Escribe Agenda Package

Community Development Committee Agenda

Date: Thursday, 19 November, 2020 Time: 11:00 am Location: Council Chamber Forum North, Rust Avenue Whangarei Cr Gavin Benney (Chairperson) Elected Members: Her Worship the Mayor Sheryl Mai Cr Vince Cocurullo Cr Nicholas Connop Cr Ken Couper Cr Tricia Cutforth Cr Shelley Deeming Cr Jayne Golightly Cr Phil Halse Cr Greg Innes Cr Greg Martin Cr Anna Murphy Cr Carol Peters Cr Simon Reid

For any queries regarding this meeting please contact the Whangarei District Council on (09) 430-4200.

Pages

1. Declarations of Interest

2. Apologies

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Previous Community Development Committee Meeting

3.1. Minutes Community Development Committee Meeting held 5 15 October 2020

4. Decision Reports

4.1. Community Funding - November 2020 11

4.2. Youth Policy review 19

5. Information Reports

5.1. Presentation Virtual Tour Semenoff Stadium and Forum 39 North

5.2. Rent concessions report 2020 41

5.3. Operational Report - Community Group 135

6. Public Excluded Business

7. Closure of Meeting

Recommendations contained in the agenda are not the decisions of the meeting.

Please refer to minutes for resolutions. 1

Community Development Committee – Terms of Reference

Membership

Chairperson Councillor Gavin Benney

Members Her Worship the Mayor Sheryl Mai Councillors Vince Cocurullo, Nicholas Connop, Ken Couper, Tricia Cutforth, Shelley Deeming, Jayne Golightly, Phil Halse, Greg Innes, Greg Martin, Anna Murphy, Carol Peters, Simon Reid

Meetings Monthly

Quorum 7

Purpose

To oversee functions of Council that interact, support and provide services for the community, including to disburse funds as determined by the Whangarei District Council Grants, Concessions and Loans Policy.

Key responsibilities

• Policy and planning for the provision of community development, culture, arts and heritage and events.

• District venues and community events

• Libraries

• Community services o Community sector liaison and support (Advisory Groups) o Community safety (City Safe, CCTV)

• Pensioner housing

• Property asset management o Pensioner housing o Forum North o Community halls

• Civil Defence Emergency Management

• Heritage, culture, arts and creative industries sector liaison

• Community development led programme

• Reporting on service delivery, including operational financial performance. 2

• Reporting on capital projects.

• Operational reporting for the Community group within Council.

• Procurement – general procurement relating to the areas of business of this committee, within delegations.

• Shared services – investigate opportunities for shared services for recommendation to council.

• Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) – monitoring the financial and non- financial performance of CCOs whose functions would otherwise fall under the scope of this committee. Includes trading CCOs (CCTOs) and those CCOs exempted under the LGA. Responsibilities include:

o advising on the content of annual Statement of Expectations to CCOs o agreement of the Statement of Intent o monitoring against the Statement of Intent o for exempted CCOs, monitoring and reporting as agreed between Council and the organisation

CCOs accountable to this committee:

o Whangarei Art Museum Trust (WAMT) – CCO o Northland Events Centre Trust (NECT) – exempted CCO

• To carry out the funding process in accordance with the Whangarei District Council Grants, Concessions and Loans Policy in an objective, fair and transparent way.

Delegations

(i) All powers necessary to perform the committee’s responsibilities, including, but not limited to:

a) approval of a submission to an external body.

b) establishment of working parties or steering groups.

c) adoption of strategies and policies relating to the key responsibilities of this committee (except for those that cannot be delegated by Council under Clause 32(1)(f) of Schedule 7 of the LGA).

d) the approval of expenditure of less than $5 million plus GST.

e) power to establish subcommittees and to delegate their powers to that subcommittee. 3

f) the power to adopt the Special Consultative Procedure provided for in Section 83 to 88 of the LGA in respect of matters under its jurisdiction (this allows for setting of fees and bylaw making processes up to but not including adoption). g) the power to delegate any of its powers to any joint committee established for any relevant purpose under clause 32, Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA). 4

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Item 3.1 Community Development Committee Meeting Minutes

Date: Thursday, 15 October, 2020 Time: 11:00 a.m. Location: Council Chamber Forum North, Rust Avenue Whangarei

In Attendance Cr Gavin Benney (Chairperson) Her Worship the Mayor Sheryl Mai Cr Vince Cocurullo Cr Nicholas Connop Cr Ken Couper Cr Tricia Cutforth Cr Shelley Deeming Cr Jayne Golightly Cr Phil Halse Cr Greg Innes Cr Greg Martin Cr Anna Murphy Cr Carol Peters Cr Simon Reid

Scribe C Brindle (Senior Democracy Adviser) ______

1. Declarations of Interest Item 4.2 - Community Funding October 2020

2. Apologies There were no apologies.

3. Confirmation of Minutes of Previous Community Development Committee Meeting 3.1 Minutes Community Development Committee Meeting held 17 September 2020 Moved By Cr Vince Cocurullo Seconded By Cr Greg Martin That the minutes of the Community Development Committee meeting held on Thursday 17 September 2020, having been circulated, be

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taken as read and now confirmed and adopted as a true and correct record of proceedings of that meeting. Carried 4. Decision Reports 4.1 Review of Visitor Information Services Moved By Cr Ken Couper Seconded By Cr Phil Halse That the Community Development Committee;

1. Approves a pathway for future visitor information services including:

a. Downsizing the Town Basin visitor information service in 2021 by;

 Closing the Te Manawa, The Hub and  Opening of a small ticketing and visitor information function at the extended Clapham’s National Clock Museum. b. Re-opening the Tarewa i-SITE when Te Manawa the Hub visitor information downsizes and relocates to the Claphams National Clock Museum. c. Reducing operating costs and enhancing the services provided by the Tarewa Road premises by;  Forming strategic partnerships with other compatible agencies to share the space and costs.  Exploring opportunities for new revenue generation or expanding current revenue streams. Amendment Moved By Cr Vince Cocurullo Seconded By Cr Jayne Golightly 1.b. Re-opening the Tarewa i-SITE before 2021. On the amendment being put Cr Benney called for a division:

For Against Abstain Cr Gavin Benney X Her Worship the Mayor X Cr Vince Cocurullo X Cr Nicholas Connop X Cr Ken Couper X Cr Tricia Cutforth X Cr Shelley Deeming X

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Cr Jayne Golightly X Cr Phil Halse X Cr Greg Innes X Cr Greg Martin X Cr Anna Murphy X Cr Carol Peters X Cr Simon Reid X Results 8 6 0 The amendment was Carried (8 to 6) and subsequently Carried as the substantive Motion Her Worship the Mayor and Cr Deeming requested their votes against be recorded. 4.2 Community Funding – October 2020 Subsequent to the agenda being circulated supplementary Item 4.2.1 Community Fund late application – Ngunguru Skatepark Opening Day was distributed separately but not within the timeframes specified in LGOIMA. Moved By Her Worship the Mayor Seconded By Cr Anna Murphy That the Community Development Committee approves grants totalling $110,139 from the Community Fund and $24,828 from the Community Emergency Recovery Fund, as follows: Arts, Culture and Heritage funding priority 1. Bream Bay Combined Arts Group – Kiln and Facility Set Up Works $4,000 2. Bream Bay The Learning Community – Pukapuka Party 2021 $1,000 3. Opera North – Opera North Presents $4,500

4. Te Kowhai Print – Stage 1 Maintenance and Renovation $6,000 5. Whangarei Music Society – Chamber Music Concert Series 2021 $2,200 6. Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club – Compliance and Running Costs $4,000 7. Whangarei Theatre Company – Stage Refurbishment $8,000

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Recreation and Sport funding priority 8. Marsden Wheelers Amateur Cycling Club – Memorial Ride $3,500 9. Northland Golf Club – Golf Cart Shed $8,500 10. Tikipunga Community Trust – Community Pool 2020-21 Season $6,000 11. Whangarei Croquet Club – Entrance Upgrade $2,100 Environment funding priority 12. Bream Head Conservation Trust – Emergency Rescue Kit $1,088 13. Parihaka Community Landcare – Community-led Conservation $2,325 14. Wairahi Tracks Charitable Trust – Works Programme Seed Funding $6,500 15. Weed Action Whangarei Heads – Mobile Conservation Equipment Trailer $3,360 Community Wellbeing funding priority 16. Hikurangi Mountain Lions Club – Hikurangi Christmas Festival 2020 $4,000 17. Lions Club of Marsden – Ruakaka Christmas Parade 2020 $2,000 18. Mangakahia Sports Ground Society – Mangakahia Summer Festival 2021 $4,000 19. Pehiaweri Maori Church and Marae – Community Gardens Upgrade $4,000 20. Portland Recreation Centre – Roof Repair $9,700 21. Ruakaka Recreation Centre – Fire Alarm Upgrade $10,000 22. Tiaho Trust – International Day of People with Disabilities 2020 $2,700 23. Waipu Business and Community Inc – Waipu Christmas Parade 2020 $3,500 24. Whangarei Lions Club – Whangarei District Christmas Parade 2020 $7,166 25. Ngunguru Skatepark Opening Day $1,000

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Community Wellbeing funding priority – from Community Emergency Recovery Fund 26. Age Concern Whangarei – Safety and Maintenance Advocate (from CERF) $5,000 27. Mahitahi Hauora – Kai Ora Fund(from CERF) $10,000 28. Te Pokapu Tiaki Taiao O Te Tai Tokerau – Timebank Coordinator (from CERF) $9,828 Carried Declaration of Interest: Cr Cocurullo declared an interest for Item 4.2. Cr Cocurullo withdrew from the table and took no part in discussion or voting on Item 4.2.

5. Information Reports 5.1 Operational Report – Community Group Moved By Cr Vince Cocurullo Seconded By Cr Tricia Cutforth That the Community Development Committee notes the operational report for October 2020. Carried

6. Public Excluded Business There was no business conducted in public excluded.

7. Closure of Meeting The meeting concluded at 12.08pm.

Confirmed this 19th day of November 2020

Councillor Gavin Benney (Chairperson)

4.1 Community Funding – November 2020

Meeting: Community Development Committee Date of meeting: 19 November 2020 Reporting officer: Cindy Velthuizen, Community Funding Officer

1 Purpose

To consider funding applications received this month for the Community Emergency Recovery Fund (CERF).

2 Recommendations That the Community Development Committee approves Community Emergency Recovery Fund grants as follows:

1. Kaurihohore Public Hall Society for Bringing the Community Together - $1,450;

2. Positive Ageing Advisory Group (under Whangarei Anglican Care Trust) for resilience seminars for seniors - $1,028.

3 Background

The Community Emergency Recovery Fund (CERF) is a component of the Covid-19 Relief Package, with funding up to a maximum of $900,000 allocated for the 2020/21 financial year.

Council has determined that the focus for CERF support should be proactive in nature and funding given to proposals that help our communities to move positively along the “Recovery Pathway” and toward well-being. It excludes retrospective expenses and loss of earnings. CERF is not for provision of relief or welfare support.

4 Discussion

Assessing these first applications is complex. A clear link with Covid-19 recovery may not be evident, but an application may still demonstrate strong alignment with community funding objectives and may indirectly support the recovery pathway towards well-being. The CERF is fully flexible and has no maximum grant amount. Five applications to CERF are presented for consideration and these are discussed below. These total $32,478.

4.1 Cancer Society of New Zealand Auckland Northland Division – Hardship Fund The applicant is seeking $10,000 to contribute to a hardship fund for those suffering from cancer. The fund would provide 100 grants of $100, covering healthy food, and travel and accommodation costs for attending appointments or radiotherapy. The intent is to reduce stress and anxiety in the community. The fund framework and processes are already in place, having been previously supported by another funder. Requests for support arise from the interactions between the Cancer Society nurses and their patients, of which there are currently 136 in Whangarei. The rationale for applying to CERF is that Covid-19 has increased stress for cancer patients, particularly through delays in diagnosis and treatment, and potential loss of income for patients or family members as a result of the pandemic. The Auckland-Northland branch of the society is a $15m enterprise with $2.3m in cash assets.

CERF Measures Assessment Actively addresses an issue related to Yes – increased financial concerns cited but Covid-19 not evidenced. Supports the recovery pathway Limited – provides for limited relief to individuals. Demonstrates wide community benefit Yes – supports 100 people/families. Supports health, economic or social Yes – emotional and economic wellbeing. wellbeing General Funding Measures Addresses a clear need in the community Not clearly demonstrated; limited impact. and demonstrates good impacts Readiness Yes – fund process in place. Alignment with Council’s vision, strategies Limited / unclear. and values Collaboration and engagement Not demonstrated. Shared funding approach Not demonstrated. Value of request $10,000 is at the higher end of support from Council, and in turn will provide low levels of support to individuals. Recommendation This application aims to support low-income families already suffering in health, wealth, and mental wellbeing in what is expected to be a difficult year economically. There is some alignment with CERF, although depth of impact is limited. It is not a strong application, and its place within Council’s community funding is unclear. It is therefore recommended to be declined.

4.2 Habitat for Humanity Northland – Critical Home Repair Programme Seeking $10,000 to contribute to the home repair programme delivery. The programme supports low-income homeowners with essential repairs, preventative maintenance, and accessibility improvements, for a warm, healthy home environment. CERF alignment cites an increase in demand for the service following the lockdown, drought and flooding emergencies. It addresses the need to ensure homes are safe and comfortable to live, work and learn in, should further lockdown situations occur. Families contribute based on ability. The goal is to support 10 homes (and estimated 50 people) in the Whangarei district in the financial year to 30 June. The budget shows vehicle costs, operational expenses and salaries for 2.35 FTE.

CERF Measures Assessment Actively addresses an issue related to Unclear – a business-as-usual programme Covid-19 citing increased demand. Supports the recovery pathway Limited – addressing existing poverty issues but cites increase in demand due to multiple emergencies. Demonstrates wide community benefit No – supports 10 households only. Supports health, economic or social Yes – health and wellbeing of families. wellbeing General Funding Measures Addresses a clear need in the community Yes. Impacts limited to 10 families. and demonstrates good impacts Readiness Yes – proven delivery. Alignment with Council’s vision, strategies Yes – Covid19 Response Strategy cites and values “supporting housing projects” although this is mostly in provision of housing, not homeowner maintenance. Collaboration and engagement Not demonstrated. Shared funding approach Yes Value of request $10,000 appears reasonable for programmes or operating costs support. It is a small proportion of the overall programme cost which seems to run a deficit most years. Recommendation While it does support low-income families, it is a business-as-usual activity, alignment with CERF isn’t strongly demonstrated, and breadth of impact is low. It is recommended to be declined.

4.3 Kaurihohore Public Hall Society – Bringing the Community Together The applicant is seeking $1,450 for a community event that will bring together several entities in the Kauri community. Similar to a ‘progressive dinner’, the event will include mini activities at the hall, school, church, marae and cemetery that people can simply walk between. The idea arose at a recent community meeting between these different groups and a desire to be more connected as a community. The groups have provided verbal confirmation of intent to be involved. The activities are still in development but are cited to include historical grave tour, tour of historical church with refreshments, kids’ entertainment and more. The rationale for applying to the CERF fund is that the Covid-19 lockdown highlighted the importance of knowing one’s neighbours and keeping connected. This event intends to be a building block to increase community connection, improve emotional wellbeing and reduce feelings of isolation in this diverse, rural community. The enthusiasm and the positive vision for the future of their community is evident in their application and through discussion with the applicant. The funding is for kids’ entertainment – petting zoo and bouncy castles hire.

CERF Measures Assessment Actively addresses an issue related to Yes – social isolation and mental wellbeing. Covid-19 Supports the recovery pathway Limited – as a community event it provides a fun day out; as a building block for generating better connection it has potential for longer term recovery efforts. Demonstrates wide community benefit Yes – supports all ages, abilities and life stages in the wider Kauri area. Supports health, economic or social Yes – emotional and social wellbeing. wellbeing General Funding Measures Addresses a clear need in the community Yes – the collective coming together and demonstrates good impacts demonstrates a strong desire to work together more for the betterment of the community. Readiness The event is still in early development, but overall, no concerns – the hall committee is well established. Alignment with Council’s vision, strategies Yes – connected communities and sharing and values of heritage/histories. Collaboration and engagement Yes – enthusiastic collective. Shared funding approach Yes – any other event costs will be managed by the collective. Value of request The request is at the low end of community event funding. Recommendation On the surface this is a simple community event with some alignment with CERF through addressing social isolation and mental wellbeing. The value is in the community’s strong desire to be more joined up, and in these five groups working collectively for the common 15

good. The applicant cites this as an exciting beginning step in improving the community’s wellbeing and sense of connection. As such, full support is recommended.

4.4 Positive Ageing Advisory Group – Resilience Seminar for Seniors This application is made under the umbrella of Whangarei Anglican Care Trust. This applicant is seeking $1,028 to run two free seminars for seniors covering resilience in a Covid world. The seminars can cater for up to 100 attendees. The speakers are health practitioners from Central Family Health, who will speak about managing stress, anxiety and loneliness amid the pandemic, and tools to enhance one’s health. Also hoping to incorporate information from various support agencies. The request covers venue hire, gift for speakers, promotion, and workshop materials.

CERF Measures Assessment Actively addresses an issue related to Yes – wellbeing impacts on the elderly are Covid-19 known. Supports the recovery pathway Yes – provides strategies for personal recovery. Demonstrates wide community benefit Yes – supports 100 people. Supports health, economic or social Yes – emotional and social wellbeing. wellbeing General Funding Measures Addresses a clear need in the community Yes and demonstrates good impacts Readiness Yes Alignment with Council’s vision, strategies Yes and values Collaboration and engagement Yes – Positive Ageing Advisory Group is a collaboration. Shared funding approach No, not required for this level of funding. Value of request Modest request. Recommendation Good alignment with CERF, directly supporting a vulnerable sector of the community in relation to known impacts on them of the pandemic and lockdown. A good initiative that aligns on multiple levels. Recommended for full support.

4.5 Whangarei Rod and Custom Club – Rev Up 2021 This applicant is seeking $10,000 to support the annual Rev Up Whangarei event in April 2021. This event is held in the central city and has attracted good attendance in the past. The applicant’s rationale for applying to CERF is that this event will support CBD businesses in their economic recovery with the numbers of people attending the event. 16

The application presented some budget inconsistencies, and evidence of expenses (i.e. quotes) were not provided. The event attracts strong sponsorship and proceeds are given to a local charity. Activities that are self-funding and/or for fundraising purposes are generally not eligible for support under our funding policy, however Council has made exceptions for this event in the last few years. The next Community Fund round in March is not an option for this applicant as the decision date is too close to the event date.

CERF Measures Assessment Actively addresses an issue related to Not demonstrated. Covid-19 Supports the recovery pathway Indirect/limited. With the event being held in the CBD, it may support CBD businesses through extra trade on those days. However, this is not supported with any evidence. Demonstrates wide community benefit Yes – it is a popular community event. Supports health, economic or social Yes – social wellbeing as a family event. wellbeing Economic benefit to businesses is not demonstrated. General Funding Measures Addresses a clear need in the community Yes – social wellbeing, some economic and demonstrates good impacts well-being, appeals to a wide audience. Readiness Yes – proven delivery. Alignment with Council’s vision, strategies Yes and values Collaboration and engagement Yes Shared funding approach Yes Value of request $10,000 is at the high end of support for events. It is also self-funding / a fundraiser for charity. Recommendation While alignment with CERF isn’t strongly demonstrated, it is reasonable to assume that those CBD businesses that take advantage of the event may benefit. Levels of sponsorship may also be lower than anticipated due to Covid-19 economic impacts, reducing the fundraising ability for the recipient charity. As such, the committee may make an exception to policy and allocate support from CERF towards event costs such as traffic management and staging ($5,000). However, applying the policy on eligibility and given insufficient CERF alignment, it is recommended to be declined.

4.6 Financial/budget considerations

The Community Emergency Recovery Fund consists of the following components:  Directed Support  Community Response Funding  Enhanced Operational Funding.

The table below shows the starting budget for each component, funds already allocated, and allocations proposed. The applications presented fall under the Community Response component.

Directed Support Community Enhanced Response Fund Operational Fund Original Budget $315,000 $225,000 $270,000 Allocated so far $6,219 $27,828 $27,330 As recommended - $2,478 - in this agenda Budget remaining $308,781 $194,694 $242,670

4.7 Risks

The impacts of Covid-19 were very much considered in this report, as the CERF is about supporting our district to recover from its impacts and move towards well-being.

In some cases, activities may be affected by changing alert levels and restrictions on people gathering. In line with our funding principles, it is our recommendation that Council continues to support as if it is business as usual: our grants terms and conditions allow for activities to be deferred to a future date (up to 12 months), to seek a change in scope of the grant’s purpose, or to return the funds if the activity cannot go ahead.

5 Significance and engagement The decisions or matters of this Agenda do not trigger the significance criteria outlined in Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy, and the public will be informed via Agenda publication on the website.

4.2 Youth Policy #0077 review

Meeting: Community Development Committee Date of meeting: 19 November 2020 Reporting officer: Jacki Cooper – Community Development Adviser

1 Purpose

The Policy sets out a range of principles and goals to guide Whangarei District Council (WDC) when making decisions relating to youth.

2 Recommendation

That the Community Development Committee approve the reviewed Youth Policy.

3 Background

The WDC Youth policy (#0077) was prepared following a 2012 consultation with young people in the District between 12 and 24 years of age. Feedback was designed, collected and collated by Council’s Youth Advisory Group of that time.

Two issues, employment and recreation, stood out as being most important to youth. Increased engagement with youth was also identified as an area that needed to be strengthened.

On the 16th of October 2019, the Youth Advisory Group reviewed the WDC Youth Policy (#0077). The group unanimously agreed that the principles, goals and issues Council sought to address in 2016 were still important to the youth of today. The group requested that an additional action point be included in the policy that would see Council commit to “using plain English to improve communication and information sharing with young people.”

Feedback from the Youth Advisory Group prompted Council staff to;  simplify the policy in order to make it easier for young people and the wider public to understand;  introduce a specific statement that seeks commitment from Council to use plain English when engaging with youth;  include an articulation of Council’s role relating to participation opportunities for youth (both within and outside of Council’s remit).

4 Discussion Whangārei should be an inclusive, resilient and sustainable District where all young people can learn, earn, play and have their say. As we move toward a new vision for our District, the reviewed Youth Policy is a transitional document from which Council can continue to refine its relationship and commitment to our young people, by: 20

 Setting out a range of principles and goals to guide Council when making decisions relating to youth  Clarifying Council’s role in supporting increased youth participation opportunities, particularly in those areas that it does not have direct control over.  Making the policy easier for young people and the wider community to understand.  Aligning the consultation and review periods of this policy to Council’s Long Term Planning process.

6 Attachments 1. Reviewed Youth Policy 2020 #0077 2. Reviewed Youth Policy 2016 #0077 with tracked changes 3. Youth Advisory Group Meeting Minutes 16 October 2019 21

Whangarei District Council

Policy Youth Policy #0077

22 Policy title Community Audience (Primary) Internal/external* Business Owner (Dept) Development Policy Author Review Date

Table of Contents 1...... Purpose ...... 3 2...... Background ...... 3 3...... Council’s role in youth participation ...... 3 4...... Principles ...... 3 5...... Goals ...... 4 6...... Continuing consultation and review ...... 4 Policy Review ...... 5

Page: 2 of 5

23 Policy title Community Audience (Primary) Internal/external* Business Owner (Dept) Development Policy Author Review date

1. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to set out a range of principles and goals to guide Whangarei District Council (WDC) in making decisions relating to youth.

2. Background The WDC Youth policy was prepared following a 2012 consultation with young people in the District between 12 and 24 years of age. Feedback was designed, collected and collated by Council’s Youth Advisory Group. Two issues, employment and recreation, stood out as being most important to youth. Increased engagement with youth was also identified as an area that needed to be strengthened. The Youth Advisory Group first reviewed the policy in 2016 and then again in 2019. In 2019, the Youth Advisory Group agreed that the policy’s principles and goals were still important to Whangārei being a vibrant, attractive and thriving district for youth and requested that Council commit to using plain English when engaging with young people. 3. Council’s role in youth participation Whangārei should be an inclusive, resilient and sustainable District where all young people can learn, earn, play and have their say. Council’s key role is to encourage its partners, both private and public, to work together with Council to maximise employment, recreation, and participation opportunities for our young people.

4. Principles 1. Recognising that youth are an important part of the community. Informed consideration should be given to their feedback in order to meet the present and future needs of the Whangārei District.

2. Building and maintaining good relationships with youth. This requires effective communication and consultation, taking youth views and feedback into account and these being visible in decision making.

3. Supporting effective relationships between youth and key community stakeholders.

4. Acknowledging that contributions from youth make the Whangārei District a better place to live.

Page: 3 of 5

24 Policy title Community Audience (Primary) Internal/external* Business Owner (Dept) Development Policy Author Review date

5. Goals Council will enhance consideration of youth views on the District, and in decisions that it makes that affect youth, by:  communicating and consulting youth effectively and efficiently;  using plain English to improve communication and information sharing with young people; and  providing youth with opportunities to have their say in Council processes and decision-making.

