river protection works under the provisions of the Public Works Act 1981. The authority to grant a lease is contained in Section 45(1) of the Public Works Act 1981 which states:
"45. Land held for public work may be leased, etc - (1) If any land is held for any public work under this or any other Act or in any other manner, the Minister or local authority, as the case may be, may grant a lease or tenancy of the land or a licence to occupy the land on such terms and conditions as he or it may think fit."
The term of the proposed lease will be limited to 19 years 364 days, to comply with the Resource Management Act 1991.
The land in question is zoned Open Space 3 in the draft City Plan, and the development of sporting facilities is consistent with the intent of the zone.
A resource consent will be required for the proposal. While the application will not require notification in terms of either the transitional or proposed plans, the conditions of the consent will need to take account of the sensitivity of the adjacent environment to the intrusiveness of such a large building. The landscape plan has been prepared by the City Design Unit at the applicant's cost to address this requirement.
Based on the floor area of the proposed storage building, to comply with the City Plan it will be necessary for five car parking spaces be provided for people using the building. An area will be set aside for car parking purposes across the present driveway, which will comply with this requirement. Should the Council decide to construct a formal car park, the applicant will be required to pay for five car parking spaces plus the associated manoeuvring area.
A building consent will be required. All services to the building (including electrical) will be undergrounded.
The above report was considered by the Burwood/Pegasus Community Board at its meeting on 3 June 1997. The Board supported the proposal subject to:
1. The conditions recommended by the Parks Manager.
2. The officers being requested to reconsider their decision not to notify the application for resource consent.
Recommendation:
1. That, pursuant to Section 45(1) of the Public Works Act 1981 a lease be granted to the Canterbury Rowing Association over 653m2 of Porritt Park on which to site a storage shed and rigging area, for a period of 19 years 364 days, subject to the following conditions:
2. That once all approvals have been obtained the Property Manager, in association with the Parks Manager, be authorised to negotiate a lease with the Canterbury Rowing Association which encompasses all the conditions as set above.
2. TREE RENEWAL PROGRAMME THE BOTANIC GARDENS, HAGLEY PARK AND MONA VALE RR 5194
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Parks Manager | Warwick Scadden, Curator Botanical Services |
| Corporate Plan Output: Hagley Park, North South and Mona Vale. Page 9.4.18 |
The purpose of this report is to advise Councillors of the need to have an ongoing programme of tree renewal within three major city areas, the Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park and Mona Vale. The report was submitted to the May meeting of the Committee. Consideration of the proposal was deferred pending an on site inspection to view the trees concerned. The inspection took place on 9 June 1997.
INTRODUCTION
Within the Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park and Mona Vale a large number of trees are mature, in excess of 100 years old and a proportion of these have declined to a stage where their replacement is necessary.
SURVEY OF TREES
A survey has been completed of all trees within the Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park and Mona Vale analysing their condition and life expectancy.
A total of 195 trees within the Botanic Gardens, 57 within Hagley Park and 7 within Mona Vale have been identified as requiring replacement during the next five years.
It is of concern that such a large number of trees have been identified in need of replacement and so that the impact can be minimised, the work has been prioritised to allow the replacement to take place over a five year period, with trees posing the greatest hazard being replaced first.
Trees identified for replacement are either dead, contain major decay causing a safety hazard, are diseased or are poor specimens. Implications of the Health and Safety Act are serious in that where trees are dangerous and are not dealt with, if an accident should occur, Council staff could be deemed to be negligent.
PROGRAMME
Planting of young trees within each of these areas has been part of an ongoing programme since 1984.
For each tree which is to be replaced in the first year of the programme, a young tree is already in the nursery stock to take its place.
Laid on the table is the list of trees identified for replacement within the Botanic Gardens for the year 1 July 1997 - 30 June 1998 as an example of the condition of trees requiring attention.
Recommendation: That authority be delegated to the Parks Manager to implement the tree replacement programme for the Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park and Mona Vale.
