Natureland Zoo news

New start for Natureland

10 July 2008

Council has agreed to negotiate with the Orana Wildlife Trust for it to take over the operation of Natureland Zoo from October this year.  The Zoo will stay open under Council management until that time.

The proposal from the Orana Wildlife Trust which will see considerable changes to Natureland focuses on education and conservation programmes, subject to Department of Conservation and Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) approval.

Council has committed to providing on-going funding to the facility as part of the proposal. It will provide $200,000 in the first year, $175,000 in the second year and $150,000 from the third year onwards for a minimum five year period.

The Orana Wildlife Trust operates other similar facilities around the country including the very popular Orana Park on the outskirts of Christchurch.

Mayor Kerry Marshall says “As a new Council we are committed to working for excellence in all areas of operation and we are impressed with the calibre of the proposal from the Trust. With their expertise they will rejuvenate the facility and provide an educational, entertaining experience for Nelson families. I can only urge all ardent Natureland supporters visit it as often as they can to ensure success for the facility they value so much.”

Once the Trust has determined which animals it will have on site, renovations will be made to accommodate them.

Natureland Proposal moves to second stage

1 May 2008

One of four responses to the Request for Proposals for Natureland has been asked to move on to the next level of the process. The Council advertised the RFP process last month and received four responses. A working party made up of Mayor Kerry Marshall and five Councillors considered the responses and made a recommendation to this week’s Community Services committee to proceed with one respondent.

That respondent will now submit a business plan and other more detailed information to the working party. A final recommendation will then go on to the next Community Services Committee meeting on 10 June. The committee will then make a recommendation to full Council on 3 July. As is standard practice with any RFP process, the recommendation will be considered in the Public Excluded section of the meeting due to its commercial sensitivity.

Telephone poll conducted

17 April 2008

Council has received the results of an independent telephone poll on Natureland, completed this week.
The poll, conducted by VERSUS Research Limited took place over three days, with interviewing occurring on Thursday 10 April, Tuesday 14 April, and a final daytime mop-up session on Wednesday 15 April.

Council received an excellent acceptance rate to the survey (only four refusals) and as a result gained comments from 507 residents.

The questions focussed on what people wanted for Natureland and/or the land Natureland occupies. Those that wanted to retain or improve Natureland, or have a petting zoo were additionally asked what role Council should have in the provision of the zoo.

The survey results have been given to the Mayor and all Councillors.

Summary of Results

• Overall 94% of residents had heard of the Natureland Zoo
• Of those who were aware of the zoo
  • 59% thought that the zoo should be retained and improved
  • 16% thought it should be retained as it is
  • a further 11% wanted some type of petting zoo
• Of those who thought a zoo should be retained
  • 76% of residents thought that the Council should support the zoo
  • a further 17% though Council should run it

Further information was gathered on demographic characteristics; age, gender, household makeup and geography.

Click here to download the full report of the telephone poll results (PDF @ 120KB).

Responses to Natureland RFP process

14 April 2008

The Nelson City Council has received four responses to its Request for Proposal process for Natureland by the deadline of 11 April 2008.

The responses will now be considered by a working party which will make a recommendation to the Community Services Committee which meets on 29 April.

As is standard practice with any RFP process, the recommendation will be considered in the Public Excluded section of the meeting due to its commercial sensitivity.

If a proposal is shortlisted, its submitters will be asked to provide more detailed financial information including the production of a business plan and for any necessary due diligence processes to take place.

Any proposal that does not clearly meet the requirements of the Tahunanui Reserve Management Plan will not be considered further.

A final recommendation will be presented to the Community Services Committee on 10 June and full Council on 3 July.

Natureland to remain open until completion of Request for Proposals Process

27 March 2008

The Nelson City Council will keep Natureland open to the public until the current Request for Proposals (RFP) Process is completed in early July.

Today’s Council meeting considered a staff report on Natureland, which included the financial projections for closure to the public on March 31 or keeping the facility open until 4 July. Council opted for keeping Natureland open and also agreed to extend the lease of the facility to the Abel Tasman Gateway Trust until 4 July.

The animals will be retained at Natureland until the completion of the RFP process by 4 July. This remains unchanged from an earlier Council resolution.

The RFP process opened on 13 March and to date 22 copies of the RFP documentation have been distributed to interested parties, primarily individuals and community organisations.

Request for Proposal process for Natureland begins

14 March 2008

The Nelson City Council has launched the Request for Proposal process for Natureland.

The Request for Proposal process seeks firm proposals from interested parties on future recreational uses for the Natureland site, and/or plans for taking elements of the existing Natureland operation to another location. The Request for Proposal (RFP) process will be a two step approach and will close 11 April 2008.

It will start with advertising and receipt of Proposals which will then be reported to the Community Services Committee meeting on 29 April.

Short listed proposals will be requested to provide more detailed financial information including the production of a business plan and for any necessary due diligence processes to take place.

Any proposal that does not clearly meet the requirements of the Tahunanui Reserve Management Plan will not be considered further.

It is expected that the final short listed proposals and a recommendation will be presented to the Community Services Committee on 10 June and full Council on 3 July.

In the meantime, relocating the zoo’s animals has been delayed until after the completion of both stages of the process.

7 March

Public meeting dates set

Nelson City Council is organising two public meetings to discuss Natureland.

They will be held on :

• Tuesday 11 March at 7.00pm at the Victory Community Centre (Totara Street)
• Friday 14 March at 12 noon at Founders Heritage Park (The Granary)

Anyone interested in attending this is meeting is welcome to come.

6 March

Council and community to talk about Natureland

Council had resolved on 28 February to close Natureland to the public on 31 March. Councillor Ali Boswijk says as a result of discussion at today's Council meeting, there may be an opportunity to delay closure of Natureland.