Council will improve the recreational opportunities in our District by:  ensuring that the District has a range of safe and accessible public recreational spaces, places and activities to meet the needs of youth;  encouraging the development of other non-Council recreational facilities and activities in our District.

Council seeks to improve employment outcomes for our District’s youth by:  encouraging greater access to quality tertiary education and training opportunities;  helping to increase the range of employment opportunities available to youth within the District;  encouraging the development of a business environment where youth employment is made a high priority and value is placed on youth returning to the District after training.

6. Continuing consultation and review Every three years, Council will consult with the Youth Advisory Group, and the wider youth community, to review this policy along with actions and decisions made by WDC, to determine:  the effectiveness of the policy;  what changes (if any) need to be made to the policy to make it more effective, or to reflect the changing environment and needs of youth;  any recommendations, steps and actions needed to implement a revised policy.

Page: 4 of 5

25 Policy title Community Audience (Primary) Internal/external* Business Owner (Dept) Development Policy Author Review date

Policy Review This Policy was reviewed in 2019 and this revised Policy was updated as follows: Date of meeting: DD-MM-YYYY By: Community Development Committee

Page: 5 of 5

Whangarei District Council Policy

Youth Policy Policy 0077 28

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 Background 23 Council’s role in youth participation 34 Principles 45 Goals 56 Continuing consultation and review 29

1. Introduction The purpose of this policy is to set out a range of principles and goals to guide Whangarei District Council (WDC) in making decisions in relation to youth. The policy was initially prepared following consultation with the District’s youth (those aged between the ages of 12 and 24 years), principally through a survey designed and implemented by WDC’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG). POLICY0077 – Youth Policy 2013 replaced the ‘dormant’ WDC Youth Policy, adopted on 21 June 2001. The 2013 Policy was reviewed by the YAG in October 2016. 2. Background

In 2012 the YAG conducted extensive paper-based and online consultation with 720 youth through the Shape Your City Youth Survey. The survey addressed some issues which the YAG felt were important to youth and also asked respondents to provide some feedback on what they would like to see happen in Whangarei.

The findings strongly indicated that two issues, employment and recreation, stood out as being most important to youth. In the 2016 review, the YAG still considered these to be of most significance to their peers.

The WDC Youth policy was prepared following a 2012 consultation with young people in the District between 12 and 24 years of age. Feedback was designed, collected and collated by Council’s Youth Advisory Group.

Two issues, employment and recreation, stood out as being most important to youth. Increased engagement with youth was also identified as an area that needed to be strengthened.

The Youth Advisory Group first reviewed the policy in 2016 and then again in 2019. In 2019, the Youth Advisory Group agreed that the policy’s principles and goals were still important to Whangārei being a vibrant, attractive and thriving district for youth and requested that Council commit to using plain English when engaging with young people. 3. Council’s role in youth participation

Whangārei should be an inclusive, resilient and sustainable District where all young people can learn, earn, play and have their say. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0" Council’s key role is to encourage its partners, both private and public, to work together with Council to maximise employment, recreation, and participation opportunities for our young people.

4. Principles Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.07"

1. Recognising WDC recognises that youth are an important element part of the Formatted: Numbered + Level: 1 + Numbering Style: 1, population community. and iInformed consideration should be given to their 2, 3, … + Start at: 1 + Alignment: Left + Aligned at: interests feedback in order to meet the present and future needs of the 0.67" + Indent at: 0.92" Whangāarei District.  WDC continues to foster better relationships between local government and youth, and youth and other community stakeholders. 2. WDC recognises that the key to building Building and maintaining good relationships with youth. requires real andThis requires effective communication and consultation, as well as listening and taking youths’ views and feedback into consideration account and visibly using them inthese being visible in decision making. Formatted: Right: 0", Numbered + Level: 1 + 3. Supporting effective relationships between youth and key community Numbering Style: 1, 2, 3, … + Start at: 1 + Alignment: stakeholders. Left + Aligned at: 0.67" + Indent at: 0.92", Tab stops: 4. It is recognised youth can and should contribute to enhancing the Whangarei Not at 0.42" 30

District. Acknowledging that contributions from youth to make the Whangārei District a better place to live.  Formatted: Numbered + Level: 1 + Numbering Style: 1, 5. Goals 2, 3, … + Start at: 1 + Alignment: Left + Aligned at: 0.67" + Indent at: 0.92" WDC will:  cCommunicating and consulting youth efficiently and effectively; and  using plain English to improve communication and information sharing with young Formatted: Space Before: 0 pt, Line spacing: single, people; and Tab stops: Not at 0.42"  Giving providing youth thewith opportunitiesy to have greater participation intheir say in Council processes and in informing decision-making. Council will iImprove the recreational opportunities in our District by:  eEnsuring that the District has a range of safe and accessible public recreational facilities spaces, places and activities to meet the needs of youth;  eEncouraging the development of other non-Council recreational facilities and activities in our District. Ensure that the youth of our District are employableCouncil seeks to improve employment outcomes for our District’s youth by:  eEncouraging greater access to quality tertiary education and training opportunities;  hHelping broaden the scope ofto increase the range of employment opportunities available to youth within the District; 31

 eEncouraging the development of a youth-friendly business environment within the District, where the youth employment of youth is made a high priority and value is placed on youth returning to the Ddistrict after training.

6. 5 Continuing consultation and review As per the principle stated at 3 above, in relation to effective communication and consultation, WDC will regularly undertake District-wide consultation with youth. This will be at an operational level and a district level. Operational consultation will occur regularly through a Youth Advisory Group. At a District level, consultation will be at least every two years measuring issues which affect them. WDC will report annually detailing its actions affecting youth, for the preceding 12 months, which advance the principles and goals of this policy. WDC will initiate a review of this policy, as well as actions and decisions made by WDC in accordance with this policy, at least once every two years for the purposes of: Every three years, Council will consult with the Youth Advisory Group, and the wider youth community, to review this policy along with actions and decisions made by WDC, to determine:  Determining the effectiveness of the policy;  Determining what changes (if any) need to be made to the policy to make it more effective, or to reflect the changing environment and needs of youth;.  Providing any recommendations, to WDC as to what steps and actions to take in terms of implementation for needed to implement a revised policy. 32

Youth Advisory Group Minutes Minutes of the monthly meeting held at the Kauri Room, Whangarei District Council on Wednesday 16 October from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

Ground Rules: • Treat each other with respect • Be prepared for meetings • Active engagement during presentations • Co-operate with co-chairs and each other • Share responsibilities for extra work • Awhi each other

Minutes: Nicole Stanton

Present: Flynn and Mathilda (Co-chairs), Katie, Kuukua, Jack, Sophie, Ben, Lexi, Grace, Eila-Rose, Ihipera.

Apologies: Nadia

In Attendance: Jacki Cooper (Lead Officer), Nicole Stanton (Supporting Officer), Cindy Velthuizen (Community Funding Officer), Sam Pickering (Planner, District Planning).

Discussions: Welcome Previous minutes: Confirmed by Flynn, seconded by Grace.

Agenda Items: 1. Community Funding Review Cindy explained her role and the purpose of the Community Fund. Last year we gave out roughly $2.6 million to help community groups in Whangarei continue the awesome work they do. A review of Community Funding is due in 2020 and we are interested in getting input into the review from a youth perspective to see what ideas might work for young people. Council’s current contestable funding streams are:

Community Fund - for projects and events such as festivals, community celebrations, workshops, working bees. Maximum grant is $10,000.

Performing Arts Fund - for community groups undertaking a major performing arts event, including major theatre, musical or dance productions, major performing arts pieces or multi-day performing arts events. Maximum grant of $5,000.

Creative Communities Scheme (CCS) - administered by Council on behalf of Creative New Zealand. For the creation and presentation of diverse arts activities including exhibitions, productions, concerts, festivals, or workshops. An independent committee made up of Council and community representatives determines the allocation of grants in this fund. Maximum grant of $10,000 from a total available fund of $60,000.

Partnership Fund - Established October 2018, the purpose of the Partnership Fund is to support the development of community facilities by community groups on a shared contributions basis. The Fund is intended for leverage or 'seed' funding, or for capital works for actual construction. The maximum grant is generally $150,000. Action: • Members to discuss funding review with friends/peers and feedback thoughts at December meeting. 2. Social Media Update Welcome to Ben to the Social Media Admin Team.

KETE DOC ID 2 35

Nadia, Ben and Ihipera met recently with Nicole to discuss Social Media. Action: • Feed Facebook content to the admins. 3. Council Update The Mayor has decided to appoint one Liaison Councillor per advisory group as opposed to two. The Liaison Councillors have not been appointed yet and it is likely that they will not begin to attend meetings until the new year (2020). Five new Councillors have been voted in by the public. All Councillors are currently undergoing Councillors’ induction. Congratulations to our new Councillors. 4. Celebrating Youth Recap on previous meeting item ‘Celebrating Youth’ held by Merryn. Group members asked to vote against ideas from previous meeting. Action: • Feedback from the sticker activity will be shared with group members over email. • Item to be further discussed at our December meeting. 5. District Plan The District Plan is a set of rules which manages and looks after our natural environment. In the District Plan there are a range of layers and zones which apply to different areas and landscapes. A Resource consent is not always needed when a site is being developed, it is only needed when a rule in the district plan is broken (for example, building a multi-storey apartment block or subdividing a block of land). The timeframe for Resource consent decisions is 20 working days, this is legislated under the Resource Management Act (RMA). This allows time for Council time to properly consider your plans and intentions. Declining an application isn’t common, however we sometimes give it a limited notification status which means it may have to have a public notification to be approved. A prohibited activity is something you cannot do or apply for.

KETE DOC ID 3 36

If you break the rules, Council has a compliance team which will deal with each case. Fines can be issued for those who do not comply. Under the RMA Council must review the District Plan rules every 10 years. Planners in the District Plan team write the planning rules. The public can write submissions and tell Council if they agree or disagree with the rules. View district plan map here: http://gis.wdc.govt.nz/intramaps90/?project=Whangarei&configId=0df84abb- 1e1f-4b1c-a202-d198446d9c4e If you are interested in becoming a planner Auckland, Lincoln and Massey Universities offer planning degrees. Council has scholarships if anyone is interested in becoming a Planner. 6. Youth Policy Review The group reviewed the WDC Youth Policy document. The group unanimously requested an additional bullet point be added to Goals: Using plain English to improve communication and information sharing with young people. Feedback from members on policy goals: a. Youth engagement and participation Council could do better at communicating and engaging with Council. Group agrees it is getting better but still feel unaware of current Council work. Suggestion to add Civic Education in schools. b. Recreational opportunities Improving – wouldn’t say there is a range more like 1 or 2 options. We are getting more options for children. i.e. playgrounds but there still isn’t much for youth. Opportunity for revitalising town halls, assets, sports clubs etc. there is not necessarily a need for more infrastructure. There are recreational facilities and activities around that aren’t owned by WDC but they aren’t well advertised. c. Education, training and employment There is the Auckland University Education satellite and NorthTec but what can be studied at a degree level is limited in Whangarei. There seems to be more options for those going into trades.

KETE DOC ID 4 37

There used to be free short courses where students could upskill, i.e. barista training, but they aren’t being offered anymore. It doesn’t feel like Youth employment for those staying in and those returning to Whangarei is a high priority for local businesses. There was a comment that young people don’t like the term ‘Youth’ and would prefer not to have a label at all.

Notes to Council: 1. Communication needs further work to appeal to young people.

Summary of Actions: • Members to discuss funding review with friends/peers and feedback thoughts at December meeting. • Members to feed Facebook content to the admins. • Feedback from the sticker activity will be shared with group members over email and the item will be further discussed at December meeting. • Revisit Youth Policy Review at December meeting.

Next Meeting Details: The Youth Advisory Group meeting will be held at 4.00pm to 6.00pm on Wednesday, 4 December 2019 in the May Bain Room, Whangarei Library. Meeting closed at 6.00pm.

KETE DOC ID 5 38

5.1 Presentation Interactive virtual Tours Semenoff Stadium and Forum North

Meeting: Community Development Committee Date of meeting: 19 November 2020 Reporting officer: Rachel O’Gorman - Team Leader - Marketing & Events

1 Purpose

To present the Interactive virtual tours for both Semenoff Stadium and Forum North.

2 Recommendation That the Council or Committee notes the Interactive virtual tours for both Semenoff Stadium and Forum North.

3 Background Mint Design was contracted to developed Interactive virtual tours for both Semenoff Stadium and Forum North to use as marketing tool to sell the venues’ function spaces and to assist with event planning and operational functions.

4 Discussion The virtual tours are integrated on to the Venues and Events Whangarei website using Google Street View and a unique Radian technology and will provide huge benefit going forward.  Sales and marketing – The team can use the virtual tours as a direct sales tool when speaking with potential clients and event planners will be able to discover the space on our website, quickly assessing whether the venue is suitable and identifying the key features.  Event Planners – Once an event is booked, the virtual tour will be an invaluable asset for keeping the events planners happy. They’ll be able to see the virtual tour imagery to design and structure their event.  Guests and the public – The virtual tours are published to Google and embedded on the website where it will be used by hundreds of people who are attending events. It will be especially useful to provide wayfinding and accessibility context (wheelchair access, lifts and toilets).  Operations Internal – The virtual tour of the venues’ operational areas will a useful asset for staff training, internal use, planning, wayfinding and recruitment.  Operations External - Event, sport and function operational teams will be able to use the virtual tour for operational purposes, back of house planning and staging, ensuring a seamless event.

5.2 Rent Concessions Report - 2020

Meeting: Community Development Committee Date of meeting: 19 November 2020 Reporting officer: Cindy Velthuizen, Community Funding Officer

1 Purpose

To present the annual reports from rent concession recipients for 2020.

2 Recommendation

That the Community Development Committee notes the rent concessions report for 2020.

3 Background

Council provides rent concessions for some community organisations that provide a valued service to the district and who lease council property. As part of their lease agreements, these organisations are required to report annually on their activities to continue receiving the concession.

Rent concessions do not include peppercorn leases and other lease arrangements Council has in place.

These rent concessions have been in place for many years. In recent years, staff have taken steps to align these concessions with the Grants, Concessions and Loans Policy, and developed a Community Benefit Test that Council approved to help assess the impact of concessions in line with the community grants Council gives.

This reporting and the consideration of rent concessions is a new and iterative process that continues to be strengthened to enable good decision making and ensure fair distribution of Council support.

Similarly, lease agreements have been in place for many years and can vary in their treatment of rent concessions, reporting required, and remedies available. As leases expire, the intent is to set shorter lease terms, ensure consistency in approach, and remove the link between concession and lease where possible.

4 Discussion

The organisations that receive rent concessions and are included in this report, are listed below.

Organisation Value Lease Expiry Grinters Glass $35,310 2027 ONEONESIX Trust $30,000 2022 Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust $61,700 2043 Whangarei Youth Music $70,000 2025

Civic Arcade / ex-OMB Dyslexia Plus $3,098 2021 Epilepsy Association of New Zealand $4,354 2021 (Northland) Northland MS Society $2,112 2021 Literacy Whangarei $8,259 2021 WINGS $2,976 2021

Some organisations receive an annual operating grant in addition to the rent concession. To avoid doubling up on reporting requirements, these organisations do not need to provide a separate rent concession report, and therefore are not included in this paper.

Organisation Value Lease Expiry Whangarei Art Museum $171,000 2036 Whangarei Youth Space Trust $31,000 2022 Northland Society of Arts $42,000 2031

Civic Arcade / ex-OMB Volunteering Northland $5,217 2021 Multicultural Whangarei $12,509 2021

In addition, there are peppercorn rentals and other discounted lease arrangements across different Council departments.

4.1 Financial/budget considerations

The total value of rent concessions this year that Community Development oversees is $479,535. In addition, $16,000 was granted to Citizens Advice Bureau from the Annual Operating Fund in lieu of a rent concession. This was to secure their own premises until such time as tenancies at the Old Municipal Building can be reconsidered. Rent concessions are typically at 100% of market rent and market rent reviews are undertaken periodically.

4.2 Reporting

The reports received are attached. Each lease is worded slightly differently. In general terms, the leases state that for a rent concession to continue, the tenant should demonstrate that it remains proactive in providing for the community, and that a report is provided annually that talks about:  Current activities in the premises 43

 Benefit to the community  Collaboration with local community organisations  Collaboration with national and international organisations  Promotion of activities  Other funding sought and received. This is referred to as the Community Benefit Test. The style of reporting is at the discretion of the leaseholder.

4.3 General comments This is the third year this reporting has been sought, although the requirement to report has been a condition within lease agreements and within the Grants, Concessions and Loans Policy for some time. Guidance on what is required was provided as feedback on last year’s reports, and the Community Benefit Test is considered self-explanatory. However, some reports did not provide adequate information on actual activities for the year.

5 Assessment of reports

Each report is assessed against the Community Benefit Test (CBT) and is discussed below. Grinter’s Glass Ltd Reporting provided has limited evidence of meeting the CBT. Most of the report focuses on the individual artist and commercial success. Council’s Grants, Concessions and Loans Policy states we generally support not-for-profit community groups only. The rent concession was granted on the basis that this entity provides a visitor attraction for the Town Basin, however limited information is provided to show how this intent is achieved. The concession is used to provide a discount to studio renters and offer workshops at a discounted rate, with “full” rates set in line with Höglund Glass in Wanaka. Data on workshop and rentals provided is for number of hours worked, rather than people attending. The applicant provided four glass blowing demonstrations to school and community groups over the year. It is unclear if these are offered for free or not. The applicant installed a visitor counter in March 2019. Visitor numbers for the year total just under 30,000. The report cites that the studio has grown to the point of now being able to put profits back into the business. Financial statements were not provided but the report cites that sales have grown from $80,000 in the first year (2013) to $160,000 last financial year. If it wasn’t for the impact of Covid-19, the studio would now be self-supporting. In summary, the rent concession seems to support individual enterprise and is now a profitable enterprise. The level of investment seems out of proportion to the level of community benefit or tourism impact expected. Ultimately, as a business entity, this sits outside of community funding policy. In keeping with our Funding Principles and Funding Policy, it is proposed to cease rent concession support for Grinters Glass when the lease expires.

ONEONESIX Trust The report demonstrates good evidence of meeting the CBT. 44

ONEONESIX were successful in obtaining operational funding from Lotteries and Foundation North which have enabled them to address some core activities to enhance what they do, in particular the development of policies and procedures, and data capture and analysis.

Despite the impact of Covid-19, usage has remained steady, with the average number of visitors per month at around 1,200 and 84 events held at the venue. Approximately 28% of activities were youth focused or related, including specific theatre, music, and dance development programmes. ONEONESIX continues to assist locals to make their ideas and events come to fruition, and collaboration with various groups remains strong. The Trust continues to focus on enhancing the space, seeking funding for improving heating and new rostra seating, and seeking opportunities to increase income to become more self- sustainable.

Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust The new development dwarfs the Council-owned building that this rent concession is for, making the rent concession very difficult to assess. The report relates to the whole facility. The report provides good evidence of meeting the CBT. Stage 1 of the Centre opened June 2019 and in its first year has presented 55 community events (despite Covid-19 impacts) and received more than 20,000 visitors. The events celebrate, showcase, teach and support traditional Maori art, craft, language, culture and tradition. The centre creates the space for cultural and social connection and education. Highlights for the year include collaborations/co-hosting for Tuia 250, the Matariki Festival, Whangarei Sculpture Symposium and Printapalooza. The Trust continues to work towards the Stage 2 development (conference and performance space), to develop its platform supporting Maori economic and cultural development and developing opportunities to increase income streams.

Whangarei Youth Music The report provides good evidence of meeting the CBT. A broad range of musical teaching and performance opportunities are provided for youth of all ages by WYM, aligning with our Arts and Culture focus area and the Cultural Well-being pillar of local government. WYM consists of eleven sub-groups including concert band, youth choir, and orchestra. WYM demonstrates collaboration with other music organisations in the district and region. They provide a venue for hire to other like-minded organisations and offer a safe, fun space for youth. They have a steady active membership of 202.

Dyslexia Plus The report provides evidence of meeting the CBT. Dyslexia Plus supported 34 students, their families and teachers last year with assessment and tutoring (up from 28). These are often conducted at school or at home. There is a cost for these services, and four scholarships were offered in the last year. Two networking sessions and one information evening were also held during the year.

Epilepsy Association of NZ (Northland) The report shows limited evidence of meeting the CBT, with some questions not addressed. Epilepsy Northland supported an average of 10 clients each month and gave 27 talks. Registered clients total 215, covering all of Northland. The Northland educator provides support, advocacy and education to those living with epilepsy and their family, friends and colleagues. 45

Northland MS Society The report shows evidence of meeting the CBT. The Northland MS Society provides advocacy, education and a support network for those living with MS, covering Wellsford to Cape Reinga. The Society has steady membership of 114 members. The number of people who received support (members and non-members) isn’t provided, although the Society undertook 122 home visits and received 404 calls and 461 emails seeking assistance or advice. Last year saw the introduction of the “Scoot the Loop” event to raise awareness of MS, and this event will now be held annually. The Society is also investigating better use of social media to connect with younger members and improve its awareness campaign.

Literacy Whangarei No report was received. The 2019 report was received 6 months late.

WINGS (Women’s International Newcomers Group Social) The report shows evidence of meeting the CBT. The WINGS group provides social connection for newcomers to Whangarei, helping people to settle in to the local culture. It also helps to foster cross-cultural understanding. WINGS hosted 163 events. These included 2x weekly coffee meetings, monthly events, book and knitting clubs, restaurant outings and monthly games nights. They have 585 subscribers and 58 paid members. Attendance numbers at events vary widely, and it is unclear how many individual members the group supported last year.

6 Proposed action At this point it is proposed that no action is taken, and all rent concessions continue. While there are inconsistencies in the granting of rent concessions that need to be cleared up, changes to rent concessions are best considered as leases come up for renewal. Removing or reducing rent concessions at other times may have legal implications under existing leases and may have a detrimental effect on the tenant’s ability to operate within budget if removed without adequate notice. Following adoption of the recommendations in the Community Funding Review in April 2020, there is a moratorium on granting new rent concessions for the next 3 years. In line with the review, staff are investigating the best means of fair and equitable management of rent concessions. This includes consideration of ceasing all rent concessions at the expiry of leases, and that future support is considered through the contestable grants process a sit has in the case of the Citizens Advice Bureau this year . This will be worked through over the next 3 years of the moratorium and agreed changes can be rolled out from the 2023-24 year.

7 Significance and engagement The decisions or matters of this Agenda do not trigger the significance criteria outlined in Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy, and the public will be informed via Agenda publication on the website.

8 Attachment

Rent Concessions Reports 2020 46

Rent Concessions Reports 2020

Grinter's Glass ONEONESIX Hihiaua Cultural Centre Whangarei Youth Music Dyslexia Plus Epilepsy Association Northland MS Society WINGS 48

Annual Report for Whangarei District Council August 2019 to August 2020

FIGURE 1 GLASS BLOWING WORKSHOP, HERNAN, EMMA, KAREN, CHARLIE

Contents Community Benefit ...... 3 Needs, challenges and aspiration ...... 3 Meeting concession requirements ...... 3 Total Return for Community Benefit for the reporting period ...... 4 Visitors ...... 4 Studio Demonstration Schedule ...... 5 Financial management and solvency...... 5 Value of Studio Rental...... 6 Glass Blowing Workshops ...... 6 Maximising glass blowing in the studio ...... 7 Value of working weekends ...... 8 Studio Activity ...... 8 Workshop Participants ...... 8 Glass blowers who rent the studio ...... 11 Promotion of Studio and Town Basin ...... 12 Group Visits ...... 12 Galleries and sales...... 14 Partner organisations ...... 16 Equipment and studio, Maintenance and improvements ...... 17 Developing a Whangarei Glass Community ...... 19 New lines of work ...... 20 Sustainable Creativity ...... 21 Summary ...... 21 Appendices ...... 23 Appendix 1 – Correspondence with visitors and workshop participants ...... 23 Appendix 2 - The visitors’ book ...... 25 The awesomest glass making person in the world ...... 25

Community Benefit The Grinter Glass studio gives visitors to the Town Basin the chance to watch the fascinating art of glass blowing, free of charge. The studio draws people in from all round the country (and from round the world before Covid-19 struck). The spectacle of glass blowing creates a synergy with the other business in the Town Basin, particularly Burning Issues, The Batch and the nearby cafes. The glass studio provides people the opportunity to learn this ancient and challenging art form and is one of the few places in the country where this is possible. The studio facilities allow three other glass blowers to practice their art on a regular basis: Mishka Patterson, Rebecca Heap and Brendon Sole. The studio produces unique glass art, at reasonable prices, available throughout New Zealand. The studio currently employs Brendon and myself on a fulltime, long term basis.