3. EVENTS FUNDING STRATEGY RR 5451
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Communications and Promotions Manager |
Michael Braithwaite |
| Corporate Plan Output: City Promotions |
The purpose of this report is to present the Committee with a draft strategy for the future management of festivals and events funding.
BACKGROUND
Seeded Events
The Events Seeding Fund was established in 1990 in an attempt to facilitate the attraction of events and festivals to Christchurch. The prime aim of this funding was for the events and festivals to have significant economic benefit for the city.
Over the seven years since its establishment, the fund has been increased from $60,000 in 1991 to $175,000 in 1996/97 to meet the significant demands.
Over the seven year term in excess of 120 events have been supported from this fund, with some now receiving core funding through the Communications and Promotions Unit.
While the main emphasis on evaluating applications has been the probable economic benefit, to date the evaluation process has lacked a set of formalised criteria and sophistication. The only exception to this is the inclusion of two events related questions in the Council's Annual Residents' Survey, the results of which indicate a strong continued support from residents for the events and festivals programme.
The existence of the Events Seeding Fund is now very well known and established as a source of funds to assist new events in Christchurch. The benefits of these events, both economic and social, are however, not known and to maximise the effects of these funds, the Council needs to establish a policy for ongoing funding and the evaluation of each events outcome.
Core Funded Events
The Christchurch City Council festivals and events programme began in the summer of 1983/84 with the inaugural SummerTimes Festival.
SummerTimes grew out of central government work schemes such as PEP that aimed to create long term employment opportunities through funding work programmes. The Christchurch City Council used this funding to resource and staff the first SummerTimes festivals.
When central government funding programmes ended, the Christchurch City Council provided resource funding to enable SummerTimes to continue. Staffing was initially a Festival Co-ordinator and Assistant Co-ordinator. Additional staffing was provided by employing students on the Student Job Search funding programme to provide additional human resources over the festival period.
The festivals and events programme began to grow with the development of SummerTimes and the creation of the Springs Here! festival in 1987. Springs Here! later became known as Christchurch Blossoms!.
In 1989 the first Garden City Festival of Flowers was established by the Christchurch Garden City Trust. The Trust was anxious to create a festival to preserve Christchurch's image as the Garden City.
Initiatives driven by Mayor Vicki Buck led to the development of the Festival of Romance and KidsFest in 1991. These festivals were followed by Heritage Week in 1993 and the World Buskers Festival in 1995. The latest Council driven event is Books and Beyond - The Christchurch Book Festival.
Other festivals have evolved from the initiatives of independent events organisers and are now core funded by the Christchurch City Council. The Christchurch Winter Carnival began in 1993 along with the Wild and Wacky Festival (now known as Adventure Canterbury). In 1994 the first Christchurch Winter Balloon Festival began. This was followed in 1995 by the first biennial Christchurch Arts Festival.
The long running Christchurch Cup Carnival Week is now also core funded by the Christchurch City Council. In 1996 this event has been re-branded and expanded into a two week festival called Showtime Canterbury.
Initial funding of these events has occurred in two main ways. Most events have initially received a maximum of two years seeding funding through the Metropolitan Grants Fund. After this time a select number of Council approved events have been listed as a line item for ongoing core funding through the Communications and Promotions Unit. Festivals funded through this process include the Winter Balloon Festival and Adventure Canterbury.
An exception to this is Heritage Week which is funded by Council's Environmental Planning and Policy Unit, but, to date, produced in-house by the Communications and Promotions Unit.
Other festivals, such as the Christchurch Arts Festival, have begun life as a line item core funded event.
Currently the Christchurch City Council commits in the region of $1.2 million annually towards core funding the above festivals and events.
Because of the increasingly competitive marketplace, festival and event organisers are under greater pressure for sponsorship funding. This pressure is coupled with the fact that in Christchurch there is a limited pool of local sponsors providing mainly small sponsorship monies.
Larger, corporate sponsors are mainly based in the North Island. The majority of these sponsors commit to sponsorship packages for up to three years, yet current Council policy does not commit core funding in advance which limits the festivals potential to establish longer term sponsorship contracts.
