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Great Barrier
Local Board
11 May 2016
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Great Barrier
community group ownership of public assets
File No.: CP2016/08305
Purpose
1. To confirm the Great Barrier
Local Board’s agreement and funding support for new Welcome Signs, Community
Noticeboards and Local Art to be owned and managed by Destination Great Barrier
Island, Aotea Family Support Group and the Great Barrier Island Community
Heritage and Arts Village Trust respectively.
Executive
Summary
2. The Great Barrier Local Board
has funded the construction and installation of community noticeboards and is
in the process of developing welcome signs for various island arrival points
but has been unable to obtain agreement from Auckland Council to ownership of
these assets. The board also has a public art budget but is finding that the
process of creating public art is challenging for its limited resources.
3. To address these constraints the
board has been in discussion with a number of community groups which have
expressed an interest in owning and maintaining these assets provided the board
provides financial support to do so and the groups obtain benefits from taking
these obligations on.
4. This report recommends that new
three year funding agreements with these groups be entered into and that grants
to these groups be increased to cover maintenance and depreciation costs
associated with owning these assets.
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Recommendation/s
That the Great Barrier Local
Board:
a) agree that it will allocate an
agreed amount of its 2015/16 opex budget to the Aotea Family Support Group to
enable it to own, manage and maintain the board’s eight new community
noticeboards.
b) agree that it will allocate an
agreed amount of its 2015/16 opex budget to Destination Great Barrier Island
to enable it to own and maintain the board’s proposed new welcome signs.
c) transfer its 2015/16 public art
capex budget to a new line entitled “local art” within its LDI capex budget.
d) agree that it will allocate its
2015/16 $15,000 local art budget to the Great Barrier Island Community
Heritage and Arts Village Trust to enable it to obtain, own and maintain
existing and new art.
e) request that officers work with
these groups to develop new three year funding agreements for community
ownership and management of these assets which will include asset management
plans to provide certainty to all parties and to allocate indicative budgets
for 2016/17 and 2017/8 noting that these will be subject to confirmation as
part of the annual local board agreement process.
f) note that officers will work
with Aotea Family Support Group and Destination Great Barrier Island
representatives to agree what budget might reasonably be required for these
groups to maintain these new assets to enable actual budgets to be confirmed
at the board’s 11 May 2016 business meeting.
g) delegate to the chair in
consultation with other board members to approve actual amounts to be
allocated to these groups should this not be confirmed in time for the
board’s 11 May business meeting.
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Comments
5. In recent months the Great
Barrier Local Board has funded eight new/replacement community noticeboards
located in various places around the island, mostly on public land, from its
discretionary capex budget. It has however been unable to obtain agreement from
any Auckland Council department to add these noticeboards to their asset
registers as no department sees these as legitimate assets.
6. The same budget is also funding
the creation of up to five welcome signs to be located on road reserve at all
the islands main visitor arrival points. While Auckland Transport will provide
the necessary authority for these signs to be located on the road reserve, it
will not take these on as its assets as they do not have a transport function.
7. As the previous community
noticeboards had no specific owner they weren’t maintained and over time most
have deteriorated to the point where removal was needed. As the noticeboards
are considered to provide a useful community service, the board has agreed to
fund replacements but wishes to ensure there is an asset owner to maintain the
new noticeboards. The same thinking applies to the proposed new welcome signs.
8. As the board is not able to own
assets itself it has been considering if local community groups might be able
to do so. It already part funds the community support work of the Aotea Family
Support Group and ownership of community noticeboards would seem to fit with
this. Similarly it also part funds Destination Great Barrier Island’s visitor
services and ownership of welcome signs would also seem to fit with this. As
the new community noticeboards and welcome signs will in most cases be located
on public land and in all cases have a public use function, this approach seems
appropriate.
9. Discussions with both groups
have resulted in them agreeing in principle to own and maintain the community
noticeboards and welcome signs on the basis that there is alignment between
these assets and their activities. Both have indicated that they would need to
obtain some benefit or promotional opportunity from ownership and the details
of this will need to be worked through.
