The museum had agreed to the move in principle.
“This is us doing that due diligence work, and working out what is the best way for the museum into the future,” he said.
“We have been talking to stakeholder groups, like Friends of the Museum, some of our iwi, and staff.
“Now, we are going wider than that and making sure everyone has the opportunity.”
The council provides the museum with annual operating funding of $1.3 million.
Smith’s report said expenses at the museum were “not unreasonable for an organisation of this nature or size”, and the trust was operating it cost-effectively.
Smart said the museum’s collection, which has more than 300,000 objects with a total value of about $36m, would stay in the guardianship of the charitable trust.
“Basically, the proposal is for the council to assist with operational management and employment of staff.
“Napier has a similar regional museum [MTG Hawke’s Bay], and it has a trust with collection responsibilities.
“In their case, two councils, Napier and Hastings, operate the museum, employ the staff, and employ the staff to care for the collection.”
He said the museum hoped to complete the review by March next year.
“Recommendations will be put through to the joint council, we’ll make decisions, and enter into discussions with the council from that point onwards.
“But that is not a deadline. We want to make sure we do the work right.
“If we can get the public’s responses to the questionnaire by Christmas, that would be fantastic, but there is no hard closing date.”
Smart said it was the first review of the constitution for 14 years, and the third overall.
Members of the public can access the consultation questionnaire by emailing projects@wrm.org.nz.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