Historically, line item funding has been applied for and granted on an annual basis. However in response to a paper presented to the Policy and Resources Committee by the Communications and Promotions Unit Manager in February 1995 recommending two year rolling funding for core funded festivals, Council resolved "That the festival budgets are guaranteed for a minimum of two years, 1995/96 and 1996/97".
In April 1997 the Council resolved that festivals continue to be funded for two years in advance and be reviewed annually.
In summary, the Council now has an interest in an extensive programme of events and festivals which has evolved over the last 10 to 12 years. The programme has become a well known and widely supported feature of Christchurch city life. These events and festivals were originally designed to cater to the recreation and leisure interests of city residents. However, several events, like the Garden City Festival of Flowers, have begun to develop a role and potential in the area of "cultural tourism".
While the programme of events and festivals is now well established, an overall strategy is not well defined or articulated. There is no formalised medium term objective on the scope and composition of the festival programme, nor of Council's role in funding events at their inception and into the future.
The lack of a coherent strategy to manage the festival programme is also reflected in the absence of a framework for comprehensively evaluating the social and economic benefits of events and festivals.
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
The Communications and Promotions Unit in consultation with the Leisure and Community Services Unit designed a study brief and contracted consultants KPMG to carry out the investigation.
The use of external management consultants was considered to be the most effective way of ensuring an independent study that would lead to an objective strategy development acceptable to all stakeholders.
The brief to the consultants was: "To develop a medium term strategy to determine Council policy for the scope and composition of the programme of special events and festivals in which Council has a significant funding interest. This includes establishing a framework for evaluating Council involvement with a focus on social and economic costs and benefits."
CONSULTANTS REPORT SUMMARY
Extract
From an "English" town with a sleepy, conservative attitude and a quiet, comfortable lifestyle, Christchurch has evolved into a festival city with many attractions, a lively cafe scene and a city streetscape in many areas more reminiscent of continental Europe than England. In doing this, the city has been able to maintain its essential qualities and architecture, thus creating something special and distinctly different in New Zealand.
Since 1983/84, when SummerTimes was initiated, the benefits of this "festival lifestyle" have been increasingly appreciated by residents. Surveys have proved this. Furthermore, business has been able to take advantage of the Council's drive in promoting events. A strong technical supporting infrastructure has developed along with hospitality venues. These have provided employment and profit opportunities to Canterbury people which, in the absence of an events industry, probably would not have been available.
In addition the Council's initiatives in event creation have made the city more exciting to visit. New facilities will enable the city to host more and larger events and provide even more opportunity to attract visitors and consequently grow the local economy, especially in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
The "policies" that have driven these successes have evolved without any formal "blueprint" or grand strategy. However, there comes a time when such an approach does not meet all the needs of the Council and residents and more formality is required.
In recommending a strategy the aim has been to allow the city to maintain the spontaneity and fun that has been provided by the current approach whilst, at the same time, providing more accountability for public funds and responsibility by event organisers for entertainment value to residents and visitors alike.
The consultant's report has been separately circulated to all Councillors.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Strategic Direction
In recommending a strategic direction for the Council, certain factors have been taken into account. These include:
The criteria for setting a strategic direction for managing Council funding and festivals can be divided into four main headings:
Operational Ability
Community Impact
Economic Impact
Financial Capability
Evaluation Framework
An evaluation framework has been developed for new events and festival proposals applying for funding from either events seeding through the Metropolitan Grants Committee or core funding through the Communications and Promotions Unit.
A flexible template is recommended that can be used to evaluate a wide range of events and festivals. The Council currently has seven main categories of events and festivals:
These categories are based on New Zealand Tourism Board classifications and have been customised by Council staff to fit the city's needs.
In defining an evaluation framework, the main attributes have been segregated into the four categories as listed above:
Each event category has been weighted to fairly recognise the varying strengths of event types.
Monitoring Framework
A monitoring framework has been developed for festivals and events already receiving Council funding via events seeding through the Metropolitan Grants budget or core funding through the Communications and Promotions Unit.
