Section 6: Council Activities

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Recreation and Events

Responsibility

Paul Nisbet (Manager Events)

Description of service

The core business of the Recreation and Events activity is to manage the following:

Aquatic recreation – Todd Energy Aquatic Centre and district pools (Waitara, Inglewood, Okato and Fitzroy Beach).
Community recreation programmes and events, including the TSB Bank Festival of Lights, the TSB Bank Fireworks Spectacular and the Healthy Lifestyle Expo.
Multi-purpose recreation and entertainment venues – TSB Bowl of Brooklands, TSB Showplace, TSB Stadium and Yarrow Stadium.

Scale of service

This describes the size and scope of the activity.

Five community swimming pool complexes.
Four major recreation and entertainment venues (TSB Stadium, Yarrow Stadium, TSB Bowl of Brooklands and TSB Showplace).
Provision of both reoccurring and ad hoc entertainment, sporting and recreation programmes, events and services including the TSB Bank Festival of Lights and other community events.

Rationale for activity

Recreation and Events, including the provision of free events, is a major contributor to the district’s quality of life, which in turn helps make the district attractive to existing and prospective residents and businesses. Recreational facilities provide a secure and healthy place to participate in a wide range of recreational activities in a safe and enjoyable environment. Major events help attract visitors to the district, thereby contributing to the economic well-being of the district. The cultural well-being of the district is promoted through the provision of community events which enhance the range of cultural activities available in the district. A vibrant recreation and events schedule also makes the district more attractive to potential migrants.

There is no legal requirement for the Council to be involved in the provision of recreation, events or event venues. However, the Local Government Act 2002 defines the purpose of local government as to “…promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of communities, in the present and for the future”.

The primary objective of the Recreation and Events activity is to contribute to social, cultural and economic community well-being by providing high quality and affordable recreation and entertainment opportunities, which help create a vibrant and healthy community. Events attract visitors to the district and this in turn assists the wider business community. Recreation and Event venues help make this an attractive district in which to live and work which is an important factor in stimulating a prosperous economy.

Recreation and Events is governed by Part 6 of New Plymouth District Council Bylaw 2008, Recreational and Cultural Facilities. The bylaw gives the Council the power to charge fees for specialised services and to pass rules for minimising nuisance behaviour at Council venues. Some behaviour rules also relate to Part 5 of the bylaw, which concerns public places.

The Council provides venues and recreation services that the private sector is not in a position to supply. These include events that require subsidising or programmes that the private sector cannot afford to provide, because of the scale or the risk involved. The Council delivers these services because it believes that these venues and events deliver the desired community outcomes.Return to top

Contribution to Community Outcomes

Recreation and Events primarily contributes to the Vibrant Community Outcome. It does this by providing a wide range of locally accessible exciting leisure, sport and entertainment opportunities for residents and visitors to the district.

Vibrant

A district that provides high-quality and diverse cultural and recreational experiences and where independence and creativity are encouraged.

V1 People have access to, and are encouraged to participate in, a wide range of high quality recreational, leisure, art and cultural activities.

V2 The region has high-quality public amenities and facilities.

V4 All people have access to local services and facilities.

V6 Support and celebrate all cultures.

Recreation and Events also makes a significant contribution to the Prosperous Community Outcome by providing a range of amenities and experiences which make the district an attractive place to live, work and visit. It also contributes to the Secure and Healthy and Together Community Outcomes by providing a range of recreation and leisure amenities, experiences and facilities which allow people free or low-cost access to physical activities.

Negative impacts on community well-being

From time to time events have negative impacts on sectors of the community. These include:

Noise from events. All events are managed within existing resource consent conditions.
Inconvenience caused by road closures. All road closures are approved by the Council after the community has been notified and consulted.
Inappropriate behaviour, such as vandalism or alcohol related incidents. The Council works closely with the district’s police to manage this and ensures appropriate security arrangements are in place.
Facility maintenance closures. These may mean inconvenience for some residents and businesses. The Council works closely with the community to ensure minimum disruption.

Facing the challenges – assumptions and risks

Assumptions

That there will be an appropriate mix of free and ticketed events contributing to social and cultural well-being as well as significant economic benefits, including supporting the Taranaki brand and promoting New Plymouth District as a quality lifestyle choice.

