The Te Awamutu i-Site. Photo: Jeremy Smith.
Te Awamutu i-Site may have to close its doors unless it can find more than $155,000 to fund its operation – and the future of its home may also be in doubt.
Both the Cambridge and Te Awamutu organisations were given the news Waipā District Council had withdrawn its annual contribution to Destination Cambridge – which runs the Cambridge i-Site, and Destination Te Awamutu – last week.
Each were getting $157,000 a year.
In Te Awamutu, the i-Site’s Gorst Ave building was purpose built by the community, then gifted back to the council for its current use, Destination Te Awamutu chair Shane Walsh told The News.
Destination Te Awamutu leases the building back from council for the purposes of running the i-Site.
The News sought confirmation from the council that Walsh was correct.
A spokesperson said “…given the historical nature of the building itself, we’ll need to do a bit of investigating to get this answer for you. So, we will treat this as a LGOIMA request and respond in due course”.
Under the Local Government Official Information Act (LGOIMA), the council has 20 days to provide a response, but has historically responded to The News’ questions much more quickly.
Shane Walsh
The act was designed as an avenue for people to request information held by local government agencies.
In recent years, agencies have turned the tables on questions by filing them as being made under the act, even when they are not.
Walsh said he understood the i-Site building was built by community groups for the purposes of Destination Te Awamutu’s predecessor – Te Awamutu Community Public Relations Organisation – having a space which could be used as a “community facility”.
The Destination Te Awamutu board met this week to discuss ways of keeping its doors open beyond June 30.
The district’s i-Sites provide tourism and visitor information in both towns through a service level agreement with the national i-Site organisation.
Earlier this year the council extended the two contracts through to June 30 next year – but prior contracts had been for a three-year term, Walsh said.
If the doors do close in July, Te Awamutu i-Site’s three staff will lose their jobs – Walsh said, though, the board would work to find a way to prevent that happening.
“It is not going to be easy and it is not guaranteed, but we will be working as hard as we can to keep the doors open and get a positive result for our staff,” he said.
Destination Te Awamutu’s 2023 statement of financial performance shows that even with council funding, the i-Site ran at losses for the past two financial years.
For the 2022 financial year, the i-Site’s total operating expenses were just over $200,000, and $230,000 to June 30 this year.
But the i-Site faced a $22,000 deficit at the end of the 2022 financial year, and a $7000 deficit to June 30.
Revenue to June 30 this year though was up more than $40,000 to about $220,000 when compared with the previous financial year.
Excluding council funding, the i-Site’s revenue from providing goods and services in 2023 – collected from initiatives like rentals and commissions of the space, income from a craft market, hiring out a pavilion, a government subsidy and sales – was just over $73,000.
“Truthfully, we don’t know where the additional revenue will come from just yet,” Walsh said.
“But for now, all we can say is it is business as usual while the board works hard to find ways to keep the doors open from July.
“We had already been looking to find ways of creating more revenue so that we’re not so reliant on council funding any way… we now just have to accelerate that process.”
