City of Port Phillip Draft Events Strategy 2015 - 2017 City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy INTRODUCTION The City of Port Phillip municipality is historically recognised as Melbourne’s playground; a natural gathering point for the city due to its unique places, people and cultural heritage. Never has this been more true than today, when the municipality, and particularly its foreshore, is highly sought after real estate for events – be they sport, art or otherwise. Port Phillip’s assets, both natural and built - along with its proximity to the CBD and its renowned hospitality centres – make it one of Melbourne’s innate gathering places. Council’s own proud history of producing large scale, world class events with extraordinary levels of participation and engagement combine with the municipality’s popularity as an event site to bring the City of Port Phillip an enviable position within metropolitan Melbourne. AIM The City of Port Phillip aims to plan, attract and direct events to ensure our city is welcoming, healthy, safe and vibrant for all. It is commonly recognised and accepted that events bring a wealth of benefits to a community, from health and wellbeing of residents through to economic development for local businesses, cultural vibrancy and social engagement. Recognising these benefits, the City of Port Phillip events calendar must also strike a balance between a number of tensions: • High visitation and demand in summer but a winter downturn • Varying needs, character and visitation of each neighbourhood • Maintaining a mix of sport, art and cultural events • Commercial demand with community activity • Fragile but popular foreshore with the potential for overuse or environmental impact WHY DO WE NEED AN EVENTS STRATEGY? This Events Strategy presents a new approach; a framework through which Council can: • Ensure our events landscape reflects Council’s objectives • Strategically procure events at minimal net cost to Council • Restructure our fee policy to incentivise events to deliver on Council’s strategic goals • Provide a seasonal events calendar to ensure a spread of season, location, function and activation while maintaining amenity and sustainability • Create a timetable and mechanism for planning that allows a long term view of our events • Balance the value of our commercial events to enable support of community events that can achieve Council Plan objectives • Measure and monitor gaps, overloads and opportunities This framework is intended to remain sound, even as our City grows, and include both indoor and outdoor events. 2 City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy WHAT WILL WE DO DIFFERENTLY? ATTRACT THROUGH PROCUREMENT AND PARTNERSHIPS and proactively seek a broad range of complimentary external events that meet our goals, strategies and activation priorities, and provide community funding ASSESS, APPROVE AND MAINTAIN strategic criteria against which to assess applications from external events and encourage participation, leadership and safe, high quality events PRODUCE our own events: where there are events required by or of benefit to our community, that the market cannot or will not provide In order to meet our strategic objectives: 1. Tourism, visitation and economic impact • Use events to showcase and promote CoPP as a destination, providing economic growth for and through tourism • Ensure that events activate our vibrant villages across all parts of our city and grow local businesses and industries • Leverage from and partner with large events such as triathlons, Melbourne Cup, cruise ships, junction oval 2. Community development, arts and social benefit • Use events to engage, include and connect all people in our community, providing opportunities for our community to enjoy • Encourage events that support the development of our communities to build capacity of our communities, foster local talent and recognise artistic and cultural strengths within our municipality • Maintain and build on the mix of art, cultural, sporting and entertainment events to support the unique identity of different parts of our City 3. Amenity and experience • Deliberately plan events to ensure safety of people and place on key public holidays (NYE and Australia Day) • Use events to promote a healthy and safe experience - day/night, summer/winter, across CoPP, for locals and visitors • Plan for future events that support the development of Fishermans’ Bend Urban Renewal Area including creative industries City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy HOW WILL WE DO IT? Attract through procurement and partnerships • Continually identify gaps and opportunities within current events calendar (see infographic) and seek specific external events to address shortfalls • Maintain and develop funding opportunities and