Facilities to change activity or location

The current financial position of some facilities means they don’t contribute to Council’s strategic priority of being financially sustainable, and rates are required to help fund their operations. The following facilities could reduce their need for rates funding if we rethink either their location, their activities, or both: the National Aquarium of New Zealand, Napier isite, Par2 MiniGolf, and the Faraday Museum of Technology.

More important background information to the following proposals

Over the past year we’ve looked at potential new options for these facilities. We’ve thought about what kind of visitor experience would be affordable for ratepayers and attractive to residents and visitors. The work included considering the day-to-day running costs and maintenance costs needed for each. This is a ‘once in a generation’ review, to ensure these facilities need less funding from rates to operate.

This consultation outlines the high-level ideas for each facility that we’d like your views on. Go to the supporting documents section on this website for the guidelines (including financial) for each facility that were set by Council before the new ideas were developed. These were used to guide the development of the new options.

We would like to know what residents think about the general direction proposed for each facility. Once Council considers this feedback, we will decide whether to proceed with business case development for any option. This will show detailed operational and capital costs. It is also important that business cases show linkages to Council’s strategic priorities, particularly financial sustainability. More thorough consultations for each facility that include rates impacts will also take place before any final decisions are made. Any proposed changes won’t take place immediately. Decisions haven’t been made on how many facilities will move through this process at the same time.

The options to be analysed in any business cases could include more than just Council’s preferred option, for example, any ideas that are proposed during the Annual Plan hearings process. This will give residents an opportunity to offer ideas, potentially providing more options during later consultation phases.

All options proposed have short-term and long-term impacts. We have included the high-level estimated financial information that shows the implementation cost for 2025/26. We have also shown estimated financial impacts five years after any new facility is operating.