Needs, challenges and aspiration The studio shows visitors that they can pursue their dreams, as I did. My glass blowing business demonstrates it is possible to make a living from art and that people can change careers, from unfulfilling jobs, to hands-on, creative and challenging work. Learning glass blowing is a huge challenge and most people who do workshops love the experience but do not wish to put in the time, effort and expense of learning more of this incredible art form. This was the same at glass school; many tried it but only a handful persisted. I am putting into action ideas to give opportunities to those few who do want to develop their skills further. I hope to continue to develop a community of glass artist in Whangarei. This year shows that we are on the way to achieving this goal. The Council rent concession is key to offering scholarships and developing the studio into a learning centre for glass blowing.

Meeting concession requirements Before I bought the studio, it was not running at full capacity. When I bought it, I had limited glass blowing skills and had not run my own business before. I needed to develop my skills as a glass blower, design viable lines of glass work and develop the market for them. Every year I have grown the business. Initially all I could do was cover the running costs. I had a full-time job as an art tutor for the Learning Connexion so I could make a living. After 4 years I was able to pay myself a small salary and give up the tutoring job. Now the studio has grown enough to hire a full-time employee, Brendon Sole. Over the last two years, because I have developed a strong profile for the studio in the industry, galleries have called me. The next step is to grow the studio further and hire a full-time assistant for Brendon. We will then be able to use the studio at full capacity for most of the year. Our current high rate of use is unsustainable because we will need to take holidays.

Total Return for Community Benefit for the reporting period Community Benefit provided Value of Visitors $103,103.00 Workshop Discount $6,320.00 Weekend and stats value $12,307.69 Studio Renters Discount $4,400.00 Total $126,130.69

Visitors The most important way in which we meet the concession requirements is to offer free viewing to the visiting public. I have now kept a record of visitor numbers for over a year, as shown in the table below. Assuming 70% of viewers actually take an interest in the glass blowing, I estimate this gives a return of $103,103 to the council. This is based on the $5 per person charged by Lava Glass, near Taupo. I have included last year’s figures from April to July for comparison. Visitor Visitor Month Visitor Date Count Value 2019 Count Aug-20 1582 $5,537 Jul-20 2170 $7,595 Jul-19 2225 Jun-20 1491 $5,219 Jun-19 2329 May-20 0 $0 May-19 1756 Apr-20 0 $0 Apr-19 2353 Mar-20 2535 $8,873 Feb-20 3038 $10,633 Jan-20 5513 $19,296 Dec-19 4413 $15,446 Nov-19 2585 $9,048 Oct-19 3659 $12,807 Sep-19 2110 $7,385 Aug-19 1944 $6,804 Totals 29458 $103,103 Average 2945.8 $10,310

Studio Demonstration Schedule Since September 2019 I have published the days on which glass blowing is scheduled. This is posted on my web site (www.KeithGrinter.com) and on the doors to the studio.

Financial management and solvency. The studio has grown every year since I started in 2013. It has now reached a point where it generates its own momentum, with galleries round the country asking for my work. We have also had an enquiry from an Australian outlet, which I am actively pursuing. From December 2019 to March 2020 we had four record months of sales. My confidence in the future of the studio was knocked by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, but sales and activity in June and July 2020 suggest that prospects for the studio are better than I expected. The Government wage subsidy and a grant from Creative New Zealand helped get us through lockdown and good sales since has kept us buoyant. While the August lock-down has been a setback I am optimistic we can get past this.

Profit and loss and cash flow I have continued to re-invest spare cash in the studio over the last year. We have built up our stock of glass batch and colour and carried out necessary maintenance and improvements. The studio broke even for the 2019-20 financial year but payed more in salaries. Cash flow was sufficient to provide a reserve to see us through the quiet months of May to September.

Growth Sales have grown from $80k in the first full year of operation $160k last financial year. The turnover is now larger than Mahy Glass was when I bought the studio. In the last financial year sales grew by 22% and expenses by only 11% which meant I could afford to hire Brendon as a full-time glass blower. If we can continue to increase sales faster than expenses, we should be able to hire an assistant for Brendon in the next year. Covid-19 has put this in doubt, but we will watch how this unfolds over the next few months. Income growth to: Mar 20 Mar 19 Mar 18 Mar 17 Mar 16 Mar 15 % Change 22% 7% 3% 49% -2% 177%

Succession Planning When I need to sell the studio, I intend to pass on the products and connections with the galleries, along with the equipment. I expect the new owner will either be one of the staff or wish to keep them on the blow the existing studio work. This will avoid them having to go through the steep learning curve that I had to follow.

Value of Studio Rental Thanks to the Council concession I am able to give a discount rate for studio renters. I would need to charge $100 per hour without the concession. The discount of $20 per hour creates a community benefit of nearly $5,000.00 for the period of this report. Renters Value of Date Hours Discount Aug-20 29 $580 Jul-20 31.5 $630 Jun-20 36 $720 Mar-20 23 $460 Feb-20 6 $120 Jan-20 7 $140 Dec-19 31.5 $630 Nov-19 27 $540 Oct-19 27 $540 Sep-19 3 $60 Aug-19 28 $560 Totals 249 $4,980

Glass Blowing Workshops The Council concession allows me to offer workshops at a discounted rate compared with other studios. A day of glass tuition at Höglund Glass costs $1000 ($166 per hour), whereas I offer a day workshop at $125 per hour, a discount of about $40. This gives the council a return of $6,320 on their investment in the studio. As can be seen in the graph below, July was a record month for workshops. This was partly due to workshops being delayed from lockdown to July, but also because there appears to have been a lot of interest in glass blowing workshops.

The recent Covid-19 level 2 and level 3 lock-down has mean that no workshops were run during August. We have to be able to work closely with the students meaning that we cannot safely run workshops at level 2. The workshops that were scheduled have been postponed to September or October. Not being able to run workshops means we are overproducing stock and may have to reduce the number of days we blow glass over the next few months. W/shop Discount Date Hours Value Aug-20 0 0 Jul-20 41 $1,640 Jun-20 6 $240 Mar-20 7 $280 Feb-20 7 $280 Jan-20 22 $880 Dec-19 19 $760 Nov-19 24 $960 Oct-19 13 $520 Sep-19 10 $400 Aug-19 9 $360 Totals 158 $6,320

Maximising glass blowing in the studio To give the best return on the council rent concession I try to maximise the use of the studio. Keeping prices low increases sales and leads to more days blowing in the studio. Offering discounted workshops and renting the studio to other blowers also helps keep the studio busy. Studio use is increased if the people I hire to work in the studio also want to rent the studio and pursue their own glass career. I have known Brendon since we were students together from 2014. We took a kiln building course during our studies which involved rebuilding one of the Glass School blowing furnaces. It is interesting to note that is was Brendon, Rebecca Heap and myself that did most of the work on this rebuild. After we finished our studies at the glass school Brendon was employed at Chronicle Glass where he assisted with glass blowing, teaching, batching and maintenance. I assisted Brendon running workshops on a number of occasions when I lived there. Last August I rang Brendon about a problem I was having with making glass and discovered he was unemployed and about to sell his house. This was because Scott and Phil, who took over the Chronicle glass studio, did not require his services. I offered him a job at my studio as I knew he would be the perfect person for the job. He is now doing most of the blowing and also renting the studio for his own work one day a fortnight. The increase in sales and having an assistant has enabled us to run the studio almost every day since we re-started the furnace after Covid-19 lockdown. At the end of the lockdown we repaired the recuperator. This heats the incoming air to reduce gas use and had a number of leaks. This, couple with making a few changes to the batching process, means we no longer need to leave the furnace unused the day after batching (filling) to allow the glass to fine out (allow the small bubbles to rise to the surface). We can now use the glass the day after making

it and so can use it a maximum of 6 days per week rather than 5. The maximum capacity is 20% more than it was prior to Covid-19and we are currently running at an average of 97% capacity. The focus of my role has changed, from maximising my time spent blowing, to improving sales and maximising studio use. The growth of the studio has also meant that managing it is becoming a full-time role.

Hours Days Days Monthly Days fining Date Blowing Blowing Batching Productivity Glass Aug-20 151.00 26.00 3.00 94% 0 Jul-20 151.00 27.00 3.00 97% 0 Jun-20 98.00 17.00 4.00 100% 0 Average 97% Mar-20 104.50 17.00 2.00 91% 2.00 Feb-20 102.50 16.00 2.00 69% 2.00 Jan-20 117.50 19.00 2.00 74% 2.00 Dec-19 124.50 20.00 4.00 90% 4.00 Nov-19 113.00 18.00 3.00 80% 3.00 Oct-19 95.50 15.00 4.00 100% 4.00 Sep-19 30.50 5.00 0.00 56% 0.00 Aug-19 114.00 18.00 3.00 77% 3.00 Totals 1051.00 172.00 27.00 Average 105.10 17.20 2.70 80%

Value of working weekends I estimate that working for 40 weekends and 2 statutory holidays during the last year, is worth about $12,000 based on overtime rates and the average wage.

Weekend and stats cost Average Wage $50,000 per annum $192.31 per day

Days Extra Cost Sundays 40 $7,692.31 Double time Saturdays 40 $3,846.15 Time and a half Statutory Days 4 $769.23 Double time Value of community benefit $12,307.69 Studio Activity

Workshop Participants I had the pleasure of teaching glass blowing to an English visitor over the summer. Charlotte took three workshops while she was here, including one with her brother when he visited from England. Her parent sailed a yacht to New Zealand and are currently living in Whangarei.

Charlotte had intended to come back next year and continue to learn glass blowing, as well as sail to the Islands with her family. I taught a thirteen-year-old student and her mother for a 3-hour workshop. They booked to return after Easter but this was postponed until after Covid-19 lock-down. It is great to see a few students returning for workshops and taking advantage of the discount I am offering for repeat customers. Another memorable workshop was taught to Elizabeth and three glass-artist friends from Auckland. They loved the experience and one took some waste glass home to experiment with in their kilns. They subsequently ordered another 10 kg which was delivered by Rebecca after one of her days of blowing. Fiona Blue is a fashion student from Auckland who wished to use glass as a medium for her Honours FIGURE 2 CHARLOTTE fashion show.

FIGURE 3 FIONA BLUE AND HER WORK

FIGURE 5 SAHARA AND JORELINE, WHO RETURNED FIGURE 4 MALAIKA AND JONNY AFTER COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

I have a dream workshop Sergio Bloemen organized a workshop for three students through his role as a coordinator for the I Have A Dream foundation. To show my support I gave them 25% discount (an extra hour). The students had a great time and Sergio hopes to bring them back soon.

FIGURE 6 I HAVE A DREAM WORKSHOP

FIGURE 7 CANDICE AND JOHN . FIGURE 8 THEA AND OLLIE

Glass blowers who rent the studio

Rebecca Heap Rebecca has reduced the hours she blows to save wear and tear on her body. She has developed new lines of work that she can make at home in the kiln. Although glass blowing is her passion it has proved physically taxing and so she needed to cut back on her blowing time. Due to the second Covid-19 lockdown she did not do any blowing in August 2020.

Brendon Sole I give Brendon extra discount as part of employment package to encourage him to develop his career. He usually blows alternate Thursday, coordinating with Rebecca. He is slowly building up stock of his current work and hopes to start developing new ideas once he has got the work he has made out to the galleries. He is selling more work through Burning Issues now that the studio visitors can watch him work and talk to him.

FIGURE 9 REBECCA MOULD BLOWING

Mishka Patterson Mishka continues to blow most Friday mornings and I usually blow for the afternoon. He is selling work through Burning Issues and other galleries and also works with stained glass and sculpture. He had to stop blowing over the heat of the summer because he cannot cope with the extreme heat.

Other studio renters FIGURE 10 BRENDON REDUCING BLUE LUSTRE ON A VESSEL The weekend when we restarted after the lockdown had a visit from two Auckland glass blowers. Stephen Bradbourne and Peter Viesnik came up to catch up their production because their furnace at Monmouth Glass would

not restart or run reliably. Isaac Katzoff worked on their furnace while the other two rented my studio for three days. Jo and Sue used the studio for four hours on 15th December 2019. They are both alumni from the Whanganui Glass School and I worked with them when I was a student. They enjoyed getting back in the studio after a break of four years. Jo lives in Auckland and hopes to do more blowing this year. Sue lives in the Marlborough Sounds so is less likely to get back here often.

FIGURE 11 SUE AND JO On Thursday 28th November I assisted Hayley for three hours while she tried out the skills she learnt at Whanganui UCOL a few years ago. Whanganui UCOL offers a one-year graduate diploma glass and a glass elective module as part of an Art and Design degree. Neither of these give the student sufficient studio time to gain more than an introduction to this challenging art form. This was obvious in the difference in Hayley’s skills compared with Jo and Sue, who spent 3 or 4 years studying glass blowing. Hayley returned on 3rd and 5th of August 2020. She had a commission to make paper weights containing ashes for a number of different customers. This time Brendon assisted/tutored her.

Promotion of Studio and Town Basin FIGURE 12 HAYLEY DOING HER COLD WORK

Group Visits When I get enquires about groups wanting to visit the studio, I try to schedule blowing on that day. I make sure I start a significant piece of work when the group arrives, to provide them with an interesting demonstration. Due to Covid-19, I have put on hold my plans to contact schools

and the North Tech to promote visits and use of the studio. I continue to encourage visiting educators to bring their students in to watch glass blowing whenever I meet one.

Whangarei Primary School, Rich Experience Day, Thursday 21st November 2019 I scheduled a day blowing on Thursday 21st November to enable the teachers from Whangarei Primary School to bring their class to watch glass blowing as part of their Rich Experience Day. Originally, they asked me to come to the school and talk to the children about what I do but they liked my suggestion that they brought the children to the studio to watch the glass blowing instead. The children were very excited and noisy and asked lots of questions. The children’s noise meant it was hard to hear or answer their questions while also blowing. Their experience would be enhanced by having another person in the studio answering questions and explaining what the glass blower was doing. Now I have an assistant I should be able to organise this. I sent the organiser my resource on glass blowing as well as a link to the video which a group of intermediate school children made about me and glass blowing. Keith, Thank you for providing this experience for our children. They really loved it. Thank you heaps for the resources. Natasha

Friendship Force Thursday 17 October, 3pm I scheduled an extra day of glass blowing on Thursday 17th October to fit in with a visit from the Friendship Force at the request of Lex Geange. Dear Mr Grinter, Please disregard my previous email, I was given incorrect information re our visit to your glass blowing operation. The correct date for our visit is Thursday 17 October following a 1.30 pm tour at Clapham’s Clocks. My apologies for any confusion. Lex Geange (Friendship Force Whangarei)

Kamo High School overseas students On Wednesday 28th August 2019 Trish MacPherson bought the Kamo High School international students for a visit to the studio. They watched Rebecca Heap blowing glass while she told them about her career in glass blowing, including her 5 years studying and working with glass in Sweden.

Westminster Christian School On Wednesday 18th March 52 children and 12 adults visited the studio from FIGURE 13 KAMO HIGH SCHOOL OVERSEAS STUDENTS

Westminster Christian School, Auckland. I sent them my resource on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics of glass blowing as well as one on Keith Mahy. They loved watching the glass blowing, were well behaved and enjoyed Brendon’s commentary.

Charolais Breeders The visit planned for Tuesday 24th March by the Charolais Breeders Association was wisely cancelled due concerns about Covid 19, before the lockdown was announced. I had planned for Brendon to be blowing on this Tuesday but as it turned out the studio was closed by then due to Covid-19. I had sent the organiser a number of resources to give to the participants.

Galleries and sales

Galleries Closing due to Covid-19 Covid-19 has had a major impact on galleries. Three of the galleries that represent Grinter Glass have closed their doors: Moko at Hot Water Beach, Quay Gallery in Napier and Taylor-Jensen in Palmerston North. Taylor-Jensen was an excellent gallery and yet Stu was unable to find anyone who wanted to take the gallery over. One of the staff from Moko contacted me about a gallery in Hahei she was now working at and I have sent my work there. The Napier gallery found someone wishing to buy the gallery to set it up online. They are intending to find suitable place in Auckland for a physical store. I have taken the chance and accepted this gallery, which will retain the name Quay Gallery.

New Galleries and outlets I have been contacted by three galleries in the last few month, interested mostly in my tumblers: one in Foxton, one in Hamilton and one in Karangahape Road, Auckland. All have sold what I initially sent them and ordered more. These extra galleries are one of the reasons we have been able to blow glass 6 days a week since we re-opened. It does mean we spend a lot of time blowing tumblers but even these are a challenge. When I started at the studio 7 years ago, I could make 4 an hour. Now I can make nine per hour and the quality and size are more consistent. Brendon is doing a great job of the tumblers too and will slowly catch up with my productivity and probably surpass it. We also sold six large oval shard vases for a pop-up gallery in Queenstown. I am hoping this will lead to placement in her Queenstown gallery, because this is one place I am not represented. This is probably for the future because Queenstown is one of the places worst hit by Covid-19 and the lack of international visitors.

Sales Since we reopened in June, after the Covid-19 lockdown, sales were a lot better than I expected. The recent lockdown has stopped visitors from Auckland visiting the studio and curtailed sales both in Auckland and around the country. Reports from galleries in Wellington and Dunedin say these places have been very quiet compared to Whangarei. It looks like we are benefitting from the economic halo effect around Auckland when it is not in lockdown.

In August 2020 I received an email from the Saatchi Art website saying I had sold a piece of glass art to Poland. This was a bit of a surprise as I have not looked at the Saatchi Art website since I was teaching art. I used it as a source of art to inspire my students and decided I may as well post some of my work there. The piece has been recreated, packed and sent. Another surprise order was from Alexandra Grima at Foile, a skincare boutique in Sydney. Alexandra is the daughter of a good customer from Auckland. Initially she wanted a couple of glass containers with close fitting lids and screw top lids. We were not able to supply these because they require specialist moulds and techniques. She contacted me again in August enquiring about small bowls. We are in the process of making some samples that may fit the bill. One of the advantages of the Town Basin studio is that we can sell the trial pieces we make and so recover some of our development costs.

FIGURE 14 BOWLS FOR SYDNEY – PROTOTYPES

Sales trip Due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic, I brought my planned May sales trip forward to March. By then I was sure Brendon was happy and competent to be left to run the studio. We were in the South Island when the announcement was made about the Covid-19 lock-down levels. We managed to get back home two days into the lockdown. Even though truncated, the sales trip was a success. We left all the glass I took at various galleries, most of it with Bryce Gallery near Christchurch. Once everything is more settled, I intend to make regular sales trips as a means for improving sales, cash flow and studio use. I find that galleries treat me and my work with great enthusiasm when I am there in person and I end up leaving them more work than they would order online. More work on display increases sales, leading to greater studio use and so increasing community benefit; a virtuous cycle. These sales trips would not be possible without having a full-time employee, Brendon, who I can rely on to keep producing work in the studio, entertaining visitors and being on call for breakdowns and power cuts after hours.

Partner organisations

Burning Issues We continue to work well with Burning Issues. Under the initial lockdown at levels 2,3 and 4 there was no access to the studio because it is not easy to ensure the 2-metre distance rule. During the second level-2 lockdown there are very few visitors and we are allowing visitors in to watch the glass blowing. I have displayed my QR code, provided hand sanitiser, put up notices about keeping safe and put distance markers on the floor.

I Have a Dream Charitable Trust See: https://ihaveadream.org.nz/ for more information. Sergio bought his students for a workshop on Saturday 26th October and I hope to see them here again soon.

New Zealand Artist magazine I continue to support this local publication by advertising in every issues.

Big Fish Creative - Town basin video I scheduled an extra day of blowing on Wednesday 9th October to enable Big Fish Creative to film glass blowing for the Whangarei promotional video. I also advertise in the Whangarei Visitors Guide and Map.

Hibiscus Hospice I have supported the Hibiscus Hospice fund raising event for 5 years now. This year their annual fundraising show had to go online only so I donated a piece of glass work.

Currie Electrical I continue to use Currie Electrical for most of my electrical work.

Helena Bay Electrical I recently asked Uwe from Helena Bay Electrical to install LED lights in the hall and upstairs in the office. Uwe is the husband of Julia, who works in the gallery.

Whangarei District Council The support from the Whangarei District Council is essential for the studio at the moment. I intend to continue to build up the business so that the studio can stand on its own, but the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed this goal. Once I do achieve the goal, I intend that all the concession will go towards encouraging students to learn glass blowing and offering greater discount to organisations like the I Have a Dream trust.

Equipment and studio, Maintenance and improvements

Crucible I ordered a new AZS crucible from China shortly before the Covid 19 pandemic hit the news. This fused-cast AZS crucible is expensive ($4,300) but results in better quality glass and should last longer that a cheaper clay crucible. It is also more fragile and needs to be heated and cooled carefully and slowly. It took a while to get made because a new mould had to be built and this got delayed by the Chinese Covid-19 restrictions. The crucible arrived the week after we restarted the furnace in June.

Furnace Rebuild I would have considered rebuilding the furnace if the crucible had been here before lockdown. The current crucible is still OK but there are cracks in the bottom resulting in a few small chips of refractory in the glass. I intend to gather the materials I need for a rebuild in the next few weeks but will leave the current crucible in use as long as possible. This allows for the uncertainty around Covid-19, the struggling economy and further lockdowns. I will also investigate buying a new burner for the furnace because the current one is showing signs of wearing out.

Recuperator As mentioned previously, we repaired the recuperator. This has resulted in improved efficiency for batching, which can now be completed in one day.

Furnace problem in October In September I shut the furnace down to repair the gasket between the burner and the furnace. I had to go away to Wellington, my part time assistant was in the USA and Rebecca, my main renter, was away for six weeks at that time, so it was a good time to shut down the furnace. The cool down sequence was initiated on 9th September and the furnace was up and running on 9th October. It took a few days to cool before I could turn of the burner and it took an extra week after I tried to restart it, due to a breakdown. The pure silica lens needed was not available from the supplier here or overseas. Fortunately, a scientific glass blower I know made one for me.

UV Sensor I think the UV sensor was partly the cause of my difficulty in restarting the furnace on 29th February. I also discovered that my spare UV sensor did not work, so I ordered a new one ($600). This was installed for the furnace restart after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Issue reaching batching temperature In my interim report I mentioned a problem reaching batching temperature. This has been solved by fixing the air leaks in the pipes that make up the recuperator. When we took the main box apart above the furnace, I was pleased to see there were no leaks and the pipes look to be

in good condition. These pipes are subject to the full blast of the furnace exhaust gases which can be quite corrosive.

Power cuts The major power cut on 27th November from 9:30am to 11:30am occurred while Rebecca was blowing. I was on site and able to close the flu and wrap the furnace with extra insulation so the furnace temperature only dropped to 970°C over 2 hours and the furnace sustained no obvious damage. Rebecca had only made one piece and had to flag the rest of the day away. The furnace was slowly heated back up to working temperature over 5 hours. This meant one less day of blowing in November On 29th February there was a short power cut. I was at the studio and so was able to quickly try to restart the furnace. It took several attempts, including swapping in the spare UV sensor. I finally managed to get the furnace to restart with the old sensor before the temperature dropped to a critical level.

Power cuts 2019-20 2 minute power cut in evening while batching – Trip to studio for restart Tue 11-Aug-20 Power out and trouble restarting. Swapped UV sensors Sat 29-Feb-20 Power Cut 9:30 to 11:30, furnace temp to 970C, Bex managed 1 piece Wed 27-Nov-19

Blowing Irons In August I asked Rick at Alloy Stainless & Marine Ltd to make me two blowing pipes, rather than buying them from the USA. Blowing pipes look simple but are expensive ($500 each) because they are made with high spec stainless steel designed to cope with extreme heat. While there is a risk in getting them made locally, they have proved satisfactory so far. I think it important to support local businesses when I can. I am fortunate that Rick proved to be a knowledgeable and skilful engineer.

Glory Hole At the end of February Brendon and I re-cast one of the glory hole doors. This is the furnace used for reheating the glass so we can continue to work on it until finished. It is an essential piece of equipment for glass blowers. The re-casting took a day and it then needed to be left FIGURE 15 REPAIRED GLORY HOLE DOOR

for 3 days to cure sufficiently to withstand the 1200°C it is subject to when in use. Fixing the large door will allow us to make larger work.

Glory Hole yoke While we were in level 2 lockdown in May Brendon made a new yoke for the glory hole and remove the old one. The old one was an unusual design while the new one is more standard and can be rolled back and forth by the blower’s foot. I was happy using the old one but the new one makes blowing easier for visiting glass blowers.

Building Maintenance. To give Brendon some work to do during the April-May lockdown I organised him to paint the bathroom, with paint purchased from Resene. We recently replaced the lights in the hallway, kitchen and upstairs studio with LED lights.

