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10. C ommunit y D evelopment Manager's Report
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Tasman District Council Community Development Committee Agenda – 13 February 2014
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2. Draft Resolution
Recommendati on
That the Community Development Committee
1. receives the Community Development Manager's Report RCD14-02-10; and 2. appoints Councillor ________ to work with staff on the preparation of Draft Open
Space Strategy.
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3. Purpose of the Report
3.1 To provide the Committee with an update on my work since the last Community
Development Committee meeting and to outline key highlights of the work undertaken by the Reserves and Facilities, Libraries, Strategic Policy and Customer Services sections of the Community Development Department. The highlights of the Community Relations section’s work are covered in a separate report on this agenda.
4. Community Development Update Key Activities
4.1 Since my last report in November, I have undertaken a number of key activities. Among other things, these have included:
the Community Development restructuring – refer below for details;
attending the Local Government New Zealand Rural Provincial Sector meeting on 21 and 22 November;
chairing and participating in the final meeting of the Department of Internal Affairs working group on the mandatory flood protection performance measures on 26
November. This meeting was to prepare guidance materials to help councils implement the performance measures;
attending the Nelson Tasman Sports Awards on 28 November;
preparing Draft Annual Plan 2014/2015 budgets and reports and attending the December and January workshops;
attending Saxton Velodrome working group meetings;
attending the deliberations on the submissions to the Brightwater/Volleyball license on Brightwater Domain;
attending the Golden Bay Community Board and Communications Subcommittee meetings on 10 December;
attending the Motueka Library Redevelopment Working Party meetings;
attending the Golden Bay Community Facility Working Party meetings;
attending the Moutere Hills Gym Working Party meetings;
commenting on and processing the easement documents and agreements for the Saxton Field transmission line relocation;
attending the Saxton Field Easement Subcommittee meeting on 7 January;
working with Brent Maru on the Lottery Commission application for Motueka Recreation Centre upgrade (including a lift to access the mezzanine level and a new stadium floor);
and
working with staff on the open space strategy development (refer section 8 below).
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Tasman District Council Community Development Committee Agenda – 13 February 2014
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4.2 It has been an unusually busy November – January period, with far more subcommittee and working party meetings than is usual for this period. These have involved preparation of numerous agendas and reports by staff and me. I appreciate the attendance of the various Councillors on these subcommittees and working parties and acknowledge the additional work these meetings have created for you as well as for staff.
4.3 You will also notice from the Action Sheet attached to this agenda that a number of projects and actions have been completed since the last Community Development meeting. It is good to see this progress, particularly given the other pressures on staff over recent months.
Community Development Restructuring
4.4 During December 2013 the restructuring of the Strategic Development and Community Services Departments into the new Community Development Department was completed.
This process took a great deal of my time over the preceding months and created some uncertainty for staff. One staff member was made redundant through the process.
4.5 The new structure, and staff who have been appointed to the roles, is outlined in Attachment 1 to this report. We are currently advertising to fill some vacancies created through the restructuring process.
5. Community Board and Community Consultation Funding
5.1 At the 14 November Community Development Committee meeting, it was requested that the general rate component that funds community boards across the district would be reported to the next Community Development Committee meeting.
5.2 The Community Boards are funded by a Targeted Rate to cover the costs of their operations. For Motueka this is around $52k, and Golden Bay $42k.
5.3 Staff time and Council resources are not charged to the Boards but lie where they are incurred, i.e. any finance costs are charged to the Finance department and funded by being re-distributed over all activities.
5.4 In total Governance costs, which incorporates Council, Council Assistance, Community Boards and managing Council controlled organisations, are around $3.99 million with the General Rate funding $3.46 million of this. It is not possible to break out the costs directly attributable to the community boards as that cost is not recorded separately from other governance costs.