10. Both groups should receive
financial support to look after the noticeboards and signs. It is considered
that the easiest way to achieve this is for the board to “top up” existing opex
grants it makes to both groups. As the community noticeboards and welcome signs
are new, maintenance costs in the short term should be minimal but some budget
will still be needed over time (for example one noticeboard has already had its
glass broken). As new assets they will also need to be insured.
11. Officer advice is that an
indicative opex budget of from 2.5-7% of the assets creation costs is
considered appropriate depending on the scale of the asset, depreciation etc.
So for example if one welcome sign costs $5,000 then DGBI’s grant would be
increased between $125 - $350 per sign erected.
12. Officers will work with the
groups to agree a maintenance/asset management figure and how benefits sought
by both groups in agreeing to take on these assets can be realised. This will
need agreement from the board and the recommendation for a delegation to the
chair to approve these matters in discussion with other board members will
enable more detailed work to be done after the May 11 board meeting.
13. It is proposed that AFSG and DGBI
enter into new funding agreements with Auckland Council rather than amending
existing agreements as asset ownership is very different to funding community
services. It is also proposed that these funding agreements be for three years
as there are physical assets which need to be maintained, and to provide
certainty to both groups. It is noted that funding is however confirmed
annually so the funding agreements should reflect this intent requirement.
14. Officers have also recommended
that funding agreements include an asset management plan to ensure these assets
are appropriately maintained. The extent of the plan should be commensurate
with the value of the asset.
15. The board has $15,000 in its
2015/16 and subsequent year’s discretionary capex budget to allocate to
acquiring art but has yet to spend any of it. The board wishes to use its
limited budget to support the local art gallery to display and sell locally
produced art which provides income for the gallery and local artists. The board
already provides financial support to the art gallery via a funding agreement
with the Great Barrier Island Community Heritage and Arts Village Trust and this
approach supports that funding.
16. The board needs
to be aware that the recommendation from Council’s arts team is to work within
the Public Art Policy toward the creation of all public art assets. The arts
team has already advised that the board consider carefully how to apply the
policy, and cautioned against the creation of assets without a strategic
approach and consideration for maintenance and insurance of works etc. It notes
that any work created outside of the policy would not be considered public art
as such nor taken into the council art collection.
17. It is
recommended that the proposed funding agreement include that the art gallery
develop a strategy on how this budget will be used for consideration by
officers and approval of the board. Maintenance and insurance obligations will
also be included in the agreement.
18. The board has also expressed an
interest in the art gallery owning the sails it funded on the Claris airport
terminal. These should be included in the new funding agreement and owned and
maintained by the gallery and funded accordingly.
19. In addition, board members have
also been in discussion with a local artist to commission a work this financial
year and this can be progressed as part of the above plan.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
20. This report and its
recommendations are intended to address the need to find asset owners for new
and proposed community assets and artworks funded by the Great Barrier Local
Board.
Māori
impact statement
21. Ngati Rehua Ngatiwai ki Aotea
were approached during the initial planning and design phases
for their input on the welcome signs. The signs will
carry Maori place names and a welcome from mana whenua.No specific
discussions have occurred with Ngati Rehua Ngatiwai ki Aotea in relation to
community noticeboards or the public art proposal.
Implementation
22. Approval of this report’s
recommendations will enable officers to work with relevant community groups to
give effect to the outcomes sought for these community assets. The board will
need to budget for these outcomes in coming financial years and should build in
a review process to determine the effectiveness of this approach.
Attachments
There are no attachments for
this report.
Signatories
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Authors
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John Nash - Senior Local Board Advisor
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Authorisers
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Karen Lyons - Manager Local Board Services
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Great Barrier
Local Board
11 May 2016
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Grant of 2015/16 Youth Development budget to Aotea
Family Support Group
File No.: CP2016/08306
Purpose
1. To obtain the Great Barrier
Local Board’s approval to granting it’s 2015/16 Youth Development budget to the
Aotea Family Support Group.
Executive
Summary
2. The Great Barrier Local Board’s
Youth Development budget remains largely unspent due to uncertainty as to what
to allocate it to and the unique youth demographic of Great Barrier Island. The
Aotea Family Support Group (AFSG) has and continues to run a youth programme
and has identified a range of uses for this budget.