Building Leaks etc. As notified to the Council previously there are leaks and problems in the following places: 1. Leak in the wall behind the furnace, 2. Leak above the sales desk 3. Leak in the toilet during heavy rain. 4. The skylights do not close and so showers a fine mist of rain into the studio during heavy rain. 5. One of the roof vents is loose and rocks around in strong wind Developing a Whangarei Glass Community I have three main ideas to try and build up a community of glass blowers in Whangarei. This is needed to increase use of the studio, make it sustainable and train a future generation of glass blowers.

Hiring staff Hiring staff to work in the studio and who also want to rent the studio to create their own work means the studio gets greater use. They will also be able to assist each other when blowing, allowing more technically challenging pieces to be made.

Discount for returning students To encourage students to continue with glass blowing I offer discount for repeat customers. This reflects the level of stress involved in the first experience, when I have to extremely vigilant to keep students safe. I have had a few return customers who have taken advantage of the discount.

An internal Grinter Glass Scholarship. I offering a scholarship to selected students who have done a workshop with me. This is for students who wish to investigate glass blowing further. The Scholarship gives students 60 hours

of blowing at $80 per hour, which is $45 less than the usual workshop price. This covers the cost of the studio and materials and the tutor cost is covered by the Council Concession. I offered the first scholarship to Philippa Glinos, who has taken three six-hour workshops since 2016. She booked in most of her scholarship hours from October 2020 to Easter 2021. We will teach her more advanced techniques of glass blowing as well as getting her to practice some of the basic skills. Hopefully this will allow her to work with an assistant in the future, rather than always with a tutor.

New lines of work Brendon and I have been working on a number of ideas for new work, including Cloud Vessels and Lustre Vases. One gallery has sold 3 of the Lustre Vessels and the cloud vessels have generated interest from some other galleries. We have also tried making wine goblets and have sold a set to a regular customer. We also intend to investigate making a line of light shades FIGURE 16 CLOUDS VESSELS that relate to the current range of work. I made some for our home a few years ago which need further development. With Brendon to create them and me to work out the marketing side this is another line of work that can help keep the studio running at 100% productivity. Having an employee frees me up to make more of my signature painted pieces. These increases range of the work created by the studio, into the high-end, art market of the glass world. I have been working on a series based on Pictures at an Exhibition, the music suit by Mussorgsky. I left Promenade II (Fig.18) at Bryce gallery on my recent sales trip to the South Island, sold another in the series to a visiting European couple and one to a return student. One of my students recently bought another of the series from Burning Issues. FIGURE 17 THE SHINY ONES

Sustainable Creativity Jonathan Milne includes the following statement in his definition of Sustainable Creativity: • Promote harmony between personal, business and social goals and act with care and reverence for the world and its creatures1

Promote harmony between personal, business and social goals Over the last seven years the studio has been a consuming passion as well as hard physical work. As a result I have got close to burnout a few times. Hiring Brendan and then being closed due to Covid-19 lockdown gave me time to reflect on the need to work a bit less and lead a more balanced life. Leaving Brendon to do most of the blowing allowed me to pull back from some of the daily physical work and start to focus more on the business side of the studio. Due to the growth of the studio over the years, managing the studio is now a full-time job. I hope to continue to grow the studio by hiring another assistant, which will also help keep Brendon from being physically overworked. I will not rush into hiring another assistant until I can see how well the studio survives the Covid-19 economic recession. The latest Auckland lockdown shows how vulnerable we are.

Act with care and reverence for the world and its creatures By installing new LED lights in the hall and in the upstairs office we will reduce use of electricity and our impact on the world. Putting solar panels on the studio roof is one obvious avenue for reducing our impact on the environment. I recently visited friends who are wondering what to do with a large paddock that adjoins their QE2 covenanted native forest. I will investigate if planting this would make some inroads into soaking up the CO2 released from the glass furnace. If it does, I may put together a proposal to plant the paddock with native trees funded by the studio. I would be keen to involve local schools and other organisations in such a project. I hope to investigate these ideas further but action is likely to be delayed until the economy settles into a new, post Covid-19 normal. Summary Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns have had a huge effect on New Zealand and the operation of the studio. Fortunately, the studio business has proven robust enough to survive the initial shocks and I am optimistic that we can carry on in the future. Hiring Brendon was a great piece of luck and has resulted in a significant increase in the use of the studio. To ensure its long-term viability I believe that the studio business needs to continue to grow and attract more students and glass blowers to Whangarei. I am happy to carry on managing the studio

1 https://www.tlc.ac.nz/about-us/experience-the-learning-connexion-video/about-us/philosophy/

and develop it further. I hope to keep blowing glass for many years but at a sensible, sustainable pace.

Keith Grinter, 31 August 2020

FIGURE 18 PROMENADE II, FROM MUSSORGSKY'S PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Correspondence with visitors and workshop participants

Elizabeth and Co. Workshop Hi Keith, Thank you for sending the glass from our class (Elisabeth/ Nicki/ Lindi and Cathie). We all enjoyed the afternoon and all agreed that you were a very patient teacher. I have used some of the glass scraps you gave us and absolutely love the result. I can see great potential. Cathie tonight is looking at doing some glass pressing using it. I was wondering if you would be prepared to sell us some of your scraps. I had a lovely tea with Rebecca last Saturday. It is always nice to look at her work and chat glass. Thank you again. Cheers Elisabeth

Workshop – Carolina and Alejandro Hi Keith, Thanks very much for the amazing workshop last Saturday. It was a great experience and we really enjoyed it. … Kind regards, Carolina.

Workshop – German and family Hi Keith, thanks again for the amazing workshop. We all enjoyed it a lot! … best regards, German

Workshop – Christina and Nick Hi Keith, Thank you so very very much for the workshop on Monday. WE LOVED IT. You were so patient, so informative, so inspiring, and we have such a huge appreciation now, of how very difficult and time consuming that one piece takes to make. It was such a dream come true for Nick; I can’t imagine anywhere else in the world where you would be shown so much in such a short time. We feel very lucky to have found you. It’s such an impossible craft to go to night school to learn, so to see and try so FIGURE 19 COMMISSIONED PIECES MADE BY BRENDON FOR VISITING many aspects of it in one session is EUROPEAN COUPLE amazing. Thank you, Thank you Kind regards Christine & Nick

Westminster Christian school Visit Hi Keith Thank you so much for the awesome resources! I love how you show that Maths and Science are incorporated into your work. It will help the students to see how these subjects are relevant in any area of life. We are all very excited to come to your place. Most of the adults in the group have also not been there before. Blessings Laetitia Breytenbach Senior Manager, Westminster Christian School, 31 Westminster Gardens, Albany 09 444 1983

Friends of Mercy in Auckland Hi Keith, I`m Chrissy Douglas, chairman of Friends of Mercy in Auckland. My very good friend Peter Mills came down to visit you a week or so ago and explained what we are trying to do for Mercy Hospice. I just want to thank you so very much for the beautiful vase you so ‘easily’ donated to our function and auction. You have no idea how we appreciate these things that we are given and the amount of money collectively they make for Hospice when auctioned. Peter said you were so lovely to speak with and understood exactly where we are at with our endeavours. I hope to come and pop in on my way up to Paroa Bay in Russell (when we can) and thank you personally. Hope you are all good up there and continue your craft even during lockdown. Warmest regards, Chrissy Douglas

Appendix 2 - The visitors’ book

The awesomest glass making person in the world

Two young girls from Invercargill spent a few hours watching me blowing glass on 27th October 2019. The comment above reflects the response I get from many of the visitors who find glass blowing fascinating. I explain what I am doing and why. I show them the materials I use to make glass and the old formula I used for making glass from scratch when I first came to the studio. Brendon enjoys working while the visitors watch and does an excellent commentary while he is working.

77 78

Outline what community need, challenge, or aspiration your organisation addresses for the Whangārei district.

ONEONESIX supports activities that are inclusive, diverse, promote the wellbeing of young people and increase accessibility to arts and culture. We offer a versatile space, a shared community network, operational support and technical inventory to facilitate a wide array of creative professional and community activity.

Use of ONEONESIX is balanced between regular users, one-off community events, and local or touring performance works. We have a particular focus on supporting the development of new community activity, incubating new ideas and providing a space for events that would not otherwise come to Whangārei or happen here and developing an audience for contemporary performance work.

Our key areas of activity include:

● Providing a hub for community activity ● Providing access to contemporary NZ artistic content ● Providing young people in our community with agency and opportunity

We have also attached our current strategic plan.

Clearly demonstrate the benefit you’ve provided to the Whangārei community over the last 12 months. Include data on programmes, events, and connections made. Outline any new initiatives introduced.

The last 12 month period has been significant in that it is the first year we have had operational support (Foundation North and Lotteries). These small operational grants have been transformational and meant we have been able to move beyond being completely reliant on volunteer hours and have been able to develop our systems and improve the space. This first year of operational support has been heavily focused on fixing and streamlining processes, equipping and enhancing the venue and building relationships. This work has had a positive effect on our activity and planning and the way we work to support members of the community using ONEONESIX.

ONEONESIX WDC Performance Report 2020 Page 1 of 12

Northland Youth Theatre - Adrift

These grants have allowed us to:

● Increase our office manager hours to 10 hours per week ● Employ a cleaner for two hours a week ● Employ a contractor to undertake a safety audit, create and implement health and safety policies ● Contract a technical expert to address some of the main technical issues in our space, ● Create a pathway for a regular in house technical position ● Invest 6 hours per week over the last 8 months in artistic programming and community relations.

Increased manaakitanga, safety and accountability in our space:

We have been able to focus on the creation of essential in house documents and systems including:

● Full Health and Safety Policy created in accordance with Worksafe Health and Safety process and documentation for all hirers and a process for theatre shows using the space ● Health and Safety form for visiting theatres to fill in and return ● Internal H & S timeline for ONEONESIX staff so everyone is clear on the process for hirers ● A ‘Welcome Pack’ for visiting Artists which we can send to anyone inquiring about the space or who is booked in which includes all of our technical inventory, kaupapa of the space, FOH arrangements, timeline for publicity and other useful information presented in an accessible fun document. ● Created a pack in / pack out document ● A clear FOH manual ● Structured Volunteer system in line with that used by Volunteering Northland ● Increased support for visiting artists / better social media and publicity support for shows in the space.

ONEONESIX WDC Performance Report 2020 Page 2 of 12

● Quoting, specs and fundraising towards heating / cooling systems and insulation in the main space which is going ahead in September.

Providing a hub for community activity

Over the last year we have continued to offer a framework and support for groups or individuals to grow ideas, skills, and experiences. ONEONESIX has hosted a dynamic programme of regular events run and managed by different local groups as well as one-off public and private community events.

Community activity in the space over the last 12 months has included: theatre, dance, music and cooking classes, martial arts, Creative Technology meetups, Poetry club, Te Kura Correspondence, the Giant Drop-in Choir, an improvisation troupe, community radio, Skate-school, roller discos, youth raves, circus, Rainbow Youth and other support groups, rehearsals for various theatre companies, youth theatre productions, music events, performances, events for the deaf community, charity fundraiser events, comic conventions and comedy shows.

Taking into account the time the venue was closed and / or operating in a restricted audience mode during COVID, the average number of visitors increased from 1198 per month to 1202. We expect the heavy bookings over the next six months will mean the 2nd half of 2020 will be our busiest 6 month period to date.

The last 12 months saw 84 community and regular events held at ONEONESIX and whereas this is only a marginal lift from the previous year’s 83 community and regular events, when the COVID closure period is taken into account this translates to a tangible increase.

Anareta - The Raw Sessions

ONEONESIX WDC Performance Report 2020 Page 3 of 12

In total the impacts of COVID saw the cancellation or postponement of 7 theatre show seasons (Tuatara, Zir Productions, Peep & Squeek, WhyTangi, Femme Natale, Braindead (NYT), Massive Theatre devised show ) and 13 x weeks of regular events (25% of our regularly scheduled annual events).

Providing access to contemporary NZ artistic content and arts experiences

We attract a wide range of performance events and audiences - fringe theatre, professional work in development, Māori theatre, family works, theatre for children, acoustic music gigs, and local exhibitions (student and professional). We also host touring works from theatre companies from Auckland. These companies are using ONEONESIX to premiere their new work to refine and develop it before it hits the main centres. This process gives our audiences the chance to participate meaningfully in the creation of new theatre. Over the past year we have hosted 7 theatre companies, one youth lead and one community lead production, who have performed for over 1500 people (not including 3 seasons that were cancelled/postponed due to COVID). We have a further 10 professional works and 3 youth-led performances booked into the space in the next six months.

This kind of content is not available elsewhere in Whangārei and contributes significantly to the vibrancy of our city’s cultural landscape. We are committed to providing access to these cultural experiences for as many people as possible. As such we purposefully host a wide range of experiences and encourage the availability of both low price and koha tickets for all shows (tickets on average range from between $10 - $25).

ONEONESIX in collaboration with Northland Youth Theatre and various other artists have been developing the first Whangārei Fringe Festival happening 10th - 26th of October this year. This has been supported by Creative New Zealand and WDC with the mentorship of the Auckland and Dunedin Fringe Festivals and is set to become an annual event in the Whangārei Arts Calendar. Fringe has been a considerable undertaking and employed 4 people part-time to administrate, plan and coordinate.

Ruckus Theatre Company - Grandad’s Porch

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As well as bringing established professional performers from around the country, Fringe festivals provide a framework that encourages risk-free participation from emerging local artists. Whangārei Fringe will be a vital and significant step in the process of providing Whangārei audiences with diverse, contemporary, professional performing arts experiences, welcoming many performing artists from around the country and cultivating local talent at the same time. ONEONESIX, the umbrella organisation, will be the box office and festival hub while the festival itself will take place all over the city in both indoor and outdoor venues and spaces. There are over 100 event registrations and we expect audience numbers for this festival to amount to between 2500 to 3000 people. We have worked with local restaurants, cafes and accommodation providers to encourage their participation with a view to the city benefiting from positive cultural and economic activity that Fringe festivals worldwide bring to their host cities.

Providing young people in our community with agency and opportunity

We provide young people with opportunities for learning and skill development, celebrating their unique voice in our community and emphasizing for them the role the arts can play in exploring both personal and community challenges. Increasingly we have been able to produce programmes and events that target young people looking to experience working in the arts. These workshops have been led by local and visiting artists. We have hosted Massive Theatre Company, Northland Youth Theatre and The New Zealand School of Dance and we have initiated a programme to support emerging musicians with peer support and professional mentorship which will begin in October.

Red Leap Theatre “Owls Do Cry” school’s performance

28% of the 64 one-off events run at ONEONESIX over the last year were youth focused or related which is an increase from the previous year up from 24%. Of the 20 regular community events, 30% had a youth focus or were youth related. This is a small increase from the previous year up from 28%.

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We regularly host and support youth-led theatre productions. We provide them with a safe space, a strong framework, the use of our social media reach and database and provide mentorship for them in various aspects of theatre-making (technical, production, writing, direction and performance). This year Bedfellow in January played to around 180 people over its 3 day season and we will host 3 additional youth lead productions in collaboration with Northland Youth Theatre as part of the Fringe festival.

In addition, we host events and groups at little to no cost, including a weekly drop-in music event for preschoolers and their parents and youth support groups such as Rainbow Youth, Boys Alive and Te Kura Correspondence as well as a homeschoolers group who have a radio show on Beagle.

We have identified several key gaps in our community in regards to supporting young people. One of these areas is the support of young non-classical musicians into pathways and opportunities and we have put in considerable planning to address this both in the repeated event of Raw Sessions (young musicians playing to an online audience in the space due to COVID) and have developed a programme which will begin in October run by 2 local young musicians from Otium to create a support network and music-making skill development programme.

We have been able to focus on increasing opportunities for children and families to participate in activity at the space, directly targeting performance work that caters for this bracket (theatre and circus) and actively developing and supporting programmes targeting them (with the increased operational hours we are able to be much more active in developing programmes as well as supporting artists to lead these). Two significant regular events have included Little Bizzy Bees, addressing a severe gap in musical opportunities for preschoolers and we are working towards hosting local professional musicians Little Ripples on a regular basis in an interactive family concert.

What difference did you make? Clearly demonstrate the impact or difference your organisation has made over the last 12 months to the Whangārei community. You should include data on who and how many you have reached.

Usage tables by demographics The tables below show the monthly usage data extrapolated from audience demographic surveys. Operational funding has allowed us to invest in data capture and analysis and these processes will be employed throughout Whangārei Fringe festival to give us a more accurate understanding of our diverse audience.

NOTE: demographic data is sampled as we do not survey every event at ONEONESIX.

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1. Audience by Ethnicity

Ethnicity Count %

Pakeha / New Zealand European 6104 61.5%

Māori 2136 21.5%

Pasifika 293 2.9%

Asian 317 3.35%

Other Ethnicity 1068 10.75%

2. Audience by Age Band

Age Band Years Count %

0 to 4 115 1.2%

5 to 9 208 2.1%

10 to 14 189 1.9%

15 to 19 208 2.1%

20 to 24 1488 15.0%

25 to 34 2867 28.9%

35 to 44 1968 19.8%

45 to 54 1488 15.0%

55 to 64 1127 11.4%

Over 64 260 2.6%

ONEONESIX is creating meaningful employment for several part time people, paid opportunities for young people (for example employing high school students to operate theatre shows) as well as generating ways for artists to work and earn in our community.

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We have continued to invest in our venue manager putting her through PLD and certifications this year and she continues to grow with additional responsibilities and involvement in developing ONEONESIX. In addition the Fringe Festival is employing 2 people under the age of 24.

A key strategic focus for ONEONESIX is to create opportunities for young people in Tai Tokerau to have access to professional arts. Red Leap Theatre Company’s ‘Owls Do Cry’ sold out it’s 3 day season in February, as well as a school’s matinee. Most school students who saw it will use it in their NZQA exams which means they do not have to travel to Auckland to view professional work. We now regularly communicate with Whangārei Girls High School to support this process.

Increasingly, we are being approached by locals with a seed of an idea who do not have much experience but are wanting to play a gig, have an open mic evening or create an event. The increased staffing at ONEONESIX and the framework we can offer means that we have been able to wrap our support around them and build their skills as well as ours. Some of these events include:

Velvet Arrow Blackboard Concerts - Local musical duo who wanted more opportunity to play and to ● provide other local musicians a regular low key but classy open mic type event to encourage the development of our local music scene. We were able to support this idea into reality, provide equipment and advice as well as mentor around audience building and building a community around an event and offer free use of the space until the event can sustain itself. Lots of connections were built through this process.

Post Pandemic Brunch Club - ‘An evening of acoustic Music’ (4 locals sing original music). An idea ● seeded by local musicians who had no experience building an event from scratch. We were able to offer them a low risk arrangement and mentor them through the process of organizing and prompting the event (social media, press release etc) which meant they drew a large happy crowd to the event which was smoothly run and well received.

Northland Shortcuts - A group of locals interested in playwriting wanting to create a three day season of ● a collection of one act plays. This group had no experience in the technical realities of creating a public presentation and we were able to mentor them through this process and provide a low risk venue. This event sold out 3 nights.

The ONEONESIX TRUST oversees all governance matters at ONEONESIX, defining the strategic plan, employment structure and planning for the future. We work with Villa Chartered Accountants who file and prepare our annual report.

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Confirm you are up to date with filing requirements for charitable trusts and/or incorporated societies and that you are operating in accordance with your trust deed/society rules.

We are up to date with all filing requirements with the Charities Commission and are operating in accordance with our trust deed.

Post Pandemic Brunch Club - local musicians

Outline what partner organisations you have worked with over the last 12 months and how this has benefited the Whangārei community.

Northland Youth Theatre is a regular user of the space for workshops and productions but also a key ● collaborator in terms of shared strategic goals and forging professionally run arts opportunities for young people in Whangarei. They are the other key organisation collaborating to create the Whangārei Fringe Festival. We are regularly hosting and mentoring productions led by ex NYT students creating their own work.

Creative Northland supports ONEONESIX in many ways, most importantly by often offering support to ● touring companies coming to Whangārei who might not otherwise make it here. We collaborate with Creative Northland to increase opportunities for artists, young people and the growing audiences that we have here.

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Beagle Radio is a valuable resource and key partner in terms of providing community activity for a diverse ● range of people to participate in and collaborating towards the shared goal of increasing opportunities for young people around music-making and DJing. Beagle Radio also ran the Raw Sessions in 2020 (which received CCS funding) with support from NZ on Air. The Raw Sessions provides koha, promotion, recording and technical assistance to local musicians aged 20 years and under to perform live at ONEONESIX.

Red Leap Theatre who devise contemporary NZ theatre work and are one of NZ’s leading physical theatre ● companies have approached us to create an MOU to solidify our relationship and establish ONEONESIX as their official venue to premiere their work. This is an exciting step as their work is always popular with our audiences and they usually sell out their seasons. This is a chance for us to be the first to see their work and our audiences to be part of the development of their work.

Massive Theatre Company hosted both a Directors Lab and an Acting Workshop for teenagers in our ● space this year. They have booked the space to premiere a new work in February and plan to keep providing free professional workshops in theatre-making in our region. These were attended by 26 young people.

NZ Dance Company ran their first Whangārei based summer school in the space with 15 young dancers ● aged (12 and 16 ) which culminated in a sharing of work. These kind of opportunities to train with practicing professional dancers are key in the development of young dancers and

Te Kura Correspondence School uses the space every Tuesday as a meeting space for tutors and pupils, ● as well as monthly Wednesdays.

Local High Schools (Tikipunga, WBHS, WGHS, Kamo): We have established clear and solid lines of ● communication with the drama and music departments of these schools and worked solidly with them to deliver the Raw Sessions. They also regularly attend theatre at ONEONESIX. We want to grow this collaboration to increase involvement from the school.

Mahi Tahi Hauora this year has been using the space for a men’s support group. ONEONESIX works well for ● this type of meeting because it is low key and easy going and not intimidating.

Basement Theatre have been extremely generous this year, sharing key documentation and resources with ● ONEONESIX for us to adapt and guiding us in various areas especially in regard to hosting and liaising with visiting artists and solidifying

Rainbow Youth is a vital support group for gender and sexuality focused support and discussion that ● happens in the space twice a month. It is attended by between 8 and 10 young people each session.

SkateSchool provides regular youth raves, roller discos and youth-friendly events. ●

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Important groups and companies which are regular uses of the space and contribute to the diverse range of activity for our community to participate in include; Fast Fibre Poetry, Medieval Combat Club, Zir Productions, The Improv Mob, Whangārei Dance Fit, The Giant Drop in Choir, Creative Technology Group, Boys Alive, Velvet Arrow, Tuatara Theatre Company, Disruptive Theatre Company, Northland Shortcuts and Plumb Theatre Company.

Outline the number of paid and volunteer staff your organisation uses to run your services locally (use Full-Time Equivalent numbers, e.g. 40 hours per week = 1 FTE). If this has changed to last year, please comment.

3 x part-time staff: ● Administrator / Manager - 0.4FTE (10 hours per week) ● Artistic Programmer / Funding liaison - 0.15FTE (6 hours per week) ● Cleaner - 0.05FTE (2 hours per week)

Volunteers: ● FOH volunteers (10 - 15 people who help at performance events) ● Volunteer co-ordinator role (one hour per week) ● 5 Board Members who volunteer with Website Design, Council Liaison, Building Maintenance, Financial Reporting, Funding Reports, Promotion, PR

We estimate a total of 60 volunteer hours a week to help the space run.

Outline what you expect to deliver to Whangārei over the next 12 months, including whether you will be operating ‘as usual’ or whether services will be changing (increasing, decreasing, different offering).

Over the next 12 months we will continue the work we have been doing to streamline processes, strengthen Health and Safety processes, raise awareness locally and nationally and generally improve the facilities at ONEONESIX so that the quality of experience for visiting groups, individuals, hirers and audiences is stronger, clearer and imbued with manaakitanga.

Advance bookings indicate that the next 12 months will be the busiest yet in terms of performance events at ONEONESIX. We are aiming for one professional performance event a month as well as at least 6 music events throughout the year.

With assistance from Pub Charities, Oxford Trust and the WDC, ONEONESIX will be insulated and fitted with heat pumps to ensure audience comfort levels. Currently the space is very cold in winter and hot in summer.

We have an application for an on-license currently with WDC. A successful application will see a small bar able to operate during all theatre performances. As well as providing manaakitanga for our audience, we project the bar will contribute $68k in profit per year which will reduce our dependence on operational funding and help make ONEONESIX more sustainable.

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We have a significant funding application being considered by DIA / Lotteries to replace the aging wooden rostra and plastic seats with light weight aluminium decks and new padded seats. As well as being safer and making it easier to construct different seating block configurations, the seating will increase audience comfort and be more efficient to store in the limited space we have available.

The Whangārei Fringe Festival in October this year will be a huge milestone for ONEONESIX and will have a lasting effect in terms of raised awareness, increased audience participation and more artists from elsewhere having a positive experience in our city and wanting to return. We currently have 44 events booked in at ONEONESIX over this seventeen-day period and are also a key part of the programming for the rest of the fringe which has a total of 110 events throughout the city. This is a huge exercise in audience development and project coordination, collaborating with many local arts organisations, groups and visiting artists. The fruits of this collaboration will have a lasting effect on strengthening the arts networks in our community as well as paving the way for the Whangārei Fringe Festival to be an annual event in our local arts calendar.

