Tag Archives: Save our services

Wellington – There is still time to support Te Papa

17 May 2012 – 10.44am

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.

By Roxan Mathys | Posted in Museums, News | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Wellingtonians – Save our Services with a Council Submission

17 April 2012 – 11.05am

As you’ve now heard, Te Papa is calling on its Wellington ratepayers to support our services by making official council submissions.

Wellington City Council has an interactive website where you can make official submissions online.

Remember, when you’re filling in the Online Submission Form – Wellington City Council classes Te Papa as a Visitor Attraction that develops Wellington’s economy so the key points we are encouraging ratepayers to support us with 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 is the most popular activity destination in Wellington City.
  • 96% of Wellington City visitors come back more than twice and 60% visit 5 or more times every year.
  • Te Papa sustains employment equivalent to almost 1,500 Wellington city jobs annually

Also – thousands of you have told us what makes Te Papa special, we would also love you to tell the council that, take a moment to write about your special Te Papa experience and favourite Te Papa facilities in the comments boxes on the website or in your written submission.

Again, we’ve said it a lot, but we’ll say it again – the outpouring of support we have had through this campaign has been amazing. You’ve given us thousands of great ideas and messages of support, and we are truly grateful.

We are proud to provide services (childhood learning experiences, regular exhibition changes, Wellington Free days) to our local communities and want to be able to continue them.

And – here’s the latest from the SOS – Save our Services Board

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By filipomcgrath | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Wellingtonians – Tell your council to Save Te Papa – here’s why!

16 April 2012 – 2.04pm

Firstly, a huge huge HUGE thanks to our visitors who filled out forms and stuck post-its to the SOS – Save Our Services board over the Easter Holiday and Week One of the School Holidays. We are going to take your comments, share them with the community and also take them directly to Wellington City Council.

Wellington City Councillors have said that Te Papa’s funding cut lies in the hands of Wellington ratepayers. We need ratepayers to make official council submissions supporting a return of funding to its pre-cut level of $2.25 million dollars.

Why? Council is keen to get a steer from the community about what it values – and we have thousands of stickies (like this one below) telling us You value Te Papa. We just need you to tell the Council that directly now.

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Some Food for Thought

Council is trying to ensure that residential ratepayers get great Value for Money, which is something we all understand and support. However,  Residential Ratepayers aren’t responsible for the entire Wellington City Council contribution. Te Papa is classed as a Visitor Attraction in Council’s budgets for economic development and this budget is majority funded by the Downtown Levy (a Targeted Rate paid by the owners of commercial, industrial and business properties – check out page 118 of the Draft Annual Plan 2011/12 for more definitions).

Here’s the financial statement from the Wellington Council Draft Annual Plan (City Promotions, Attractions and Events) 2011/12 – In the figures for Funding you’ll notice that Targeted Rates (in this case, the Downtown Levy) contribute more than General Rates – this illustrates that for a fraction of the total Council contribution, residential ratepayers get a great value-for-money service from Te Papa, and its one we are proud to provide.

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So – while the Council’s big theme is ensuring residential ratepayers are being given value for money – we can prove that local Wellingtonians do get that bang for your buck! We’re proud that as Wellington businesses foot the majority of the bill , we’ve helped them by stimulating $59 million in visitor spending, and city residents can access Wellington City Free Days (to our premium exhibitions) and also be the first to enjoy our collections and displays free of charge.

We need our Wellington City ratepayers to tell the council directly – via official council submissions – written submissions open today – to find out more, go to Wellington City Council’s website

With a HUGE thanks from the team at Te Papa

By filipomcgrath | Posted in Museums | Also tagged , , | Comments (5)

Help Save our Services at Te Papa

5 April 2012 – 3.52pm

Save our Services

The story so far

Wellington City Councillors, while preparing budgets for the city’s long-term council plan, have recommended that they reduce the funding to Te Papa by 55 percent.

Council will be asking for public submissions between 16 April and 18 May 2012 – and will be making their decisions on the submissions Wellington ratepayers make.

What could happen?

A funding cut could mean that Te Papa reduces its services to Wellington ratepayers, for example:

  • Charges to use Discovery Centres
  • Increases in charges for StoryPlace
  • Fewer free exhibitions
  • Fewer new exhibitions

If you would like us to keep everything, let us know.

How you can help

We’re asking our city to help Save our Services by making public submissions:

  • Leave a comment below
  • Come to the museum – We have a display near our information centre and we’re asking people to grab a sticky-note, tell us what you think we need to save!
Save our Services board in the Wellington Foyer

Save our Services board in the Wellington Foyer

Te Papa’s economic impact on Wellington City

  • Te Papa is the most popular activity destination in Wellington City.
  • Te Papa adds $91.3 million every year to Wellington City’s economy
  • Visitors to Te Papa spend $59 million per year in Wellington City
  • 30% of Wellington City Council’s funding to Te Papa comes from ratepayer contributions
  • 70% of Wellington City Council’s funding to Te Papa comes from local business levies
  • 96% of our Wellington City visitors come back more than twice and 60% visit 5 or more times every year.
  • Te Papa sustains employment equivalent to almost 1,500 Wellington city jobs annually

More information

By Te Papa | Posted in Museums | Also tagged , , , | Comments (3)
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