67 02 May 2017
06 April 2017
File: (17/624)
Report no: CDC2017/2/105
Independent Survey of Petone Fair - results and recommendations
Purpose of Report
1. The purpose of this report is to advise the Committee of the progress that has been achieved following on-going disagreements between key stakeholders regarding the Petone Rotary Fair, and to recommend a solution to the issues.
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Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: (i) acknowledges the differing views of parties regarding the day of the week the Petone Rotary Fair should be held on, noting valid concerns on all sides; (ii) acknowledges that officers have made numerous attempts over the last 24 months to assist the parties in finding an agreeable solution, but to no avail; (iii) notes that an independent survey of Jackson Street businesses was undertaken to understand the preference for the Petone Fair to be on a Saturday or Sunday and the financial impact of the Fair currently being on a Saturday; and (iv) agrees that Petone Rotary should be asked to change the day of the fair from a Saturday to a Sunday for a minimum of two consecutive years as a trial, starting in 2018. |
Background
2. Some business owners in Petone have raised concerns around the negative financial impact the annual Petone Rotary Fair has on their business. Petone Rotary have made efforts to work with these businesses to help overcome issues, however there are still ongoing concerns with the fair taking place on their busiest trading day, Saturday.
Many of those business owners, along with support from the Jackson Street Programme, have been lobbying Petone Rotary for the past two years to trial a move for the event to a Sunday.
Petone Rotary has voiced concerns about a move of day for the event, and to date are opposed to this happening. They are the owner of this event and as such it is their choice to move the day or otherwise. However the fair cannot take place without road closure approval from Council.
For the past two years the road closure request for this event has seen an increased number of objections. As a result the City Development Committee and Temporary Road Closures Subcommittee have regularly asked officers to carry out actions to assist with resolving this matter.
3. Two official independent surveys have been carried out regarding these issues, the most recent of which was completed by Public Voice in February/March 2017, after the most recent fair.
4. An excerpt from the minutes of the Temporary Road Closure Subcommittee meeting held on 7 October 2016:
That the Subcommittee:
(iv) requests that discussions be held between interested parties to consider piloting a Sunday for the Hutt News Petone Rotary Fair 2018, and that a decision on this be made by the end of May 2017.”
5. An excerpt from the minutes of the Temporary Road Closures Extraordinary Subcommittee meeting held on 11 October 2016:
The General Manager, Strategic Services noted the Subcommittee had requested officers hold a meeting with interested parties for the Hutt News Petone Rotary Fair (the Fair), to agree to a day for the 2017 Fair and resolve issues for the long term relationship of those interested parties. She noted this meeting had been held on 11 October 2016, with the following agreed outcomes:
a. The Jackson Street Programme (JSP) would be asked if they could provide a liaison representative on the Fair Committee;
b. The Petone Community Board would be asked if they could provide a liaison representative on the Fair Committee;
c. The Fair Committee would seek feedback from stallholders of the 2017 Fair, including their preferred day the Fair should be held;
d. Officers would provide guidelines for the Fair Committee - for consultation and reporting for the 2018 Fair;
e. Petone Rotary agreed to determine what would be required if the Fair was held on a Sunday; and
f. Officers would arrange an independent survey of business owners to assess expected fluctuations in sales from holding the Fair on a Saturday or a Sunday.
Discussion
6. While the fair has historically attracted crowds of up to 30,000 people to Petone, the nature of business on Jackson Street, has changed. Many Jackson Street businesses are now offering specialised products and services.
Some of these businesses claim that the majority of the fair audience in recent years is a different type of consumer to those that engage with their products or services, and do not see the benefits of those visitors. Some of these businesses claim their regular customers stay away on fair day as they cannot find parking, and don’t want the hassle of trying to reach the premise.
7. Those lobbying for the day to be moved to a Sunday state that this would result in less impact on trading, and would allow those businesses that do financially benefit from fair day to have their normal trading on a Saturday. These businesses are based on Jackson Street 365 days per year providing economic benefit to the city.
8. The results of an independently administered tripartite survey undertaken by Council, Petone Rotary and Jackson Street Programme in December 2015 were interpreted by all parties in differing ways – making the results ambiguous. Agreement between key parties has never been reached on what the results show.
9. The subsequent survey of businesses was agreed to by all parties, and undertaken in Feb/March 2017 by Council with an independent professional organisation; Public Voice who were responsible for framing the questions, communicating the survey to the target group and compiling the results. There was a 38% response rate (80 businesses).
10. Topline results show:
a. 49% of respondents think the Petone Rotary Fair should be held on a Sunday, 44% on a Saturday and 8% replied that they didn’t know.
b. 79% of respondents believe the fair should continue to be held on Jackson Street.
c. 42% said that the fair had a negative financial impact on their business, 32% report a positive financial impact and 26% report no financial impact.
d. See Appendix 1 for full results.
11. Petone Rotary cites a potential reduction in stall holders and attendees due to availability as the major concern when considering a move to Sunday. Any reduction could adversely impact the success of the fair, the profit raised by the fair (shown as $30,177 in 2017), and the experience for fair goers.
12. Petone Rotary ran a stall holder survey for the 2017 fair to which they had a 43% response rate. The survey stated that a Saturday is the day of choice for the Fair for 86%of them [stallholder].
13. In Summary:
· Stall operators and visitor prefer a Saturday for the Petone Fair (Petone Fair survey)
· Jackson Street businesses prefer a Sunday for the Petone Fair and state that holding the Fair on a Saturday has a negative impact on their business (HCC survey).
Options
14. To approve or decline these recommendations.
Consultation
15. Consultation conducted to date is set out elsewhere in this report.
Legal Considerations
16. There are no legal requirements relating to this report.
Financial Considerations
17. Council has contributed financially to one survey and covered the costs in their entirety for a second survey to be carried out.
Other Considerations
18. In making this recommendation, officers have given careful consideration to the purpose of local government in section 10 of the Local Government Act 2002. Officers believe that this recommendation falls within the purpose of the local government in that it has enabled democratic local decision–making and action by, and on behalf of, communities; and meets the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.
19. In making this recommendation, officers have given careful consideration to all points of view. It is acknowledged that it would have been preferable for interested parties to have been able to mutually agree on a way forward. However despite best efforts by Council officers, this has not been possible. The recommendations of this paper are based on the professional experience and expertise of officers.
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No. |
Title |
Page |
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1View |
Petone Rotary Fair Survey - Public Voice February 2017 |
72 |
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2View |
Petone Fair - Survey Comments Public Voice |
94 |
Author: Carla Steed
City Events Manager
Reviewed By: Brad Monaghan
Divisional Manager, City Promotions
Approved By: Kim Kelly
General Manager, Strategic Services