By BERNARD ORSMAN
The Womad music festival, the Christmas tree in Aotea Square and a cheap ticket scheme for students could be axed as part of a $1 million financial squeeze at The Edge.
Auckland City councillors have voted to trim $975,000 from a range of special events in the coming year at The Edge, which runs the Aotea Centre, Town Hall and refurbished Civic Theatre.
The Edge is having a terrible time at the ticket office, largely due to the prohibitive cost of staging musicals.
The council-owned business is heading for a $4 million loss, having budgeted on a $1.6 million shortfall.
Tough times in the entertainment market and councillors' determination to stick to a nil rates rise this year have led to the cuts.
The Edge asked for $4.1 million towards running costs and $4.9 million for capital works this year. The council said it must make do with $3.133 million and $2.3 million respectively.
Finance committee chairwoman Kay McKelvie said The Edge was a great cultural centre but $5 million was ample to keep it open.
The chief executive of The Edge, Greg Innes, has warned that the cut will have serious implications.
Trimming the "specific initiatives" budget from $775,000 to $200,000 will almost certainly spell the end for Womad. The past two festivals lost more than $1 million of ratepayers' money and The Edge had proposed spending $400,000 one last time to try to break even.
A council suggestion for Government funding to save Womad is unlikely to succeed.
Councillor and music promoter Gray Bartlett said The Edge should get out of Womad and put more effort into broadening Pasifika into a homegrown music festival.
Also under threat are the young people's New Year's Eve party ($200,000), the Christmas tree in Aotea Square ($30,000) and a proposal for cheap tickets for Auckland University School of Performing Arts students ($30,000).
Councillors have also cut the budget for the community and art education programme - which provides free and low-cost activities - from $750,000 to $350,000. The Edge board of management meets this month to consider the budget.
Meanwhile, councillors have effectively thrown out mayor Christine Fletcher's proposal for a major governance review of The Edge, sparked by her anger at the hiring of the Civic for an America's Cup ball before its official opening.
Cheap seats, Womad and Xmas tree face the axe
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