The planning is already happening for Fringe 2021 and our team is collaborating with the Auckland Fringe Festival team who will travel up for this year’s festival as well as providing us with ongoing mentorship. Several events in this festival will be starting points for future events and we hope to use the Fringe Festival to launch various arts initiatives such as regular live music events in the ONEONESIX carpark, an ongoing and solid relationship with local band Little Ripples who create music for children and will be performing an interactive family concert at ONEONESIX as well as at the Library during the fringe.

Another key event which will kick off in October which we hope to develop into an ongoing programme is a mentorship course for young musicians aged 13-18 years and led by Otium musicians Scott Wynn and Jesse Samu. ONEONESIX has initiated a 3-day intensive in October in collaboration with Beagle Radio and Creative Northland. We expect to grow this programme to increase the level of support for young Northland musicians interested in pursuing a career in music-making.

Both Red Leap Theatre and Massive Theatre Company are returning to ONEONESIX in February to premiere new works at ONEONESIX before their Auckland seasons and national tours. This is an exciting prospect for us and the audiences here and solidifies the idea that ONEONESIX is becoming known as an “out of town tryout” space for Aotearoa theatre companies to develop new work. We are in the process of developing an MOU with Red Leap that they will premier all their work here. Both of these companies will have specific school shows in the space and provide workshops for teenagers.

Finally, the next year will see ONEONESIX continue to focus on growing our database both in terms of diversity and numbers, collaborate with other local organisations and strengthen our relationships to theatre companies, venues and arts training institutions around Aotearoa.

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Community Support for ONEONESIX

OneOneSix is a vital link in the creative development not just of Whangarei but the whole of New Zealand. It is the perfect place to launch new plays and develop new ideas. I've seen several really great plays in this wonderful space and the energy and creativity just keep getting better and better. May it continue for many more years to come. Corralie Betts

ONEONESIX is a Valuable Educational Resource. As a Drama teacher who used to take classes to Auckland to view live theatre in order to meet the requirements of a compulsory NCEA standard, I, along with the students, came to discover that the standard of productions we were at seeing One One Six was usually much better than what we were frequently bored by in Auckland. Nowadays, there is an approximately $100.00 per student difference in the cost to view shows at One One Six in comparison to travelling to Auckland. Bill Walker - HOD Drama at Whangarei Girls High School

I am writing in support of ONEONESIX in Bank St Whangarei. From a professional standpoint as a member of the Whangarei art community I have been involved with or attended numerous events at this venue. These include art exhibitions, musical performances, dramatic productions, creative network meetings and more. This venue has become instrumental in providing an affordable, friendly and unique space for the arts in Whangarei. A diverse range of people have access to the space including, youth, those with challenges or disabilities and ethnic groups. The space has the ability to adapt to suit the circumstances required. The award winning theatre company Indian Ink completely transformed the space into the 'back of a dairy' for their production. While NZ hall of fame musician Robert Scott had a lounge lizard style environment. This venue is vital to attracting out of town artists and enriches the vibrant culture of the arts in Whangarei. I fully support the team at ONEONESIX. Megan Squire, Curator @ Hangar Gallery, Hangar Art and Framing, 14 Cross St Whangarei

I love going ONEONESIX for a number of reasons. It is a welcoming space for all ages. It provides a huge range of experiences from touring drama shows, locally devised theatre, local music performances to community involvement activities such as their Beagle radio, drama workshops,community choir etc. I am always impressed by the way the space gets transformed for whatever is going on there. It is a space for excellence but also a space where the beginner can feel comfortable developing their creativity. It is a huge asset to Whangarei and life has been enriched for me here since it started. Paula Henderson

We love the fact that a huge range of ages turn up at the events we go to eg dramatic performances, dancing and singing. Everyone we have ever met there has been so positive that it is an indication of how beneficial the programmes and audiences are to each other. Thank you all so much. Levonne and John smith, Nixon St, Whangarei

Essentially the reasons I first became a huge supporter and fan, like all of the group I am part of, are the same today. It is a community roots, community inclusive place and ethos. Because of the prices it charges people on low incomes can use it. It is not swept up and sophisticated, the user group can make it into what they need it to be, speak for them. It is a beginning place for the many who cannot yet charge high prices. It speaks of fringe dance, performance and activity. I still believe it to be the jewel in our 91

community crown and want to see it around for a long time to come, as well as the inspirational performance groups it attracts. Jane Scripps

This venue brings some "cutting edge" theatre to Whangarei which we would otherwise not see. It also attracts younger audiences who, for some reason, do not go to the other established theatres on Whangarei. It is so important to keep the next generations interested in this form of the Arts. Jane Barr

116 provides a venue for plays that I and many of my friends enjoy for which there is no other appropriate venue in Whangarei. Pat Monro

One one six is invaluable for community events that would be unlikely to be offered without this venue. It is a real treasure in Whangarei, being inclusive, welcoming and at the heart of our vibrant arts. I have gained a lot from both nurturing community events and from exciting thought provoking performances. Lesley Larkin

We fully support 116. We regularly go to the Monday Drop in Choire. The plays and music is a cornerstone in Whangarei's cultural calendar.Please keep up the excellent work.Nga mihi, Martin & Barbara Knoche

116 plays a very important role in our community because it is an accessible place with an inclusive kaupapa, suitable for a wide range of users and audiences, and versatile enough as a space to be able to host many different types of activity including music, theatre, dance, art, wananga, hui, and celebrations. It is important to the community who use it because it supports and encourages us to plan and execute projects which might otherwise remain as ideas only. Doing these projects helps us to connect with other people in the community, and build networks and capacity at a grassroots level. This has happened many times for me at 116, where through the incredible range of events and activities that are hosted there, I have encountered, and built relationships with, people from the community who I would never otherwise have been exposed to. These connections nurture and support the cultural life of Whangarei, and contribute to a better quality of life for our community. For my children, 116 has provided a space where they can experiment and socialise and be creative, including participating in projects such as the 48 Hour Film Competition, Script to Stage, Beagle Radio, and Raw Sessions, which have been designed to encourage the participation of young people, and which have inspired them to pursue further study and work opportunities in the creative sector. I strongly support this application for operational funding for 116, because the value that this community arts centre adds to is definitely worth investing in. So far, the success of 116 has largely been due to the goodwill and the dedication and determination of a small group of people, but we cannot count on this in the long term. Like other community arts centres, 116 needs a properly resourced and funded administrative team so that it can continue to grow and enhance our city. 116 is very well positioned to deliver on the investment that it currently needs and deserves. Damian Pullen

ONEONESIX provides an invaluable space for performance and community activity in Whangarei. The Massive Theatre Workshop coming up in July is just the latest in a series of interactions for not just youth but all members of the community into the arts. The comparative affordability of the ONEONESIX space compared to Forum North makes it an excellent bridging space for performance, in particular youth and 92

fringe performance, and it answers the needs of many is society who want interaction, companionship and support and empowerment in a social and inclusive space. Cherry Hermon

One-one-six provides a welcoming space for community activities – of huge value to our city. This facility deserves solid financial support, ongoing. Gwendolyn Needham / 4377183

116 has been not only a great social hub (complete with coffee), the home of Beagle radio, a community space (drop in choir, school holiday workshops) but also acts as an intimate 100 seat theatre where established companies such as Indian Ink can perform. It contributes in so many ways to enhance the lives of those in the area. Geoff Bartlett

One one six is simply one of the very best spaces in Australasia in which to run workshops or perform theatre. Its age, the natural wear caused by human bodies creating art within it, its character, which is strong but humble, allow the atmosphere and energy of the work to thrive. More importantly, students and audiences love to come there and the administrators are passionate, efficient and empathetic. This place has a long history of creating vibrant and entertaining art in a wonderful town. Keep it going. John Bolton

I go to ONEONESIX for a drop-in community choir on Monday evenings, and recently signed up to volunteer during shows and events. I think it's important to have a facility for staging creative events that's accessible for locals trying out new work, as well as touring performers. Also, I'm fairly new to Whangārei, and ONEONESIX isn't just a venue - it's a welcoming community of creative people, which adds to the character and life of this city. Mary de Ruyter

To whomever is considering supporting 116...n short, just do. If in doubt go on their email list to see the constant procession of great events they host despite a never ending battle to meet the rates. I think that places like this, that provide not only entertainment for the community but spaces for the community to entertain or educate or exercise themselves should not be in an existential battle for survival every year. They should be free from rates because they give so much back to the community. My husband and I have been attending the Giant Drop In Choir every week since its inception and it is a second family for us. It is such a positive, uplifting experience of simply joining voices with others in a great wooden hall- which is essential for the acoustics. We have had truly transcendent experiences there which radiate out into the community and have created a true 'family' that supports each other. For Whangarei to lose this choir space (which even allows international boaties to walk up from their boats) would be a tragedy . The quality and affordability of drama and comedy and music shows put on there is without parallel in Whangarei. The Company of Giants have consistently blown me away with their innovative and imaginative work. They really are world class. Our daughter who is now studying film was also offered the opportunity to create a music video for a young nz musician there and it is these experiences that form the portfolios that our young creatives need to take their next steps to success. 116 is pure grassroots. It is from the community for the community. Please support it however you can. Hana and Richard Easton

OneOneSix is important to me as I have really enjoyed the Theatre shows, some wonderful alternative shows. My grandchildren have also loved the Children's theatre shows. I also really love the small intimate/fringe feel of the venue. An important asset to the city! Sue Conroy

One One Six is a gem in Whangarei and I really appreciate the theatre and other events they bring to the North that might not otherwise make it here. It is a hub for many community classes and events, it’s run by passionate and dedicated people, and I believe deserves great support for its ongoing operations. Karen Ross

OneOneSix the is an important asset for Whangarei. It brings fantastic shows of great variety to Whangarei and supports local artists and community to bring forward and share their creative talents and enjoyment.I am grateful for all the great work to keep this awesome theatre going!!! Denise

I love that ONEONESIX is a space for so many diverse projects, events and gatherings - from incredible theatre to dance parties to yoga. It is a space for everyone and such an important community space for Whangārei to foster belonging, connection and expression. Cristy Trewartha

A flexible and welcoming low cost space- designed for our community to express ourselves through the arts. Fiona Douglas / [email protected] / 021 317437

I attend a community choir every week, Monday nights are choir nights, actually for both my husband and me. We have ever since the choir started meeting here a few years ago.Choir at OneOneSix led by Zoe Booty is a mainstay in our weekly health and self-care habits. The well-being effects of singing in community choir are well documented. From regular attendance we have also developed friendships and a community that we would not otherwise have formed. This is also a documented aspect of well-being. So not only do we have fun and exercise our lungs, we enjoy community and “being in harmony” with a large group of people (both literally through song and figuratively through the cooperative aspects of choir where blending our individual voices is a great metaphor for being in the world - we all count as individuals but what we can do together, is mind-blowing).

OneOneSix is a hub - a vital space in our community where so many community groups of different kinds can meet - it is an absolute treasure. We support it fully because it supports us so well. Its facilities upgrade programme has made it more and more user friendly and the constantly refreshing programming of events is a wonderful asset to Whangarei. I fully endorse all funding applications OneOneSix makes, it is doing excellent work in the Whangarei community across diverse age, cultural, and interest groups. Tracey Willms Deane / (027) 271 5010

I love the space at 116! And have been renting the space for UNIVERSAL DANCES OF PEACE WITH MANY PEOPLE PARTICIPATING FROM WHANGAREI AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY. I also enjoy the choir there and kirtan group and the Krishna celebration and I hope this venue will be supported to continue !!! Jutta 94

ONEONESIX provides a safe venue for our RainbowYOUTH Peer Support Group to run. This space is extremely important for young people in the region who otherwise may be isolated due to their gender and/or sexuality. We are incredibly grateful to have access to this inclusive space. Min Khanthee / Rainbow YOuth

After two years of running improv/theatresports in a small venue which our users found slightly hard to access, we moved to OneOneSix, and it has improved what we deliver markedly. OneOneSix allows The Improv Mob to bring people joy every fortnight with creative drama games, as well as public performances six times a year. OneOneSix is highly accessible, the space is large and equipped with suitable kitchen and toilets, and we can adapt the stage, curtains and lights to suit our needs. Also, while we use the space, Beagle Radio operates in the corner at the same time - so we have two disciplines of creativity successfully running at the same time in one venue. You can't say that about many other places. OneOneSix allows many more people to join our fortnightly meetings. It doesn't cost much at all to contribute to the hireage of the hall. Everyone who comes is welcomed into a perfectly-suited space. OneOneSix also has lovely, approachable and responsible management. It's everything that improv/theatresports needs, and it's highly important to community wellbeing and vibrancy. Michael Botur, director, The Improv Mob

OneOneSix is important as a community gathering place. A wide cross-section of people use it. Our poetry group happily and regularly meets in the back room or foyer area every month. Its convenient, one level for people with mobility issues, comfortable, and easy to find. From it we have generated increasing interest in poetry with new visitors from outside attending frequently. Its great to have a focal point for our activity and OneOneSix suits our purpose perfectly. Piet Nieuwland / Whangarei 0178 Aotearoa/NZ

We currently use One One Six to hold our Dance Fitness classes. The venue is just perfect! What's unique about our classes is the party atmosphere - which is only made possible with the main performance space black out curtains. We switch on disco lights - turn up the music and viola! Not only does this make the classes more fun - it also allows female participants to feel less self conscious. They simply show up - enjoy the music and follow the beginner-friendly dance routines. One One Six is vital in helping us facilitate our fun fitness message to Whangarei. Alex Hannam / Bangers & Sass

ONE ONE SIX STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2021 96 WHAT WE DO ONEONESIX is Whangārei’s performing arts and community hub. We provide space for people to experiment with and grow their community projects, encourage community skills sharing and development, and provide unique opportunities to experience contemporary performing arts.

We provide a place, a space, and a framework that enable people to do and experience things that would not otherwise happen in Whangārei.

WHAT WE ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF DOING

VENUE We provide a flexible, affordable venue in central Whangārei that is available for use by community groups, artists and young people. We provide medium and long term space for community focused activity.

PROGRAMMING We host a programme of contemporary, professional and community arts created by local and regional practitioners. We are a vital testing ground for touring companies, blooding new work before it premieres in main centres.

SKILLS We a provide a support structure for groups and individuals to grow ideas and skills. We facilitate development OUR opportunities for young people looking for careers in the arts and support the development of professional performing arts frameworks within Whangārei. PURPOSE

ONEONESIX IS A PERFORMANCE, ART THE PILLARS OF ONEONESIX AND COMMUNITY SPACE. WE INCUBATE VENUE ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING We provide an affordable, independent venue We programme artistic content that is contemporary, ORIGINAL IDEAS, CELEBRATE, PRESENT including a performance space, community hall, a varied and relevant to the people of Te Tai Tokerau, studio space, kitchen facility and technical inventory. developing a local audience for high quality New Zealand AND ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT art and theatre. OF DIVERSE CONTEMPORARY ARTS SKILL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES, WHILE SUPPORTING We promote and facilitate community skills sharing, COMMUNITY ACTIVITY VALUABLE COMMUNITY LED ACTIVITY BY participation and the growth and expansion of new We encourage and facilitate the use of ONEONESIX ventures. We provide connections, resources and by the wider community of Whangārei, seeking out AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF WHANGĀREI. opportunities for young people to become involved community led programmes and projects. and educated in a vast range of community and performance activity.

ONE STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2021 ONE Page 2 SIX 97 INVENTION AGENCY We support and enable new ideas and people who We foster leadership in young people and our community. are working at the point where different creative and We trust the people using our space and provide community fields intersect. opportunities for them to grow. We say ‘yes’ as often as is practical and safe.

MANAAKITANGA ACCESSIBILITY We host artists, audiences and community members with We encourage the ‘positive friction’ of Whangārei, respect, generosity, and care in a vast range of community actively shaping our space and programme to ensure its accessibility to people of different backgrounds, ages, and performance activity. OUR identities, ethnicities and abilities. AGILITY TANGATA We are responsive and accountable to our community. We We welcome people, their skills and their stories into the look to fill gaps, take advantage of opportunities and adapt kaupapa at ONEONESIX. People are at the centre of all of VALUES to the needs of the ONEONESIX whanau. our decisions.

ONEONESIX...... is resilient and sustainable. It does not rely on a person or a single funder for survival. It follows a stool model of funding utilising charitable funding, operational revenue, local body funding and individual donors.

...has a clear framework and scale for costs for use of the space so that there is a consistent and transparent process around koha and free use vs corporate and full cost use.

...will have clear guidelines to support artists / rehearsal processes / touring works.

...will have booking processes and venue information that are readily accessible and easy to understand. OUR ...will advocate for the arts and creative sector in our community. ...will respond to the needs of our community. GOALS

ONE STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2021 ONE Page 3 SIX 98

VENUE: We provide an affordable, independent venue including a performance space, COMMUNITY ACTIVITY: We encourage and facilitate the use of ONEONESIX by the community hall, a studio space, kitchen facility and technical inventory. wider community of Whangārei, seeking out community led programmes and projects.

Goal 1 The condition of the ONEONESIX space reflects care and manaakitanga. The Goal 1 ONEONESIX is regarded by the Whangārei community as the best place to take space is always clean, tidy, and above all, safe to use. an creative idea that cannot happen without support. Goal 2 ONEONESIX aims to maximise the use of our available space. We have a Goal 2 ONEONESIX provides crucial incubation support for new ideas, programmes and comprehensive and evolving plan in place to improve and maintain our facilities. projects on top of venue provisions. Goal 3 ONEONESIX holds a well maintained, fit for purpose technical inventory. Goal 3 ONEONESIX regularly collects data so that it can quantify its level of community engagement to stakeholders.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT: We promote and facilitate community skills sharing, ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING: We programme artistic content that is contemporary, participation and the growth and expansion of new ventures. We provide connections, varied and relevant to the people of Te Tai Tokerau, developing a local audience for high resources and opportunities for young people to become involved and educated in a quality New Zealand art and theatre. vast range of community and performance activity. Goal 1 ONEONESIX is a trusted venue with a clear artistic identity. The range of content, Goal 1 ONEONESIX has an established education programme, developing young value for money, and quality of programming exceeds any other venue in people through involvement in our activities, and providing a pathway to further Whangārei. education. Goal 2 ONEONESIX is widely known by theatre makers and key funding bodies as a safe Goal 2 ONEONESIX has a strong relationship with all local schools and students, with and robust “out of town tryout” space for new works. easy communication channels, and collaboration opportunities. Goal 3 ONEONESIX has an expansive and regularly updated local database, and a CRM Goal 3 ONEONESIX looks to develop skills and experience in our own team, through that allows specific audiences to be easily segmented and targeted. ongoing training and mentorship.

STRATEGY FUNDING • Research and data analysis • Space rental • Strategic and annual operational plans • Fundraising • Corporate sponsorship / partnerships • Funding relationships (public & private) PEOPLE HOW WE WILL • Management team • Trust board GOVERNANCE • Venue staff • Trust Board • Stakeholder engagement INFRASTRUCTURE • Artist contracts ACHIEVE OUR • Venue and facilities • Shared spaces/resources SYSTEMS/TECHNOLOGY • Digital/technology RELATIONSHIPS • Organisational systems • Industry networks • Audience data gathering / CRM GOALS • WDC staff and councillors

ONE STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2021 ONE Page 4 SIX 99

HIHIAUA CULTURAL CENTRE TRUST REPORT TO WHANGAREI DISTRICT COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 2020

1.Outline what community need, challenge, or aspiration your organisation addresses for the Whangarei district. The Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust has fulfilled the long held aspirations of kaumatua and community leaders of previous generations by creating a centre of excellence for the promotion of Maori culture, arts and technology in Whangarei by completing construction and opening Stage 1 of the project in June 2019.

2. Clearly demonstrate the benefit you’ve provided to the Whangarei community over the last 12 months. Include data on programmes, events, and connections made. Outline any new initiatives introduced.

Completion of Stage 1 has enabled the trust to provide untold benefits to the Whangarei community by having a venue to support, advance and promote Māori culture, arts and technology. The centre has developed spaces and opportunities to facilitate education and knowledge concerning Matauranga Maori, Te Reo Maori, Kaupapa Maori and Toi Maori. Several carvers, artists and digital media creatives use the centre on a daily basis to create a range of commissioned and exhibition artworks.

Hihiaua Cultural Centre has very quickly reached a significant number of milestones since opening and become a venue of choice for a wide variety of groups for an extraordinary array of activities. Through word of mouth, and very limited marketing and promotion, the centre has achieved a remarkable amount within a very short space of time and with limited facilities.

Hihiaua has also gained a reputation as a place for nurturing cross cultural awareness and understanding. The centre officially opened on June 22, 2019 and was the venue for 55 significant community events in the first year. This includes the period of lockdown from March 25 to June 26 2020.The centre has engaged in a number of collaborations with students and tutors of Māori arts, creating working spaces for artistic research and hosting multiple workshops and wananga to support intercultural learning. This includes hosting and supporting indigenous scientific projects in biodiversity monitoring, marine mammal conservation and harvesting and Kauri Dieback research and prevention planning, hosting wananga on Maramataka and Takeke Monitoring in Tai Tokerau and running ‘Tohunga Talks’ - a series of 100

presentations by experts which included Polynesian waka building and navigation. Hihiaua also continues to provide a retail outlet for local producers of rongoa (Maori medicinal products and skin care).

All these activities and services have been brought together in one place for the first time for Whangarei. The unanticipated popularity of Hihiaua is evidence that it appears to have met many previously unmet needs of our community as an arts and cultural hub where people can come together in an atmosphere of acceptance and learning.

Plans for Stage 2 were completed and Resource Consent was granted by WDC in October 2019.

3. What difference did you make? Clearly demonstrate the impact or difference your organisation has made over the last 12 months to the Whangarei community. You should include data on who and how many you have reached.

The centre officially opened on June 22, 2019 as the renovated carving shed and waka shelter. A Matariki Whanau Festival at Hihiaua was organised in conjunction with Whangarei District Council to coincide with the opening. While not designed as an events venue, Hihiaua immediately became a venue of choice for dozens of different groups wanting to hold their events here. Hihiaua has hosted more than 55 significant events in the first year to June 2020. (This includes the period of lockdown from March 25 with the first event post lockdown being held on June 26).

Hihiaua has continually hosted several professionally curated exhibitions showcasing artworks across a wide range of media and involving more than 60 local artists. It provides space for Maori creatives to create, exhibit and market their work.

HCC provides for culture, local community connection and educational opportunities in a way that no other event centre or cultural site in Northland is able to provide, which is particularly relevant in the current environment where social isolation and cultural isolation have begun to tear at the fabric of many communities.

All of these aspects are raising the mana of Whangarei and Te Tai Tokerau domestically and internationally, positioning the district as a site where some of the best Māori culture is showcased and supported.

More than 20,000 people have visited the centre to participate in these events which include community, social, educational, scientific, multicultural and international festivals, symposia, wananga, events for youth, children, women, artists, whanau, hapu, and people with disabilities. 101

One of the most significant events, planned and hosted with Whangarei District Council Venues and Events staff, was the district’s welcome to the flotilla for the Tuia 250 Encounters on November 2, 2019. This event brought hundreds of people onto the peninsula representing national and local agencies - from the Ministry of Culture & Heritage, Ministry of Education, and NZ Police, to local schools, kapa haka, kuia, kaumatua and community to welcome the visitors and celebrate our local narratives and dual heritage.

The legacy of this celebration is still talked about amongst the community and plans are afoot to commemorate the event again this year. A photographic portrait exhibition created last year will open on October 2, 2020 and form part of the Ministry of Education’s ongoing education about New Zealand’s history.

Hihiaua provides the district with a new and attractive venue for creativity and cultural expression where all people are welcome. Not only do whanau, hapu and iwi groups utilise the spaces but Hihiaua often hosts international visitors e.g. Rātā International Canoe Carving Symposium held over the entire month of October 2019. Hihiaua co-hosted the international Whangarei Sculpture Symposium just prior to lockdown and the Printapalooza collaboration with Te Kowhai Print Trust was held while at level 1. The international yachties who have been forced to stay in Whangarei over the COVID crisis use Hihiaua most days for yoga practice and ukelele classes.

Hihiaua was a winner in the NZ Institute of Architects awards for community buildings in 2020 and is shortlisted in the same category for the national awards and also for the NZ Property awards, both to be announced later this month.

4. Outline the governance and financial management in place for your organisation, including whether you have a local governance board or are managed by a national body, and whether you have audited financial accounts.

