Community board:scallop beds, tourism rate, Gibbs Road, agendas
The tense relationship between the Golden Bay Community Board and its parent body lay just below the surface at last Tuesday’s board meeting in Collingwood.
Speakers in the public forum often prefaced their remarks with approval of some council actions, but disappointment and disagreement predominated in that part of the meeting and in the agenda items that followed.
Council’s CEO Paul Wylie and community services manager Lloyd Kennedy attended and, while Mr Wylie’s succinct explanation of the thinking behind the proposed tourism rate was well received, conflict seemed inevitable once the board started to discuss agenda-setting timelines and staff charge-out rates with him.
In November, the board agreed to trial a system of setting its agendas further out than the usual week-and-a-day model so council staff had longer to work on matters due to come up at board meetings, explained Mr Wylie. This would help the board to run more economically by reducing its need to call for reports from council staff. It would also give the public more notice of upcoming matters at board meetings.
Board chair Joe Bell argued that the longer lead-in time had had no effect on the speed with which agenda papers arrived.
“We set the agenda ages ago but I didn’t get my agenda papers for today’s meeting until last Saturday afternoon,” he said, in recommending that the board return to its former pattern.
The issue of staff charge-out rates is contentious. The board has requested all the details of the costs it has incurred but has been only partly successful in obtaining them.
Mr Wylie explained that the costs charged by TDC against the board’s budget “simply fall as they fall”.
“Our costs have to be allocated, just as they are in any business,” said Mr Wylie. “Most of the stuff we worked on was raised by the board chair. This could be avoided if you just picked up the phone and accepted some of the answers you’re given.”
Mr Bell said that the costs incurred by community boards were real, rather than paper costs, because they were paid in real money out of the budgets allotted to them and ultimately out of the targeted rate.
“This debate is a classic example of how costs occur,” said Mr Wylie. “I don’t want to be here having this kind of a debate with you. Give me a ring. Those agenda items can be dealt with easily. The way you choose to run leads to the charges.”
In agreeing to send full details of the amounts charged, Mr Wylie said that the board’s final recourse was to make a submission to the next council plan to attempt to have the targeted rate for community boards overturned.
Public Forum
Gibbs Road. Residents of Gibbs Road expressed their disappointment at the length of time it has taken to reach a proposed resolution of the stormwater problems there. An onsite meeting of concerned property owners is planned.
Labyrinth Rocks. Ross McDonald, on behalf of the friends of Labyrinth Rocks, expressed his disappointment with how long it has taken for council’s engineering department to come up with proposals for parking and access at the rocks. Mr Kennedy explained that there had never been money in this year’s budget for the kind of major works involved in resolving the situation. The money is in next year’s budget, so progress can be expected after 1 July and Labyrinth Rocks should be up and running again next summer.
Legal status. Peter Foster spoke to a letter he has sent to the board, the ward councillors and Mr Kennedy. He believes that the legal status of council committees, community associations and community boards should be clarified “to resolve the charging issues.” Mr Foster wondered how the board’s role was viewed.
“Is it just advocacy, apart from anything that is delegated to it?” he asked.
Scallop beds. Alan Vaughan referred to last Friday’s Forest and Bird-organised Seaweek meeting, at which marine scientist Dr Paul Gillespie spoke about his investigation of the collapse of the scallop beds in Tasman Bay.
Mr Vaughan tabled several copies of a document that he hoped would clarify questions about aquaculture in Golden Bay in the light of recent Ministry of Fisheries decisions.
“You would be hard put to arrive at the right answer using the information published so far,” said Mr Vaughan, adding that a local marine management plan is being explored. “I hope I live long enough to see it come into effect,” he said.
Collingwood sign. Nicola Basham, on behalf of the Bag Ladies, asked for a sign at the entrance to Collingwood recognising its status as the first plastic shopping bag-free town in New Zealand. “A proper sign would increase the visibility of Collingwood’s achievement and of the town as a role model for other communities too,” she said.
The board will take the matter up with Golden Bay Promotions.
Tourism rate. In response to a public forum contribution from Alan Blackie, Mr Wylie spoke about the proposed targeted tourism rate. Mr Blackie had declared himself neutral on the subject saying that, as an accommodation provider his business was a “sitting duck” for the proposed rate.
“There’s no doubt about the value of tourism to the local economy,” said Mr Blackie. “But general businesses on the fringe of tourism that attract the ‘indirect benefit’ rate will put their prices up, and that will discourage locals from shopping there.”
Mr Wylie explained that council is also aware of the importance of tourism. “But why should council subsidise tourism and not other industries out of the general rate?” he asked.
The jointly owned tourism body, now known as Tourism Nelson Tasman Limited (TNTL) required more and more money over time and kept coming to its owners (NCC and TDC) for top-ups to cover shortfalls, said Mr Wylie.
“As a way of breaking the log-jam, the councils identified the component of TNTL’s business that related to the public good. That is, the i-Sites around the district. Under the new scheme, their cost, $618,000, would be provided by the owner councils. Divided by two that’s $309,000. Last year we contributed $390,000 so the part that is funded out of the general rate would go down.”
TNTL wants to promote the district using “destination marketing” said Mr Wylie, but the little players don’t pay.
“Destination marketing would be paid for by the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the tourism industry via the targeted rate,” he said. “TNTL must now explain that to its members. If the industry as a whole wants to support it, the rate will proceed. If it doesn’t, the council may well vote it down, and there’s no plan B so there will be no destination marketing of the region. TNTL will get the i-Sites money but there will be nothing extra for destination marketing.”
Mr Wylie said that there seemed to be qualified support for the scheme so far.
“The idea has to run its course through the consultation process. People can challenge the definitions of direct and indirect, as well the amounts, through the submission process. If the people who have to pay support it, it may proceed.”
Neil Wilson
