​Museum funding included in draft LTP

With strong input from a packed gallery of museum sector representatives, the Central Otago District Council (CODC) has drawn up a series of recommendations for consideration in the upcoming Long-term Plan that reflect the sectors’ aspirations for the ongoing funding of museums in the district.

At the Council meeting yesterday (Wednesday 30 October 2024), representatives from each of the museums and the community spoke about the value and place of museums to tell the district’s stories.

In his report, CODC Group Manager – Community Vision Dylan Rushbrook summarised how museums had been funded.

In the 2021 Long-term Plan the majority of the community agreed that Council should take on the role of co-ordinating museum functions in Central Otago. After this, the Central Otago Museums Trust was established and has received ongoing support from Council to support the five Council or Community Board funded museums.

Annually, the museum sector receives circa $220,000 in grant funding.

Prior to presenting the paper Council staff had discussed various options with sector representatives, which offered an opportunity for them to share any other options that staff might not have considered when developing the paper.

It was noted by most representatives that the unknown future for the sector had put stress on volunteer committees and staff.

The purpose of yesterday’s item was for Council to decide how it would support each of the museum entities, bearing in mind that museums are now funded district-wide along with the bulk of Council’s services, and that the museums are moving to district funding from 1 July 2025.

Staff provided councillors with all the options available for each site but did not make any recommendations.

At the meeting, it was recommended that the Council incorporates the following into the draft 2025-34 Long-term Plan (LTP):

• Funding the Central Otago Museum Trust, Teviot Valley Museum and Maniototo Early Settlers Museum with funding to come from Council.
• Continuing to operate the Alexandra Districts Museum Inc from Central Stories with funding to come from Council.
• Retaining the current Blyth Street Museum site on the existing terms; Funding the Cromwell Museum within the new Cromwell Memorial Hall complex with funding to come from Council.
• That staff explore property options around the Clyde Railway Station Reserve and the museum site in the Cromwell Mall for the Council’s consideration.
• That staff explore storage options for the museum sector.
• Stopping redevelopment of the Clyde Museum and removing funding from the 2025-34 LTP.

The report can be found here: Agenda of Council meeting - Wednesday, 30 October 2024