My Account
The Hibiscus & Bays Local Board agreed to fund a review of the Hibiscus Coast Youth Centre in Orewa (HM May 2) to a maximum of $30,000.
The matter was discussed on May 16 in Confidential by the board, which excludes media and members of the public.
Local board chair Julia Parfitt says the review will assist the centre to become more financially sustainable, strengthen its governance and help it realign and widen its programmes to meet Council outcomes. It may also make the centre eligible for council asset based funding, like other youth centres across the region.
A reliable source of funding is much needed for the centre so it can continue to support local youth.
The Council commissioned review is similar to the one undertaken at Estuary Arts Centre in 2012, which looked at the arts centre’s governance, operations and finances.
Both Estuary Arts and the Youth Centre are publicly funded community facilities but it seems that, as happened with the arts centre, the parameters of the review and the resulting report are to be kept under wraps.
Hibiscus Matters applied for the arts centre report when it was completed, under the Official Information Act.
The ombudsman agreed with the paper that the contents of the report should be public knowledge. Obviously anything that related to personal information or was sensitive was redacted, which is always the case.
As restrictions are being placed on the media again as the Youth Centre review proceeds, the paper will once again resort to the Official Information Act, in due course.
