Palmerston North City Council

Minutes of the Economic Development Committee Meeting Part I Public, held in the Council Chamber, First Floor, Civic Administration Building, 32 The Square, Palmerston North on 12 June 2017, commencing at 9.00am

Members Present:	Councillor Adrian Broad (in the Chair), The Mayor (Grant Smith) and Councillors Brent Barrett, Susan Baty, Rachel Bowen, Gabrielle Bundy-Cooke, Vaughan Dennison, Lew Findlay QSM, Leonie Hapeta, Jim Jefferies, Lorna Johnson, Duncan McCann, Karen Naylor and Bruno Petrenas.
Apologies:	Councillors Duncan McCann (early Departure) and Tangi Utikere (lateness).

Councillor Tangi Utikere entered the meeting at 9.29am during consideration of clause 22.  He was not present for clause 21.

Councillor Duncan McCann left the meeting at 9.39am at the conclusion of clause 22.  He was present for clause 21.

The meeting adjourned at 9.01am

The meeting resumed at 9.20am

21-17	Apologies
	Moved Adrian Broad, seconded Leonie Hapeta. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Committee receive the apologies.

22-17

Presentation - RACE Group Presentation from Mr Alasdair Robertson, Chief Executive, RACE Group Councillor Tangi Utikere entered the meeting at 9.29am The Norwood Farm Machinery Centre City of Palmerston North Gold Cup Festival had been a successful event that attracted over 500 people to the opening in the Square, over 3,000 people attended the Jimmy Barnes concert and there were 4,000 attendees at both the Friday night Harness and Saturday race meetings. The suspension of racing over the December months caused significant communication confusion and disruption, however many of the performance KPIs were met and without the disruption they could have been exceeded.  There were two main learnings for when the event is held in 2018; a need for stronger local marketing and radio focus and the need to keep to the proposition and focus on the three targeted days. Planning has started for the festival in 2018, with the launch being on 28 March 2018 and the final day 31 March 2018.

Moved Adrian Broad, seconded Gabrielle Bundy-Cooke. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

                                Councillor Duncan McCann left the meeting at 9.39am

23-17

Presentation - NZ Young Farmers Grand Final Committee Presentation from Stephanie Sloan and Paul Olsen, co-convenors, NZ Young Farmers Grand Final Committee The FMG NZ Young Farmer was divided by seven regions and was in its 49^th year of competition.  There were regional competitions held prior to the national final which in 2017 is being held in the Manawatu with contestants arriving on 5 July 2017. The National final begins on 6 July and finishes with the Grand Final being held at the Racecourse on 8 July, which will be livestreamed.  On Sunday 9 July the NZ Young Farmer Annual General Meeting will be held at Orlando Country. Over the five days of activities the region will be showcased with events being held at multiple locations and opportunities for local students to attend to learn what is involved in agribusiness.

Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Rachel Bowen. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

24-17

Presentation – CEDA Presentation from Janet Reynolds, Marketing Senior, CEDA and Peter Crawford, Economic Policy Advisor, Palmerston North City Council. A visitor statistics update was provided, showing origin of visitor spend, actual visitor spend and  visitor nights for year ended March 2017.  It was noted that Manawatu RTO (Regional Tourism Organisation) spend included figures for Rangitikei and Tararua.  Whist there were no statistics for Airbnb bookings there an been an observation of increased bookings in this area. CEDA had commissioned research from UMR regarding perception of the city by other regions.  The three main terms used to describe what people know of Palmerston North were “Massey University”, “Unsure” and “Nothing” which was seen as a neutral starting point and not negative to the city. It was noted that Palmerston North does not have a large amount of commissionable product, but a large number of free offerings which was a part of the attraction to the city for families.

Moved Adrian Broad, seconded Vaughan Dennison. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

25-17

Presentation – CEDA Presentation from Julia Giles, Event Co-ordinator and Linda Stewart, Chief Executive, CEDA The Sort it Careers Expo had been held on 18 May 2017 with 70 organisations exhibiting.  Over 4,000 visitors had attended, being predominantly secondary school students from 21 schools.  The new evening session had proved popular and this would continue for future expos. The organisers would continue to work with Talent Central for the 2018 event and it was suggested that work could be done with Accelerate25 to attract regional businesses as well as Local Authorities.

Moved Vaughan Dennison, seconded Tangi Utikere. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Economic Development Committee receive the presentation for information.

26-17	Confirmation of Minutes
	Moved Adrian Broad, seconded Tangi Utikere. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED That the minutes of the Economic Development Committee meeting of 8 May 2017 Part I Public be confirmed as a true and correct record.

27-17	Summary Report on March 2017 Manawatu Quarterly Economic Monitor and Major Developments Memorandum, dated 25 May 2017 from the Economic Policy Advisor, Peter Crawford and the Chief Executive, CEDA, Linda Stewart.
	Moved Leonie Hapeta, seconded Adrian Broad. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Manawatū Quarterly Economic Monitor – March 2017 and Major Developments Report is received.

28-17	Committee Work Schedule
	Moved Rachel Bowen, seconded Vaughan Dennison. The COMMITTEE RESOLVED 1.   That the Economic Development Committee receive its Work Schedule dated June 2017.

The meeting finished at 11.14am

Confirmed 7 August 2017

Chairperson