Tēnā koe A O’Sullivan

Thank you for your email dated 18 November requesting information about what projects were funded using $8 million ratepayer money. What cost benefit analysis was carried out on each? Is the analysis publicly available? If so please provide it. Are any of the funded projects complete? If so what were the results of the post implementation reviews particularly in terms of benefits achieved.

Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us provide a decision as soon as possible, but no later than 20 working days of receipt.

The reference number for your request is IRO-10865.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

Kind regards

The Assurance Team
Email: [email address]
Wellington City Council | W Wellington.govt.nz | |

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-----Original Message-----
From: A O'Sullivan <[FOI #14154 email]>
Sent: 18 November 2020 09:08
To: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - That $8 million of ratepayer money - what was it spent on?

Dear Wellington City Council,

Earlier this year the Council decided this year to take $8million of ratepayer money, not required due to the pandemic, and spend it on environmental and technological advancement, emissions and waste reduction, and Kaupapa Māori innovation.

What projects were funded by the $8 million? What cost benefit analysis was carried out on each? Is the analysis publicly available? If so please provide it. Are any of the funded projects complete? If so what were the results of the post implementation reviews particularly in terms of benefits achieved.

It is noted that this is particularly pertinent at this time when rates increases up to 23% are on the table, as ratepayers need to be reassured that their money is being spend responsibly.

Yours faithfully,

A O'Sullivan

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Dear A. O’Sullivan,

 

Thank you for your email to the Council received on 18 November 2020 in
which you requested information relating to the City Recovery Fund.

 

Please accept my apologies for the considerable delay in responding to
your request.

 

By way of clarification, I can advise the City Recovery Fund is the
aggregation of three existing funds, these being: City Growth Fund,
Capital of Culture, and Destination Wellington. The total funding
available being $7.6 Million, with $2.6 Million already committed to a
programme of activities upon commencement of the fund. This is operational
funding and the results are reported in the Council’s Annual Reports.

 

Further information relating to the fund is available on the Council’s
website via the following links:

 

[1]Community support - Tipu Toa: Build Back Better / City Recovery Fund -
Wellington City Council

 

[2]News and information - Council approves City Recovery Fund - Wellington
City Council

 

[3]Agenda - Council - 27 May 2020 (wellington.govt.nz)

 

[4]2020-05-27-minutes-council.pdf (wellington.govt.nz)

 

As you have asked a number of questions I will address these in the order
of your email.

 

1) What projects were funded by the $8 million?

 

As referred to above, $2.6 Million had already been committed to a
programme of activities (approvals carried forward from the City Growth
Fund and Sports Sponsorships) which included the following:

 

Carried Forward Approvals (showing current status):

ITx Conference (Postponed until July 2021)  
Ocean Exploration Centre (Project discontinued and funding returned to  
fund)
Doc Edge Festival (Postponed until June/July 2021)  
Miramar Events Trust Roxy5 (postponed by six months)  
City Mission (Newtown Project support – awaiting consent lodgement)  
UNESCO Heritage Precinct Bid Development (in progress)  
Creative HQ - Startup Garage 2.0 (In Progress – Event Series over next 9  
months)
Creative HQ - LLab Tourism 2020 (Complete)  
Creative HQ - Arts Accelerator and business tools (Complete)  
Second Unit 2020 - 'The Great Escape' (Postponed until borders open)  
City Arts & Events - Matariki, Arts on Walls, City Activations (Ongoing  
programme)
Professional Performing Arts Fund (Funded via Arts and Culture Grants)  
Circa Theatre (Funding for operations)  
Visa WOAP (Complete)  

World of Wearable Arts (September/October 2021)

WW1 Commemoration Programme (TBD)
 

Sports Sponsorship:

Phoenix  
Hurricanes  
Pulse  
Cricket Wellington  

         Wellington Saints
   
New Approvals 2020/2021 (showing current status):  

Marketing support for the Armageddon event (complete Aug 2020)  
Tedx event (May 2021)  
Dealer Gallery Collective (26-31 May 2021)  
Project Fashion (2-5 April 2021)  
Queens Wharf ice skating rink  (complete July-August 2020)  
NZ Road Cycling Championship (complete January 2021)  
Wellington Orchestra - Marvel Movies Scores @ MFC (27^th Feb 2021)  
Lantern Festival (16-17 April 2021 – now postponed)  
The Zero Carbon Challenge & Climathon (June 2021)  
Mana Moana 2020 (completed Nov 2020)  
Urban Dream Brokerage (in progress)  
What if the City was a Theatre? - Various contracts (Feb/March 2021)  
CubaDupa (March 2021)  
Love Local Christmas (completed Dec 2020)  
Wellington Opera production of Don Giovanni (April 2021)  
Te Papa - Dali and the Surrealists Exhibition (June-October 2021)  
City Gallery – Major Exhibition Support (Dec 2021 - March 2022)  

         Festival for the Future (July 2021)

         Wellington Dragon Boat Festival (February/March 2021)

         Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award (May – August 2021)

         Eat Drink Play Stay – Hospitality project – (May 2021)

         Classical on Cuba (27-28 June 2021)

         Handmade Craft Festival (5-7 June 2021)

         Wellington Craft Chocolate Festival (2-4 July 2021)

 

2) What cost benefit analysis was carried out on each?

 

Every proposal was assessed against the Key Principles, Gateway criteria
and General Criteria of the City Recovery Fund, which includes analysis of
the cost and benefits amongst other criteria. 

 

Principles, criteria and decision making framework are included in the
[5]Agenda - Council - 27 May 2020 (wellington.govt.nz) and
[6]2020-05-27-minutes-council.pdf (wellington.govt.nz)

 

3) Is the analysis publicly available? (If so, please provide it).

 

Whilst the analysis is not publicly available, the Council will report on
the outcomes.

 

4) Are any of the funded projects complete?

 

Yes. Please refer to the information provided for question 5 below.

 

5) If so, what were the results of the post implementation reviews
particularly in terms of benefits achieved?

 

The information provided below relates to the new approvals completed and
reports received as opposed to the pre-approved and carried forward
initiatives):

 

Initiative Key Outcomes Delivered
Marketing support for the First large scale indoor event in
Armageddon event Wellington after lockdown with targeted
attendance of 15,000 which was met. Out of
region attendance was around 15%.
Queens Wharf ice skating rink First outdoor event after lockdown to
activate the waterfront and support
domestic tourism in the school holidays. 
The temporary ice skating rink on Queens
Wharf had 15,246 visitors (Target was
10,000).
NZ Road Cycling Championship It has been around 10 years since this
event was hosted in Wellington and
included a Central City component. The
visitor target for the event was 3,000
people, and despite the poor weather 2,000
attended the final race alone. This event
provided great national and international
media coverage for the city, and event
organisers were impressed with city as a
venue for the event.
Mana Moana 2020 Mana Moana featured five audio-visual
works on a water screen at Whairepo Lagoon
in Wellington. This spectacular event
achieved close to 5,000 attendees against
a target of 4,000 and was a key
celebration of the easing of alert levels
Love Local Christmas Initiative This initiative was aimed at supporting
local businesses and to add vibrancy to
the city in the lead up to Xmas. A final
report has yet to be received for this
event.

 

Should you have any further questions please contact me.

 

Kind regards,

Ian

 

Ian Hunter
Assurance Advisor | Assurance | Wellington City Council
P 04 803 8315 | M 021 227 8315
E [7][email address] | W [8]Wellington.govt.nz | [9]Facebook | [10]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the sender
immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[11][IMG]

 

 

 

 

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