Risks

The growth of event procurement strategies by other councils may affect our capability to retain the current event schedule. Obtaining funding for all events from possible sponsors may also affect the current schedule and any future developments.
Align dependency on a buoyant domestic economy to pay for community events, e.g. Festival of Lights, fireworks etc.
The success in attracting international events is dependent on a series of assumptions, including a strong economic climate and positive exchange rates.
Reduction in commercial use of venues may result in increased dependency on rates support.
Demand placed on venues by the community seeking a high level of subsidy will result in lower income.
Todd Energy Aquatic Centre is working to a high capacity, user fees and programmes will aim to maintain a steady state of use, however this too is somewhat driven by the state of the economy and dependent on household discretionary income.
If community pools shorten their season this could result in lower levels of patronage and revenue.
Yarrow Stadium is particularly financially vulnerable as it is heavily reliant on the success of Taranaki rugby and the willingness of other professional sports organisations such as the Hurricanes franchise to allocate matches to Taranaki. Strategies are in place to develop commercial business in all of the venues. Return to top

Managing risks

Ongoing relationships with key/major promoters within Australasia will be managed proactively to keep our entertainment venues at the forefront of tour planning. Sponsorship funding will be managed in conjunction with event scheduling.
Local sponsorship for community events strategy to be implemented.
The Ccouncil is developing a District Events Strategy that will seek to manage the risks relating to procuring international events whilst positioning the district to capitalise on key opportunities.
Event venue business plans will identify the risk of a reduction in commercial usage and identify cost saving strategies to minimise the level of rates support required.
Business planning for the venues will continue to identify commercial activity to ensure community users’ costs will be maintained at an affordable level whilst still keeping operations economic.
Fees and charges are reviewed annually with business development initiatives being identified to keep the pool affordable and highly utilised.
If community pools shorten their season planning will need to reflect the subsequent drop in revenue and determine actions which will increase revenue in other areas to compensate for this loss.
Strategies are in place to develop commercial business in all of the venues, more particularly business development strategy contained within Yarrow’s business plan. This plan includes continual research into national stadium trends, sports code requirements and trends in the entertainment sector.

Levels of service and performance measures

The following levels of service and performance measures outline the objectives we will set and how we will measure our progress.

Levels of service and performance measures

Asset information

Assets required

The Recreation and Events activity manages the Yarrow Stadium, TSB Bowl of Brooklands Amphitheatre, TSB Showplace, TSB Stadium, Aquatic Centre and district swimming pools.

Yarrow Stadium is not owned by the Council. It is owned by the Yarrow Stadium Trust. The other assets are owned by the Council. Renewal and replacement of these assets will be done in accordance with the Property and Recreation Assets Activity Management Plans.

The other primary assets required to deliver the service span across lighting and features for the Festival of Lights and street lighting, aquatic centre gym, swim equipment and inflatables, stadium sport equipment, electronic data and associated technology.Return to top

Managing improved and/or expanded services

The major events fund is funded by the Council and administered by the regional economic development agency Venture Taranaki Trust and events which meet the approved criteria are eligible to apply for appropriate assistance. Not all major events take place in the Council’s major event venues, but it is intended to help attract major events to these venues which will have a positive impact on their level of utilisation and budgets.

There is capacity to increase the business in Yarrow Stadium, TSB Stadium, TSB Showplace and TSB Bowl of Brooklands. The Todd Energy Aquatic Centre has almost reached its capacity and the focus will be on sustaining the level of activity whilst monitoring future demand created by the new hydroslide. There is still capacity for the community swimming pools to cope with increased visitor numbers.

Funding

Direct beneficiaries of the service can be identified and charged for the direct benefit they receive and in order to ration demand for the service. However, there are also wider benefits to the whole community, particularly businesses, making it appropriate that these costs be recovered through the general rate.

New or improved physical assets are normally funded via loans in order to spread the costs over the asset’s life. This means that different people using the asset in different time periods all make a contribution to its costs.

Funds for the renewal and replacement of assets come from the activity’s operating revenue and are accumulated to pay for these expenses as needed to maintain the assets ability to continue providing the agreed level of service.

Managing change

Based on projected population growth there is capacity to build audiences for events, and participants for recreation. The aim is to attract more out of district audiences during the life of the Community Plan. Growth in audience and programme participants will place additional demand on the district’s venues and associated assets such as Pukekura Park or other parks and open spaces where events take place. This will have implications for the maintenance, renewal and development of these assets. This will be monitored and Asset Management Plans reviewed and updated.

To some extent the type and frequency of events will be driven by the state of the economy. As attendance at events where admission is charged will be dependent on the amount of household income available for recreation activities, and the numbers of people willing to travel to the district. Recent trends suggest that the proportion of household income spent on recreation services is increasing. If the cost of living rises, then households may be less inclined to spend money on recreation services. Consequently, the demand for free events and programmes may increase and this may lead to a shift in emphasis for the council’s Recreation and Event activity.

Recreation and Events activities are funded by rates, user fees and external sources such as sponsorships and grants. The four major entertainment venues (TSB Bowl of Brooklands, TSB Showplace, TSB Stadium and Yarrow Stadium) are expected to be more commercial in their approach, with a lower level of rates subsidy than other Council facilities. The budget for these venues is adequate as long as their commercial use meets or exceeds targets and they are able to adequately recover costs. However, increasing demand by users of these venues will need to be monitored as this will impact on the existing Council policy regarding commercial/community usage.

Maintenance, renewal and replacement of assets

The popularity of some of the facilities, programmes and events offered are creating increasing demand, and as a consequence is generating increased costs in both operation and maintenance of assets. This is partly offset by increased revenue.

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