The Trust is a registered charitable trust formed in 2008 and was chaired from its inception by Richard Drake who retired in October 2019 when he moved to the South Island. The trust appointed trustee Ryan Welsh as chairman in October 2019.. The trust’s accounts are audited annually (can be viewed on the charities website) and the trust has no affiliation to any other local or national organisation. The trust recently completed the business case for development of Stage 2.

The Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust was recently nominated in three categories for the Westpac Northland Business Awards with winners to be announced shortly.

5. Confirm you are up to date with filing requirements for charitable trusts and/or incorporated societies and that you are operating in accordance with your trust deed/society rules.

The trust has no outstanding funding reports and complies fully with the trust deed at all times.The trust has a proven track record since it was formed in 2008. The first stage was completed within budget. An initial $500,000 grant from WDC was successfully leveraged 102

into a further $1.5 million from the Provincial Growth Fund and Foundation North. Even in these difficult times, Hihiaua is in a safe position thanks to sound financial management.

6. Outline what partner organisations you have worked with over the last 12 months and how this has benefitted the Whangarei community.

● Whangarei District Council owns the land and gave $500,000 towards the development of Stage 1. ● Te Puni Kōkiri, The Ministry of Maori Development has supported the project over many years through grants and contract funding as well as oversight and expertise to allow the HCCT to grow its network and develop its position as a central hub of Maori development in Tai Tokerau. ● Foundation North assisted with development of Stage 1 through a capital grant of $675,000. ● Te Wananga o Aotearoa has developed a relationship for staff and students by leasing space for wananga and classes in whakairo over several years. ● He Puna Marama Trust and HCCT have a mutual interest in the preservation and promotion of Matauranga Maori and development of the Hihiaua precinct which they share. This joint aspiration is encapsulated in the Memorandum of Understanding developed between them several years ago. ● Department of Internal Affairs community funding advisors have supported trustees in accessing operations funding in 2019 and 2020 and in funding and hosting the Tier 1 event for Tuia 250 in 2020. ● MBIE (Provincial Growth Fund) provided $1m for the development of Stage 1. ● Northland Inc staff have assisted the trust to access funding opportunities and promotion of the project. The HCC is a priority project within the Tai Tokerau Economic Development Plan. ● NorthTec Te Kura Toi staff, tutors and students have varying degrees of on-going relationships with Hihiaua. ● Creative Northland staff support the activities of Hihiaua offering their skills, expertise and networking. The highly successful Whangarei Sculpture Symposium was a collaborative event hosting more than 20 national and international artists at Hihiaua in March 2020.

Other community organisations e.g. Te Kowhai Print Trust, 155 Community House, WINGS, Northland DHB Local businesses e.g. Arco Construction, Belltech Ltd,

These relationships have created enduring partnerships and community cohesion. and increased the profile not only of Hihiaua locally but Whangarei District nationally and internationally.

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7. Outline the number of paid and volunteer staff your organisation uses to run your services locally (use Full Time Equivalent numbers, e.g. 40 hours per week = 1 FTE). If this has changed to last year, please comment.

The trust has 1 FTE contractor, one .5 contractor and many volunteers. One new employee and two new .5 contractors will take up roles in mid September.

8. Outline what you expect to deliver to Whangarei over the next 12 months, including whether you will be operating ‘as usual’ or whether services will be changing (increasing, decreasing, different offering). Recently announced funding from the Crown Infrastructure Partnership fund will facilitate detailed planning and consents for Stage 2 - the conference centre, performance venue which was granted resource consent by council in November 2019. The trustees will continue working towards securing sufficient funds to construct the second stage. This will require ongoing hard work by trustees to source and secure the necessary funding while continuing to manage the operation of Stage 1. Meanwhile Stage 1 has a full calendar of arts and cultural events booked by a diverse range of local and national organisations. Without dependance on overseas visitors, Hihiaua can continue to function. Increasing demand is putting pressure on the existing facilities and further space is required. A’fare is currently owned by WDC and was, until COVID-19 lockdown, leased to a local catering firm. With this lease now ended, the building ownership will now be transferred to HCCT providing an opportunity to expand the kaupapa of the organisation, provide additional facilities and ensure another revenue stream via lease. This process is currently in train. Going forward the centre will not only support employment in its construction but also when it begins the next stage of operation. It will also act as a platform for Maori economic and cultural development via the many different learning opportunities, exhibitions and events that will be offered to the public. Construction of HCCT stage two can act as a critical catalyst to support the local economy and Maori economy to support recovery in the next few years to come.

9. You are welcome to include any additional information you think is relevant to support the continuation of your rent concession allocation. 104

Please see attached citation from the NZIA award.

Please also view posts from our facebook page to see past events and customer feedback. https://www.facebook.com/hihiauaculturalcentre

STAGE TWO DEVELOPMENT

The next stage of development will be an 800 seat performing arts venue with extensive exhibition and other multi-functional spaces. As a recognised exhibition centre for Māori and Oceanic visual arts and culture it will be architecturally iconic, environmentally sustainable and will cater for a diverse range of community functions. It will be designed to require minimum maintenance while delivering maximum efficiency. As a welcoming and accessible gateway to Northland for domestic and international visitors to experience Maori culture it will be part of a larger, dynamic arts and culture precinct that attracts people to visit and stay in Whangarei

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Whangarei Youth Music

PO BOX 5022

Whangarei

1 September 2020

Community Funding Officer

Whangarei District Council

Private Bag 9023

Whangarei

Attention: Cindy Velthuizen

Dear Cindy,

In accordance with our Memorandum of Understanding with Whangarei District Council for occupancy of the Old Library Building 7 Rust Avenue Please find this report for the year 30TH June 2020 as required

WHAT BENEFIT IS PROVIDED TO THE COMMUNITY BY WHAT YOUR ORGAINISATION DOES:-

WHANGAREI YOUTH MUSIC (WYM) has been musically moulding the Whangarei landscape for almost 40 years, where we will be celebrating this milestone in November of 2020 during the weekend of the 27-29th. Mark Douglas WYM’s newly elected Deputy President & his merry musicians have been working hard on the celebrations.

WYM has groups catering for orchestral and concert band instruments as well as voice where the members practice on Wednesday & Friday evenings. These groups are Orchestra, Brioso Corde Ensemble, Concert Band, Choir, Cadet Band, Recorder Consort, Junior Recorder group, Junior Strings group, Explorer Strings & Explorer Brass.

Each Friday afternoon during term time a group of students from Whangarei Intermediate School are walked down to the Old Library to participate in the Windy Wind programme run by WYM teachers for Clarinet & Saxophone. The hope is for these students to join the WYM family and come along to the Friday groups filling the gaps left in groups by High School students moving on to further studies out of Whangarei. 106

The Opononi Summer Music Week Camp (Which was started by the Dargaville Music Society) has been taken under the wing of WYM & organisational skills of our astute long serving WYM member & Deputy President Mark Douglas. They stay at a local Marae & use a local School hall for rehearsals & concert performing all pieces they have learnt during the week chosen by the conductors. Due to School hall maintenance we couldn’t use, instead we got to use Opua’s War Memorial hall for the rehearsals & concert which the local people look forward to each year. Attendants to the 2020 Summer Music Camp walked 16KM per day to & from rehearsals. Participating at this camp is like a whole year of attending WYM Friday practices during the four school terms.

WYM members are regularly involved with weddings & private functions, the Northland Registered Music Teachers Concerts & at least two public concerts a year, New Zealand chamber Music Competition & Northland Performing Arts Competition. WYM contributes to the musical development of all its participants. This year was turned upside down due to Covid-19 causing our mid-year concert & a lot of the competitions WYM members enter to be cancelled.

What community need, challenge or aspiration does your service or offering address?

WYM facilitates musical development for young & not so young people wanting to learn a musical instrument through our different groups that it offers, to varying levels of musical competence. Development in the sense of ensemble playing, instrument tuition/ learning & wider skills such as conducting, managing groups, organising concert & governance. The WYM groups are a place where music teachers around Whangarei encourage their students to attend to extend & apply their music skills & gain more knowledge.

WYM has an extensive music Library that it shares with the Northland Sinfonia. This enables groups to play music from different genres & learn the stylistic features required to so effectively with guidance from there groups conductors.

WYM organise & perform a mid-year concert held at the Old Library & end of year concert performed in Forum North if available or the Old library. These public performances provide opportunities for young people from Recorder groups up to the Orchestra to perform on stage, learn about stage presence, working under pressure in front of an audience. WYM on occasions perform in the Mall or Town Basin for music ambiance & play out experience. WYM manage the Old Library facilities enabling other music groups to practice & run activities, including Sistema Whangarei & Northland Sinfonia. The Raukatauri Music Therapy hires space offering services of Music Therapist Katie Boom.

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What impact or difference does your service or offering make:-

WYM is a unique community of young people, families & supporting adults. This intergenerational group of people breaks down communication barriers through the love of performing music. Young musicians are connected through WYM & meet others with similar interests & age. Quite a few of our supporting adult musicians say the Friday WYM practices are a nice way to unwind from their often busy weeks.

WYM has seen a number of its members move into & complete music degrees, WYM also encourage our youth members to use their initiative & compose pieces for WYM groups & provide orchestral experience for senior players. Liam Mallet, Alana Jones & Kate Nelson who are accomplished international & national musicians who flourished while attending WYM group practices & performances for many years.

WYM supports the work of Sistema Whangarei- Toi Akorangi with a number of senior students from WYM having tutored at Sistema. Sistema students have joined WYM groups to get further musical development opportunities. In turn senior WYM members feed into Northland Sinfonia.

Our Explorer & Recorder groups provide a level of tuition to beginner musicians. Some group conductors/mentors offer classes for free; private music teachers use this space taking lessons supporting individual learning which supports our ensembles which their students participate in. WYM has a limited range of instruments available for hire. We have experienced youth members assisting in tuition & musical skill of young students in WYM.

What Capacity & Control exist to ensure concession requirements will be met:-

WYM has a well established committee that oversees its activities, who meet monthly; Members are volunteers that include players/family members & conductors. We aim to have at least two youth members on the committee to keep our actions relevant to the youth context. At the AGM a good number of youth members joined the committee & a new president & vice president where elected. These members are elected annually in accordance with WYM constitution, to help keep our activities running.WYM requires the use of a large multi-roomed facility, with rooms able to hold up to 30-50 players. We rely on membership fees, income from hiring the building out, fundraising & a great deal of volunteer efforts.

The management of the Old Library is currently overseen by Roger McClean. The venue space is booked by a number of user groups for other performances, activities & workshops. The committee seeks to maximise the facilities usage, giving preference to music related activities. This assists our networking with other music organisations & enables us to help support their community work. WYM often promotes other concerts through our website, newsletter & active facebook page. We encourage our members to attend other music events to observe & learn from professionals, more senior players or simply other ways of going about the cultural aspect of music. WYM promotes itself through its two concerts held each year, the website https://www.whangareiyouthmusic.co.nz, active facebook page, the Whangarei Intermediate School music department, local & itinerant music teachers, mostly with the Northland Registered Music teachers.

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What partner organisations do you work with & why:-

We support the activities of Sistema Whangarei, Windy Winds reed tuition programme, Northland Sinfonia, Northland Registered Music Teachers & Northland Performing Arts Society. Northland Sinfonia has an enclosed Trailer that they generously loan to WYM to transport our instruments to gigs & there are WYM members on their committee.

Many of our brass players (mostly trumpet players) also play with the Whangarei District Brass Band & are members with them. Our Youth Choir has also partnered up with the Whangarei Choral Society a few times in the past. We support the activities of the Whangarei Music Society with promotions & provide a venue for their regular Sunday concerts. We continue to collaborate with the KeriKeri High School Music department & Omapere School for our Opononi Summer Music camp held annually.

Who Benefits from your Service or offerings:-

Young musicians & not so young musicians & their families in Northland (Whangarei, Dargaville & KeriKeri) range in musical competence. We cater for beginner right through to the more senior player within our groups. We also see a number of international exchange students joining our groups for a term or two through to a year. Covid-19 has put a stop to these exchange students attending this year.

WYM encourage members to use their music skills to bring joy to others, we regularly do this together when entertaining the general public at our Mid & End of year concerts & other performances, including providing shopping audience’s in areas such as the Town Basin & Mall on occasions.

WYM welcome ex-members back to play with us & a meeting point for a number of university students to catch up during their holidays.

How many people benefit from your service or offerings:-

WYM has 202 active members at the time of writing up this report, our end of year concerts 2019 attracted over 200 people.

What, if any, roles do volunteers or community provide in your service or offering:-

WYM committee contribute a great deal of time, effort & thought keeping the WYM activities running smoothly. Roles include Conducting, mentoring & managing groups, administrative roles, Old Library hireage management, staging & seating setup, music library management, newsletters, website creation & maintenance, events, gigs & concert organisation. All of these rely on volunteers efforts across the organisation. WYM’s recent fundraising effort members gave up their time over several weekend harvesting & planting garlic. WYM members occasionally get called upon to play at private functions.

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Group Reports:-

Please find recent reports from our conductors who run our music groups at WYM.

Concert Bands Report:-

Concert Band is going well even small size.

We performed very good at the midyear concert and program.

I started planning for play out (a small concert) at late November.

We had a enjoyer able small concert at Town Basin with 10 music program(The Avengers, Big Band Signatures, Cartoon Symphony, Andrew Lloyd Webber in Concert, Procession of the Nobles, The Great Locomotive Chase, How to Train Tour Dragon, Tocata for Band, The Walting Cat and Rhythm Dance).

Concert Band performed well at End of Year Concert.

We Jointed Art Beat in February this year with 6 music program.

We started this year with 18 members (3 Flutes, 1 Oboe, 3 Clarinets, 1 Bassoon, 2 Saxophones, 1 Horn, 3 Trumpets, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 3 Percussions) and 7 new music.

Unfortunately Mid- year concert was cancelled so I was planning for play out in August.

I would like to give our musicians the opportunity to share their achievements with the community.

Naotake Fukuoka

Whangarei Youth Choir:- In 2019 the Youth Choir continued under the direction of Shane Burns and performed numerous times including at the Northland Competitions, and a combined outing with the Whangarei Choral Society. Maria Satterfield picked up the direction of the Youth Choir in 2020 and has increased the age-range of participants to include 11yrs - early 20s. There has been a strong uptake (up to 20 students) in the first term but due to COVID, choirs in particular have needed to take breaks from in- person rehearsals. During lockdown, there were several online “zoom” practises held, and multiple online massed choir opportunities promoted and these helped to keep the kids engaged. The choir was/is booked for performance at Classics in the Cove, Fringe Festival, and the IRMT concert end of August, as well as outings in collaboration with the Whg Choral Society and at the 40th celebrations for WYM. However any outings will be dependent on Covid Levels. The choir is currently rehearsing weekly and includes a repertoire of contemporary and classical NZ composers, with the intention of performing more acapella music, and including body percussion!

Maria Satterfield

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Explorer Strings report....

Explorer Strings seems to regularly have around 27 participants. We have a large number of adults in the group who appear to be enjoying their opportunity to play. Some younger players are happy to come along each week and enjoy playing along with open strings and repeated patterns whilst other slightly older students are asking for music to take home and are making solid progress. A number of students have graduated to junior strings and are working well. Some of these have continued to play with both groups. Students who have a teacher and lessons outside of explorer strings, move much faster than those who only have explorer strings. I seem to have new players every 2 or 3 weeks. Explore strings is a place to have a try without pressure to be a great player. It's also a place to learn some basic musicianship skills. Some students can also make great progress. In every session I want all players to feel success and Joy.

Sam Winterton

Whangarei Youth Music Recorder Groups- June 2019 to May 2020:-

Our recorder groups involve the youngest members of WYM. Parents, caregivers and support people are welcome in our space, and we strive to make the lessons both informative and fun. We have had some changes within our teaching staff during the last year. In August 2019 our long standing and much loved recorder tutor Janet Herron died suddenly. This was a great loss for WYM and for all of her students. Under the leadership of Yuki Fukuoka, students performed at her funeral service. Janet's family is donating a memorial trophy to be presented to a recorder student at our yearly concert. Gwynneth Squires, our other long standing teacher and supporter has now retired from Whangarei Youth Music teaching. Gwynneth was farewelled on 18 July 2020 with a small ceremony and presentation. Yuki Fukuoka, the conductor of the Recorder Ensemble, has taken maternity leave for 2020 and is now the proud parent of a baby boy. Our new tutors are Dorothy Gatland, Jennie Payton and Francis Johns.

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ORCHESTRA:-

2020 Mid-year report:

Whangarei Youth Orchestra has a current membership of 33 regular players. This number swells to approximately 39 when our university student members return during the end-of-semester breaks.

The 2020 Youth Orchestra programme offers a wide variety of styles. Works range from entertaining arrangements of Kander & Ebb musicals ‘Chicago’ and ‘Cabaret’ to original scores from Bizet, Mussorgsky and Ravel.

The programme is designed to build on the success of the Orchestra in 2019 with further exploration of the music of Rimsky-Korsakov set for the end of 2020.

The Orchestra is also scheduled to record a 30-minute programme of the current repertoire.

Roger McClean

Brioso Corde:-

Brioso Corde has 7violins, 1 viola, 1 cello and 1 Double Bass in 2020. The two violinists are Kamo High School students who joined WYM at the beginning of 2020.

As this group standard is high, we aim to work on major works for string ensembles that demand player’s high skills and a positive attitude.

We work together very well. The members seem to enjoy playing together. It is great that advanced players constantly support players with less experience.

Here are remarkable results. In August, the Chamber Music Group (Farr-Out Trio) of Brioso Corde members became finalists in the National Chamber Music Contest and was given "National Award for the Best Performance of a New Zealand Work" in 2019. Also in October, our previous concertmaster Maia-Dean Martin won PCANZ, National Performing Arts Competition.

Adding to WYM annual concerts, this group held a house concert at Puriri Court Rest Home in December.

Atsuko Fukuoka

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Cadet Band report:-

Cadet Band is progressing well this year despite the disruptions caused by Covid-19. Attendance has been excellent all year and continued to be so after lockdown. I am delighted about now having, not only a trombone in the band, but a trombone section of 4. Coverage of other instruments is generally good to adequate with the exception of a tuba (hoping to get one at some time) and, as always, flutes. We were disappointed to not have a midyear concert due to lockdown.

Dale Nelson

Junior Strings Report:-

This group made up of violin, viola, cello and double bass players is in fine form. We consistently have 24 players in the practice sessions.

This year we have introduced having two conductors. This gives the players an opportunity to experience different conductor styles and allows the conductors some flexibility in the role.

Typically both conductors are present for each practice and lead different pieces of music. It creates variability each week which the group responds well to.

We like to play Birthday Conductor. When it is someone’s birthday they are asked to be the Birthday Conductor. They select a piece they know well to lead the players. They learn basic conducting techniques and get a leadership opportunity. Some members find this a wonderful experience and others find it extending. We also give older members of the group conducting experience from time to time.

We play a variety of classical, folk, jazz and musical compositions arranged for a junior string ensemble.

We are a very cohesive group who enjoy making a variety of music together.

Next year we will be looking for more young players coming up from the Explorer Group to join us.

Felicity Christian / Michal Pearse

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Explorer Brass Annual Report – June 2019 to May 2020:-

Explorer Brass is the beginner to intermediate level brass group, meeting between 4:10pm and 5:10pm on Fridays. It is led by Matt Watson (conductor) and Rodney White who manages the instruments, music folders and teaches some of the very beginner members of the group before the session starts.

2019 was a great year for the group, with regular attendance growing to around 20 people at times. Similar to previous years, each session is made up of a combination of exercises / technique and tunes.

We performed a selection of pieces that we had spent time learning over the year at the mid-year concert and again at the end of year concert in Forum North.

One of the highlights of 2019 was learning the piece “YMCA” (Village People) and dressing up for the end of year concert in hats to match the 1970’s music video.

This year started very strongly, with 17 students at the first session. When the group disbanded at the beginning of the initial Covid-19 lockdown period, copies of music were available so that the students could practice at home. Part way through the lockdown I sent an email with suggestions of practice pieces and exercises, and some inspirational brass players on you-tube.

Numbers since the initial lockdown have generally been slightly lower than at the start of the year, but the enthusiasm is just as strong. We are learning some more complicated pieces this year, including the theme tune to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which will be performed at the mid-year concert. Explorer Brass now has a repertoire of short pieces at a standard suitable for public performance.

Matt Watson

Conductor

Explorer Reeds group:-

At the moment we have only a few students. We have vacancies for a few more. A past student is teaching clarinet to young pupils at Sistema. Explorer Reeds provides an open shop for anyone interested in learning clarinet can come and try. Our intention is to teach pupils how to play the clarinet; read music; fit into a clarinet section in the Concert Band and be able to perform under a conductor

Ted Ryan.

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Windy Winds Group:-

Rodney and I continue to offer free beginner lessons, using the Whangarei Youth Music instruments, for the Windy Wind group at Whangarei Intermediate School.

We started off the year with a playout at the first WIS Assembly in January assisted by older WYM musicians, and from there we picked up 7 new players.

With 3 of the year 7's carrying on from 2019 we then had a total of 10 students who had 5 lessons before lockdown.

This number has fluctuated with some changing to other activities and we currently have 6 clarinets,1 sax and 2 flute players.

Our lessons engage the students using music reading, theory, learning by ear, in an environment where Manaakitanga is important.

Everyone is at a variety of stages so we create each lesson to fit in with their social, physical and cultural needs.

We have progressed well even after a 2 month break and have some talented Yr 7 musicians who are keen to progress onto sax next year.

3 of our 2019 Yr 8's continue to play at high school and 1 of them has joined us at Youth Music.

We were lucky enough to have Dorothy Gatland join us as a flute tutor this year which adds variety to our program.

.Currently we are practicing to play at their assembly and hopefully perform at their school Extravaganza later in term 4.

Lee Jones, Rodney White and Dorothy Gatland

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September 2020

Report to Whangarei District Council Community Benefit Test (CBT)

CBT Measures

1. Outline what community need, challenge, or aspiration your organisation addresses for the Whangarei district.

Dyslexia PLUS seeks to meet the need in our community to be a provider of support and services (educational psychological assessments and specialized teaching) for those families who have a member struggling with literacy due to dyslexia/specific learning disabilities. Parents need an empathetic and knowledgeable ear to share their struggles to support their child/ren, especially as to what action they can take towards actively assisting their child/ren effectively. These families need an opportunity to learn and understand more about dyslexia and related specific learning disabilities, to know they are not the only ones in this situation, to be able to choose to have support at school Individual Educational Planning meetings, to be kept in touch with opportunities and events and to know there are people who have satisfying and stimulating careers, who see their dyslexia as a gift, both the well-known people such as Sir Richard Taylor Matthew Strawbridge and Dr Ingrid Visser and people in our local community.

Over the last twelve months 34 students have received a customised 1:1 teaching programme from our team of eight teachers. This has benefited the student, their wider family, and teachers at their school. Families choose whether to have these specialist lessons at school, thus giving our teachers contact with the student’s school, or at home. As our services are not provided by the Ministry of Education, there is a cost to families. We have a policy to consider all who have a current Community Services card for a scholarship (funds permitting). The scholarships provide part payment for the weekly lessons. Sometimes families apply for a scholarship for the diagnostic assessment. These past twelve months we have been able to provide scholarships to four students for lessons.

A new initiative was to contact those in the newly established job of Learning Support Coordinators in local schools. We met with one group of six teachers in this role to share information and offer support from our experience and resources. We have connected with all the other groups in the district by phone. Covid-19 interrupted the initial impetus of hosting further meetings.

Community Hub P O Box 1314 [email protected] 37 Bank St, Whangarei Whangarei 0140 www.dyslexiaplus.org.nz 09 430 0693

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If students, who are receiving support from one of our team, have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) at school, parents often invite their Dyslexia PLUS teacher to be part of this meeting. Members of our teaching team have attended five IEPs in the past twelve months. Those who attend mainly do so in their own time, happy to support the parents and child and to increase contact with the class teacher and school SENCO (Special Needs Coordinator).

Parents feel encouraged and supported when they meet together. In October 2019 we had a family pot luck tea with a panel of speakers sharing from their experiences; 30 people attended this. In February 2020 we hosted an interactive open night which attracted people seeking information about our services. The 40 people who attended this were able to see our specialist library, meet with our teaching team and take away information for their reference. When we hold a fund-raising sausage sizzle we rely on family support (adults and children) and, in helping out, our members interact with each other gaining friendships. To start the year we had a BYO picnic at Mair Park followed by a game of social cricket, a great opportunity to re-connect after the summer break even though this time only ten turned up.

Over the last twelve months Dyslexia PLUS has made a difference in the Whangarei community by fulfilling one of our key objectives – supporting families with a child unexpectedly struggling at school. For every family who becomes a member (26) there are at least that many again who seek an understanding, listening ear. We remained in touch with our member families for six weeks over Covid -19 lockdown level 4 by emailing weekly communications to connect with our families in an effort to lessen the feeling of isolation and interruption to normal schooling. These included recommended websites to explore, you tubes to watch and webinars to register for. All our teaching team offered to provide learning activities to their students over this time. These were either posted or left in letter boxes. Two of our families requested that lessons continued via Zoom.

