Title of Report: MOUNT MAUNGANUI MAINSTREET SIX MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT TO JUNE 2010

Transcription

1 iu To: From: Meeting Date: Report No: Monitoring Committee Group Manager: City Directions 23 August 2010 DC 295 Tauranaa Cfty Title of Report: MOUNT MAUNGANUI MAINSTREET SIX MONTHLY MONITORING REPORT TO JUNE 2010 Purpose of Report: Significance of Decision: Report Writer(s): Monitoring Not Significant Adele Hadfield : Strategic Planner Summary Presenting the monitoring report for the Service Agreement between Tauranga City Council and Mount Maunganui Mainstreet for the 6 months January to June TCC Ref:

2 io Recommendation That it be Resolved (a) That the Group Manager: City Directions' Report (DC295 ) be received. 1. Background Following direction from Council in May 2009 Tauranga City Council (TCC) and Mount Maunganui Mainstreet have developed a Service Agreement for the delivery of Mainstreet Services to the commercial ratepayers of Mount Maunganui. The agreement formalises the existing relationship that TCC and Mount Maunganui Mainstreet have. It also establishes a monitoring programme for the reporting back to Council of activities undertaken by the Mainstreet organisation and any existing or pending issues or opportunities. Mount Mainstreet and TCC have now agreed the content of the Agreement for delivery of Mainstreet Sen/ices for Mount Maunganui Mainstreet. This monitoring report relates to the second half of the 2009/10 financial year ie January to June In accordance with the direction from Council in terms of the content of the agreement the report focuses on the reporting of delivery of the Mount Maunganui Mainstreet work programme. The key issues identified in the Mount Mainstreet Monitoring report are: Increases in rent for tenants Some outstanding maintenance issues with Council assets e.g. Phoenix car park ticketing machine. The key successes identified in the Mount Mainstreet Monitoring report are: The development of a new welcome pack for new business owners and operators Success of the Easter Blues, Food and All That Jazz event. Staff will be working with Mount Mainstreet over the next reporting period to: Resolve some of the outstanding maintenance issues on Council assets in the area. Ensure that information relating to future targeted rate requests is received early enough to include in the draft Annual Plan for community consultation through that process.

3 iv 2. Decision-Making Considerations 2.1 Significance of Decision, Issue and Matters The Local Government Act 2002 requires a formal assessment of the significance of matters and decisions in this report against Council's Significance Policy. In making this formal assessment the Monitoring Committee is not seeking to assess the importance placed on this issue by specific individuals, groups, or agencies within the community. Monitoring Committee acknowledges that all reports have a high degree of importance to individuals, groups, or agencies affected by the report. The matters in this report have been assessed against the Significance Policy. In accordance with the general approach, criteria and thresholds of the policy, the author of this report considers that the: decision on receiving the monitoring report is not significant. Issue/matter of Mount Maunganui Mainstreet service monitoring is not significant as it relates to the monitoring of an operational contract. Christine Jones Group Manager: City Directions 10 August 2010 Attachments: Attachment A: Mount Maunganui Mainstreet Monitoring Report

