Minutes of Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting

Unconfirmed Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting minutes

27 March 2023

MINUTES OF Tauranga City Council

Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting

HELD AT THE BoP Regional Council Chambers, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga

ON Monday, 27 March 2023 AT 9.30am

PRESENT: Commission Chair Anne Tolley, Dr Wayne Beilby, Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston, Commissioner Stephen Selwood, Commissioner Bill Wasley, Mr Te Pio Kawe, Ms Rohario Murray, Mr Bruce Robertson

IN ATTENDANCE: Marty Grenfell (Chief Executive), Paul Davidson (Chief Financial Officer), Barbara Dempsey (General Manager: Community Services), Nic Johansson (General Manager: Infrastructure), Christine Jones (General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance), Sarah Omundsen (General Manager: Regulatory and Compliance), Anne Blakeway (General Manager: City Development & Partnerships), Lisa Gilmour (City Partnership Specialist), Kendyl Sullivan (City Partnerships Specialist), James Wilson (Manager: Arts & Culture), Carl Lucca (Team Leader: Urban Communities), Jeremy Boase (Manager: Strategy & Corporate Planning), Kathryn Sharplin (Manager: Finance), Tracey Hughes (Financial Insights & Reporting Manager), Josh Logan (Team Leader: Corporate Planning), Coral Hair (Manager: Democracy & Governance Services), Robyn Garrett (Team Leader: Governance Services), Sarah Drummond (Governance Advisor), Anahera Dinsdale (Governance Advisor)

1 Opening karakia

Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston opened the meeting with a karakia.

2 Apologies

Apology

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/1

Moved: Ms Rohario Murray

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the apologies for absence received from Committee members Matire Duncan and Te Pio Kawe for lateness and Dr Wayne Beilby for early leaving be accepted.

Carried

3 Public forum

Nil

4 Acceptance of late items

Nil

5 Confidential business to be transferred into the open

Nil

6 Change to order of business

Nil

7 Confirmation of open minutes and public excluded minutes

7.1 Minutes of the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting held on 13 February 2023

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/2

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Dr Wayne Beilby

That the open and public excluded minutes of the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting held on 13 February 2023 be confirmed as a true and correct record.

Carried

8 Declaration of conflicts of interest

Deputy Chair Dr Wayne Beilby declared an interest in agenda item 9.1 as a board member of Priority One.

9 Business

9.1 Western Bay of Plenty International Strategy 2023-2025

Staff Gareth Wallis, General Manager: Central City Development

Lisa Gilmour, City Partnership Specialist

External Greg Simmonds, General Manager: Workforce and Policy, Priority One

Key points

· This was the latest iteration of the strategy. It was last fully updated in 2020, however, given Covid, there had been a refresh. Reengagement on the strategy would now begin in the post-Covid environment.

In response to questions

· The Committee would like to see more work on opportunities with students around how to re-connect and grow the sector back to previous numbers of students within the region.

· Queried whether sister city relationships could be leveraged to increase these numbers.

· The framework would begin to bring all these strands together so there was visibility of what was being achieved in education in Tauranga.

· This year delegations would be going back to Korea and re-engaging with partners in China, mostly in the primary and secondary school areas, to provide chances to grow student numbers.

· The Committee would like to see key performance indicators and metrics around the strategy and would like to see these reported back to the Committee annually.

Discussion points raised

· Recognition of mana whenua relationships and partnerships in the sector was raised. It was suggested that the Welcoming Communities programme could be used to develop greater relationships beyond welcoming new migrants.

· At present each partner in Priority 1 has their own framework to engage with mana whenua.

· Education Tauranga as an entity with its own board could undertake further liaising with other organisations with a purpose of destination marketing to attract a wide range of students to Tauranga.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/3

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Dr Wayne Beilby

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the “Western Bay of Plenty International Strategy 2023-2025” report.

(b) Endorses the updated Western Bay of Plenty International Strategy 2023-2025 (Attachment 1).

