Changes made to help boost Kāpiti’s events calendar

Conversations with event organisers have prompted the Kāpiti Coast District Council to make changes to its Proposed District Plan.

Kāpiti Coast District Mayor K Gurunathan says that the Council was looking to simplify requirements for event organisers where it was safe and able to do so.

“These types of events add to the vibrancy of Kāpiti Coast and are valued by Council, local businesses, residents and visitors alike.

 “A number of common frustrations, particularly around resource consent, event traffic, and event management plan deadlines, were identified through our conversations with the event organisers. 

 “We’ve now made it that temporary events operating on our public reserves or in Council owned community venues no longer require a resource consent.

 “With other controls in place, such as the Council’s Trading in Public Places Bylaw 2017, event organisers saw this step as unnecessary, we agreed.”

 Access and Transport Manager, Glen O’Connor says that for events not held on Council land or in Council buildings, Council has made changes to the vehicle movements standard and are giving event organisers more time to ensure they have met their obligations.

 “We researched traffic movements at temporary events and concluded that we could safely increase the threshold for traffic movements for these events. The vast majority of events would now not require a resource consent for vehicle movements to and from the event. However, they will still need to comply with our traffic and public places bylaws.  

 “Organisers of events not held on Council property will also have extra time to prepare their Event Management Plans to demonstrate compliance with the District Plan,” said Mr O’Connor.

“In the past, plans needed to be formally submitted six weeks prior of the event, now it’s just two weeks prior.

 “We still encourage event organisers to get in touch with Council as early as possible so that we can provide advice and guidance through the process. This helps to ensure legal requirements and timeframes are met for other authorisations. For example, road closures are required to be advertised at least 42 days in advance of an event.”

 Districtwide Councillor and business and jobs portfolio holder, Angela Buswell says that while the District’s calendar has some fabulous events on it already, many of which are unique to Kāpiti, it is important that Council continues to listen to organisers and support new and established events where possible.

 “These changes are a fantastic example of Council being open for business, working with local business operators and listening to their needs.

 “I would like to thank Council staff for working with me on this. We will continue to work with event organisers to help established events flourish, and work with new events to get up and running safely and responsibly.

 “We want Kāpiti to inspire and appeal to event organisers. We’re lucky to have some spectacular annual events already, including The Kāpiti Food Fair, Ōtaki Kite Festival, Māoriland Film Festival and the Kāpiti Women’s Triathlon, but there’s still room for more,” said Councillor Buswell.

 “These events have a positive impact on both our communities and our economy. While seemingly small, we hope these changes will help to further boost our district’s events calendar.”