The Community Halls Strategy sets the framework and guidelines for the management and development of community halls in Whakatāne District.

The Whakatāne District Council owns the following community halls:

Urban Halls

• Whakatāne War Memorial Hall
• Ōhope Hall
• Edgecumbe War Memorial Hall

Rural Halls

• Otakiri Hall
• Manawahe Hall
• Waimana – Nukuhou North War Memorial Hall
• Te Teko War Memorial Hall
• Tāneatua War Memorial Hall
• Galatea War Memorial Hall

The Council’s Vision for Community Halls in the Whakatāne District is that communities’ needs for facilities to engender community spirit and encourage recreational and learning activities are met through the availability of affordable halls or appropriate alternatives across the District.

Objectives

The Council’s strategic objectives with regard to Community Halls are to:

• Ensure that communities’ needs for halls or similar facilities are met
• Ensure that communities take active roles in facilitating the provision of appropriate facilities
• Clarify the Council’s role in the availability of Community Halls
• Establish preferred frameworks for Council involvement and for partnership arrangements
• Reduce the cost to ratepayers for the Council’s involvement in Community halls

Principles

The following principles will underpin and be referred to in decision making:

• Halls in the District should meet the foreseeable recreation, cultural, social and sporting needs of the community in terms of affordability, availability and facility
• Communities in the District have different needs for facilities such as Community Halls. Therefore, consideration of appropriate facilities must be done on a community by community basis
• Some halls have significance beyond their simple facility, such as having War Memorial status. This significance is an important aspect of the halls and will be taken into account
• Urban Hall catchments are considered to extend across the District, while Rural Halls service their local communities. Urban Halls therefore will generally have a wider range of facilities, be situated in key locations and may require direct Council ownership
• The Council’s role with Community Halls is to facilitate their availability should there be an established and ongoing need
• Community Halls are best managed by private providers or well motivated and appropriately resourced community groups
• Communities are encouraged to bring their needs for new appropriate facilities to the Council
• Partnerships with community groups (including primary users) or private providers which offer a benefit to the community (such as increased availability or reduced cost) and meet a recognised demand for halls are encouraged
• Where opportunities exist for alternative management or provision arrangements, the Council will seek and consider the views of the affected communities
• Where the Council has involvement with a hall, whether financial or otherwise, the provider must maintain full systems and records around planning, usage, finances, and condition. This information will be made available to the Council so that it can evaluate its ongoing involvement with that hall

Methods

Ensure that communities’ needs for halls or similar facilities are met by:

• Monitoring the actual usage of halls as part of the annual planning process
• Reviewing requests for changes to facilities against the availability of facilities in the community
• Surveying hall users as part of the development of the Long Term Plan
• Approaching the providers of private halls to access usage data
• Clarify the Council’s role in the availability of Community Halls

The Council has established its role with regard to Community Halls to be:

• To ensure that Communities’ needs for halls or similar facilities are met
• To monitor the availability and usage of all halls or similar facilities in the District

Ensure that communities take active roles in facilitating the provision of appropriate facilities by:

• Encouraging and supporting community groups and primary users to take an active role in the management of their local hall
• Taking a staged, diminishing role in the management of halls over time to allow the managing group to transition into a full management role (in line with Hall Action Plans)
• Providing funding support where policy criteria are met. Funding sources will be defined in accordance with the Council’s Revenue and Financing Policy (see ‘Funding Tools’ in that Policy)
• Establishing frameworks for Council involvement and for partnership arrangements.

The Council recognises the following frameworks:

• The Council owns and maintains the hall, while the hall is managed by a third party
• Third party owns and provides the hall, or
• Partnership with third party to provide the hall

The Council’s Management Partners are:

• Primary Users, or
• Hall Committee, or
• Community Group, or
• Private Entity 

Reduce the net cost to ratepayers for the Council’s involvement in this activity by:

• Encouraging and supporting community groups and primary users in taking an active role in the management of their local hall
• Reducing the funding level for this activity in line with the staged handover of the management (and potentially ownership) of halls to community groups, primary users or private providers (as set out in Hall Action Plans)
• Considering divestment of the facility where policy criteria are met
• Only considering provision of a new facility where policy criteria are met
• Only considering redevelopment of existing hall facilities where policy criteria are met
• Increasing income through active marketing and management of halls