Read the full press release issued 6 March.

29 February 2008

In a 9 January letter to Council, the Abel Tasman Gateway Trust advised that they were unable to continue to run Natureland. Rising costs and static patronage meant a projected loss of around $25,000 per month.

In response, during a lengthy public-excluded session of the Corporate Governance Committee, Nelson City Council made the difficult decision to close Natureland Zoo on 31 March 2008.

Faced with the need for a significant increase in the financial support of Natureland if it was to continue, from $130,000 determined in last year’s Annual Plan to upwards of $350,000, the Committee resolved that the Zoo would close.

Read Council's full media release on the closing of Natureland.

Background on Natureland

Natureland was originally designed, financed and built by the Nelson Jaycees with the support and encouragement of the Council.

The facility was handed over to Council for management shortly after it opened in November 1966, and was managed directly by Council until 1999.

At this time Council decided that Natureland should close down, however the existing staff advised that they wanted to keep it going and would set up a Trust to run it.

As a result, Abel Tasman Gateway Trust was formed and entered into a lease and funding agreement with Council, for an eight-year period from 1 September 1999 to 31 August 2007. From 2001 ownership of the assets was to have been passed over to the Trust, however this never occurred due to their continued marginal financial position.
This new governance structure was considered at the time as a means of accessing a greater amount of external funding available to community organisations, and would allow Council to be less involved in this non ‘core business’ activity.

Financial Support to Date

In 1998/99 when Council considered the closing of Natureland and the Trust was formed, Council only agreed to this option on the basis that Council funding would be reduced to zero over an eight year period.

The funding agreement provided for a steadily decreasing contribution from Council with the expectation that increased revenue and external funding sources would reduce the need for the assistance from Council over time.
However the Trust approached Council in 2002 seeking to retain annual funding at the 2002 level ($76,609) advising cash flow and financial difficulties would occur if the funding was reduced further.

This funding level was subsequently retained until last year (2006/007) instead of reducing annually to a projected figure of $20,684 for 2006/007

Prior to the 2007/08 Estimates round the Trust had produced a Five Year Vision and Strategic Plan 2006-2011 that clearly noted a need for increased operations, maintenance and development funding from the Council to ensure the long term viability of this facility.

Since then visitor numbers have declined and costs have risen. Projected losses for the next five months to operate Natureland (until the end of the Council financial year at June 30 2008) average $25,000 per month.

Council staff projections for the next 12 months estimate an annual running cost of between $350,000 and $400,000. An annual increase of $270,000 to cover the Natureland shortfall (estimated) equates to a 0.62% rate rise.

This breaks down to Annual Rates Paid:

• $1000 – increase $6.46 pa
• $1500 – increase $9.69 pa
• $2500 – increase $16.15 pa  

Recent developments

At the Corporate Governance Committee meeting on 11 December 2007, a report on the critical financial position of Natureland was discussed with the Trust Chair, Ross Newman. At this meeting it was resolved:

THAT the Chief Executive write and ask the Abel Tasman Gateway Trust to advise Council by 17 December 2007 if they are able to carry on the business of the Trust.

Following advice to staff that the Trust was unable to meet this timeline, the Trust met on 9 January 2008 and subsequently forwarded a formal response to Council on the 10 January. The unanimous decision of the Trust was: 
That the Trust advise the Chief Executive of the Nelson City Council that the Abel Tasman Gateway Trust is no longer able to carry on the business of the trust in regard to the governance of Natureland.

Statistics:

Staff levels at Natureland = 10 equating to 6.85 FTE

Animal numbers: 659

These include mammals, birds, poultry, reptiles, amphibians and fish. It is anticipated as many animals as possible will be reallocated to good alternative homes through the Australasian Society of Zoological Gardens and Aquaria, Department of Conservation and local pet owners in the Nelson community. Some may have to be euthanized if a home is not found for them.

Council role

Council has to consider if it has a role to provide this type of facility for the community. Also linked to this consideration is the advent of the Brook Sanctuary and the role it will play for community contact with native fauna. Similarly there are public access farms such as Happy Valley (Hira), Stonehurst Farm (Brightwater), Old Macdonald (Marahau), and Bencarri (Takaka) as alternatives for urban children.    

Future opportunities

The reserve land Natureland is situated on presents other opportunities for community recreational activities.

Natureland Timeline

1966 - Natureland funded and  built by Nelson Jaycees – opens - Managed directly by Council

1999 - Council considers closure – Natureland staff provide proposal to form Trust

1999 - Abel Tasman Gateway Trust formed – lease and funding agreement with Council through to August 2007. Financial contribution to reduce from $120,000 to zero over the 8 year period

2002  - Natureland assets to have passed to the Trust – tenuous financial position meant this did not occur

2002 - Trust requests financial contribution remains at then current, not decreasing level of $76,000

2005 - Trust received an additional one off grant of $47,000 to fund a business development manager

April 2007 - Trust requests additional funding up to $130,000pa to continue operating

May 2007 - Council consults through Annual Plan on additional funding

July 2007 - Council approves additional funding up to $130,000pa continuing

August 2007 - Trust requests its second quarterly operating grant be paid before due date of October 2007 - granted

December 2007 - Trust requests its third quarterly operating grant be paid before due date of January 2008 - granted

11 December 2007 - Council asks Trust if it is able to carry on the business of the Trust and for an action plan to overcome financial crisis and cash flow projections

10 January 2008 - Trust advises Council it is no longer able to carry on with the governance of Natureland

29 January 2007 - Council staff verbally report on future of Natureland to Community Services Committee

28 February 2007 - Recommendation to close the facility and assist the Trust to undertake this goes to Corporate Governance Committee for consideration