4 o Attachment A MOUNT MAIN5TR6ET MONITORING REPORT 1 January June F MAINSTREET 1.1 Mainstreet will: a) Provide Council with an annual Business Plan for the coming year by the 30"^ of June Ihat will set out the focus areas of the Mainstreet acfivities for the applicable year and the approved budget; b) Provide Council with Minutes of meetings and newsletters; c) Provide Council with a written six monthly report that will include; Financial report Achievements and acfivities undertaken including an assessment In terms of fhe criteria specified in the Schedule for the preceding six month period. The six monthly report is due by the 30"^ of the month following the end of the six month period, i.e. due 30 January & 31 July. A Mainstreet representative will present the report to the Monitoring Committee; o o have its accounts audited at least annually; and provide Council with a copy of annual audited financial statements for the year ended 30 June, to be received by Council not later than 30 September 1.2 Mainstreet will meet at least twice during each annual contract period with Council's nominated Strategic Plannerorofher Council staff member or representative to discuss relevant issues, in particular Mainstreet's: a) performance in respect of fhe Services specified in the Schedule and to be delivered by Mainstreet; b) effectiveness in relation to the role of Mainstreet and the Services, as specified in the Schedule; c) quality of delivery of the Services; and d) efficiency and cost ofxjelivery of the Sen/ices It is my pleasure to present this Monitoring Report to Tauranga City Council to showcase some of the great achievements of the past six months, to advise of our work in progress, and to briefly outline what is planned for the next six months. THE PAST SIX MONTHS BUDGET AND MARKETING PLAN - Both of these documents have been supplied to TCC. Our Marketing plan has now been developed for the next twelve months, and now aligns with our financial year which runs July to June. We continue fo have 3 major events each year, and 1 major winter promotion. Budget restraints prevent us from doing more so we are working on lots of minor projects and cost-effective initiatives. EASTER - The Mount Mainstreet hosted an event called "Blues, Food and All That Jazz". II was essentially a day of free entertainment on the street, with bouncy castles, colouring competitions, street entertainers and a couple of bands. We closed the road to keep the street safe for all the children, and it was a fantastic day that was enjoyed by an estimated 15,000 visitors. We intend on doing the same again next year, focusing on free family friendly entertainment. JASONS BROCHURE DISTRIBUTION - The Mount Mainstreet Visitor Guide is now on 150 Jasons Distributor stands throughout the Bay and Waikato, and they have already requested additional copies so this indicates that visitor are taking and reading our Guide. We are waitlisted for Rotorua, but the chances of getting a spot are nearly impossible. Unfortunately Jasons don't hold the contract for the Taupo region. NEW WELCOME PACK - Our original Welcome Pack for new business owners and operators to the Mount Mainstreet was out of date and poorly presented. This has been upgraded and now also includes relevant information about Tourism BOP, Priority One, SuperGold, the Chamber and NZ Retailers Assn. Each business received a copy with their May newsletter. FREE WEBSITE SEMINAR - we hosted a free website seminar with local company Zeald, and the numbers were incredibly disappointing at only a dozen attendees. Apathy and lack of participation continue to be our biggest hurdle! PARKING - The Mount Mainstreet managed to collect over 100 submissions for the Local Parking Management Plan, and we very pleased with the outcome of status quo. We continue to appreciate a meter free town, and fhe free parking.

5 VJ ADVERTISING - We are concentrating on advertising in more specific target areas, and outside the region to bring people to the Bay. We have had features/ advertising in the Destinations Magazine, Country News monthly rural newspaper, Taupo, Waikato and Goromandel newspapers, Jasons Brochure stands, Lifestyles in the Bay, NZ Herald Travel Supplement, Sebel Trinity map, and any local newspaper specials that we can afford. Again, budget restraints prevent us from spreading the advertising further, however we make the most of any opportunity we get. TH PRESCNT BUSINESS CHANGES - There have been a large number of businesses change hands, and only a handful of shops remain for sale and a few available for lease. It is hard to fathom why property owners would increase rent on businesses that have been operating for years. The recession is definitely not over, and any improvement in the economy has not filtered through to retail yet. Businesses still continue to struggle, with no money in bank for wages, advertising or rent increases. In Auckland landlords have predominantly stopped their increases, favouring instead to have a faithful and reliable tenant rather than possible empty premises. It is a shame that the property owners around here have no adopted the same philosophy. Better the devil you know! We are fortunate that most premises in the Mount Mainstreet are occupied, with just a few empty spaces at the eastern end of the street. SUPERGOLD - The SuperGold Card is a free discount and concession card available to all New Zealanders who are 65 years or over, and those under 65 receiving Superannuation or the Veteran's Pension, tt is one of NZ's largest discount and entitlement card programmes. It has over 1,100 business partners representing more than 5,100 outlets nationwide. There are currently more than 550,000 cardholders nationwide with over 20,000 cardholders in the Tauranga District alone. Given that a large percentage of our locals and residents are retired, we decided to explore the idea of "critical mass" SuperGold participation. We believed that this would be fantastic for the Mainstreet, particularly in the quieter months, trying to look after our locals, but also get them to look after us too! We wanted Mount Mainstreet to become a "golden mile"... a point of difference to all the other shopping "centres" in the Bay. We have now got 43 SuperGold Business partners in the Mount Mainstreet which is fantastic. Public feedback has been positive and appreciative. Any business can join for free at any time, and we expect that more will join as time goes on. Because of this Mount Mainstreet initiative Burger King, Travelex and Breakers have become nationwide SuperGold participants. VISITOR GUIDE - The Mount Shopping and Visitor Guide has been produced on an annual basis for approximately fen years and in the more recent years the Guide was changed to more suit specifically the cruise ship market. This year it will be the "Downtown the Mount Visitor Guide" (not just a shopping guide) so that it is suitable to use all over New Zealand, is a good marketing tool for businesses as well as retailers, yet still contain all the relevant information that cruise passengers and ANY visitor may require. We plan to print 30,000 copies and increase the distribution area. There were 46 advertising spots available in the Guide and these were sold out in record time. This Guide will be available the first week in October. WEBSITE - Mount Mainstreet pay our web designer to make any changes or updates to our website however this is proving very costly, and is ineffective given that I have the skill set and have done it before. We are hoping to implement our own CMS (Content Management System) so that I am able to make changes at any time. This is a significant cost but is a good investment long term. WIN A CRUISE - our Win A Cruise promotion is going extremely well. Entry numbers is double what we were expecting. Contrary to what you may read or hear in the media. Mount Mainstreet embraces the Cruise Ship market with passion and enthusiasm, and we appreciate the business that it brings to the region. We thought that by giving away a "Cruise for Two" it would endorse our appreciation of the cruise ships visiting the Mount and also be a great opportunity to hear first hand from our very own passengers experiencing a cruise. The businesses do not "flourish" on cruise ship days, but do enjoy any spend that they get. The streets are buzzing and busier, and for every ship that docks, we know that another few thousand people are enjoying this fantastic destination. We hope that this "teaser" is enough to entice them back as Free Independent Travellers thus the whole region benefiting from their air travel, rental car, accommodation, shopping and eating requirements and spend! Bring on the 53 cruise ships this year! FACEBOOK - we are nearly ready to activate our own Facebook page. Any business or organisation must keep up with technology and also be seen where our younger visitors and customers can find us. Watch this space! RETAIL CRIME PREVENTION - we attend the Retail Crime Prevention meetings and are in the process of delivering a survey to ascertain what our businesses require from this committee in terms of crime prevention. We hope to deliver an Expo or workshop in late September this year. We continue to have a great relationship with the NZ Police, and they are very supportive and attentive to any needs of the businesses.

