Community Services Bulletin September 2020 - Gore District Council
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Community Services Bulletin September 2020
COMMUNITY SERVICES BULLETIN
SEPTEMBER 2020
1. REPORT FROM PARKS AND RECREATION MANAGER (Ian Soper)
General operations
Spring is now with us. Weather patterns are now typical of a wet spring adding in
southerly blasts and equinoctial winds – just as blossoms are in their prime. Staff are
juggling workload between unfavourable weather systems.
While mowing operations are in full swing, staff have had to manage vehicle movements
on turf areas when ground conditions have been too wet to allow operations to occur
without leaving wheel-ruts and marks. Growth is ever increasing as the ground
temperature increases. Most mulching and composting have occurred, and now weeding
is in full swing.
Contractors continue to mulch the felled eucalypts at the Hamilton Park landfill site. As
soon as this job is complete, the contractors will be moving to Henderson Park in Mataura
for a similar operation.
The Waikaka Way new route has been determined. The track was closed after February
flooding when sections of the track were washed out. Contractors are currently pricing
the work. It is intended to have it reconfigured, graveled, and open by Christmas.
Projects
• Regional Places and Places Strategy
o Discussions with the lead agency, Sport Southland, and consultants continue.
The document is in the final stages of review, and it is hoped to be able to
present it to the Council soon.
• Depot workshop rebuild
o This project is now fully complete and operational.
o Replacement aggregate bins and a covered topsoil bin have also been installed
in the Depot yard and are also now operational.
• Playgrounds
o The Kids Hub natural play area was officially opened on 21 September. It has
been a work in progress for a number of years since its inception as part of the
overall Kids Hub development. A debt of gratitude to the Kids Hub committee,
which drove and funded the majority of this great new community asset. The
Council playground inspector was also involved in elements of compliance and
repurposing a couple of items from disused playground equipment.
o West Gore playground public consultation is occurring with good engagement
to date. Staff will be manning the consultation caravan onsite at Sword Street
playground to liaise on site with the community.
o Hamilton Park is still awaiting delivery of its new replacement playground
following the February weather event, which destroyed the existing one.
• Predator Free 2050 (PF2050)
o Ongoing dialogue and meetings are being attended. A replacement
coordinator is currently being recruited for the second year of operation. Work
continues on the Dolamore Park predator plan.
Community interaction
Interaction with groups, clubs, and organisations over the past month:
• Sport Southland, consultation and meeting attended.
• A & P Joint Management Committee, ongoing operational management.
• Southland Equestrian Park Trust, consultation and meeting.
• Southland Rhododendron Group, consultation.
• Gore Garden Club, consultation.
• Pukerau Cemetery Support Group – multiple consultations, staff meeting onsite.
• Various sub-contractor contact.
• Various sports club interaction.
• Regional Sports Trust meeting attended.
• Discussion and liaison with various suppliers.
Collegial interaction:
• Recreation Aotearoa (RA) - Otago Southland Branch, consultation and zoom
meeting attended.
• South Island Park Managers Forum – ongoing collegial dialogue.
• New Zealand Park Agencies Managers Group (PAMG), trading as Park Leaders
Forum. Governance Group – teleconferences, zoom meetings, and operational
input.
Non-financial performance measures
Percentage of community that are satisfied across the
range of property and recreation criteria
94% satisfied2. REPORT OF THE LIBRARY MANAGER AUGUST - SEPTEMBER (Lorraine Weston-Webb)
Gore Library building
Following the announcement of central government funding of $3 million for the Library
and community spaces redevelopment in the James Cumming Wing, ‘conversations’ were
held with residents via the new online engagement platform ‘Let’s Talk Korero Mai’ and
two facilitated workshops to find out what people would like to see in the redeveloped
building. This resulted in some good ideas and concerns coming forward and these will
feed into the design process where appropriate. The next step is for a 2D and 3D design
plan to be prepared. This will be presented to the Council. If provisional approval is
granted there will be a second opportunity for public ‘conversation’.
COVID-19 impact
Alert Level Dates Period length Effect on library service
Alert Level 3-4 23 March-16 May Eight weeks Libraries were closed
Alert level 2 18 May-8 June Three weeks Libraries reopened with
reduced hours and services
Alert Level 1 9 June-11 August Nine weeks Libraries were fully operational
and people enjoyed the return
to relaxed usage
Alert Level 2 12 August-21 Six weeks Libraries were open normal
September hours with COVID safely
vigilance. Programmes and
events were cancelled.
Alert Level 1 22 September – Ongoing Normal hours and programmes
resumed. Visiting the library
has been a good option for
families during the first snowy
week of the holidays.
The library’s online presence and additional resources developed during the lockdown
have been useful for people preferring to stay home during the changing Alert Levels
this winter.The New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme (NZLPP) in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic
The Gore Library is a participant in the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme,
managed for the government by The National Library of New Zealand. This programme
provides Gore Libraries with:
• Fee waivers for all current library database subscriptions – Ancestry Library
Edition, Britannica Online and TumbleBooks.
