That proposal had been part of the council’s long term plan, to the ire of some in the industry. Councillors heard public submissions from publicans and hospitality industry representatives early last week, who said country pubs were struggling and compliance costs had compounded revenue decreases from Covid-19 related closed borders. At meeting on Wednesday, councillors put forth and passed a motion to revoke the bylaw effective, July 1, 2022, and use more of the rates take to pay for managing the licensing business unit, which had been running at a deficit. Council staff had presented an option to revoke the bylaw, which would be more consistent with the majority of councils in New Zealand, policy analyst Carrie Williams says in a report presented at the meeting.
Thursday, 22 April 2021, 11:06 am
The government’s regional events funding has assisted
the organisers of 11 events across Fiordland and Southland
with a total of $287,500 allocated in the inaugural funding
round.
The fund, administered by Great South, was
established by the government as part of its post COVID-19
Tourism Recovery Package, to stimulate domestic tourism by
supporting existing events or helping grow new
events.
Great South GM Tourism and Events Bobbi Brown
said most of the applications were from existing events
wanting help with improved marketing, as the fund was about
attracting visitors from outside of the region.
“It
was pleasing to see some existing events thinking outside
Funding was from two separate pools, with $372,500 still available for Fiordland events from the Fiordland REgional Events Fund, and $100,000 for Southland events from the Southland Regional Events Fund. Among the successful applicants was the Te Anau Community Events Trust, the Stabicraft Te Anau Manapouri Fishing Classic, the Milford Mountain Classic and the Te Anau Tartan Festival. The Gore Tussock Country Music Festival received funding for the event. New events to be held in Te Anau also received support including the NZ Nature Photography Summit and the Men’s Muster. Four applications were declined across the two funds, but applicants were encouraged to apply in the next funding round in September.
”The toilets are old and grotty and we need to make sure that when tourists return they have a holistic experience. There s some pretty big ticket items there but any assistance that would take the financial burden off rate payers here, some of whom are really struggling at the moment, would be very welcome. “It might be quiet here now but we’ve got to take the positive approach that it s not going to be like this forever, and we need to think about that when planning infrastrusture,’’ he said. The council would hold a workshop on Wednesday where councillors would discuss the application to the fund.
She said the council had 160 different rate types. Robson highlighted that the Tuatapere Te Waewae community board rate would rise, one factor being the cost of mowing going up for the same amount of work, despite the contract having gone out for tender. “Sometimes it s give and take,” Robson said. Tuatapere resident Myles Greber said “but it seems in this case it s just give.” The rate take in Tuatapere would go up because of water, sewerage and depreciation costs, Environment Southland discharge rates, meeting statutory requirements and the increase to the local community board rate, Robson said. The meeting went for about an hour and forty minutes, where nine councillors and council staff were on hand to answer questions.