Consistency has been maintained between evaluation and monitoring frameworks. This provides event managers with more certainty and also ensures that Council priorities set prior to the event are actually included in the management and supervision of the event. Consequently the same four headings used in evaluation would be applied for monitoring.
However, the weightings suggested for monitoring are different to those established for evaluation. Delivery of promises, community feedback and evidence of an actual increase in opportunities for increased local employment and business will become more important for post event evaluation. Initially the Council will want assurance that the event manager has the experience and capability to deliver on promises and that the event will provide additional benefit to the city.
Once proven, the experience and capability of the event manager is weighted at a lower level and the festival or event content and development becomes more important.
Funding, Evaluation and Monitoring Management
All prospective event managers would be given copies of both evaluation and monitoring criteria, including overall weightings even before the Council has approved an event for funding. On funding approval the formal funding agreement between Council and the event manager should include the key factors contained in the evaluation framework. These will vary from event to event, will be relatively easy to identify in any proposal put forward, and relate to service delivery, and community and economic benefit issues.
It is recommended that the agreements signed between the Council and events managers should provide for three years rolling funding. In order for events managers to plan their marketing and production programmes and obtain the best possible sponsorship deals, three year contracts are the most productive. This provides stability and certainty not currently available. To balance the risk associated with this policy, the Council should guarantee no more than, 75% of the funding prior to the event, with the remaining 25% subject to a satisfactory post event evaluation. While funding agreements would be for three year periods this would be dependent on satisfactory monitoring of events on an annual basis. Funding contracts would contain an "opt out" clause for the Council in the instance of an event organiser not achieving a satisfactory performance level in any given year.
The implementation of the evaluation framework will require event managers to supply the Council with more comprehensive information. In order to provide existing event managers with the wherewithal to provide the necessary information, the Council may need to supply them with a one-off additional payment to cover any extra costs associated (this could be set to a maximum of $2,000 for example). However, it could be argued that the Council is asking for no more than an efficient organisation should be providing for itself.
Such a system provides the Council with both a basis of prioritising the budget available for its events and festivals programme and a performance comparison between different events. Whilst it will not provide an exact outcome, it will provide a consistent framework against which the Council can adjudge its funding.
By providing events managers with the framework prior to evaluation and/or monitoring, Council will be ensuring its policies, including health and safety and cultural sensitivity, are being taken into account by those organisations. Consequently, if these policies are not complied with, the Council will have the ability to discontinue supporting programmes that transgress.
Conversely, those events that support the Council's policies will continue to receive funding at the appropriate level.
Evaluation and Monitoring Function
Currently monitoring reports would be considered by the Metropolitan Grants Committee for events receiving Events Seeding funding and by the Parks and Recreation Committee for core funded events and festivals.
In order to maintain objectivity and transparency of process, independent monitoring and evaluation is recommended for all core funded festivals and events. This includes festivals produced by the Communications and Promotions Unit, and key events receiving Events Seeding funding. This function could be carried out by an external organisation like KPMG and would cost in the region of $1,000-$1,500 + GST per festival, assuming the provision of relevant information by festival organisers.
Evaluation reports would then be considered by the appropriate committee for a decision on which events should receive funding, level of funding and whether they should receive seed funding or be core funded.
COUNCIL EVENTS FUNDING POLICY
Following from the above report a recommended Council policy statement is:
Events Funding Policy
The Christchurch City Council is committed to a lively and dynamic city which is enhanced by a range of events and festivals that:
The outcomes of this policy will be to:
The roles the Council will have in this policy are:
SUMMARY
Christchurch City Council funded events and festivals currently take place without any formal blueprint or grand strategy. While this approach has worked well in the past, research suggests that the time has now come to adopt a more formal Council approach to events funding to enhance and protect the interests of both the Council and the greater events industry.
Moreover, the adoption of a formal evaluation and monitoring system will ensure that the Council is delivered a range of events and festivals that are of high quality, take into account the variety and diversity of the city's demographics and are consistent with the Council's objectives and funding requirements.