There is no Learning Disabilities Association of New Zealand (LDANZ) assessor in Whangarei. We have an agreement with Gail Hall from Whitianga to come north to administer the Woodcock Johnson IV assessment. Gail has come north three times and has assessed 20 students who have booked her services through us; eight of these have chosen to work with one of our teaching team. Sometimes parents want the assessment for their own information, sometimes for documentation for special assistance with NCEA exams. Parents are encouraged to share the assessment report with their child’s teacher/s. All those assessed, and their wider families, appreciate knowing there is a reason for their struggles with school work; their results frequently not matching their intelligence as they most often have a block with print.

Dyslexia PLUS Whangarei Inc is governed by a committee elected at our AGM. This committee, parents and teachers, meets monthly 11 times a year. Our organisation is a member of Learning Disabilities Association New Zealand (LDANZ) and our financial membership is current. One of the benefits of this is to have professional oversight and standards for our teaching team.

Our financial management is overseen by our elected treasurer. Our income is from membership 118 subscriptions, fundraising and grants. Our treasurer provides a monthly report on transactions, and a copy of the latest bank statement to the monthly meeting. Receipts are written for monies received and any payments made require two signatures. Our accounts are reviewed and presented at the AGM. We have tagged accounts so that money donated or fundraised for specific projects is spent accordingly.

5. Confirm you are up to date with filing requirements for charitable trusts and/or incorporated societies and that you are operating in accordance with your trust deed/society rules.

Our financial year ends on 30 June and the Charities Commission return is therefore due by 31 December. This was submitted by the due date in 2019. Two changes to the Constitution were passed at our AGM on 26 August and these are as yet to be filed with the Incorporated Societies.

All Committee members have a copy of our Constitution in their individual clear files and are encouraged to be familiar with our operating guidelines and/or to check when they have a question.

HTTPS://REGISTER.CHARITIES.GOVT.NZ/CHARITIESREGISTER/SEARCH

HTTPS://IS-REGISTER.COMPANIESOFFICE.GOVT.NZ/

6. Outline what partner organisations you have worked with over the last 12 months and how this has benefitted the Whangarei community.

In 2019 we were able to provide a teacher when Oranga Tamariki Wrap Around services approached our office for our specialised support. Then in 2020 Oranga Tamariki approached the same teacher directly to work with another student in their care. This partnership has established another avenue of support for at-risk children under Oranga Tamariki’s care.

One of the Navigators working with ‘I Have a Dream’ asked advice on where to gain specialist training and, since completing this, has been in contact with our team, including watching one of our teachers’ lessons in order to widen her skill set. Sharing knowledge and skills in this way increases the breadth of specialist intervention that supports students (who are not part of our membership) in their learning journeys.

Four SPELD teachers in the Whangarei district have joined Dyslexia PLUS as Friends of the organisation. This entitles them to access to our specialist library resources. This strengthens their learning activities tool kit. Further, we informally meet for ‘coffee’ monthly and invite the SPELD teachers to join us for support and for informally sharing professionally. This is valued when we all teach in diverse locations and do not have the benefit of interacting in a staff room. 3

119 7. Outline the number of paid and volunteer staff your organisation uses to run your services locally (use Full Time Equivalent numbers, e.g. 40 hours per week = 1 FTE). If this has changed to last year, please comment.

Dyslexia PLUS services are available in the Whangarei Community because we have eight willing volunteers to be part of the governance team, to organise events for our member families, for parents (members and the public), teachers (our team and those working in schools) and fundraising.

The ‘day-to-day’ administrative work based from our office is contracted out, currently at 0.125 FTE, but looking to have the finance to increase this. Both Committee members and teacher members also give of their time to support the running of the office and our specialised library.

Over the next twelve months, Covid-19 permitting, we expect to operate as usual, increasing the capacity for our services where we can. This means our goals are: • to continue providing support and advocacy to families concerned about their child/ren’s unexpected lack of learning progress • to send out information about our services in an ‘Enquirer’s Pack’ • to host events for parent members and the public • to host family and/or student events for our members • to provide access to specialised diagnosis of dyslexia/ specific learning disabilities through organising a qualified LDANZ assessor to come to Whangarei. • to link families with specialist teachers to support their child/ren • to continue, and strengthen, contacts with schools and Learning Support Coordinators in our area • to support our teaching team in their ongoing Professional Learning and Development • to seek to work with other partners such as Oranga Tamariki and I Have a Dream • to maintain our specialised library • to increase the number on our specialist teaching team in order to increase our capacity

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Whangarei District Council Performance Reporting August 2020

OVERVIEW

Epilepsy Association of New Zealand is a registered charity with 11 educators to delivering information, education support and public awareness.

We are an incorporated society, overseen by a national board and registered as a charity. (CC10611)

Our current audited accounts (year ending March 31 2020) are attached to this report, along with a copy of our Annual Report.

Our National Office is located in Hamilton.

Our Northland educator is Sam Morgan, based in Whangarei.

Sam is currently on 40 hour FTE contract, though currently at 80% of this due to financial pressure under Covid19.

CHALLENGES

The past twelve months have been a challenging time for ENZ, especially so in Northland.

In October, our office in the Municipal Building was damaged by water and smoke, with equipment, resources and paperwork lost. Fortunately, Sam’s laptop was with her at the time and electronic data was saved. Along with the other community groups sharing the space, Sam was able to move into another office space and continue her work.

Last year’s changes to the way PHARMAC funded medication (switching to a generic epilepsy drug) lead to uncertainty and fears for those facing changes to their epilepsy medication. These changes led to many people experiencing recurrence of seizures and several possible deaths. During this time our educators worked with clients and their doctors, working through possible exemptions and keeping them informed about changes. In our advocacy role we consulted with PHARMAC, expressing the collective concerns of our community. Facing pressure, they withdrew a number of these changes, continuing to fund the original medications for those who experienced harmful effects. These events highlighted the need for access to support, even for those who have their epilepsy under control, as health and situations may change and seizures can reoccur. In 2020 we were impacted by the Covid19 pandemic and lockdown. Seizures can be triggered and worsened by fevers, making people with epilepsy more prone to harm if they contract Covid19. In addition, issues of communication, stress and isolation were all mentioned by our educators, who remained working in remote contact with their clients. People with epilepsy are a higher risk group for mental health issues such as 1 121 depression and it has been important for our educators to adapt to remote communication to continue their support service. Once NZ moved back to Level 2, educators resumed face-to-face visits, which were in high demand from our clients. Covid19 also had an impact on our funding sources with gaming trusts briefly closes and other community and philanthropic trusts reprioritizing funding. While most gaming trusts have now reopened, we anticipate reduced grant funding over the next year at least as the financial ripples impact the grants sector. For our clients this also has potential impacts, with financial and employment stresses potentially worse.

OUTCOMES

In the year July 2019-June 2020 Sam worked with an average of 10 clients each month.

She also gave 27 separate talks to 382 people.

These figures include the reduced numbers during the Covd lockdown.

Sam currently has 215 clients registered with ENZ.

In 2020 we also acquired a replacement laptop for Sam, whose old machine was becoming unreliable.

Sam’s networking and connections with the community have played a vital role in getting support to people with epilepsy, especially those in more isolated communities. The value and demand for our face-to-face service was highlighted during the Covid lockdown but this also opened opportunities for better remote contact as people became more confident with online video messaging.

Our new run of print materials last year have been well received and we are currently planning on a national Mediboard campaign for our brochures to make more people aware of our services.

Attached is an article about an ENZ client and how information and support play avital role in her living an engaged and productive life. Understanding epilepsy is a key to well being for people and families living with the condition and a core aspect of the work we do.

Epilepsy New Zealand is grateful to the Whangarei District Council for their rental concessions which help us continue to deliver our service and build community connections.

GOALS

Our current plan is to maintain the support programme in Northland, hopefully resuming full 40-hour weeks when the Covid economy is more settled. 122

123 Disability A Matter of Perception What Makes a Good Life? 22 23 What Makes a Good Life! Epilepsy Support Group t isn’t easy to be objective when life whanau or caregivers. o, “What makes a Good Life for you?” remind me!” These memory problems can and every day issues can be so Working with a holistic approach What better opportunity than to share sometimes have an impact on your partner Idemanding and overwhelming. is paramount in addressing the Sthis question with our Whangarei in a conversation as I often forget and tend For a person with Epilepsy wider impact that Epilepsy can Epilepsy Support Group who meet on the to repeat myself and he’s heard it all before. sorting through every day issues have on relationships within The combination of Exercise, Solitude, first Tuesday of every month at the Epilepsy Developing coping strategies can be bikes or scooters on footpaths. Wearing a can be exhausting, leaving little whanau extended whanau Quiet and beauty of the natural world can temporary rooms in the Civic Arcade. ongoing for not just the person with Epilepsy Medic Alert Bracelet is also helpful. time or energy for others matters. friends and the wider community. be calming and restorative. Taking Time, In answer to my question I am met with a but for the partner as well as whanau/family. “Just waking up and being happy and But if you pause and reflect, there People living with Epilepsy, spending time in Nature embracing the barrage of answers from the Support Group Strategies like stepping back and finding feeling secure. Enjoying quality whanau are people and things we can be Whanau, Friends, and Caregivers can natural elements through our senses brings members. Positivity, warmth, humour, fun, that space to reflect and think in a way that time. You can expect to have good days grateful for in life. These are the things that all feel stress at times. Stress is a normal us out of ourselves. Going for a walk on the laughter, balance and stability. Just being respects and restores the confidence of the and not so good days and knowing that can give you a sense of perspective, a part of life, however long term stress can beach can help reduce feelings of anxiety healthy and happy and being able to lead a person with Epilepsy. what you are going through, is common and sense of balance, as well as a hope for the have a significant impact for people living and stress. Staring at the ocean can change stress-free life, to have a positive meaningful Staying safe while being physically active natural”, says Ashley. future. with Epilepsy, leading to increased anxiety our brain waves into a mild resting state. influence in with our children/grandchildren. is always a priority. Most activities are Changes that seem challenging or So, what is this essence of wellbeing that and depression. Stress can trigger Seizures. So this is what makes for a Good Life! For many of our Support Group, safe for people with Epilepsy even if their impossible now will eventually become makes for a good life? That shelters us from Epilepsy may affect physical aspects such The very presence of being! So let’s get keeping active with social connections and seizures aren’t fully controlled. When going second nature Take on small changes one this ever-changing environment. as Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition. back to the basics and acknowledge relationships are important. For some it may for walks, exercising with a buddy can be at a time and keep moving forward. In In terms of wellbeing, the ultimate reality Sleep and Epilepsy are closely that God given gift of wairua, that we include going to the RSA, others it may be helpful, being mindful of busy foot traffic, saying that don’t hesitate to ask for help. for some is Wairua (spiritual). The very connected. Having the right amount of can experience and exercise the innate attending the Literacy Group, or free Healthy source of existence for wellbeing and life. sleep can affect the timing, number and resources within us that bring balance Lifestyle Courses. Keeping the balance and Wairua is intrinsically linked to every aspect severity of Seizures. Inadequate sleep is a and maturity in discerning and making the social connection is a priority for many who of our lives. It gives one a sense of balance common seizure trigger for many people right choices and decisions to achieve and participate in sharing at Support Group. and wholeness. Wairua causes us to with Epilepsy. maintain our own health and wellbeing. It gives them a sense of I am not alone, perceive things through our senses, sight, Studies show eating whole foods low in “there are others going through the same hearing, smell. We become intuitive, having sugar, limiting alcohol and processed foods Address Level one upstairs challenges as me”. the understanding as to what our needs are have a positive impact on seizure control, Civic Arcade, 37 Bank Street So, what are these challenges and for wellbeing, without others telling us what depression and anxiety. Whangarei 0110 coping strategies that are needed to they think it is. Gathering Kai moana or kai whenua Postal P.O Box 1074, keep life as normal as possible. For some For a person living with the condition of can have a significant positive impact on Waikato Mail Centre it may be memory loss. There may be Epilepsy, wellness and balance in every physical and whanau wellbeing. Hamilton 3240 many reasons for this, including types of aspect of Lifestyle is important when we Exercise has proven health benefits in Phone/Fax (09) 438 5498 seizures, the effects of medication, age. consider the way Epilepsy and treatment reducing stress levels, improving mood, 0800 374 537 This may mean having a To Do List, being affects Health wellbeing and daily life. sleep and overall Health. Just Taking a Hours 8.30am – 4.30pm organised and planning for the day with Just as important is the quality of our breath of fresh air, going for a brisk walk can Monday - Friday reminders and appointments. “Even then I relationships as whanau and with the wider boost endorphins, (the good hormones) that Email [email protected] sometimes forget to write down things to community. Everyone copes differently and improve mood and lower stress and mild Web www.epilepsy.org.nz remind myself”, says Bev. “If I am asked in a may have varying levels of need, including depression. conversation, do you remember? I say No, 124

NORTHLAND MS SOCIETY TENANT REPORT 2020

ENTITY STRUCTURE AND COMMUNITY NEED: The Northland Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society is an incorporated society registered with the Charities Commission. We offer help and support to all those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who live in our Northland communities, the bulk of our members reside in Whangarei City. The goal and aspirations of the Society is to enable all those with MS to live the best life possible with optimal health and wellbeing.

STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS; A part time Administrator is employed 14 hours per week and responsible for operating the central office. The Field Worker a Registered Nurse is employed for 18 hours a week to undertake visits to patients. We utilise approx. 5-10 volunteers when needed, with additional numbers appointed for annual awareness and street appeal week. Many of our members are elderly and have disability and/or mobility issues, limiting the numbers of available volunteers.

GOVERNENCE AND FINANCIAL MANGEMENT; A local organisation with Constitution rules and run by a Committee. Currently this number totals 8 including 3 executive committee members consisting of a President, Vice-President and Treasurer/Secretary. The Society complies with the rules of Charities Services and file an annual return with them on time, and can confirm this has been done in 2020. Our Financial Accounts will be Audit Reviewed from 2020 and beyond, prior to this year our books had been fully Audited, this has now become cost-prohibitive.

PARTNER ORGANISATIONS; The Northland MS Society works closely with Tiaho Trust, a disability advocacy and advisory group located in Whangarei. They disseminate information from our organisation which is then shared widely with other like disability groups in our communities. Northable and CCS are other organisations we work closely with. We refer our patients to them as and when required for additional assistance that we are unable to offer such as; home help, disability parking permits, walking aids. Volunteering Northland provide us the extra hands needed for our annual street appeal collection, and we have a good relationship with Whangarei Lions Club.

SERVICES OFFERED AND COMMUNITY BENEFIT; With our help and support, our members are able to participate more within their own communities. We encourage them to be as active as possible and to join in community events and activities available to them. Society membership numbers currently stand at 114 and this does not include family/whanau or caregivers, who often seek our support. We provide support services to others, including those who have not joined the Northland MS Society and also those newly diagnosed. With modern technology and improved methods for earlier diagnosis, these numbers continue to increase. We aim to keep our patients living in their own homes for longer without the need for early government intervention. Our free advocacy service has helped with disability employment related issues, resulting in those with MS being able to remain in the workforce as both viable and valuable employees.

WHAT WE PROVIDE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE; The Northland MS Society offers a professional and vital service. We offer up to date knowledge of MS and its management, brochures and information on MS, advocacy services and referrals to appropriate agencies including other health professionals 125

and agencies as required. Liaison with other services such as home-based care providers, community health services, Occupational and Physiotherapists, and Income support to co-ordinate client needs. Our support is also provided to patient’s partners, carers, family members and friends. We provide social contact and support for people with MS, usually in a group setting. Currently we offer a free weekly MS exercise class, free games of ten pin bowling, and a coffee support group is held once a month in Whangarei. In November 2019 the Society held the inaugural “Scoot the Loop” event in Whangarei to raise public awareness of Multiple Sclerosis. Our members participated along with the general public. It was an enjoyable day and this event will now be held annually.

UTILISATION OF OUR SERVICES: The central office currently based upstairs in the Civic Arcade is the main contact point for all our patients. Our Office has not been easily accessible for our members since we moved here, mainly due to the Lift not working. At time of writing the lift is not, nor has been operational for quite some time (awaiting a part required for repairs). The issue of having to negotiate stairs has been particularly troublesome and dangerous for our employee who has MS. The Office is open to the general public to access information on MS., brochures, and the services we offer. A free Library Service is also available with books covering all aspects of MS. Regular newsletters along with updates on information and any latest MS research developments are dispatched from here, regular committee meetings held, and the Office is generally the first point of contact our patients or their family use when support or advice is required. Our statistics for 12 month period show 404 Telephone calls were received from people seeking information or support, 461 email requests for same, and the Society undertook 122 patient home visits. We cover a wide demographic area from Wellsford to Cape Reianga and the Society Field Worker travels these areas to conduct one to one visit with clients in their own homes. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the Office was closed during the lockdown period and our services were reduced. Staff worked from home with limited resources until we re-opened again on May 18th and normal services resumed.

RESOURCES: As with any charitable organisation it is an ongoing struggle to obtain funding. Aside from our annual street appeal, we undertake other small fundraising ventures but with the varying levels of disability among our members it is often difficult to find sufficient volunteers to assist. Our main source of funding comes from Grants, however with the ever increasing number of registered charities; the amount available becomes smaller each year. Our funding priorities are for patient welfare, operational costs including staff wages. We have greatly appreciated the WDC rent concession for an NPO providing services back to the community. With careful management we have so far managed to keep the monthly expenses within the estimate figure allowed for. Our financial management is sound, and we keep a contingency fund set aside to cover any unexpected event.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT TWELVE MONTHS: The Society shall continue to operate as we have done in the past, offering a continuation of the current range and high level of free services available for all those in the MS community. This has proved successful in the past, with our service addressing and meeting the needs of those living with this incurable disease known as MS in our community. We have recently recognised the value of social media for our younger members and therefore plan to review this platform, beginning with more regular posts on our Facebook page. The MS Vehicle will shortly be sign-written - thanks to generous sponsorship from a local business firm. This will help raise our profile along with more awareness of Multiple Sclerosis in and around Whangarei City. Scoot the Loop for MS will be held this year on November 8th 126

2020 Community Benefit Test (CBT) – Rent Concession Holders Outline what community need, challenge, or aspiration your organisation addresses for the Whangarei district. WINGS has been operating successfully for 14 years and is made up of a combination migrant women as well as Kiwis who for various reasons have moved to Whangarei, often with family. Grandparents and women who follow their families from other countries have the most difficulty in adjusting to a completely new environment, without their friends and social support systems. Such a move can create a sense of isolation and difficulty in settling. Creating a sense of belonging in the community reduces the chance of a failed immigration which benefits New Zealand. WINGS aims to help address these issues by providing a social setting where information can be exchanged and new friendships formed.

To provide some background to WINGS, the following are our driving forces

Mission Statement

The Women’s International Newcomers’ Group Social is a friendship network where we can exchange traditions and knowledge, share settlement issues, build connections and create a sense of belonging in our community.

Values

 Encourage cultural inclusiveness and enrichment  Foster a positive attitude toward migrant settlement whilst encouraging cross-cultural awareness and education Long-term Goals

 Provide a vibrant community within WINGS for women new to New Zealand and/or the Whangarei District wherein friendship can be found  Facilitate the sharing of cultural knowledge and traditions  Ease integration into New Zealand, local culture and community  Assist settlement  Encourage a positive attitude that supports integration and benefits the Whangarei community  Encourage settlement and a feeling of belonging through social activities Please see examples of testimonials on https://www.wingsnz.org.nz/testimonials Clearly demonstrate the benefit you’ve provided to the Whangarei community over the last 12 months. Include data on programmes, events, and connections made. Outline any new initiatives introduced. WINGS organises events, sometimes several times a week, which brings newcomers and regulars together so that new bonds and friendships are more easily formed.

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Regular Events

• Monthly Meetings: first Wednesday of the month at the Whangarei Women's Club, with guest speakers, cultural evenings, announcements, food and fun. (Average attendance 30)

o June – International Multilingual & Cuisine Night (all WINGS involved)

o July – COOL CARS Behind the scenes – (WINGS Member)

o Aug. – Indonesian Night (Some of the WINGS members)

o Sep. – The Healing Power of the Body’s Ecosystem

o Oct. – Walking up Mt. Kilimanjaro – Jackie Leech (WINGS Member)

o Nov. – Defensive Driving – Dick Berry

o Dec. – Christmas Party & WINGS 13th anniversary celebration

o Feb. – Northland Chamber – Its Relevance & Vision for the future of Northland

o March 2020 – Pet Therapy, Dogs helping people

o April 2020 – Cancelled due to COVID 19 lockdown

o May 2020 – Cancelled due to COVID 19 lockdown

• Friday Coffee: 10:30am currently at Sabio Café, Lower Dent Street – conversation & friendship (regularly 20 attend) Friday Coffee on ZOOM during COVID 19 lockdown alert level 4 – we had 7 of these with an average of 15 attending

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• Thursday Coffee: 10:30am at Botanix Café at Palmers Garden Centre On the last Thursday of each month we meet later and have lunch. (regularly 6 attend)

• Events Committee regularly creates events during the year and meets in the office (6)

• Book Club fortnightly at the Central Library (4-6)

• Restaurant Dining at a different venue once every two months, supporting local businesses (up to 20 attend)

• Fortnightly Knitting Group in the office (4-6)

• Monthly Games in the office (4-8)

Community Events

 International Families Day with Multicultural Whangarei (5)

 International Women’s Day – Garden Party (20)

 Northland Fusion Pacifica Festival – WINGS members participated and attended (4)

 Artisans Fair – promoting WINGS and fundraising (6)

 Waitangi Day - WINGS had a stall at Waitangi Day in Onerahi (7)

 Ethnic Football Festival – WINGS had a stall (8)

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 Christmas picnic with Multicultural Whangarei (7)

 Art Beat (3)

 Whangarei Library’s Big Day In (3)

 Keep Whangarei Beautiful – helped with litter collection (7)

 Multicultural Whangarei 10th Anniversary (10)

Special Events

 Watercolour workshops (including using ZOOM during lockdown) (6 each session)

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 Movie Night – Chicks at the Flicks (3)

 Planetarium visit to tie in with Matariki (28)

 Steel Magnolias at the theatre with dinner (7)

 Afternoon tea at a member’s home (9)

 Spring Brunch (30)

 Hatea Loop Walk (4)

 Hollywood Quiz – Fundraiser (60 plus volunteers))

 Beach Day and water safety at Waipu Cove with Multicultural Whangarei (21)

 Friday Meetup at a pub (12)

 Adrenaline Water Park day out (8)

 Pamper Day – Fundraiser (last year it was in April, it will be held again next year)

 Keep Whangarei Beautiful – Litter Clean up around Town Basin (9)

 Farm Visit (16)

 Friday Meetup at a pub (14)

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 Christmas craft creations at a member’s home (5)

 Bananarama – A visit to an orchard (15)

 Cultural Cooking events at members’ homes (8 to 10 attend)

 WOMAD – 4 WINGS members drove down together

 Listen to your Body – talk on ovarian cancer - on ZOOM (12)

 EFT session on ZOOM (8)

Hundreds attended Pamper Day in April last year, and many volunteers assisted in the Raffle Fundraiser What difference did you make? Clearly demonstrate the impact or difference your organisation has made over the last 12 months to the Whangarei community. You should include data on who and how many you have reached. The community benefits from the success of WINGS as Whangarei becomes more multi-cultural. Migrant women now contribute to the vibrancy of the town and participate in many activities and they also learn and assimilate local culture.

Participation in Wings events and meetings by migrants and locals leads to an increased appreciation of NZ by exposing locals to different cultures and allowing migrants to meet locals. Negative stereotyping is dispelled by gaining information and interaction between migrants and locals. Creating a sense of belonging in the community reduces the chance of a failed immigration which benefits New Zealand.

Since the onset of Covid-19 we are finding there are more kiwis returning to Whangarei from overseas. They are also finding it hard to adjust and find their place in the community.

We have inserted attendance figures in brackets after each event, listed above. We have a mailing list of 585 subscribers and have 58 paid members

Please also see our testimonials at https://www.wingsnz.org.nz/testimonials

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Outline the governance and financial management in place for your organisation, including whether you have a local governance board or are managed by a national body, and whether you have audited financial accounts. WINGS is an incorporated society and registered charity. We have an elected committee of members who manage WINGS. Our treasurer manages our finances strictly and the financial reports are audited.

In the office, WINGS has a part time coordinator as well as a part time media and database manager who manages the website, Facebook and Instagram as well as Mailchimp to send out our monthly newsletters and any other notices. Confirm you are up to date with filing requirements for charitable trusts and/or incorporated societies and that you are operating in accordance with your trust deed/society rules. WINGS’ filing requirements are up to date. Charities Registration Number: CC40444 Outline what partner organisations you have worked with over the last 12 months and how this has benefitted the Whangarei community. WINGS is located next to the Multicultural Whangarei and Literacy Whangarei and Volunteering Northland. We work collaboratively with them as well as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, English Language Partners and the Rotary Club of Whangarei South.