• An additional suite of databases – PressReader, Australia/NZ Reference Centre
Plus and Masterfile Complete.
• Aotearoa Peoples Network Kaharoa (APNK) public internet computers and public
Wi-Fi.
The programme also provides for a new fixed term position until June 2022 to support
the Gore community by enabling an increased level of public library service. This role will
assist with focus areas in:
• Digital inclusion, supporting and assisting job seekers and learners
• Community engagement, supporting community recovery
• Reading for pleasure, supporting wellbeing.
The Council is currently undertaking recruitment to fill this fixed term, full-time Library
Assistant role. Government funding will end on 30 June 2022.
Statistics
Visitor and issue statistics for year end 30 June 2020 were provided in the July Community
Service bulletin. Further statistics may be of interest – these are across both libraries:
Active members (having borrowed 5063
within the last 24 months) 42% of the District population
Includes family membership where more
than one family member uses a card
Collection size – physical 43,393
Collection size – eBooks, Audiobooks 16,299
Wi-Fi access 29,952
Events 93
Event attendees 1169
Staff FTEs 7
Opening hours (normal week) 86
Displays and speaking engagements
Displays have included Bee Awareness Month, Māori Language Week, Mental Health
Week, Rivers and Poetry Month. For Poetry Month, a visit from guest poet Kay McKenzieCooke of Dunedin was first postponed due to Level 2 restriction, and then due to severe snow conditions on 28 September. The library also has a display for the General Election and Referendum topics. The Library Manager was invited as guest speaker to the Gore Rotary Club meeting on 10 August, and was interviewed with the Mayor on the local Cave FM radio, on 24 August. Quiz night The Library team “Read between the Wines” won the highly coveted annual staff Council quiz night on 4 September.
2. REPORT FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS/MARKETING MANAGER (Sonia Gerken)
Purpose
This report provides an overview of key communications/marketing activities from mid-
July to mid-September.
Projects
It would be fair to say the Council has a lot of projects out for community engagement
and/or information. They are:
• West Gore playgrounds review – open for submissions until Wednesday 14
October
• Gore Library and community space redevelopment – ideation phase complete,
draft designs underway
• Streets Alive – community workshops and public drop-in sessions finished, online
forums closed 1 October.
• New Gore bridge resource consent application – submissions closed and collated
• Gore water treatment plant upgrade
At the time of writing, the community engagement projects to be launched were:
• Gore stormwater separation plan – Elizabeth Street pilot
• Gore District Plan review – landscapes
• Gore wastewater treatment plant resource consent renewal
Let’s Talk Kōrero Mai Gore District
We launched our new online engagement platform on 12 August with four projects. We
have received excellent public engagement and praise from Bang the Table, the
company providing the platform.
The Council has been invited to make a presentation at October’s New Zealand user
group virtual meeting as the company is keen to showcase what can be achieved by
a small council with limited resources.Below is an overview of activity to date Engagement tools There are various engagement tools we can use on the site. Here are the analytics for the two most popular. Please note the ‘surveys’ are submissions.
Let’s Talk Gore District : Summary Report for 12 August 2020 to 23 September 2020
INFORMATION WIDGET SUMMARY
23 15 2 1 2
DOCUMENTS PHOTOS VIDEOS FAQS KEY DATES
DOCUMENTS TOP 3 DOCUMENTS BASED ON DOWNLOADS
23 Documents
57 48 38
Downloads Downloads Downloads
114 Visitors
Gore District Council Public Assessment of Environmental Gore District Council
400 Downloads Notice.pdf Effects.pdf Application Submission
Form.pdf
PHOTOS TOP 3 PHOTOS BASED ON VIEWS
15 Photos
17 11 8
Views Views Views
24 Visitors
Devonport Library.jpg Johnsonville Library stairs View looking down at the
99 Views serving as a hang out zone Johnsonville Library
VIDEOS TOP 3 VIDEOS BASED ON VIEWS
2 Videos
54 26
Views Views
73 Visitors
A flyover of the existing James Hear what locals love about
80 Views Cumming Wing Gore
FAQS TOP 3 FAQS BASED ON VIEWS
1 Faqs
53
Views
50 Visitors
Gore Library and Community
53 Views Space Redevelopment
KEY DATES TOP 3 KEY DATES BASED ON VIEWS
2 Key Dates
13 0
Views Views
12 Visitors
Streets Alive - Shaping Gore's West Gore Playgrounds
13 Views Future ReviewThe forum topics are the six themes to have come out of workshops for Streets Alive. x They are: • Creative street spaces – art, seating, planting, fountains, lighting • Signage and wayfinding • Consideration of a pedestrianised hub • Improvements to ease congestion and enhance safety • Opportunities for safer road crossings • Connecting spaces and places to improve access for everyone. Digital engagement We continue to grow our digital connection with customers. The Council’s corporate Facebook page has 6600 followers. Followers are people who have opted-in to “follow” our profile or page, meaning they will receive our updates in their timeline. It is heartening to see our followers growing, as the importance of developing an audience in ‘peace time’ to ensure there’s a high level of reach in the community during an emergency is critical to emergency management communications. As was shown in the February floods, most people turned to our Facebook page for information. Our most popular posts were: 31 August – fire at the old Mataura paper mill reached 22,100 people 1 September – street closure notice for COVID-19 testing reached 15,300 people 14 September – name our conversation caravan reached 6,300 people Antenno is also proving popular, with 1562 downloads. We are looking at another promotional campaign when the Southland District Council launches its Antenno app. Many of our residents may own property or have family in the SDC catchment, so Antenno will be a great way for them to receive information from both Councils.