Current research also indicates that in order for events managers to plan their marketing and production programmes and obtain the best possible sponsorship deals, three year funding contracts are the most productive. This provides stability and certainty not currently available. It would be desirable for funding contracts to contain an "opt out" clause for the Council in the instance of an event organiser not achieving a satisfactory performance level in any given year.
Recommendation:
1. That the Council adopt the formal events funding policy as outlined on pages 15 and 16 of this report.
2. That the Council adopt the proposed strategy for festival and event evaluation as outlined in this report as a draft strategy.
3. That the Communications and Promotions Unit consult event managers currently receiving core funding from the Council on the draft events and festivals evaluation and monitoring strategy.
4. That festivals receiving core funding in the 1997/98 Annual Plan be given funding on a three year rolling basis subject to Council objectives, as defined in its evaluation and monitoring strategy, being satisfactorily met.
5. That the first formal evaluation after twelve months be used to assess festivals funding for the next three year period and applied annually thereafter.
4. A NEW FESTIVAL FOR CHRISTCHURCH RR 5452
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Communications and Promotions Manager | Perry Walker, Events Co-ordinator - Administration |
| Corporate Plan Output: Events Management |
The purpose of this report is to seek Council endorsement of a proposed change of focus and direction for an element of the city's festival programme.
It is proposed that Christchurch Blossoms be discontinued as a festival and replaced with a new festival called the Christchurch Festival of Dance to be held from Saturday 27 September to Sunday 12 October 1997.
THE BACKGROUND
Christchurch has celebrated the arrival of Spring with a festival since 1989 when the Spring's Here festival was launched. Unlike the other core festivals organised directly by the Events Team of the Council's Communications and Promotions Unit - SummerTimes, KidsFest and now Showtime Canterbury - Spring's Here lacked a clearly defined purpose, market focus or direction. This was reflected in a programme of activities that had very little cohesiveness and which failed to gain public support.
In 1992 an attempt was made to revitalise the concept of a Spring Festival by re-packaging and re-launching the festival as Christchurch Blossoms - "celebrating the change of season". However the fundamental issues referred to above were still not addressed and Christchurch Blossoms continued to fail to capture the support of the public, external event organisers and the media.
In 1995 a decision was made to provide the festival with greater focus by limiting the inclusion of external event organisers to those providing events with a gardening or floral theme. Despite exhaustive work identifying appropriate groups and contacting them to encourage involvement, this tactic met with only limited success. Most of these groups are voluntary and very much focused on working towards an involvement with the Christchurch Garden City Festival of Flowers, Gardenz or the Great NZ Craft Show. As a result most are reluctant to take on further commitments at this time of year.
Many of the activities that have gained a listing in past Christchurch Blossoms programmes are large "stand alone" events, like Gardenz, that take place during that time of year anyway. The remaining few activities organised by external providers could fit equally well into the Showtime Canterbury celebrations or other festival programmes.
After considering the points outlined above it is recommended that the Christchurch Blossoms festival be discontinued.
THE RATIONALE FOR A FESTIVAL IN SPRING
Christchurch has an enviable Calendar of Events that offers residents and visitors the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities. During winter, the public will have had access to TV2 KidsFest, The Christchurch Arts Festival and The Montana Winter Carnival, the latter finishing on August 10. In order to fill the gap between these winter activities and Showtime Canterbury in November, the Christchurch Blossoms Festival has traditionally been held in late September through to early October.
The discontinuation of Christchurch Blossoms will leave a two and a half month `hole' in the events calendar. The Communications and Promotions Unit recommend replacing the Christchurch Blossoms festival in order to:
Provide opportunities for community participation and activity at a `down' time in the festival calendar and through the school holiday period.
Encourage Christchurch residents to emerge and become active following the winter season.
Provide opportunities for local tourism and convention industries by maintaining a consistent buoyant calendar of festivals and events.
In order to maximise opportunities for participation, the dates proposed for the new Christchurch Festival of Dance, 27 September - 12 October, are aligned with the school holidays.
THE THEME
Dance, like music, is common to every nation of the world, therefore offering opportunities for both passive and active participation throughout the community. There is potential for a wide range of activities, from small scale community events to large public spectacles.
