Minutes of Meeting
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
WHAKATANE DISTRICT COUNCIL EXTRAORDINARY MEETING HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CIVIC CENTRE, MINUTES OF COMMERCE STREET, WHAKATANE, MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, 21 MAY 2008 COMMENCING AT 9:00 AM PRESENT: His Worship the Mayor C G H Holmes Deputy Mayor G I Hanlen, Councillors C Chambers, A A Bonne, W B Clark, S Jarrett, G V Johnston, I J Shearer, R N Orr and J Te Kurapa IN ATTENDANCE: D A Turner (Chief Executive), D C Bewley (Director Environment and Policy), C Ball (Senior Policy Analyst), and C B Hair (Administration Officer Policy) APOLOGIES: An apology was received and sustained on behalf of Councillor E R Byrne 1.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS His Worship the Mayor welcomed Councillors and the public to the meeting and advised the submitters that they could speak on individual submissions for five minutes and for ten minutes if they represented an organisation or multiple submitters. He requested that Councillors seek questions of clarification only from the submitters. 2.0 DRAFT ANNUAL PLAN 2008/09 SUBMISSIONS 27.1.3, 27.1.3.3, 7.3.1 2.1 John Hohapata-Oke, Creative Eastbay Te Taurapa a Toi: 135: 2.3.1 Refer to pages 1-9 of the agenda and tabled document 9A-B. Mr Hohapta-Oke spoke on behalf of Creative Eastbay Te Taurapa a Toi and stated that last year they had applied for funding from all three Councils and had received no funding from the Whakatane District Council and $2,000 from the Opotiki District Council. He asked that all the Councils in the Eastern Bay of Plenty work together for the promotion of the arts. He stated that they had engaged Kay Boreham as their Co-ordinator and were seeking $10,000 from the Whakatane District Council to assist with the funding of this position. Mr Hohapata-Oke stated that Creative New Zealand was no longer funding them under the particular scheme however they would be applying for funding under another scheme but the results of this application were unknown at present. He stated that they were not asking for a lot and asked that the Council provide either money or other equivalent services in kind. In response to questioning as to what he meant by payment “in kind” Mr Hohapata-Oke stated that he thought resourcing may come from current Council frameworks such as the Whakatane and District Museum and Gallery Board. He stated that they currently did not have a building and tried to keep their costs low. He stated that they held their monthly meetings at REAP but would welcome the use of Council facilities. G:\DATA\AA\CS\08\MIN\WDC2105ANNUAL PLAN.DOC PAGE 1 OF 65 WHAKATANE DISTRICT COUNCIL—EXTRAORDINARY MEETING: 21 MAY 2008, 22 MAY 2008, 23 MAY 2008, 26 MAY 2008, 27 MAY 2008, 3 JUNE 2008, 5 JUNE 2008 AND 12 JUNE 2008 2.2 Meghan Cleverly, Surf Life Saving BOP Inc: 7: 2.3.1 Refer to pages 10-12 of the agenda. Ms Cleverly spoke to the submission and requested that the Whakatane District Council allocate a sum of $49,000 to Surf Life Saving Bay of Plenty Inc to deliver Regional Lifeguard programmes in the 2008/09 season to Ohope Beach, Ohope Camping Ground and Thornton Beach. She stated that they looked forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Whakatane District Council. 2.3 Barry Cutfield and Steve Everitt, Whakatane Surf Lifesaving Club: 4: 2.3.1 Refer to pages 49-92 of the agenda. Mr Cutfield and Mr Everitt spoke to the submission on behalf of the Whakatane Surf Lifesaving Club. Mr Cutfield thanked the Council for the $50,000 they had received for ground floor refurbishment which was undertaken before the March 2008 National Championships were held at the Club. In their previous submission they had indicated they would request further funding for Stage 2 of the building project over two years but now wanted to do the work in one financial year. He set out the reasons for wanting to do the project in one year and stated that they had a 75th jubilee happening in Labour weekend and they wanted the club rooms to be up to scratch. The Club was also required to spend monies obtained through Trusts within 12 months of receiving it and this needed to be spent by November and thirdly they had a keen team of volunteers and they wanted to tap that enthusiasm now and fourthly the costs would only increase if they delayed the work for a year. Mr Everitt outlined Stage 2 which included weatherproofing the upstairs fixing the roof, replacing window frames and dealing with asbestos tiles. He stated that they would tackle the refurbishment of