6 TH6 FUTURE 20 BUSKING CHAMPIONSHIPS - This event will be held again on Labour Weekend Saturday and Sunday, but for shorter periods on each day, and with the road opening approx 2 hours earlier than normal. Road closure is great for an event and food outlets, but is most often detrimental to retail sales. CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - we will be seeking funding to continue on our four year project of fully decorating the Mount Mainstreet. Our decorations will be going up the week beginning 22 November, and we hope to have a total of 40 illuminated wreaths spread from Tawa Street to Pacific Avenue, CHRISTMAS PARADE - This event will be held on Sunday 28'*' November at midday. We have made changes to the road closure times to keep disruptions to the public and residents to a minimum. We plan to have the road open 2-3 hours eariier than last year. Hopefully there will be more community and school floats this year as it is becoming too commercial. We have already starting advising schools and community groups about the event so that they have plenty of time to prepare. Can we top last years float and crowd numbers?! SMALL TOWN CONFERENCE - I will be attending the Small Town Conference in Hawera in September this year. We believe that Les Cresswell still sits on the Advisory Board so that will be interesting! Unfortunately we are unable to afford lo attend the Towns and Cities Conference in late August - this has a great line up of speakers and would be beneficial. Perhaps next year! I-SITE - we are currently in negotiations with Tourism BOP for the Mount Maunganui i-sile to possibly relocate to the Mount Mainstreet office. They are currently looking at the logistics, staffing and a floor layout to see if it would be feasible. Most likely it will be foo small for their requirements, but if it did happen, although a little inconvenient in terms of us losing space, it would be fantastic for the Mount Mainstreet and the best location for the i-site. It is logical, practical, accessible and hopefully do-able! CRUISE SHIPS - With 53 ships due in this year, and 121,634 passenger and crew expected, we are looking fonward fo a great season. The Lionesses will continue to meet and greet the passengers, and this year we plan to do the same with the crew. We are also in negotiations with BOP Polytechnic to include some of their students in our ambassador programme. We are also discussing the Rugby Worid Cup Ambassador programme with them, and with Events Tauranga. WHAT ARE W DOING WITH COUNCIL? The Mount Mainstreet continues to hold the Contract to clean our footpaths and the service lanes and this continues to work well for both parties. No complaints or concerns received, and our equipment, touch wood, continues to function! The Mainstreet businesses submitted over 100 submissions for the Local Parking Management Plan and we all know the outcome of that. An amended Mainstreet Sen^ice Agreement has been received, but yet to be signed. We did not seek an increase in our Targeted Rate for the third consecutive year. The Mount Mainstreet did not support the joint application of the YMCA and Sandbar for the coming summer. The Sand Bars absence had a notable positive effect on trade last year and, with 37 on-licences and 8 clubs or off-licences in the mainstreet, plus an abundance of food outlets, the crowd are well catered for in the main street. Work in progress/requests to TCC departments that involve the Mount Mainstreet are : o Signage in and around the main street o Re-painting the lines in the car park o Speed bumps to slow down through traffic in the phoenix car park and cars coming down from May Street o Repairing and improving lighting at the pedestrian crossings o Replacing damaged rubbish lids and have requested some rubbish bins be located in or by the Phoenix Car Park o Continue to be a member of the Summer Task Force committee o Confirmation of Road Closures (we would like to see Events Tauranga implement an Event Booking Form or system to help organisers "secure" and confirm a suitable date for their event which will inevitably help prevent clashes). o Would like to see all the trees get a very heavy prune to mitigate constant leaf problem, but we know that budget is a hurdle. Leaf, insect and bird "debris" are becoming an issue for eateries with outdoor dining! o Mainstreet Board are happy with the proposed changes to the Draft Liquor-Free and Vehicle-Free Zones in Public Places Bylaw o The ticketing machine in Phoenix car park continues to break down, the labels on the slots are all unreadable, and people continue to come and ask me for change daily. REGULARS: > Mainstreet Mailer / Newsletter is distributed to all businesses monthly. All Councillors are welcome to receive a copy of this. > Breakfast Meetings - on the third Wednesday of every month with average 25 attendees > BA5's - these have been introduced on a quarteriy basis > Country News - regular monthly ad in this rural newspaper that reaches Coromandel, Waikato and the Bay > Board Meetings - third Thursday of each month > Farmers Market - every Sunday - continues to bring great crowds - approx 20 regular stall holders > Radio - contract with Radio Network > Street Talk - weekly column in the Mount/Papamoa News section of the Bay News

