Final report
Review of fees for sports grounds and facilities in the greater Wellington region (16.4MB PDF)
Wellington City Council officers will look at options for how the Council responds to the report’s recommendations and present those to Councillors in due course.
The Council will continue to work together with sports organisations, Nuku Ora, and the community to understand the barriers to playing sport in the region.
Key findings
The key findings from the report are:
- Each council in the Wellington region has its own approach to recovering the cost of providing sports facilities. Generally, councils seek to balance accessibility for users, demand for services and the level of service.
- Across all councils in the region, the delivery of sports facilities is significantly subsidised by ratepayers, consistent with other Council services.
- It is difficult to compare costs across councils on a like-for-like basis. Councils have different cost recovery targets and record costs in different ways which creates complexity and an administrative burden for sports clubs and organisations.
- Cross-subsidisation of sport facilities (e.g. subsidising junior sport through senior sports fees) is common, but it needs to be understood further to ensure equity.
- Most fee adjustments align with Consumer Price Index changes, but adjustments often overlook shifts in service costs. Councils have infrequently reviewed their fee structures.
Key recommendations
The key report recommendations are:
- Councils and sports organisations should continue to collaborate across the region.
- Councils should consider how to improve the transparency of their costs and fees.
- Sport organisations should raise awareness to members of how fields and facilities are provided and the cost of using council facilities.
- There should be a consistent approach to substantive future fees reviews across councils, and they should occur every 3-5 years.
- Each council should assess the effectiveness of its service delivery of sporting grounds and facilities.
Background
In June 2022 several local sporting codes came together with College Sport Wellington to form the Affordable Sports for Greater Wellington group. The group lobbied candidates in the local body elections to commit to a review of sport fees across five Wellington territorial authorities.
The group was concerned about the affordability of sport, particularly for children and families and was seeking a review of user’s fees and charges for sports codes. In May 2023, a Notice of Motion was moved by Councillor Abdurahman seeking to conduct an independent review into the Council’s sport field and facilities fees and charges.
It was agreed that a collaborative approach working with key stakeholders and participating Councils to develop a regional approach to this project was the most appropriate way forward. The working group consists members of the sporting community, council and Nuku Ora and is chaired by an independent consultant Alan Isaac.
What the review covered
The following matters were within the scope of the review:
- The levels of services and facilities provided by the councils in the region.
- The fee-setting process and the level of cost recovery by councils for different activities and services.
- How capital expenditure and operational expenditure are decided and funded for new projects and renewals.
- Benchmarking of fees and charges for sports facilities across the region’s councils, and for other councils in New Zealand and Australia.
- Analysis of alternative models for cost recovery and pricing.
- The feasibility and trade-offs of any recommended changes to the fees and charges.
- Options for aligning fees and charges across the region.
Timeline
- Consultation with stakeholders on terms of reference
June 2023 – Complete
- Working Group membership formed
June 2023 – Complete
- Recruitment of Independent Chair
July 2023 – Complete
- Recruitment of independent consultant
October 2023 – Complete
- Analysis, benchmarking, and consultation
November 2023 – January 2024 – Complete
- Finalisation of data and analysis
April 2024 – Complete
- Final Report to Working Group for review
July 2024 – Complete
- Presentation to Elected Members
August / September 2024
Determining public costs for sports fields
The Local Government Act 2002 (the Act) requires Councils to adopt a Revenue and Financing Policy that provides detail on the funding of operational and capital expenditure. This policy illustrates which parts of the community contribute to paying for Council’s activities.
The Council uses the following mechanisms to fund operational expenditure requirements:
- General rates
- Targeted rates
- Fees and charges
- Grants and subsidies
- Borrowings
- Other sources of funding
In the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan the Council agreed that up to 15% of the total cost of sports fields would be covered by fees and charges with the remaining 85% to be covered by general rates recognising the important role sport plays community wide.
All information can be found on the 2021-2031 WCC Long Term Plan - Financial Policies document (1.4MB PDF)
All councils involved in this review have a R&F Policy and can be accessed through their websites.
Contact us
Email: ben.keat@wcc.govt.nz