This week we have the Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Christchurch City Council Finance Committee, Andrew Turner. Andrew will speak about the Long-Term Plan which is out for submissions right now.
Bring along your questions.
Mine would start with why has an agency which has not performed, in my opinion, ChristchurchNZ being given more funding, and yet the Council is cutting library hours and community art funding for the Art Gallery. It’s time for ChristchurchNZ to get rid of its excess numbers of “marketing” and PR types and then for Councillors to refocus it on a new direction by changing its brief.
Here’s what the Art Gallery undertakes which is being cut by 25%:
The programme consists of a large menu of lessons based on current exhibitions and entails a guided tour of whatever lesson is chosen and then a practical making component. Popular lessons are Maori Motif and Polynesian Prints, because teachers are not always confident in these subject matters and look for specialist help, which the Gallery staff provide.
The cost of the lesson is $2 per child (so very affordable) and the Gallery also gets funding for low decile schools from organisations like CADFAS for bus transport. Schools are attracted from as far afield as Roncalli College in Timaru.
So why is this programme being cut? Why disadvantage the children of Christchurch? Why disadvantage our future work force where creativity is playing such a great part? So much writing done on how anyone can be digitally savvy as it’s creativity which employers will be looking for.
So, our kids are losing library hours and art lessons, whilst PR fluff continues to be funded elsewhere.
Here is what the CCC put out recently to encourage people to make submissions:
You will have the chance to provide feedback on the proposals in our Draft Long Term Plan 2021–31 until midnight on Sunday 18 April at ccc.govt.nz/longtermplan. It is your opportunity to have a say on whether we have come up with the right game plan for our city and Banks Peninsula for the next 10 years.
In this Draft Long Term Plan 2021–31, we have focused on the areas where our residents have told us they want us to do better. We’re investing in maintaining and improving our existing roads, footpaths and cycleways and upgrading our water networks. This comes at a time when we are continuing to respond and adapt to COVID-19 and climate change.
Today we are also launching our new Long Term Plan 2021–31 online search tool, which can be found at ccc.govt.nz/longtermplan. You can find the projects we plan to spend money on in the next 10 years and you can search by the area you live in, the type of project, the project name or a key word.
Public consultation also begins today on our Draft Ōtautahi Christchurch Climate Change Strategy and Draft Development Contributions Policy 2021, to coincide with the Draft Long Term Plan 2021–31 consultation. Both of these consultations have implications for our Long Term Plan, so it makes sense to combine the conversations.
The Draft Ōtautahi Christchurch Climate Change Strategy, which looks at how we can plan for and adapt to life in a changing climate, will be open for feedback until 25 April 2021. Development contributions of cash, or sometimes land, help to fund the facilities and infrastructure that the Council provides to cater for growth. Consultation on the Draft Development Contributions Policy 2021 will close on Sunday 18 April. You can find more information about both consultations at ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay
We have released a Newsline story about all three public consultations today. Please feel free to share this information with your networks.
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