Te Awamutu i-Site. Photo / Dean Taylor
EDITORIAL
Before I get stuck into this opinion piece about Waipā District Council’s decision for future funding of Te Awamutu i-Site, I need to publish a disclaimer.
For most of this century, I have been associated with the i-Site as a member of the governing board, plus for many years I worked closely with the manager to organise Te Awamutu’s now-defunct spring festival and on other events and projects.
I worked with several board chairs, including former MP, the late Katherine O’Regan, Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board chairwoman Ange Holt, recently Tom Davies, and briefly, until I resigned due to extra workloads last year, Te Awamutu Business Chamber chief executive Shane Walsh.
For the entire time I was associated with Te Awamutu i-Site, it has received funding from Waipā District Council to assist with running costs, predominantly salaries.
In the early days, much more use was made of volunteer staff, but as i-Sites developed into the nationwide network of information and tourist destinations they now are, much more was demanded of staff, and the ability to keep up with part-time volunteers became more difficult.
Accordingly, more trained staff were employed on salaries.
Te Awamutu i-Site started as the Public Relations Office in a caravan in the Rose Gardens, founded and manned by businessman Tuffy Burchell, with help from a handful of volunteers.
And it relied on the generosity of community-minded residents to grow into the organisation it is today - residents such as my father, Cedric Taylor.
Dad lived all his life in Te Awamutu. A builder, he donated his time, expertise and labour to several community projects.
As a Jaycee, he was involved in the development of the Rose Gardens and as a Lion, he helped fundraise and build the first i-Site building and the extension, known as Burchell Pavilion. My uncle, Ian Fraser, also a Te Awamutu Lion and building inspector for the council, was the project manager for the extension project.
Dad’s involvement in other community groups also had him involved in the building of the Waipā Workingmens Club and the Woolshed Theatre, plus many smaller projects.
He is one of hundreds of men and women who put their heart and soul (and labour and money) into building Te Awamutu.
I like to feel I followed in his footsteps by being involved in as much as possible where my skills and knowledge would be valuable.
That is why it upsets me when decisions are made that affect the good, hard-working people of Te Awamutu, and the important clubs, organisations, groups and businesses they have built, without consultation or notice.
In this example, the council has been working with the management boards and staff of the two i-Sites regarding funding and an agreement as to the level of service.
An update was presented to a public-excluded meeting of the service delivery committee on December 5 by Sally Sheedy, Waipā group manager customer and community services.
The decision was made to remove $315,000 a year of funding for i-Sites from the draft budget.
This budget will now be presented to the enhanced annual plan as the council has voted to defer finalising the long-term plan until 2025.
The council did say $65,000 has been included in the draft budget for council online visitor promotional activity.
That is exactly some of the work Te Awamutu and Cambridge i-Sites are doing, because both run updated and excellent websites.
Te Awamutu has only recently invested in its new website as part of its drive to improve its service to the community, visitors and tourists.
I predicted that if the decision in the draft budget were carried out, it would probably mean the loss of jobs in both i-Sites; and yet no one from either the boards or staff was given a heads-up about the proposal or the opportunity to provide any information.
I can understand why the council wants to save money and, like many ratepayers, I do want our council to keep rates affordable. But, there is a but.
I have always maintained a community is more than water, roads, footpaths and sewers.
Those are important, but they aren’t what attracts people to a place to live and they aren’t what keeps them there and gets them engaged in the community.
People are social and have interests and hobbies. We like sport, we like culture, we like history, we like reading, we like playing, we like clubs, we like belonging... you get the picture.
Not everyone likes everything, but everything adds up to a strong and successful community. Sports grounds, parks, swimming pools, libraries, theatres, museums... the more diverse the better the community will be.
And when the community is strong there will be businesses, jobs, retailers, service providers, tradespeople and professionals.
Rates allow us to share in the costs of what we decide is important for us and, hopefully, attract more people to help share that load. It is a balance.
I also maintain some vital services that deserve a share of our rates - and the i-Site is one of them.
Te Awamutu i-Site manager Bea Schiller reported in December there was an ongoing demand for the services of i-Sites as tourism remained one of the largest economic factors in New Zealand.
We are in a recovery phase from the effects of Covid-19 and I don’t believe now is the time to retrench.
The i-Site encourages visitors to our town and promotes local activities and businesses to encourage more spending, helping the local economy.
They also provide a host of services to the people of the district, from selling tickets to local and national events, advising and selling travel packages, selling tickets and cards for transport services and providing a top-up service for the local Bee Card travel card.
Last year Te Awamutu i-Site invested in a new website to improve the online visitor experience and provide better information to attract visitors, residents and businesses.
Board chairman Shane Walsh says this investment in Te Awamutu will continue, but difficult decisions have been made already, resulting in job losses.
The plan is to return to the days of more volunteer staff, and Walsh says other decisions will also follow, including whether the board can afford to keep operating as an i-Site because being part of the national brand has a cost.
He says operating with mainly volunteers will be difficult, but should be possible, and will keep the organisation operational.
Walsh is particularly frustrated that it is more than just the possibility of losing the i-Site — it is what is in his view the undervaluing of the other volunteer work behind the scenes that goes into making the organisation work.
Similarly to the point I made earlier, Walsh says there is a board of skilled, passionate, experienced knowledgeable people who are giving their time and energy to this organisation.
Because they are dedicated to Te Awamutu, they have put together a plan they hope will work.
Since the funding announcement, Schiller has resigned to take up a new position and has left the organisation.
Walsh says he has negotiated redundancies with the remaining two staff, with one staying on until mid-May.
He is also pleased to have employed a former Te Awamutu i-Site manager on a part-time basis to steer the organisation into the future.
Roz Liddell has taken the role she held two decades ago and is now working two days a week. From mid-May that will increase to three days.
Walsh says her job is to create a team of volunteers and train them to operate the i-Site to a high level.
“She will also need to look at ways to increase income, basically so she can guarantee her position,” says Walsh.
With previous i-Site managerial experience and retail experience, Walsh is confident the right person has the job.
The board will also be submitting to the enhanced annual plan for continued funding, or at least that the allocated $65,000 be granted to the i-Sites to assist them in continuing the good work they are already doing.
I hope the community work that began in the late 1960s with the construction of the Rose Gardens and everything that has grown from that will be able to continue.
The key seems to be finding the right pool of volunteers - you are out there and now is the time to step up.
If you want to know more, contact Roz Liddell, manager@teawamutuinfo.co.nz.
Dean Taylor is a community journalist with more than 35 years of experience and is editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.
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