7 2. MONTH JULY MARKETING PLAN JULY 20I0 TO JUNE EOII DATE July-August 5 July-16 July Wednesday, 14 July 2010 Wednesday, 21 July 2010 EVENTS Winter "Tropical" Promotion - 8 weeks School Holidays Business After Five I Free Website Seminar j IRD - Tax and Legislation Changes AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY July-August Wednesday, 18 August 2010 Saturday, 28 August 2010 September Sunday, 5 September 2010 Thursday, 9 September 2010 Monday, 13 September September - 8 October 1st week of October October Monday, 18 October 2010 Wednesday, 20 October 2010 Wednesday, 20 October 2010 Saturday, 23 October 2010 Sunday, 24 October 2010 Wednesday, 10 November 2010 Wednesday, 17 November 2010 Sunday, 28 November 2010 Sunday, 5 December 2010 TBA Wednesday, 15 December 2010 Saturday, 25 December 2010 Sunday, 26 December 2010 Friday, 31 December 2010 Saturday, 1 January 2011 Thursday, 6 January 2011 Saturday, 8 January 2011 Wednesday, 19 January 2011 Anniversary Weekend (29-31 st) Anniversary Weekend Monday, 14 February 2011 Wednesday, 16 February 2011 Wednesday, 16 March 2011 Thursday, 17 March 2011 Thursday, 24 March 2011 Thursday, 31 March 2011 Wednesday, 20 April 2011 Friday, 22 April 2011 Monday, 25 April 2011 Sunday, 8 May 2011 Tuesday, 17 May 2011 Wednesday, 18 May 2011 Winter "Tropical" Promotion - 8 Weeks j Mayor Stuart Crosby Mid Year Street Function - Hawaiian Luau (TBC) Spring Promotion (TBC) Fathers Day (Possible minor promotion) Business After Five Councillor Wayne Moultrie Simon Bridges MP for Tauranga School Holidays Downtown the Mount Shopping Guide delivered Downtown the Mount - "A Breast of fresh air" Pink theme Start of the Cruise Ship Season j Tim Burgess from Tourism BOP ASB Breast Cancer Walk in Tauranga j Mainstreet Team / sponsor BOP Times/Bay News Busking Championship Junior Section BOP Times/Bay News Busking Championship j Open Section (Road Closed) Business After Five j Mount Mainstreet Breakers j NZ Police & TCC j New Years Eve closures TrustPower Christmas Festival & Santa Parade (Road closed 6am-2pm) Tin Man organised by Sport BOP (Partial road closure in area) Christmas Drinks/Members and Staff Function Shore Excursion Manager (TBC) Christmas Day Boxing Day New Years Eve - event/entertainment organised by Tga City Council New Years Day - shops open Ironman Festival from 5pm Port of Tauranga Ironman organised by Sport BOP (Partial road closure) Mainstreet Breakfast (TBC) Lioness Book Fair organised by Mt Lioness Club Gaelic Festival organised by BOP Pipes and Drums Valentines Day - Shop your heart out OTM - "Sweeten the Deal" Kiwi Festival organised by Kiwi Fest committee (TBC) St Patricks Day Business After Five Last large Cruise Ship to visit Tauranga for 2011 Easter Promotion Good Friday - shops closed Easter Monday / ANZAC Day (Road dosed) Mothers Day (Possible minor promotion) Business After Five JUNE Queens Birthday Weekend Monday, 6 June 2011 Wednesday, 15 June 2011 'Dates and events subject to change Right Royal Look Alike Competition Queens Birthday Monday