This afternoon, Wellington City Councillors voted to reinstate funding Te Papa at $2.25 million per annum. Initially, Wellington City Council draft long term plan had proposed a reduction in funding from $2.25 million to $1 million per year for the next 10 years.
Te Papa Chief Executive, Michael Houlihan would like to thank all Wellingtonians who provided submissions in support of Te Papa.
“Thanks to everyone who wrote, submissions, letters and, post it notes. Your feedback has given us a deeper understanding of how visitors see and use Te Papa. Its great to have so many people saying that they like what we do and how much they value the contribution Te Papa makes to Wellington City as a great place to live and work.”
“We are looking forward to working even more closely with Wellington City Council as both a strategic partner and key contributor to the vibrancy of this great city.”
5pm tomorrow, Friday 18 May, is the deadline for Wellington City Council to receive your written submissions on the Draft Long Term plan. It is in this plan that Wellington City Council proposes to cut our funding by $1.25 million, to $1 million for the next 10 years.
If you were meaning to send in a written submission but haven’t gotten round to it yet, there is still time! The Wellington City Council have an has an interactive website to make an official submissions online.
The main points to include are:
- the WCC should maintain Te Papa’s funding at $2.25 million per year, funding should not be decreased
- Wellington should support Te Papa as a major visitor attraction for the city that draws in tourists
- Te Papa sustains employment equivalent to almost 1,500 Wellington city jobs annually.
Another option is to email all councillors at once via councillors@wcc.govt.nz or contact them individually via the Wellington City Council website
Remember the deadline for official submissions is this Friday 18 May at 5pm; however, councillors will only be making their decision on 27 June, so we encourage you to keep talking to them over the next month.
We would like to thank everyone who came in to support Te Papa by sticking up a post-it note on our Save Our Services boards and writing submissions while in Te Papa. We will be delivering these to the Wellington City Council on your behalf.