the inside of the building once the outside was completed for obvious reasons. He stated they wanted to create a space that could be hired out for functions such as weddings or birthday parties and which would allow the Club to get regular revenue and be self sustaining. He stated that they wanted a building that members could be proud of and which would attract new members to the Club. He stated that the cost of the project was set out in section 5 of their application and they were seeking $116,000 (exclusive of GST) from the Council. In response to questioning Mr Cutfield advised they had between 130-140 members. He confirmed that if they got the funding from the Council they would be debt free. He advised they had not done any projections of income from hiring out the venue. In response to questioning as to the problem with the removal of the asbestos cladding Mr Everitt stated they it would have to be treated correctly and their costings had covered that treatment. Mr Everitt advised that the public toilets required $7,000 expenditure to enable wheelchair access to cubicles and the toilets were open to the public all the time. In response to questioning as to whether the costings were up to date, Mr Cutfield stated that he was confident that the figures were correct as they had inflation adjusted them and their experience of completing the Stage 1 work had seen them come in 5% under budget. Mr Everitt clarified that they were seeking $116,000 plus GST from the Council. Mr Everitt was asked if they would use the Council as a guarantor for a loan if they did not receive all the funds requested and he advised that he would be nervous about committing the Club to any loan repayments. G:\DATA\AA\CS\08\MIN\WDC2105ANNUAL PLAN.DOC PAGE 2 OF 65 WHAKATANE DISTRICT COUNCIL—EXTRAORDINARY MEETING: 21 MAY 2008, 22 MAY 2008, 23 MAY 2008, 26 MAY 2008, 27 MAY 2008, 3 JUNE 2008, 5 JUNE 2008 AND 12 JUNE 2008 2.4 Rogan Hales and Julia Stevenson-Renwick, RNZSPCA Whakatane: 137: 2.3.1 Refer to pages 13-38 of the agenda. Ms Hales, Secretary and Ms Stevenson-Renwick, President spoke on behalf of the Whakatane Branch of the RNZSPCA. Ms Hales stated that everyone knew what the SPCA did and they were one of the most respected charities in New Zealand who operated an essential service 24 hours a day, seven days a week without government funding. She stated that they employed two inspectors and were training a third. She stated that while the inspectors were paid for a total of 28 hours a week they worked much longer hours without pay. An office worker was also paid for 9 hours a week. Ms Hales outlined the role and work of the inspectors who could legally go onto any property and uplift animals. She stated that the wage bill was significant and while they did appreciate the rates relief and the grants each year from the Council they did need to have the grant increased in order to run their operation properly. She stated that Opotiki District Council gave a grant of $12,000 to the RSPCA and she believed Gisborne District Council gave a similar amount. Ms Stevenson-Renwick advised that their services overlapped with the Dog Control section of the Whakatane District Council and they looked after puppies up to three months of age. She stated that all dogs were de-sexed, registered and micro- chipped before they left the RSPCA. She stated they undertook various initiatives such as education in schools and on 3 July 2008 Norm Hewitt would be coming to Whakatane to spread the message that kindness and empathy towards animals translated into the same treatment towards humans. She stated that research had shown a strong correlation between animal abuse and family violence. She stated that all members of the community were welcomed into their organisation and shown around their facilities. Ms Hales stated that they had received a grant of $2,000 from the Whakatane District Council to trap feral cats. She clarified that they were seeking $20,000 towards wages, van expenses and running their centre. 2.5 Mark Jenkins, Whakatane Squash Club: 2, 10.4.11, 2.3.1 Refer to pages 40-43 of the agenda. Mr Jenkins spoke on behalf of the Whakatane Squash Club and stated that this was the fourth time he had presented this submission to the Council and he thanked the Council for the non-cash grant of $11,000 which they received last year following their submission. He stated that they had already been billed for half of the new harbour lease rental of $16,000 and he hoped that this was an administrative error. Mr Jenkins advised that the Club was seeking the following: 1.