The festival provides a perfect opportunity for the numerous dance clubs, schools and other institutions resident in Christchurch to showcase their talents, share their skills and foster public participation.
A festival focussing exclusively on Dance would be a first for the nation, reinforcing Christchurch's reputation for providing innovative, leading edge events.
The dance theme has sufficient focus and range to capture the imagination of the community. Additionally the association of dance with celebration and gaiety fits well with `spring fever'.
The following list provides just an indication of the breadth of activities that dance encompasses:
Ballet - Classical and Modern
Tap Dancing
Ballroom Dancing
Latin American
Ethnic - Maori, Polynesian, Asian, Dutch, Spanish, Irish, Scottish, etc
Rock and Roll
Folk Dancing
Square Dancing
Line Dancing
Street/Funk
Dancing on Ice/Roller Blades
Jazz
Disco
Given the richness of the theme there are opportunities to incorporate other aspects of dance such as costume design, dance fashion, choreography, dance music and stage set design. The dance theme also allows the opportunity to include musicals, photographic exhibitions of dance, dance films, dance-a-thons and other forms of choreographed movements.
THE PROGRAMME
In order to launch the festival with a bang, a number of special activities are proposed:
To open the festival, an attempt would be made at gaining the record for holding the largest dance lesson in the world, this would be incorporated into a dance party in Victoria Square.
This event would be similar in style to the extremely popular Valentine's Day Dance.
Showcase dance performances would be held during weekday lunch hours in Cathedral Square. It is anticipated that audience participation will be a component of these performances.
Another highlight of the festival would be a spring themed multi-cultural dance show featuring dancers from the many ethnic groups resident within the city.
Southern Ballet's holiday season will be featured in the programme, along with other providers who have performance activities scheduled.
As well as the above activities, the city's dance groups, dance schools and other institutions will be encouraged to host "Have a go" type events and organise specialist workshops and Master Classes.
External event organisers will also be encouraged to organise activities that fall within the festival's theme and time frame - A Youth Rage, Latin American Dance Party and other activities which would have appeal to different sectors of the community.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
While the festival must begin at a community level, the potential for its growth is almost limitless. For this reason it is proposed that although the festival is named the Christchurch Festival of Dance initially, that a trade mark be taken out over the name of The New Zealand Festival of Dance. This ensures that Christchurch, being the initiator of such a festival retains ownership of the concept on a national level and can eventually position the festival accordingly. There is, in turn, the further potential of positioning the festival as one of international standing.
For example, a bid could be made to host the Pan Pacific Ballroom Dancing Championships and other such international competitions. The festival could also attract visits from international dance companies, choreographers, etc.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The existing budgetary allocation for the Christchurch Blossoms festival would need to be re-allocated in its entirety in order for the Christchurch Dance Festival to proceed.
In addition to this, there are sponsorship and merchandising opportunities to be explored.
Given the existing time frame, a major naming rights sponsors for this year's festival may be difficult to gain. However, a number of potential sponsors have been identified and formal approaches will be made.
SUMMARY
Christchurch Blossoms has failed to gain the support of event organisers, the community and the media. It has suffered from an initial lack of focus, low impact events and more recently too limited a focus.
There are, however, compelling reasons as to why a festival should be held during the Spring season. The Christchurch Festival of Dance would be a first for the country, has a theme that allows for the provision of an extensive range of activities that cater to a wide cross section of the community. Longer term there is potential for such a festival to eventually be positioned at national and international levels. The festival can be funded from within an existing budget resource and the potential for revenue generation through sponsorship and merchandising is positive.
Members of the Committee expressed the opinion that while the proposed Festival of Dance should be supported, the officers should be requested to investigate the possible continuation of the Blossom Festival in a modified form, in association with the large number of stand-alone events like Gardenz that take place over the same period.
Recommendation:
1. That the Council endorse the inception of the Christchurch Festival of Dance from 1997/98.
2. That the budget for Christchurch Blossoms in the Draft Plan: 1997 Edition be reallocated to the Christchurch Festival of Dance.
