2009 foreshadowed significant change for Auckland’s arts sector. The imminence of the new Super City, the biggest restructuring of local government that NZ has seen, has promulgated concern throughout the region about the future of the arts in a vastly new structure.

2009 foreshadowed significant change for Auckland’s arts sector. The imminence of the new Super City, the biggest restructuring of local government that NZ has seen, has promulgated concern throughout the region about the future of the arts in a vastly new structure.

On the positive side, there has been in shift in thinking as people grasp the concept of one city, and begin to forge new inter-regional connections.

This spirit of cooperation will more readily facilitate keeping the arts on the radar of the Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) and other influences involved in the restructuring of the city.

Along with cooperation there is a need for vigilance in monitoring and responding to the potential effects of change.

An Arts Working Group has been formed out of a series of arts sector meetings to undertake this process. This group represents all tiers of the arts community. They have met regularly and are keeping abreast of the issues, identifying possible implications, initiating response to documents and legislation, and making contact with key people at the ATA and councils. The working group regularly feeds back to the sector itself, (please see latest update at the end of this article) and responds to concerns raised.

The Creative People’s Centre has been involved in informing and galvanising the community from the beginning of the process. They have released publications on the matter and initiated meetings. Their website posts articles about the transition developments, submission processes and concerns for community. It also posts updates from the working group as soon as they are made available. www.cpc.org.nz

However, this work does not replace what arts centres, organisations, groups and individuals need to do themselves to strengthen the awareness of the value of the arts to the Auckland region.

The third and final piece of legislation, the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill, provides the opportunity for people to get involved and work on forming the shape of structures likely to have influence on the arts. The Bill has been released and submissions are accepted until 12 February 2010.

One important thing to note is that this Bill lacks detail on the local board roles and functions. It is anticipated that local boards will allocate resources to facilities and services within their areas and this is likely to have implications for the existing arts infrastructure. Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has indicated that the roles and functions will be determined by the ATA. Further information about their progress with role definition will be made available on the ATA website.

What to do:

A palatable third Bill summary can be found by clicking here.

For specific concerns and issues you have regarding the transition contact either the Arts Working Group at maggie@artistsalliance.org.nz, or the Creative People’s Centre at people@cpc.org.nz

Some useful dates:

1st February: Draft Organisational Structure finalised.

12th February: Submissions due for the third and final Bill

Mid February: Meeting with arts sector, where the working group will present and discuss their findings, recommendations and advice. Date TBC

May 2010: Organisational Structure adopted.

Arts Working Group Update 16.12.09

Meeting with Colin Dale

The working group has met with Colin Dale, who is in charge of the Community Services work stream at the Auckland Transition Agency. It was an excellent meeting and we look forward to working with him further.

•    We felt confident that Colin Dale is working hard to try and capture the existing arts funding structures across the current cities and propose them to the new supercity. He was genuinely interested in our views, and we were fortunate to meet with him as we understand that other heads of work streams have been less open to these meeting requests.

•    The draft organisational structure for the council is constantly being modified, we saw the version at that time is not in the public realm as yet as it is draft and will change before it becomes a discussion document

•    Specific roles of the local boards are still undecided. We feel this is something to watch carefully as it is unclear how the local board will relate to the central structure on the topic of Arts and culture and what types of arts facilities/individuals might be impacted.

Our plans for the near future:

•     Responding to the ATA’s discussion document on proposed CCOs

•    Assessing the issues in the third bill for the arts sector, and providing advice on how to make submissions.

•    To meet with the arts reference group to discuss the issues for medium-sized enterprises with regional delivery and/or regional aspirations.