The Te Awamutu i-Site. Photo: Jeremy Smith.
Waipā District Council may have cut Destination Te Awamutu funding without knowing whether or not there is an historic arrangement stating what the building could be used for.
The News’ enquiries have so far corroborated some statements by Destination Te Awamutu chair Shane Walsh, who said last week that when Destination Te Awamutu’s predecessor – Te Awamutu Community Public Relations Organisation – was formed, one of its aims was to establish an i-Site in town.
Walsh also told The News the Gorst Ave building was purpose built by the community, then gifted back to the council for its current use.
The building is on a reserve, and Destination Te Awamutu leases the building back from council for the purposes of running the i-Site.
Information has also been sought regarding how long the i-Site building has been in Gorst Ave, and how long the lease arrangement between council and Destination Te Awamutu has been in place.
The answer to these queries though won’t likely be known until the new year, because enquiries last week were treated by the council as a Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act request and would be, a spokesperson said, answered in “due course”.
Te Awamutu Community Public Relations Organisation’s application for incorporation documents dated August 1980 and viewed by The News confirmed Walsh’s statement regarding the establishment of an i-Site.
A foundational goal, the document said, was to “…establish and operate a public relations information centre to carry out the business and affairs of the public relations officer and public relations department in all its branches for the community’s benefit…”
The document also said the organisation would “…purchase, lease, acquire, hold, manage, let, sell, exchange, improve, maintain and deal with any real or personal property which may be necessary, or convenient, for the promotion… of the organisation…”
This would include a building.
The council has decided to pull its annual contribution to Destination Cambridge – which runs the Cambridge i-Site – and
Destination Te Awamutu.
It amounted to $157,000 for each i-Site per year, and the funding cut has left Destination Te Awamutu reassessing its future.