3. That the Communications and Promotions Manager hold discussions with the Garden City Trust and other relevant bodies regarding the possible continuation of the Christchurch Blossom Festival and report back to the Committee on the outcome of these discussions, with an estimate of the cost of continuing the festival in a modified form.
5. BEACHCOMBER RESTAURANT RR 2516
RE-HEARING OF SUBMISSIONS
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Property Manager | Julie Sadler |
| Corporate Plan Output: Commercial Property |
The purpose of this report, which has been prepared at Councillor Anderton's request, is to seek a review of the Council's decision in respect of re-hearing submissions on the Beachcomber Restaurant leasing proposal.
The report was not included in the main agenda as the request was received after the agenda had been distributed. The matter cannot wait for the next meeting of the Committee as it could delay the hearing of submissions.
BACKGROUND
At its meeting on 18 December 1997 the Council resolved to grant a lease under the Reserves Act 1977 to Mr John Phillips for the operation of the Beachcomber Restaurant for a term of 15 years.
The leasing proposal was subsequently advertised and attracted 10 submissions which were heard by the Metropolitan Reserves Hearings Panel on 15 May 1996. Following the hearing, the Panel's draft decision was referred to the Legal Services Manager for comment.
As a procedural defect was found in the public notification process the decision was not released. The Legal Services Manager reported to the May meeting of the Council recommending that the public notification process be recommenced. The Council adopted the Legal Services Manager's recommendation and appointed a special committee comprising Councillors Condon, Evans and O'Rourke to re-hear the submissions and objections on the leasing proposal.
RE-HEARING OF SUBMISSIONS
As with resource management hearings, hearings conducted under the Reserves Act must be unbiased with no pre-conceived opinions having been expressed by members of the panel in respect of the issue under consideration.
Councillor Anderton is concerned that in the course of considering the leasing proposal at previous Council meetings, Councillors have expressed their opinion on the merits or otherwise of granting a new lease to the present operator.
Furthermore, the Council has adopted the practice of appointing a commissioner to hear resource management applications in two circumstances, namely if the Council is the applicant or if it has an interest in the application. As the Council is the owner of the Beachcomber premises it clearly has an interest in this issue. Councillor Anderton considers that the resource management practice should be followed in this instance.
For the above reasons, Councillor Anderton believes that to preserve the integrity of the hearing process, the Council should review its decision to appoint a special committee to re-hear the submissions and instead appoint an independent commissioner to conduct the hearing.
Recommendation: That the Council appoint an independent commissioner to conduct the hearing and to report back to the Council with a recommendation.
PART B - REPORTS FOR INFORMATION
6. MONA VALE TREE DONATION RR 5420
The Curator, Botanical Services, advised that a group of 27 trees, many of them uncommon had recently been donated by the family of the late Alistair Macleod for planting at Mona Vale. The late Alistair Macleod was a tutor in horticulture at Christchurch Polytechnic and at the time of his death several years ago, had established a nursery of select trees and shrubs at a site in Harewood Road. Most of the trees are in excess of 10 years old, and will significantly enhance the garden at Mona Vale.
The Committee received the information and requested that a letter of appreciation from the Committee be forwarded to Mr Macleod's family.
7. JELLIE PARK POOL - FILTRATION SYSTEM RR 5416
The Leisure and Community Services Manager reported on the projected costs of upgrading the filtration system at Jellie Park pool.
The Committee referred the report to the Annual Plan Working Party with the following recommendations:
1. That the provision of additional DE Filters at Jellie Park Aqualand located adjacent to the indoor pool and underground plant room be approved.
2. That funding be provided in the 1997/98 Annual Plan for the provision of new filtration at Jellie Park Aqualand at a total cost of $378,000.