Working in partnership with other community organisations has enabled sharing of knowledge and manpower. WINGS members have helped out at community events and supported events organised by partners in and around Whangarei. It has allowed members to meet the wider community and fostered goodwill. This all plays a great role in helping communities and individuals to live in Whangarei and ‘Love it Here’. Outline the number of paid and volunteer staff your organisation uses to run your services locally (use Full Time Equivalent numbers, e.g. 40 hours per week = 1 FTE). If this has changed to last year, please comment. In the office, WINGS has a paid part time coordinator who works 20 hours a week (.5 FTE)

In the office there is also a paid part time media and database manager who manages the website, Facebook and Instagram as well as Mailchimp to send out our monthly newsletters and any other notices, working 10.5 hours a week (.26 FTE)

Our office hours have increased since the end of lockdown.

The WINGS office is now open 5 days a week. Monday – Wednesday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm, Thursday – Friday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. At other times, there may be volunteers in the office.

In the last year WINGS has hosted 163 events, many of them listed above. We estimate that the number of volunteer hours in the last financial year to be 1742 hours

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Outline what you expect to deliver to Whangarei over the next 12 months, including whether you will be operating ‘as usual’ or whether services will be changing (increasing, decreasing, different offering). We have an annual strategic planning meeting where we make a plan for the forthcoming year. A survey of members was conducted prior to the meeting to determine WINGS direction for the forthcoming year.

WINGS has proven to have a successful formula, having developed for 14 years. We do not plan to change this formula but continue evolving with the times.

We are aiming and succeeding in attracting younger members as well as retaining the older age group. For example, we have events which appeal to both groups, for example Thursday coffee is quieter but Friday coffee is a younger group.

WINGS would like to take this opportunity to thank the Whangarei District Council for supporting WINGS through the generous rent concession. It is much appreciated and this support is advertised through our website and at our monthly meetings and where other opportunities present themselves

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5.3 Operational Report – Community Group

Meeting: Community Development Committee Date of meeting: 19 November 2020 Reporting officer: Sandra Boardman – General Manager Community

1 Purpose

To provide an overview of work occurring in the current financial year, across functions that the Community Development Committee has oversight responsibility for.

2 Recommendation That the Community Development Committee notes the operational report for November 2020.

3 Background

This report provides a brief overview of some of the operational highlights for the month of October 2020 and provides further comment on future activities planned for the remaining financial year.

4 Significance and engagement

The decisions or matters of this Agenda do not trigger the significance criteria outlined in Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy, and the public will be informed via Agenda publication on the website, Council News, Facebook or any other channel you currently use to inform customers – please also advise Communications

5 Attachment

Operational Report - Community Group – November 2020

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November Operational Report – Community Group (October 2020 Activities)

Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM)

National The newly appointed Minister for Emergency Management is Minister Kiri Allan. The Government has decided to rename the Ministerial portfolio from “Civil Defence” to “Emergency Management”. Any sector branding decisions will be considered in NEMA’s Designing for the Future programme. The Director and Deputy Chief Executive of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sarah Stuart-Black has resigned from her position and will be moving into the role of Secretary General of the New Zealand Red Cross in December. Sarah has been the Director of the Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management (MCDEM) for five years and with the Ministry for 17 years in total, also having a huge role in the transition from MCDEM to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). In addition, a new National Controller, Roger Ball, has been appointed and will commence duties in December. NEMA is hosting a workshop in early November to consult on its “designing for the future” which includes CDEM Group Managers. Regional

The Northland CDEM Group has developed a draft drought response plan that sets out the roles and responsibilities of agencies, organisations and stakeholders in relation to drinking water shortages and related emergency response mechanisms to reticulated water supplies, rainwater tank supplies and other natural water sources. The plan includes learnings from the response earlier in the year and has been circulated to various agencies for comments and feedback. COVID-19 resurgence planning The Northland CDEM Group has been working collaboratively with several region-based agencies and the national planning team who are developing the national COVID Resurgence Plan. The purpose of the National Resurgence Response plan is to provide a framework for a nationally lead, regionally delivered response to incidents of COVID-19 in the community. The COVID response group within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has established a work programme to provide a more nuanced response to any future COVID19 incidents. As part of the planning a local workshop has been held with several agencies and the Northland CDEM Group was represented at an Auckland workshop hosted by the AOG planning team. Further Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) courses, an Emergency Operations Centre course and CIMS Function training in Planning and Intelligence were held by Northland CDEM during October and November and several council staff attended to keep their capability in the emergency management space up to date. CDEM Plan review and work programme

The CDEM Group plan review project timeline has been amended to take into consideration the recent response events. Although some of the milestones have been shifted and timeline compressed in some areas the plan draft will still meet the original timeline and the plan is scheduled to be finalised in December 2021.

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Whangarei CDEM Activities The council Freedom Camping initiative has been supported with the provision of 3000 tsunami siren network brochures to be included in the district freedom Camper packs for the summer season. Support was also provided with input into the council information for Freedom Campers regarding COVID-19 arrangements. The council Tsunami Hikoi, planned to align with the National Shakeout campaign was cancelled due to bad weather, but a large awareness campaign had been undertaken across council to remind staff about the arrangements for an evacuation caused by a tsunami warning. Bunnings Warehouse Whangarei promoted emergency preparedness in alignment with the National Shakeout campaign once again by setting up a CDEM stall including an array of items that a household might include in their emergency kits and grab bags. The Whangarei Youth Advisory Group met on 14 October 2020 and a representative of the CDEM Team attended and provided a presentation on CDEM Activities and Arrangements in Whangarei and across the region. The Bland Bay Community Response Group hosted a stall at the local community market at Tūparehuia Marae over Labour weekend promoting CDEM emergency preparedness.

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Customer Services Service Centres

Activity has continued to increase, particularly noticeable are LIM requests and building related queries.

The frontline team have been operating with two vacancies since lockdown; one due to the retirement and the other due to the promotion of Rachel Thomassen to Team Leader. This has put a lot of pressure on the team and we are now pleased to announce that we have filled both those roles with internal applicants.

Contact Centre Call volume has been slightly down this month with no particular themes to mention. The Contact Centre and Chris Smith have been supporting Emma Jelsma at the Consultation Drop-In sessions in the Library during November. These sessions began with only a few members of the public engaging with our team, however it is hoped that more people will take up the opportunity to have their say through the month.

One of our Contact Centre Representatives has remained working from home since lockdown due to a mobility issue. We have seen increased flexibility since our technology has enabled this team to be able to work from home, however it is clear that there is no better way to share information than being together as a team in a physical space.

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i-SITE Visitor Information Centre & Te Manawa the Hub

The Hub visitor numbers were down by 21%, 9278 compared to11,876 last October. Bookings were down 20%, $2,136 compared to $2,675 last October. Net retail revenue was down 75%, $588 compared to $2,389 last October – all retail orders have been suspended since March so stock available to purchase is low.

Hub Retail Hub Bookings $6,000 $4,000 $3,000 $4,000 $2,000 $1,000 $2,000 $0

$0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2018 2019 2020 2018 2019 2020

Reopening of the Tarewa i-SITE

There is a plan in place us to reopen the Tarewa i-SITE before 2021 and we are working through the issues that need to be addressed. The plan is on track and our electrician has recently improved the shop lighting which has greatly enhanced the look and feel of the interior. We have just recruited one permanent part timer and one fixed term part timer and are currently in discussion with two further prospective information consultants to work the summer season.

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Staff Feedback

We have had several domestic visitors staying overnight in Whangarei. Many of these visitors have told me it is their first time staying in Whangarei – they would usually pass through heading North. They were pleasantly surprised at what we had to offer!

Also, almost every day I would speak to a person who said they were relocating to Whangarei so many at times I felt like I should have been a realtor!! A happy customer came in and commented how pleased he was to know that his rates were going towards the service we offer here at the Hub. Annette Vernon – Information Consultant

Customer Feedback

How did you hear about us? (October 2020) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Hub

‘Great service, friendly extremely efficient and helpful!’ ‘Wonderful asset!’ ‘Your two lovely ladies went above and beyond to help us get home, many thanks’ ‘I had somewhat complicated set of requirements and it took time – maybe an appointment would work better for staff?’

Claphams National Clock Museum

The Museum was closed on the first three Mondays this month but open on the Monday of Labour weekend. These figures are for the 28 days we were open in October and are compared to the 31 days we were open in October 2019 with the figures tracking as follows: Visitor numbers: 2785, down 11% Admission numbers: 722, up 1% Admission revenue: $4397, up 12% Retail revenue: $912 down 39%

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Total revenue: $5309, down 2%

Though visitor numbers were down, and admission numbers were comparable to October 2019, admission revenue was up. This was a consequence of: 1) the high percentage of full price admissions sold, and in particular the withdrawal of our 2 for 1 deal (2 adults for $10) of which we sold 95 in October 2019, and 2) a better conversion rate of browsers to buyers.

The percentage of visitors from Auckland increased to 54%, up from 50% in September. Many of our Auckland visitors were relatively new arrivals from Asia exploring Northland for the first time. Visitors from south of Auckland registered at 35% while Whangarei locals accounted for 8% of visitors. All but 12 of our visitors in October were from New Zealand. The majority of visitors were couples with 248 full adult admissions sold ($10 pp), plus 121 senior / student admissions ($8 pp). Family groups were also well represented, particularly during the school holidays, with 291 people entering the museum on 69 Family Passes ($20 per family) with a further 44 child tickets sold ($4 pp)

The Deaccessioning Project

The Deaccessioning Project aims to downsize part of the collection that are duplicate or not in good condition has been a big focus for the team this year. We are aiming to create some space in the museum to diversify or future exhibitions. We are waiting on confirmation from Auckland Council as to whether they want all, or some, of the 80 items from the Wilkinson Collection that we deaccessioned transferred back to them. All the individual donors of deaccessioned clocks whom we contacted to ascertain whether they would like their clocks returned have now had sufficient time to make their wishes known, or for it to be clear that they are no longer contactable. Any deaccessioned items for which provenance cannot be established, or the donor either cannot be located or does not wish to have the item returned to them, will now be offered to other museums in New Zealand in order to keep as many as possible in the public domain. We are liaising with Te Papa re the most suitable method of distributing the list of deaccessioned items.

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Library Events School Holiday Programmes

Due to the uncertainty as to which Covid level we would be at over the school holiday period and social distancing requirements staff created programmes which could be adapted to changing circumstances. The children’s activities continued as normal while the teens changed to the model of a choice of coming into the library or taking activity kits home. It was interesting to note older children who wouldn’t normally participate took the kits home.

Seed Swap

This was the first time we have held such an event as the Seed Swap and thanks to a team of library staff led by Wendy Bertholet it was extremely successful. Close to 100 people participated and we plan on holding monthly swap sessions. We appreciate the contribution made by retailers who generously donated packets of seeds. Heritage Talk Series

The Heritage Talk series continued with archaeologist James Robinson delivering a fascinating account of the work he and his colleagues have done on Moturua Island in the bay of Islands. We are fortunate to have such quality speakers who give up their time and share their knowledge with us.

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Fringe Festival

Whangarei District Libraries participated in Fringe Festival activities by hosting an author talk by Caroline Barron and a fun time children’s session with Little Ripples. Both events were very well received.

Facts and Figures

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Central Kamo Onerahi Tikipunga Mobile eBooks Total Issues

Visitors to Libraries by Month 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20

Central Kamo Mobile Onerahi Tikipunga Total Doorcount

Statistics for the month of October indicate increased activity at the branches and mobile compared to last month while the total number of borrowed from Central, 48,254, within 1% of October 2019. The number of eBooks borrowed, 4,453 increased by over 100% compared to last month and by 30% compared to October last year.

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Community Development

Community Safety

The community safety issues raised during the October reporting period consist of the following: Daytime Issues:

 Youth Gangs o Fighting and general disorder – ongoing tensions between youths associated to youth gangs in the inner city and the Forum North area, with one incident that has involved a child being intimidated after school. o Tagging –a notable increase in the amount of tagging in the inner city, some of which are gang tags related to the above

 Other o Breach of the Liquor Ban in Alcohol Control Areas o Permanent Toilet Dweller – a male who had been permanently living outside the Rathbone Street Toilet was not engaging with Open Arms, as he did not want to pay for emergency housing. Open Arms were actively following up with this person and have found housing for this man. o Permanent Bridge Dwellers – a group of men living under the Walton Street Bridge have been reported to NRC in respect to conditions at the site (faeces on site/washing clothes in the stream) o Permanent Vehicle Dwellers – three people have been removed from the Okara Reserve for a youth rugby event and have left behind faeces/toilet paper, not having self-contained vehicles.

Night-time Issues:

 Liquor and/or drug related antisocial behaviours o Continual breach of the Liquor Ban in Alcohol Control Areas by night-time revellers o Intoxication, general disorder, public urination and fighting at night, resulting in multiple parties in multiple brawls in the streets, with at least two males admitted to hospital and one male being kicked in the head while lying unconscious on the ground, with another male kicked about the upper body after being punched to the ground.

 Adult Gangs o While not overtly wearing gang patches at night and, thus, not being reported in the antisocial stats below, there is a strong prevalence of red gang-colours and supporter clothing being worn by the night patrons and who have been involved in the antisocial behaviours reported above.

 Staff Safety o Considering the violent behaviour of some of the night-time revellers, the night CitySafe Community Officers have been instructed not to become involved in fights, unless a person is in imminent danger of serious harm, as in the case reported above, where the staff had to intervene to protect the person.

 CCTV Water Street and Forum North Carparks o Due to the amount of fighting in Water Street, that is ending up in the Forum North and Water Street Carparks, these carparks have been identified as high-risk areas for additional lighting and cameras, particularly the Forum North Carpark.

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CitySafe Antisocial Behaviour - Total 120 Sep-19 Oct-19 100 Nov-19 Dec-19 80 Jan-20 60 Feb-20 Mar-20 40 Apr-20 May-20 20 Jun-20 0 Jul-20 Breach of Breach of Damage Dishonesty Disorder – Disorder – Disorder – Disorder – Disorder – Disorder – Drugs Drunks Gangs Aug-20 Liquor Ban One Way General Assault Domestic Fighting Public Vomit Sep-20 Door Violence Urination

CCTV Update:

CCTV cameras and lighting have now been installed into the Otaika Underpass to ensure public safety, and a safety issue in respect to bikes and skateboards entering the underpass down a steep blind corner, posing a danger to pedestrians, has been reported for mitigation to the Northland Transport Alliance (Photo below). The audit of the CCTV network has now been commenced and it is hoped that it will be completed in time for the next report to Council.

Advisory Groups Youth Advisory Group

This month the Youth Advisory Group received presentations about the Long Term Plan and Civil Defence.

The group would like Council to consider engaging with young people on important topics by going into schools to present, educate and collect feedback from students.

The group are interested in making contact with North Chamber to share their ideas for making the CBD busier and more youth friendly. These ideas include;

 Encouraging businesses to offer student discounts  Encourage Uber to Whangarei as taxi companies aren’t reliable, and buses don’t go where young people have need  Moving the night markets to the Cameron Street mall. Ideas that they would like Council to consider are:

 Improving lighting at night. Using fairy light installations to improve ambience in town (a good spot would be the big tree under the canopy).  More outdoor public gym equipment that is placed closer together so that people can go to one place and do a circuit workout for free.

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Disability Advisory Group

The group received an update from Bernadette Aperahama about the Active Recreation and Sports Strategy – the purpose was to close the loop regarding DAG’s feedback. Bernadette explained how the DAG’s input influenced the strategy and the changes made. She advised the group to look at the reccommendations they would like to support for the LTP submissions. Dominic Kula gave a presentation about the Significance and Engagement Policy & Long Term Plan Engagement on behalf of others who were unable to attend. The group provided advice and feedback about how to make engagement and consultations more inclusive and accessible for disabled people and others. The group also had a good discussion about how they would like to work together going forward. The Positive Ageing Advisory Group

Robin Lieffering, Chair of the PAAG presented to Council on Thursday 22 October with 5 PAAG members supporting. She expressed housing concerns for older adults in the district which PAAG are advocating for Council to address in the Long Term Plan including increasing stock and maintenance budget for our pensioner housing, investing in a private partnership model like Auckland Councils ‘Own your own’ units, and promoting the gap in housing to developers.

The group received a presentation from Jane Ashley – Communications Manager and Tracey Schiebli – Democracy and Assurance Manager on the upcoming Long Term Plan. The group gained understanding of the process and suggested engagement tools for older adults.

PAAG members are concerned for older adults struggling with the ongoing effects of Covid-19 and are collaborating with Anglican Care Centre and Central Family Health on a Post Covid Resilience for Seniors Seminar. Together they have submitted a funding application to support this activity to be held early December 2020, free at Forum North.

Community Led Projects Community Led Projects Raumanga

The Raumanga Community Roopu received a presentation on the Raumanga shared path route. Discussion about the NZTA online consultation on continuation of the state highway upgrade through Raumanga (Urban Route: Tarewa Road to Toetoe Road). Members encouraged to contribute online and contact NZTA. The roopu voted to submit a collective statement to NZTA.

The roopu continue to refine their constitution as they work towards becoming a legal entity. They are aiming to have trustees appointed and the document signed at their hui in November. Community Led Projects Waipū

The Waipu CLPF committee are holding a “Walk the Walkway” event on the 5th of November with attendance by invitation. The event will focus on the ecological aspects of the riverwalk: the ngāi tipu (flora) and ngāi kīrehe (fauna), the whenua (land), awa (river) and hau takiwā (air), and what the committee can do to both restore and enhance those aspects of the walk. This will be incorporated into the Waipu Community Led Projects plan/proposal. Maungatapere Community Led Projects

The Leadership group has elected an interim chair – Patrick Malley, Director of Maungatapere Berries and also welcomes two new leadership group members. There is now a mix of 10 members meeting regularly. October was a busy month with the group meeting three times; twice to hear a

Page 11 of 15 148 presentation from Landscape Architects – Bruno Gilmour and Holly Nichol who have a connection with Maungatapere and expressed an interest supporting their beautification activities in the village. The group see this as an opportunity to work with NZTA due to the highways running through their area. NTA met with the Maungatapere Primary School Principal to discuss road safety outside the school which has been an ongoing concern for the community. The next committee meeting will be held on Thursday 4 November, 5:30pm at a local residents house. Community Led Projects Tikipunga

The Tikipunga CLP lead group have now asked for more community feedback on their plan to help them finalise the plan ready to present to the Community Development Committee early next year. Raumanga Community Garden

The Raumanga Community Garden blessing was held on the 12th of October 2020 at Manaia View School with many community members and local dignitaries attending the ceremony. It was by all accounts a wonderful morning.

A core group of residents, business owners and school staff are continuing to develop the site with a weekly meeting/working bee run every Wednesday from 2pm – 4pm until the school year finishes.

Community Funding

Funding Rounds – Completed

Another round of Community Emergency Recovery Fund (CERF) applications were processed this month. So far, seven community groups have been supported by CERF.

The Community Halls Fund and Resident and Ratepayer Fund closed this month and will be considered in December. This is the last time these Funds will be offered in this form, following the changes adopted earlier this year. For the 2021 year commencing July, these will become the Community Facilities Fund and the Community Association Fund respectively.

This round of the Resident and Ratepayer Fund will include consideration of what defines an eligible applicant, ahead of the changes coming into effect next year.

Spotlight on funded projects

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Opuawhanga Hall had been barely used and not sufficiently maintained for some years, until a new committee was voted in in 2015. A maintenance assessment undertaken in 2016 by Council’s building inspectors revealed a significant amount of work to be completed, including potentially being a dangerous building with a side wall severly bowed outwards threatening collapse. Through support from Council’s Community Halls Fund, leveraging a further $20,000 from Lotteries, and some hard work from the community, Opuawhanga Hall has now got a new roof, have repiled and levelled the building, fixed the bowed wall and installed structural support, repaired several rotten weatherboards and windows, completed a full exterior paint, and completed a number of other smaller repairs – essentially ticking off all the tasks on their building maintenance report – in just 4 years. In addition to fully completing all required maintenance on the building, the committee have rejuvenated the community, instigating several community events to bring people together, such as the popular Waitangi Day breakfast, annual kids Christmas party, regular market days, and community safety meetings. They are now looking to establish the hall as a designated civil defence facility, and continue to work on improving the hall and delivering events for the community.

The nearby Opuawhanga Tennis Club has also enjoyed success, with a working bee and community funding to provide a new court surface and secure fence. Opuawhanga is a testament of what motivated communities can achieve.

Community Property

Pensioner Housing waiting list figures as at 30 October 2020

This month there was an increase of 8 people to the single bedroom waiting list and 1 to the two- bedroom list. The waiting list increased from 18 to 27.

Pensioner Housing Remedial Works as at 30 October 2020

 The full refurbishment works were completed in unit 1/21a Otaika Road. New tenancy will be commencing in 2/11/20. This is the first unit to have a heat pump installed to meet the Healthy homes standards.  Minor maintenance repairs to 74B Mill Road was completed, the floor of the conservatory was replaced and painted, the living space walls were repaired and painted, all window frames repaired and painted and a number of other minor touch ups. This unit has also had a heat pump installed.  Northern boundary fences at 26 Te Mai Road have been completed.

26 Te Mai Road - fence

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Venues and Events

Forum North Entertainment Centre

Operations The emergency lighting is being upgraded and sensors are being installed in the exit corridors leading from the theatre. The sensors will automatically activate the lights, no longer requiring a staff member to turn on before a show. A new sound desk has been purchased for the theatre.

Events October has been a busy and varied month at Forum North with 45 event days. Te Kotahitanga hosted the advance voting for the general election, an economic recovery debate for the candidates, the Mayor’s Annual Civic Awards ceremony and the NZ Police hosted their awards ceremony.

The Cafler Suite hosted five workshops, a birthday party, a community forum meeting and the Neurological Societies COVID postponed Brain Awareness talk. In addition to this the Orchid Show and the Northland District Rose Show delighted visitors with its vast display of colour.

Returning to the Capitaine Bougainville Theatre this month was the Whangārei Film Society hosting a busy month of films including a special show as part of the Whangārei Fringe Festival. The theatre saw the return of the WDC all staff meeting which included the Tikanga awards and an inspiring talk about the Women’s Rugby World Cup from Katie Sadleir. The Theatre also hosted a Ventia breakfast, TED Talks Countdown 10-10-2020 and the Going Banana’s kids show in the theatre which drew tons of laughter from the large audience. Dance also made a return with four community dance events including the long awaited COVID postponed ballet competitions.

Postponed and cancelled events at Forum North include; Howard Morrison Quartet (postponed), Pak n Save Awards Evening, NZ Dance Company, St Johns Ambulance Conference, Whangārei Youth Space Talks 2020 and the Citizenship Ceremony (cancelled).

Semenoff Stadium

Events The first half of October at Semenoff Stadium has seen the return of some of our regular clients with Zespri, Whangārei Community of Learning and NZSTA all holding events in the lounges at the stadium.

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Mitre 10 Cup and Farah Palmer Cup Two Mitre 10 Cup games have been held in October at Semenoff Stadium with Northland playing against Taranaki on 3 October and Southland on 11 October with Northland winning both of their games. The Northland Kauri played in the Farah Palmer Cup as curtain raisers and won both of their games also. The fourth game is being held on 31 October against North Harbour.

Bilingual Signage Permanent bilingual signage is currently being installed replacing all the old signage. The first areas to be completed were the Player’s facilities, Media Centre and entrances into the car park.

360˚ Virtual Tour Phase Two of the Stadium virtual tour was carried out on the 27 and 28 October and includes player’s facilities, concourse, field, entrances, gates and car park, accessibility features, media centre and the NZ Vikings Lounge. The platform will be an invaluable marketing tool for the venue especially for the RWC ’21 due to the management teams being unable to travel prior to the tournament for recces.

Major Events

Rugby World Cup (RWC) Katie Sadleir (World Rugby General Manager, Women’s Rugby) visited Whangārei and presented at Semenoff Stadium on their strategic plan to a group of key stakeholders and volunteers working within the sport sector.

Community Events Events are picking up as the summer season gets closer. Ten permits were issued to community organisations and groups to hold their events on council land, these included events involved in the Whangārei Fringe Festival such as the ‘Hatea me Hearties’ buskers festival held around the Hatea Loop and Town Basin.

The Markets are back up and running with Tutukaka Twilight Markets, Canopy Night Markets and Artisans Fair Markets all holding their first market over Labour Weekend. The Canopy Night Markets and Artisan Fair Markets remain located in Reyburn House Lane for a second season.

As part of our 2020/ 2021 Adaptable events programme developed due to COVID19, the Christmas event will look different this year with the one-day festival being replaced with a month of Christmas Festivities in the city including; performances, activations and decorations. We are inviting the community to help us celebrate the festive season by joining us for Christmas in the City 2020.

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