support for community, cultural and commercial events, including the Local Festivals Fund • Utilise additional funds raised through hosting of external events to assist in procuring future strategic events • Develop a communications plan that promotes our city as a year round events destination – for audiences as well as for event producers • Major or profit making events must demonstrate value while a capacity building approach can be applied to community events Assess and approve • Utilise our strategic objectives as criteria in order to consider event applications in the context of our overall goals, calendar and Council Plan delivery • Restructure our fee policy to enable strategic fee waivers or subsidies to meet our objectives around activation, amenity and experience, and maximise returns on use of peak space at peak times • Consider applications in the context of the events calendar including internal events, to maximise viability and financial sustainability for events within the municipality • Monitor key public spaces and areas for overuse or negative impact on environment or amenity Produce • Continually assess internal events against strategic objectives to ensure validity, relevance and community benefit • Identify opportunities for new internal events where gaps are not met through procurement, attraction and assessment City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy HOW CAN WE TELL? Our success measures: Objective Measures Use events to showcase and promote CoPP • Economic impact studies as a destination, providing economic growth • Visitation numbers and increases for and through tourism • Event attendance figures Ensure that events activate our vibrant • Number of events in each part of our villages across all parts of our city and grow City local businesses and industries • Overall event attendance in identified vibrant villages Leverage from and partner with large events • Number of visitors coming to the such as triathlons, Melbourne Cup, cruise municipality (events or during key ships, junction oval Melbourne event times) Maintain and build on the mix of art, cultural, • Number of events focused on each sporting, community and entertainment identified type: art, culture, sport, events to support the unique identity of entertainment, community across the different parts of our City municipality Use events to engage, include and connect • Event attendance measured against all people in our community, providing our demographics – proportionate opportunities for our community to enjoy representation • Number of low cost or free events Encourage events that support the • Representation of local artists, cultural development of our communities to build groups or participants within event capacity of our communities, foster local programming talent and recognise artistic and cultural • Number of community events funded strengths within our municipality through the Local Festivals Fund Deliberately plan events to ensure safety • Number of informal events held on of people and place on key public holidays identified key dates (NYE and Australia Day) • Number of incidents / public safety Use events to promote a healthy and safe • Number of events held day/night, experience - day/night, summer/winter, summer/winter across CoPP, for locals and visitors Plan for future events that support the • Number of events held in Fishermans’ development of Fishermans’ Bend Urban Bend area Renewal Area including creative industries • Number of external events attracted to Fishermans’ Bend area 5 City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy EVENTS LANDSCAPE December - February p u n 2 t D y 1 r a R ew d re Y t f T s e I t C s south ga ca d t r r es do t w melbourne er lb S a t fishermans’ K Q I U L E D bend E A d N R t oa S D o r d n R d ow 1 D r st T o m S 1 a ia d l T S l 1 D i E S w R L 1 port Y K D A C R B I E 1 P albert melbourne F R E 1 1 park K 3 4 middle CA o N r TE ARD RB r EV park UR o OUL BEACON Y R n E B SFIELD D g TH PAR ADE r t d S st kilda y o r east z STATION PIER it PRINCESS PIER F rd lava alac st kilda b st isle carl ST KILDA PIER B A NEPEAN HWY R K L Y S t glen huntly rd elwood 6 City of Port Phillip | Events Strategy p u n t D y r a R ew d re Y t f T s e I t C s south ga ca d t r r es do t w melbourne er lb S a t fishermans’ K Q I U L E D bend E A d N R t oa S D o r d n R d w D o r st T o m S a ia d l T S l D i E S w R L port Y K D A C R B I E P albert melbourne F R E park K middle CA o N r TE ARD RB r EV park UR o OUL BEACON Y R n E B SFIELD D g TH PAR ADE r t d S st kilda y o 4 r east z STATION PIER 1 8 it PRINCESS PIER F 1 rd lava alac st kilda b 2 st isle carl ST KILDA PIER B A NEPEAN HWY R K L Y S t glen huntly rd Sporting 1 1 2 Market elwood Major Festival/Event Arts & Culture Community Trader event 7 City of Port