The wooing of Bluff is becoming more and more evident or is Tim trying to justify Venture’s existence (BTW Tim I know a committee in Bluff that’s already working with media on articles free of charge!). The 5 June Mayor’s Report contains an article about Bluff. Wouldn’t a link have sufficed?
And why is southlandnz.com the contact? What about Bluff Promotions?
As usual I’ve spun off on a tangent. I began looking for more information for my Venture Southland submission when I got sidetracked with grants received by Invercargill City Council. ICC kept coming up when looking at funding as well as Invercargill City Charitable Trust. Why are Venture Southland popping up too? VS have a charitable trust (I’ve only found on Community Trust of Southland’s register of interests).
Here are just a few examples of the funding the various groups have received:
I don’t understand how Council’s are eligible and if they are then why do they have a charitable trust? Why not just get it all through a council funding request. I think it’s circumventing legislation, in particular the meeting requirements of LGOIMA. I don’t think many Crs realise we can still request minutes and the like through LGOIMA because they are appointed from council therefore ICC are deemed as holding the information (that the Crs have). So I can get the information but I can’t attend or even know when the charitable trusts are having meetings. If I’m right, that means they are actively opposing openness and transparency.
And I won’t accept the reason that it’s to do ‘things’ that are not the responsibility of council. This from the ICCT financial notes:
How do you claim something isn’t yours and in the same breath delegate it to someone? I think this is why council controlled organisations have to be declared.
From Venture Southland’s own list of Southland events for 2011
Don’t forget that Venture are funded by Southland councils to the tune of $5.1M per annum. That then begs the question is it justified? What have THEY done in the area of events?
Not that much in the scheme of things.
If you have a look at Venture Southland’s facebook page you see what they are.
An empty vessel. No substance. Nothing to see here move along.
BTW shouldn’t they be a government organisation being as they are a joint committee. Why are they calling themselves a company?
For some reason they have sent me a Draft Action Plan and submission form, unsolicited. Do they want me to submit? Oh, OK then…
Crops for Southland it seems couldn’t report it’s achievements because it never did a Statement of Intent is the first place. From their audited financial statement from 2010
What a waste of time and space. This just reiterates that Venture Southland are incapable of anything of any substance.
Let’s not forget the Venture Southland Charitable Trust that is not even listed on Charities Commission (and therefore has no tax benefits…pet project/slush fund)
The Auditor-General has presented his report on 2010/2011 local government audits to Parliament. For our part we didn’t do too badly. Nothing for ICC directly.
It seems the Southland Museum aren’t the only ones not depreciating their collections. Otago and two others got the same adverse opinion.
Crops For Southland Inc is a dodgy looking set up to me. According to the Venture Southland website
The Crops for Southland Incorporated Society is a not-for-profit organisation whose overall aim is the development of privately owned, market based commercial cropping of a significant scale for Southern New Zealand. Its primary objective is to improve employment and community wealth in Southland by encouraging and supporting innovation and growth in the crop industry.
And this gives a little insight too
Crops for Southland now obtains its core funding for day-to-day activities from Venture Southland.
Here we have a society, associated to ICC, SDC and GDC, that aims to develop privately owned crops funded by Venture Southland who are funded primarily by ratepayers. On top of that insult they can’t even comply with the Local Government Act by reporting achievements. Being as Venture Southland are involved, they probably have nothing to report.
I’m a bit let down by this whole Urban Rejuvenation. All the media and press releases and editorials lauding it as a community led project. It seems a bit too orchestrated to be the grassroots movement they claim. With foundations being built, co-ordinator, branding, props and colour scheme and all those quotes from representatives of all the ‘appropriate’ groups.
And what is planned?
Ms Malcolm said initial “quick-fire projects” being looked at to get the project moving included having a group of people clean up the “really messy” south Invercargill properties, a rubbish cleanup day with a community barbecue afterwards, asking electricity companies whether south Invercargill residents can paint their many “ugly” electricity boxes, and a one-off sports tournament for south Invercargill schools.
Painting electricity boxes and tidying up private property…then what? The article is headed ‘spruce-up’ and I think that is more appropriate than Urban Rejuvenation or community development or anything else.
The constant references to – supported by Invercargill City Council and Venture Southland – tell you where the $100k allocated by ICC for Urban Rejuvenation is going to go. Out of 13 elected members, how supportive was Invercargill City Council?
City councillors at the launch were Neil Boniface and Thelma Buck.
Two? Urban Rejuvenation portfolio lead and long time South City supporter.
“Myself and Mrs Buck are here to fight on your behalf around the council table to ensure the resources and money are there when you want it,” Cr Boniface told the start-up group.
Bugger me, isn’t that what you were supposed to be doing for the past 30+ years? Then why has Council made it harder to get around South City with the ridiculous changes on Elles Rd (near New World)? Why did it take over five years to get a toilet? Why do they allow downpipes to empty across footpaths under the eaves (Martin Street)?
It seems like they are announcing that they are going to start doing their job after ignoring so much for so long while still increasing rates to unmanageable levels.
It was a long-term project that required grass roots support in south Invercargill, he said.
In other words, don’t expect quick action out of council and where possible the community should do it and tap all the funders rather than us.
I may be a cynic but maybe I will be proved wrong?
It seems Venture Southland are doing their own version of ‘don’t leave home ’til you’ve seen the country’ called ‘On Your Doorstep’. The ICC media release has this
The “On Your Doorstep” campaign encourages Southlanders to travel in their region and experience what Southland – particularly The Catlins and Fiordland – has to offer.
It is however ONLY The Catlins and Fiordland. Is that all they could handle with their $1.5M + budget?
From section 5 (page 221)
So is this one they’re proposing on Tuesday at the Finance and Policy meeting? If it is, then they must be feeling pretty confident it’s going to be approved. Just as easy to add something when it’s approved as it is to delete it. I wonder if it’s a case of going through the motions on Tuesday?
To stick their collective nose in some more and control who gets the money? Here’s their report for next Tuesday’s Finance and Policy Meeting
Here are a few snippets
Since CTOS are already doing it, why not ask if they will increase their budget (if necessary?) rather than everyone setting up to do the same thing? Isn’t this supposed to be about cross collaboration? And stop calling yourselves funders!
Give us $40k and we’ll decide what to do with it. Didn’t we have ICC set up an event management company for the Civic and Stadium? How about the company set up to run the Civic do their job and also offer not for profits hire at reduced rates and Venture stop trying to justify themselves.
Don’t you already $1.5M+ p.a. for Destinational Marketing from ICC? That wasn’t intended as wages for you to all sit on your arses. Aren’t you already publishing a seasonal event calendar, running a website and operating an email distribution list?
Support capacity building? VS haven’t shown themselves capable, why would any one care what they have to say?
Support skill development? Blind leading the capable. I doubt the Oyster Festival Committee would want to join up with the ones that tried and failed…
How about you just ask all the funders to add it to their websites as a link? But you don’t usually advertise too much until you know the funding is approved do you? Maybe better promoted to approved grants.
The whole document looks like Venture Southland trying to justify it’s existence and takeover as ‘agent for ICC’ which would probably entail ICC delegating authority on all those ‘nancy’ community outcomes like social, lifestyle and creative Community Services stuff. FFS. Just say NO.