3. It is proposed that the budget
be granted to AFSG and that its existing funding agreement be amended to
include youth deliverables and accountabilities.
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Recommendation/s
That the Great Barrier Local
Board:
a) agree to allocate its remaining
2015/16 Youth Development budget to the Aotea Family Support Group subject to
confirmation of AFSG’s youth work programme at the board’s May 2016 business
meeting and requests that council officers work with the board’s community
portfolio holders and AFSG representatives to reflect this outcome.
b) note that this decision only
applies to the current 2015/16 Youth Development budget and that decisions on
this budget’s use for the 2016/17 financial year will be made as part of the
board’s 2016/17 Local Board Agreement discussions.
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Comments
4. The Great Barrier Local Board
has $10,000 for youth development in its 2015/16 LDI opex budget which remains
largely unspent.
5. In 2014/15 the board’s separate
health, welfare and employment budgets were amalgamated and allocated to AFSG
as a grant to avoid the need for AFSG to regularly come to the board for
funding. At the time, the separate Local Youth Employment budget as it was then
called was retained by the board to enable its potential use in association
with a Youth Action Plan being developed and the Youth Advisory Panel.
6. The board has investigated a
number of options for the use of this budget but has remained unclear as to
need and what this budget might best be spent on. AFSG, the sole provider of
youth services on Great Barrier Island, ceased its youth programme in 2015/16
to undertake a needs assessment and overall review of its service delivery to
youth participation, engagement and development. This has affected the ability
of officers to undertake the work necessary to identify uses for this budget.
In addition, it has been recognised that the budget could be reallocated to
other purposes not associated with youth, by simple resolution of the board.
7. For 205/16 AFSG received a
$30,000 grant via a funding agreement from the board which it reports on
regularly throughout the year. AFSG’s community support programme includes
youth support initiatives and a number of informal discussion have been held
with AFSG which have resulted in it proposing a programme of work which could
occur if this budget was allocated to it. A draft of AFSG’s proposed 2016/17
programme is included at Attachment A. This includes youth support and will be
further discussed by AFSG representatives at the board’s 11 May business
meeting.
8. If the board supports allocation
of its 2015/16 Youth Development Budget to AFSG, officers will work with the
board’s community portfolio holders and AFSG representatives to confirm what
the budget will be spent on and the documentation of outcomes to be reflected
in a funding agreement. AFSG’s draft 2016/17 community support programme included
at Attachment A proposes that the board increases its grant to AFSG from
$30,000 to $40,000 for the coming financial year. It is important to note that
allocation of the 2015/16 Youth Development budget to AFSG as recommended in
this report does not commit the board to such funding in the 2016/17 year or
indeed to AFSG’s request for $40,000.
9. The board’s overall Community
Services budget for 2016/17 of $274.000 was confirmed at its 11 May business
meeting and the board will consider allocations within this total budget,
including those to AFSG at its 25 May Annual Plan workshop with officers from
Arts, Community and Events Department and the new Community Empowerment Unit.
The board will also have opportunities to refine allocations within its total
Community Services budget over time and it is suggested that this occur at a
later date once sufficient time has passed for the board and officers to
consider how well AFSG is delivering on the $10,000 proposed for allocation.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
10. This report and its
recommendations have been prepared in discussion with the Great Barrier Local
Board and are intended to reflect the board’s position and intentions on these
matters.
Māori
impact statement
11. No specific discussions have
occurred with Ngati Rehua Ngatiwai ki Aotea in the development of this report
or these proposals. It is noted that AFSG’s work programme and hence the
board’s grant, provide community support to all those in need including Aotea
iwi.
Implementation
12. Approval of this report’s
recommendations will enable officers to work with AFSG to give effect to the
outcomes sought by allocating youth development funding to it. The board will
need to further consider if it wishes to continue with this funding for the
2016/17 financial year and this should occur as part of AFSG’s reporting to the
board under its funding agreement.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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aView
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Draft Aotea Family Support Group 2016/17 community support
plan
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11
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Signatories
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Authors
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John Nash - Senior Local Board Advisor
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Authorisers
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Karen Lyons - Manager Local Board Services
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