Carried

9.2 Mainstreets' Monitoring Reports for the period 1 July to 31 December 2022

Staff Gareth Wallis, General Manager: Central City Development

Kendyl Sullivan, City Partnerships Specialist

External Brian Berry and Sally Cooke - Mainstreet Tauranga

Mahia Martelli - Greerton Mainstreet

Claudia West - Mount Maunganui Mainstreet

Downtown Tauranga

Key points

· The Mainstreet Association felt that the Central Business District (CBD) was in crisis. The association was working to solve the matters concerning them in a timely manner.

· There were perception issues that the CBD was not a destination and was also a hard area to navigate in due to ongoing roadworks and development and construction. Concerned that the area had significant issues with vagrancy and was perceived as being an unsafe area.

· The introduction of paid parking had been confusing and the Association felt that a park and ride system would have assisted in alleviating parking pressure and parks not being utilised.

· The Association was aware of 12 businesses in the CBD that had recently closed or were about to close.

· Solutions in the medium to long-term were being worked through but the Association felt that a solution in the short term would be to provide rates relief across the CBD.

· There was a concern property values had decreased significantly.

· Safety issues within the CBD continued to be seen as a weak point in the CBD development and an area of concern to all businesses in the area.

· A return to use of the Māori Wardens was mooted and questions raised on who could or would fund this option.

· Reports had been received by the Association (particularly from hospitality workers) needing security to get to their cars at the end of shifts and of staff too scared to park in the CBD.

Discussion points raised

· Ferry patronage was strongly weather dependant, but the return of the cruise ships was a welcome addition.

· Work on CBD security measures would continue, and the Council aimed to keep working with Mainstreet on safety issues.

· Māori Wardens was a paid service and worked in conjunction with police. There was the potential to work together for solutions and provide more communications on CBD activities and opportunities for retail investment.

Greerton Mainstreet

Key points

· A new board had been appointed and was beginning to bed in.

· 37 trees were yarn bombed this year and the festival had taken a new direction and had proved as popular as ever.

· Fund raising initiatives for the area were being investigated and a new website had been created and was up and running.

· The community was looking forward to Easter and the traditional Easter Egg hunt and fun day.

· Work had commenced at Blake Park for tree planting although with a limited budget.

· Member accounts had been completed and audited on time and in full.

Discussion

· The Committee requested that a letter of appreciation be sent to retiring Greerton Mainstreet Manager Sally Benning for her constant and valuable contribution to Greerton; she was a pillar of the community who tirelessly worked to make her community more visible.

Mount Maunganui Mainstreet

Key points

· The Association was reviewing their yearly progress to develop strategic plans for further community engagement and events particularly to increase foot traffic and patronage through the quieter winter months. To also encourage new membership of the association. They had been heartened to see their work starting to create big and small wins, such as their new website now being live and increasing in receiving traffic.

· The outdoor movies run in conjunction with a local radio station continued to be a great success with good attendance. The Association hoped that these would become a tradition for local families.

· Another success was the decoration of 15 Christmas trees by local schools; it created great excitement with many school groups coming to find their tree.

· The Association was excited to bring the first set of sales data to the Committee. They had distilled the figures down to three major groups into which 73% of their members fitted. The total spend for the 2021/2022 financial year was $153million with $73m of that belonging to the largest group of hospitality retailers.

· The data showed sales slowdowns with Covid lockdowns in Auckland and locally and reflected the seasonal nature of trading in the Mount with foot traffic and sales falling off markedly from March. The Association, as part of their forward planning, was looking to ways of countering the autumn/winter slowdown with increasing both local patronage and tourist numbers.

· The first few months of foot traffic data had been received and would be used in an ongoing capacity to assist with planning and looking at patronage trends.

· The Association was proud of the handbook that had been created for existing and new members which provided information on what the Association offered.

· Security issues continued to be of concern to members and a WhatsApp group chat for members to communicate on security issues as they happened had been formed, which also offered a member-to-member support system and had proved a vital link to police and security companies.

· Financials were now audited and up to date; were currently tracking on budget

· The Association still saw a need for more on-street cameras and would like to progress a Crime Prevention through Environmental Design report to look at other ways safety could be improved.

· Improved safety measures were still needed in laneways and to slow traffic coming through the main streets of the Mount.

· The Association had looked towards ambassadors on bikes helping tourists and providing a safe presence on the streets, with a direct line to council and police.