VISITOR INSIGHTS REPORT
MILFORD SOUND
QUEENSTOWN
TE ANAU
DUNEDIN
GORE
INVERCARGILL
THE CATLINS
.
STEWART IS
Tourism/Gore Visitor Centre Senior Consultant Renatta HardySUMMARY
‘Heart of
The latest report is that holiday travel between Australia and
Southland’
New Zealand is highly unlikely to be open until at least early 2021.
With the trans-Tasman travel bubble postponed, our primary
source of income for our fishing tourism businesses is out for
this fishing season. There is an accumulated demand domestically and internationally,
and once the borders open, we should see a strong return of regular tourists.
VISITOR CENTRE STATS
The Gore Visitor Centre continue to see the impact of COVID-19 on visitor numbers and sales.
For the period January 2020 to August 2020 the total number of visitors was 25,838, which is
down 20% on the same period last year.
SALES (Jul - Sep 2020/2019)
The centre’s gross income for the Q3 2020 was $10,122, which is down 45% on the same
period last year.
Gore Visitor Centre Visitor Numbers (Jan-Aug) month-on-month Comparison
Gore Visitor Centre Visitor Numbers (Jan-Dec) MoM Comparison
8 00 0 2018 2019 2020
7 00 0
6 00 0
5 00 0
4 00 0
3 00 0
2 00 0
1 00 0
0
Jan
Fe b
M ar
Ap r
M ay
Jun
Jul
Au gTOURISM DISTRICT INSIGHTS YE JULY 2020 MRTE’S
International visitor spend down 14.6% to $7 million
Top 5 International Markets
Domestic visitor spend down -11.55% to $60 million
1. Australia (up 3.15%)
Total spend down 11.9% to $67 million
2. USA (down 20.0%)
3. UK (down 13.0%)
4. Germany (up 14.6%)
5. China (down 79.2%)
Visitor market YE July 2020
International
11.6%
Domestic
88.3%
MARKETVIEW INSIGHTS (Trial)
Great South has a new subscription with Marketview – data insights are based on the spending and
transactions of BNZ and Paymark – data & trend is varying from MBIE’s Monthly Regional Tourism
Estimates (MRTEs). Marketview data is for direct spend through card use so gives a reasonably
accurate picture.
Great South has invested in the full detailed tool which allows for digging deeper into the data and
also creating hotspots or target areas to monitor.
Quick summary overview below for Southland RTO and Gore township - not the whole Gore District.
Longitudinal data is not available yet.
Marketview Insights
According to Marketview the towns with
strongest domestic market for July are Central
Otago up 30%, and Dunedin up 25%.
Hotspot: July 2020
Gore township – spend here is $2.87m, up 5.6% for July. Looking into all the available data for
tourism industry wide we see the same pattern as the previous as last month is evident - retail and
food and beverage services are up but other categories are down:
o accommodation by 14.0%
o transport and travel by 97.0%
For July period Gore has had some strong spend growth, this is in food/beverage and retail while
transport and travel are down significantly. The hypothesis that the closure of travel agencies, as
well as the cancellation of key events over the past few months, will be key contributors.VISITOR FEEDBACK/MEDIA ARTICLES
GORE VISITOR CENTRE
MOONSHINE MUSEUM
CURRENT AND UPCOMING PROMOTIONAL INITIATIVES
Lower South Island – re-Discover Southland The New Zealand Motorhome, Caravan & Leisure
Show (Hamilton 9 - 11 October 2020) – stand – Gore to
AA traveler – feature for Southland – Gore feature as most Southern Motorhome friendly town
including
Back Your Backyard - TNZ / Stuff / NZME
Air New Zealand partnership – TBC
Consumer Insights Survey – mid November
MEDIA ARTICLES/MEDIA
The spotlight was on the Gore District in the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) magazine this month.
Sources: Total Spend in NZD Figures for Year End July 2020 MRTE’s (Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates) | Vend GoreNZ Shop Jun-Sep 2020 | MarketView July 2020You can also read
