TDC pitch in for new opera venue
Tasman District Council will provide $10,000 towards the 2018 Opera in the Park event, to be held at Saxton Oval on February 24.
Opera in the Park was due to be held at Trafalgar Park but the event was shifted to enable an overhaul of the turf at the central Nelson site ahead of the All Blacks test against Argentina on September 8.
In a letter to Tasman District Council requesting $18,500 towards the event, Nelson City Council community partnerships manager Shanine Raggett says the cost to hold the event at Saxton is ‘‘in excess of the core cost’’ being met by the city council of about $250,000.
‘‘Your contribution would go towards event marketing via advertisements targeting the wider region ... as well as contributing towards the additional costs of holding the event at the new venue such as portaloo hire, stage relocation and venue modifications,’’ Raggett says in the letter.
‘‘With the change in location, it is anticipated this is likely to attract a larger base from the Tasman district area.’’
In a report on the matter, TDC community partnerships coordinator Mike Tasman-Jones says the Tasman council has no budget allocated to support Opera in the Park.
However, TDC carried forward $13,226 from the 2016-17 events budget to the 2017-18 financial year.
‘‘It is proposed that $10,000 of this be allocated to the Opera in the Park, noting the significance, scale and location of the event benefits Tasman district residents,’’ Tasman-Jones says.
Councillors agreed to allocate the $10,000 as well as support the promotion of the event via its publications, website, social media and community papers within existing budgets.
Opera in the Park is a popular biennial event that drew 7500 people in 2016. The performers for the 2018 show are scheduled to include Nelson City Brass, as preshow entertainment, Anna Leese, Simon O’Neill, Bic Runga and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Early bird adult ticket prices are $15 until January 31. The full price is $25 for an adult ticket. The price for children aged 5 to 15 years is $5, with youngsters under 5 free. Tickets are available from Nelson i-SITE, Theatre Royal Nelson, Richmond Mall and all TicketDirect outlets.
The contribution of $10,000 towards Opera in the Park comes after Tasman mayor Richard Kempthorne in October used his casting vote to approve an $80,000 contribution from TDC towards the seating for the All Blacks test match.
Councillors were split on a request from Tasman Rugby Union that TDC make up an $80,000 shortfall in the seating budget to fit out Trafalgar Park, giving it a 20,000-plus seating capacity for the match.