Community says libraries are important and Council listens
Napier City Council heard the community and responded, after listening to residents’ views during its Annual Plan hearings held this week.
The consultation resulted in 1007 submissions, the highest number in ten years of Annual Plan or Long Term Plan consultations. The response to the question of closing Napier Library resulted in 67% of respondents being in favour of keeping the facility open for as long as possible until the new library opens.
Council agreed to amend its proposal to keep the library open for a minimum of five days a week, that being Tuesday to Saturday. This option needs to be costed and will impact the final average rates increase for 2025/26.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says the decisions strike a balance between keeping rates increases low and keeping services running.
“Our community has told us very clearly that they want rates increases to be as low as possible. Equally, we heard from many people that they value highly services like the library, and they are willing to pay to ensure it stays open.”
The proposed interim closure of Napier Library would have meant a saving of $620,730 for 2025/26.
“The submissions were clear that people think the library is an important community asset, and they were willing to pay slightly more rates as a result. Reducing its days of opening will still help keep the rates increase low, says Mayor Wise.
Other consultation options included potential new options for the future of the National Aquarium of New Zealand, Napier isite Visitor Centre, Par 2 Mini Golf and the Faraday Museum of Technology.
The response to the future of the National Aquarium of New Zealand was split evenly across the options proposed to the community.
“The community’s preference for the National Aquarium wasn’t conclusive. We are now going to do more work in two directions. We will provide clarity on what demolishing or part-demolishing the building and introducing a new conservation-focused visitor experience could look like," Mayor Wise explains.
"Alongside that, we will explore exiting the Aquarium activity and handing its operation to a third party. This was another choice favoured during the consultation."
“A business case will give the community more information on the pros and cons of each option and from there we will do more consultation before decisions are made.”
Council voted to explore handing the isite’s operation to a third party in a current or new location, with no Council funding. This will enable the isite building to be leased to a commercial operator for another purpose. Council will initiate an expressions of interest process to explore this course of action.
Council also agreed to proceed with investigating a commercial lease for Par2 MiniGolf and moving the Faraday Museum of Technology into a charitable trust with a $1 million one-off capital contribution and $500,000 for ongoing operational expenditure costs.
“We recognise that these community facilities are important to many people. At the same time, we must acknowledge that such facilities aren’t core Council services, and that other operating models would better serve ratepayers. This aligns with our focus on being a financially sustainable Council,” says Mayor Wise.
Council agreed to proceed as proposed with an increase in the user pays fees at Redclyffe Transfer Station. It also adopted its preferred option of updating Council’s Significance & Engagement Policy by including its forthcoming commercial investment portfolio as a Strategic Asset.
Mayor Wise says Council is appreciative of all community feedback.
“We considered all submissions, including those who chose to make a written submission but not speak to Council. Thank you to everyone who took the time to make their voices heard.”
The 2025/26 Annual Plan community consultation took place over March and April. Decisions will be final when Council adopts its 2025/26 Annual Plan in late June.