Auckland Council is consulting on their Long Term Plan and is seeking feedback! Submissions close on March 16, 2015. Creative Coalition will be publishing its own submission and for now have outlined what you need to know about the LTP.

Auckland Council is consulting on their Long Term Plan and is seeking feedback! Submissions close on March 16, 2015. Creative Coalition will be publishing its own submission and for now have outlined what you need to know about the LTP.

What is the Long Term Plan?
The Long Term Plan (LTP) is where the Auckland Council outlines a set of financial priorities for the next ten years. The LTP is where the Council defines how they will resource and bring to life the goals of the Auckland Plan. The LTP is also sometimes referred to as the Ten Year Budget. It is subject to feedback from those living and working in Auckland City (ratepayers, community organisations, businesses, sector groups, etc), and is revised every three years.

How does it affect the arts sector?
As outlined in the Long Term Plan, the arts, culture, and creative sector are key to realising the goals of the Auckland Plan. Specifically, how these sectors work to create ‘a beautiful Auckland that is loved by its people’. The LTP outlines the various ways the sector will be financed, and what programmes, projects, and groups will be prioritised by the council.

In order to promote what the Council has defined as ‘a culturally rich and creative Auckland’ together with a ’Maori identity that is Auckland’s point of difference in the world’, the LTP must provide robust and multi-levelled financial opportunities for support, access, and funding within the sector.

What is the Creative Coalition’s view?
Creative Coalition has been, and continues to be, supportive of the aims outlined in the Auckland Plan. Of particular importance to Auckland’s arts sector is the Community Funding Policy, which was put in place December 2014. The Policy outlines how arts and culture organisations, events, and projects will be funded in the region. This is through two programmes: the Local Grants Programme, and the Regional Grants Programme.

The Local Grants Programme is administered through the 21 Local Boards of Auckland. Each board identifies areas or projects which are significant for their area, and funds them accordingly. This can mean limited funding of the arts, depending on what the priority for individual Local Boards are. The Regional Grants Programme is administered through the Auckland Council, and includes a targeted programme for the arts sector. This is the only guaranteed funding specifically for the arts within Council policy, as the Regional Grants scheme replaced all Councils’ previous arts and culture targeted contestable funding schemes (such as Arts Alive). These legacy contestable funding schemes were rolled over when all the councils amalgamated but will be replaced by this fund. The realistic fear that the Creative Coalition has (and many others working in the sector share) is that the fund pool is small in size in relation to the demand and need, and is at risk during the LTP process.

Creative Coalition sees both these funding programmes as essential to resourcing a wide range of arts and culture organisations in Auckland, because each programme is targeted at different levels and types of arts and culture projects. Creative Coalition sees the Regional Grants Programme as of particular importance, because it ensures support (either ongoing on one-off) for significant arts and culture programmes that provide cultural, social and economic benefit for Aucklanders. Creative Coalition strongly believes that the Regional Grants Programme, alongside the Local Grants Programme, should be resourced fully in the LTP.

How can I have my say?
Auckland Council is seeking submissions on the LTP now,  the deadline for having your say in this feedback round is March 16, 2015.  The Council has a website where you can provide them with feedback. They also have a series of events planned where you can talk with others about how the LTP affects you, and what you would like to see changed in the budget.You can find out about those events, and how to provide feedback.

Source: Creative Coalition
24/02/2015