· Looking ahead, the Association would be working on the strategic plan, having a members’ voice session for a range of topics, a session for Association board members in governance training, and ongoing work as key stakeholders in the development of the Mount strategic plan. Noted the desire, as part of this planning, to keep free parking and help reduce congestion in summer months.

The Association thanked TCC staff member Kendyl Sullivan for her support in developing the handbook, provision of street foot traffic counts and liaising with other groups.

Discussion points raised

· The Committee acknowledged the long journey the Association had been on and were extremely pleased to see the work they were completing and that the financial records had been audited and were on track.

· It was noted that the data collected on Eftpos spend would be invaluable for not only the Mount but for individual retailers to utilise.

· The summer had been a challenging one with adverse weather causing large drops in foot traffic and patronage, contrasted with fine days with large volumes of foot traffic.

· The idea of ambassadors was still currently a work in progress.

· The initiative of the old Mount Events Cinema being an events venue of value to the community had grown organically and involved bringing in other groups to grow ideas. The Association was facilitating this process where possible. Feasibility studies were needed. This may include looking to Council as a partner with other organisations.

· Noted the possibility of shared resourcing with the potential to take these ideas and share them across other Mainstreet organisations.

· Graffiti was still an ongoing problem, but the Association had had a great response from the contractor to remove graffiti when they were contacted. Use of the TCC reporting app had been a key for graffiti removal and clearing of overflowing rubbish bins.

· Regarding the issues of overflowing rubbish bins, extra bins and collections were deployed but over the holiday period in January the bins still overflowed. There was a need for further conversations between the Association, the contractor and Council.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/4

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Stephen Selwood

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Mainstreets' Monitoring Reports for the period 1 July to 31 December 2022 ".

(b) Receives the Mainstreet Tauranga Report to 31 December 2022

(d) Receives the Greerton Village Community Association Report to 31 December 2022

(e) Receives the Mount Business Association Report to 31 December 2022

Carried

9.3 Adoption of Public Art Framework

Staff Barbara Dempsey, General Manager: Community Services

James Wilson, Manager: Arts & Culture

Key points

· Staff provided a brief overview of the strategy and noted that it was now a ‘plan on a page’ designed to encourage public art for the artist community and provide art organisation frameworks for Council staff.

· The framework was also developed to provide for community input and to encourage public art with the support of both Council and the community.

· The framework would help to develop the cultural narrative of the city, providing vision and a future development pathway for art works.

In response to questions

· The advisory panel would be appointed by Council and contain at least two local Māori liaison seats. It was also expected that panel members would consult with local mana whenua and Mainstreet Associations.

Discussion points raised

· The Committee commended the framework for its collaborative approach but was concerned that in the past maintenance of artwork had been haphazard and noted the importance of maintenance plans being in place. These should include looking after the artwork currently in and around the city and reconnecting with the Mainstreet Associations. This would be part of the Advisory Panel’s working brief.

· Funding was currently through operational expenditure, but where possible there would be work done to see if there were opportunities for private funding partnerships as well.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/5

Moved: Commission Chair Anne Tolley

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Adoption of Public Art Framework".

(b) Adopts the draft public art framework (Appendix 1)

(i) Year 1: 0.25% of total eligible capital spend

(ii) Year 2: 0.5% of total eligible capital spend

(iii) Year 3: 0.75% of total eligible capital spend

(iv) Year 4-10: 1% of total eligible capital spend

Carried

9.4 Mount Planning and Delivery Programme Update

Staff Sarah Omundsen, General Manager: Regulatory and Compliance

Carl Lucca, Programme Director: Urban Communities

Key points

· Staff noted this was an overview report to update the Committee on the mahi completed in the last three months across relevant projects.

In response to questions

· Work was currently being completed on the industrial plan to be integrated into the wider spatial plan. This included discussion with the Port Authority.

· The Grenada Street cycling track, Maunganui Road and the destination skate park were still in construction; Grenada Street had an estimated completion time of 4-6 weeks.

· A steering group had been created which was working with mana whenua to ensure they were integrated into discussions. There was direct liaison with the Mount Mainstreet Association, and Priority One was preparing an early outline of the group’s work which would be presented to Council.