5.5 It was also asked at the 14 November meeting, that the resolution regarding Community Consultation fund criteria be provided to the Committee. We can confirm that at the Community Consultation Sub-committee meeting on 27 March 2000, the Sub-committee passed the following resolution FN00/03/28:
That Council provide a funding pool capped at $20,000 to which groups meeting the following criteria can apply:
- Approved by Council
- There is no Community Board in the Ward - Formally constituted
- Publicly elected through process set by Council and hold regular advertised meetings
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- Primary function is Council related
- Carry out liaison and advocacy with Council
Funding would cover secretarial, newsletters and other approved expenditure.
The level of funding distributed to any community group will be determined by Council's Corporate Services Committee.
5.6 In June 2011, it was resolved by the Communications Subcommittee that the budget would be transferred to the Community Services Department, and the allocation responsibility would be transferred to the Grants and Community Facilities Subcommittee.
6. Reserves and Facilities Update
6.1 The following reserves and facilities information provides a few highlights of project
undertaken over the last two months. Many other projects have been completed during the period. A full report from the Reserves and Facilities Manager will be included in the March Community Development Committee meeting agenda.
Richmond Ward
6.2 Dellside Reserve – A new walking track for public access to reservoir dam is being constructed on the land purchased by Council to allow the Reservoir dam repair to go ahead. The Keep Richmond Beautiful Committee members are involved in this work with staff.
Moutere/Waimea Ward
6.3 Brightwater Railway Reserve walkway upgrade has been completed. This work included widening the majority of the walkway to allow for the Great Taste Cycleway use. The Cycle Trust contributed to this project.
Lakes Murchison Ward
6.4 The community group which maintains the Poplars Recreation Reserve has informed us that it is no longer able to mow the grass and look after the tennis courts. We will be discussing this with our parks contractor to see if they can take over this work. We have made a
financial contribution to the Management Committee who look after the reserve for a number of years.
Golden Bay Ward
6.5 Glenn is working on the Resource Consent application required for the project at Takaka Memorial Reserve.
Regional - Coastal Reserve
6.6 Over the last year there have been a series of high tides associated with storm events and our beaches have suffered cut backs. The high tides and high winds in January had a big impact on beaches in Pohara and Tata Beach with steps and sand ladders washed out and left needing repair. Rabbit Island, in particular, was very badly affected with most of the beach access ways requiring repair and sand pushed up to get them back in place. Another
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set of very high tides are due at the beginning of February we are hoping that there won’t be a storm event at the same time. Going forward we may require the assistance of coastal dune consultants to look at options for these areas.
7. Libraries Update
7.1 Typically December and January are the busiest months of the year for our libraries.
December 30 was our busiest day across the district with a total of 2,844 visits to the Richmond, Motueka and Takaka libraries. The daily average for December and January is usually 1,800 - 2,000 visitors.
Events, Programmes and Promotions
7.2 A range of events and promotions were held during December and January, these included:
Christmas storytime sessions at Motueka and Takaka libraries. More than 50 children and their parents attended the storytime sessions.
Popular local musician Kath Bee performed at the Motueka and Richmond libraries in December. Kath writes and performs songs especially for children. More than 140 children and parents attended the performances.
Liam the Magician, a 13 year old Takaka local, entertained an audience of more than 60 people at the Takaka Library. His performance was very well received and featured in an article in the Golden Bay Weekly.
I’n’ Ching Ching, a roots and folk music performance by Alan De Boek at Takaka library took people on a worldwide musical journey with the saxophone, guitar and djembe.
An exhibition by Golden Bay artist Moana Lee at Takaka library attracted considerable interest and was highlighted in articles in the Golden Bay Weekly and the Nelson Mail.
Summer Reading Programme
7.3 This year places on the Summer Reading Programme were allocated by ballot. In previous year places were allocated as applications were received. The registration and ballot process ran smoothly but initial feedback from parents regarding the use of a ballot has been mixed. Some parents preferred a ballot as this was seen to be a fairer way of allocating places. Other parents preferred places to be allocated on a “first in” basis.