3. That the funding be met by the following substitutions and additional funding:
| 97/98 |
98/99 |
99/00 |
|
| Jellie Park Filtration |
100,000 |
278,000 |
- |
| Transfer from Jellie Park operating |
-40,000 |
||
| Defer Sockburn Paddling Pool upgrading |
-60,000 |
60,000 |
|
| Cowles Stadium |
-70,000 |
||
| Denton Park |
-50,000 |
||
| Asset improvements - facilities unspecified |
-40,000 |
||
| New assets - new plant items - facilities |
-50,000 |
||
| Net Change |
0 |
78,000 |
$60,000 |
8. WHARENUI POOL FILTRATION AND MECHANICAL SERVICES UPGRADING RR 5447
The Leisure and Community Services Manager reported on the estimated cost of upgrading the filtration and mechanical services at the Wharenui Pool.
The Committee decided:
1. To support the proposal to build a new plant room and replace the filtration at Wharenui Pool to increase the water turnover rate to meet the New Zealand Standard.
2. That the Annual Plan Working Party be requested to provide additional capital funding in the Draft Plan: 1997 Edition of $350,000 for this project which also includes the cost of relocating the weight training room to the mezzanine floor of the Recreation Centre. This sum is provisional only.
3. That the Annual Plan Working Party be advised of the total additional funding requirement of the filtration and mechanical services upgrade when more detailed estimates are known.
9. DEPUTATIONS BY APPOINTMENT
Submissions regarding BellSouth's application to erect a cell phone antenna at Queen Elizabeth II Park were made by Mr Richard Jarratt of BellSouth and Mr Owen Burn of Connell Wagner, consultants to BellSouth.
The Committee resolved that the submissions be considered in conjunction with the report by the Legal Services Manager contained in the public excluded section of the Committee's agenda.
10. CHRISTCHURCH PIER: FESTIVE LIGHTING
Arising from a discussion on this issue the Committee requested the Communications and Promotions Manager to report back on the estimated cost of installing festive lighting along the Christchurch Pier, with a view to a request being made to the Annual Plan Working Party for provision for this item to be included in the Draft Plan: 1997 Edition.
(Note: Councillor Freeman retired from the meeting during discussion of this clause, and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon. Councillor Sheriff temporarily assumed the chair during Councillor Freeman's absence from the meeting.)
PART C - REPORT ON DELEGATED DECISIONS
TAKEN BY THE COMMITTEE
11. ENHANCEMENT OF TREE ENVIRONMENT -
WALTHAM POOL RR 5450
The Leisure and Community Services Manager reported on a proposal to improve the tree planting on the corner of Waltham Road and Wilsons Road, outside the Waltham Lido Pool. In recent years problems have been encountered with seedpods and leaves from the silver birch trees located along the Waltham Road frontage of the pool. During the 1996 winter four beech trees were planted between the existing silver birch trees. Replacing the silver birches with an additional six native beech trees along the pool's frontage would significantly improve the situation from both a visual and operational perspective. The proposal was discussed with the Council's Arboriculturalist who recommended the planting of the native beech trees to replace the silver birch trees. The proposal was supported by the Spreydon/Heathcote Community Board, the Sydenham Residents' Group and the Opawa/St Martins Residents' Association.
The Committee resolved that an additional six native beech trees be planted in the frontage of the Waltham Lido Pool to replace the silver birch trees causing difficulties.
12. SUPPLEMENTARY REPORTS
The Chairman referred to the following supplementary reports which had been tabled at the meeting:
Report by Property Manager on a request by Councillor Anderton for the Committee to consider the possible appointment of a commissioner to re-hear the submissions on the Beachcomber Restaurant leasing proposal.
Report by Leisure and Community Services Manager advising that the Spreydon/Heathcote Community Board supported the proposal to replace the silver birch trees outside the Waltham Lido Pool with native beech trees.
Public excluded report by the Communications and Promotions Manager on SummerTimes sponsorship.
It was resolved that the reports be received and considered at the present meeting.
13. SPECIAL MEETINGS
The Committee resolved that two special Parks and Recreation Committee meetings be held on dates to be arranged to consider the following issues:
Stadia leases.
SummerTimes sponsorship.
14. RESOLUTION TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC
The Committee resolved that the draft resolutions to exclude the public set out on page 30 of the agenda and page 1 of the supplementary agenda be adopted.
CONSIDERED THIS 25TH DAY OF JUNE 1997
MAYOR