Discussion points raised

· The Committee supported the discussion with the steering group but noted that during engagement a wide range of views from the public must be taken into consideration. The community needed to travel the journey with the steering group and discussion between communities was vital to facilitate better planning.

· The Committee would like to see the process on paper, highlighting a ‘red risk’ list, timelines of working groups within the steering committee and monitoring of potential gaps within the plan.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/6

Moved: Commission Chair Anne Tolley

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Mount Planning and Delivery Programme Update".

(b) Notes the coordination underway and proposed across significant projects in the Mount to Arataki area including tangata whenua, stakeholder, and community engagement related matters.

(c) Requests future reporting to the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee includes overview of programme risks and a table summary of programme related projects.

Carried

Committee member Dr Wayne Beilby left the meeting at 11.30am.

9.5 Refreshed outline plan of Committee's upcoming work programme

Staff Christine Jones, General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance

Jeremy Boase, Manager: Strategy & Corporate Planning

Key points

· Presently a resource consents policy review was underway, the principal planners would continue with this work given the changes to the Resource Management Act that were progressing through central government.

· The Gambling Venues Policy was due for review and would be added to the work programme.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/7

Moved: Commission Chair Anne Tolley

Seconded: Commissioner Bill Wasley

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Refreshed outline plan of Committee's upcoming work programme".

(b) Notes the updated outline work programme for the Committee per Attachment 1.

Carried

The meeting adjourned at 11.34am

The meeting resumed at 11.39am

9.6 Long-term Plan 2021-31 actions tracker

Staff Christine Jones, General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance

Key points

· Staff noted that there may be challenges with staffing levels at Audit NZ in May which had implications for the proposed Annual Plan and the next Long-term Plan.

· Staff would remove from further reports any completed rates postponements.

· A minor error was corrected on page 137: Te Ranga reserve should be noted as Work to be Done.

In response to questions

· Blake Park work was not yet complete; there were further alterations to be made.

· The approximate cost for funding the Gloucester Road work was $4 million. There was community benefit from the project and, as this was an issue of urban growth, could have ongoing benefit to the region, however; the funding issues remained a problem for the Council to consider. There was some potential funding available from central government agencies, but not for the whole budget.

Discussion points raised

· The Committee was pleased with the succinct Kingswood Road update and would receive further updates in future.

· School water and water tanks could be an area of staff focus for water saving.

· The Committee wished to see urgency accorded to the work on the Tauriko Hall and a site wide date for completion to be provided to the Committee.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/8

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

That the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the Long-term Plan 2021 – Actions Report.

(b) Notes the progress to date as reported in Attachment 1.

Carried

9.7 Second Quarter Financial and Non-Financial Monitoring report to 31 December 2022

Staff Christine Jones, General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance

Kathryn Sharplin, Manager: Finance

Tracey Hughes, Financial Insights & Reporting Manager

Key points

· Staff gave a brief overview of the report following the round table discussion previously held with the Committee.

· Encroachments onto public land were estimated at 20 cases, of which three had been finished and dealt with.

In response to questions

· Current projects were still on track and on budget, with a clearer budget update to be provided to the Committee in April that would show any effect of recent adverse weather.

· It was noted that there had been changes to the scope of the Maunganui Road project and, while there had been a cost increase, the value of the project was kept intact and within the funding cap.

· Stage four of these works would cost Council an estimated $8 million.

Discussion points raised

· The Committee thanked staff for the report and noted that it was a good presentation of the last financial quarter, and that expenses had been signed off with little or no change to operational or capital expenditure projections.

· The Committee would write to central government ministers again to express their concerns regarding infrastructure spend and planning and the onflow effect this had on housing availability and the ability of the city to grow.

Committee Resolution SFR2/23/9

Moved: Commissioner Bill Wasley

Seconded: Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston

That the Strategy, Finance & Risk Committee:

(a) Receives the report "Second Quarter Financial and Non-Financial Monitoring report to 31 December 2022".

Carried

10 Discussion of late items

Nil

11 Public excluded session

Nil

12 Closing karakia

Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston closed the meeting with a karakia.

The meeting closed at 12.24pm.

The minutes of this meeting were confirmed as a true and correct record at the Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting held on 15 May 2023.

...................................................

CHAIRPERSON