7.4 Using a random ballot allowed us to extend the registration period. In previous years there was pressure on parents to register on the day that registrations opened in order to ensure a place. This year parents were able to complete registration anytime during the week-long registration period. Feedback received to date indicates that this was well received by parents and also that there is a strong preference for registrations to be done online.
7.5 The programme continues to meet its aims of fostering the love of reading, encouraging children to confidently use the library and maintaining children’s reading skills. Evidence has shown that emergent readers often lose reading confidence and skills during the long summer holiday break unless they receive strong encouragement to continue reading.
Feedback from parents tells us that the Summer Reading Programme helps children to maintain their reading skills and in many cases helps to advance their reading.
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Online Resources
7.6 Tasman District Libraries is a member of the national EPIC consortium which is managed by the National Library. Through the consortium we are able to access a range of online resources at a significant lower cost than if we purchased these resources as an individual library.
7.7 EPIC has recently undertaken an extensive review of the resources available through the consortium with the result that we now have access to a significantly expanded range of resources.
7.8 Library staff are currently evaluating the newly available resources with a view to expanding the range of what we offer to our library users. New resources will be available by the middle of this year.
8. Strategic Policy Update
8.1 The following are highlights of the work undertaken by the Strategic Policy section over the last two months.
Annual Plan
8.2 Council held a one day workshop in December 2013 and a two day workshop at the end of January to discuss proposals for the Draft Annual Plan 2014/2015. Decision reports on changes to the Council’s work programme and policy are on the full Council agenda for 19 February 2014. Following this meeting staff will prepare the Draft Annual Plan and bring the document to Council for adoption at its meeting of 13 March. Consultation opens 14 March and closes 15 April. The Newsline Summary will be distributed the following week. Staff are also in the process of arranging community consultation meetings and Councillors have been separately advised of these.
Open Space Strategy
8.3 As part of improving the Council’s management of reserves, and as part of the development of Council’s Long Term Plan and the Community Services Activity Management Plan, staff have commenced preparation of an Open Space Strategy.
8.4 This strategy is intended to be a high level document to assist with identification of priorities and ensure that Council funding is used as effectively and efficiently as possible. We will also be working with other departments of Council to identify opportunities for multiple use of area to help reduce costs to Council.
8.5 The draft outcomes of the Strategy are to:
quantify and describe how the TDC’s reserves and other landholdings contribute to the community;
identify and assess the open space areas, and desired levels of service (values are likely to include landscape, heritage, culture, ecology, recreation and sport);
identify short and long-term demand and supply trends and develop acquisition, disposal and cooperative management strategies which sustain equitable levels of access to open space;
identify acquisition and development priorities driven by growth and review future cost- of-supply (this work will feed into Council’s Growth Strategy work);
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identify how Council can work with other open space providers (especially Department of Conservation and Nelson City Council) to reduce duplication or conflicts of effort and to develop a coordinated regional network of open space values;
identify community partners to achieve agreed open space outcomes; and
set long-term priorities for enhancement of existing open space values at the regional level, including priorities for acquisition of esplanade reserves.
8.6 The first step of this work is meeting with other providers of open space facilities, including the Department of Conservation and Ministry for Education, and obtaining the views of residents and visitors. A short survey has been prepared and is available for completion through the Council’s internet. The survey is open until 3 March.
8.7 Once this information has been analysed a draft policy will be prepared, and brought back to the Committee for agreement, before being publically advertised for feedback.
8.8 It would be helpful to have a Councillor included in the staff working group developing the draft policy. The work would include meeting with the community, analysing the survey information, and reviewing the draft policy before it comes back to the Committee.
8.9 The final policy is expected to be adopted by the Committee at its July meeting.
9. Customer Services Update
9.1 The Customer Services section has largely been business as usual over the last two months. A full report from the Customer Services Manager will be included in the March Community Development Committee meeting agendas.
Attachments
1. Community Development Department Structure 67
Att ac hm ent 1 Item 9. 8
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11. C ommunit y R elations M anag er's Report