Submitter
Submission id number: 964281
Submitter name:
Sharon O'Loughlin
Organisation
Do you want to speak to Councillors at the hearings?
No
Supporting information
No associated documents with this submission.
Submission
How are we doing? Is there anything you would like to tell us?
Kia ora,
Thank you for the opportunity to submit to tō tātou āpōpō. As you will be aware Tūhura, Otago Museum is facing severe funding challenges that will restrict their ability to continue to deliver on their mission “To inspire and enrich our communities, and enhance understanding of the world through our collection, our people and the stories we share.”
Visit the museum at any time of the year and it is plain to see that Tūhura, Otago Museum is a much-loved cornerstone of Ōtepoti, Dunedin’s cultural community. It is nationally and internationally recognised for its innovation, inclusivity, outstanding programmes, collections and events, research, collaboration and exhibitions that are world-class.
Dunedin City Council’s Ara Toi, the Arts and Culture Strategy, formally recognises both the intrinsic value of arts and culture, and the value of the creative sector as an industry of critical importance in the knowledge economy. The strategy aims to position Dunedin as one of the world’s great small cities for arts and culture, where creativity is fully integrated into the city’s identity and recognised as essential to our future success. It also aims to leverage arts and culture as a key driver of local and regional economic development, stating that arts and culture is not an optional extra but is a critical part of economic development as creativity underpins the very foundations of Dunedin’s prosperity.
The strategy identifies a commitment to “Access and Inclusion,” stating that there is a need to “Invest in providing arts and culture so everyone can participate, giving people opportunities to dream while boosting wellbeing and success.”
It is acknowledged that Dunedin has more arts and culture than many cities of its size but not everyone in the community has access to cultural activities or the opportunity to participate. The Ara Toi strategy sets out to support the engagement of residents in the city’s cultural life, from free access to exceptional museums.
If Tūhura, Otago Museum continues to face severe funding challenges, it will mean that our local and regional community will be impacted negatively, and outcomes will include:
• Less ability to support students’ free access to the Museum’s education programmes for schools
• Compromised ability to maintain the community’s taoka, historic treasures, and scientific collection.
• Less local scientific research for Otago.
• Further increases to admission prices.
• A reduced ability to drive tourism for the region.
The Tūhura Otago Museum team have outstanding relationships with our community, they are a valued partner of many of Dunedin’s key stakeholders. They constantly innovate and collaborate to generate 50% of their running costs commercially, whilst delivering excellent outcomes for the city and its visitors.
The impact of Covid-19 and the consequential decrease in visitor numbers and slower than expected return of tourist numbers is having a significant impact on the museum’s commercial income.
Please increase the Museum Levy funding from the proposed funding increase of 2% increase to 7% in line with inflation, otherwise the impact will be severe on our community, and it will be very difficult to ensure that the community has “access to cultural activities or the opportunity to participate.”
Please review the funding deficit and fund Tūhura, Otago Museum this increase in line with inflation, so that they can focus on doing all the good things they do for our city, and don’t have to spend precious resources and time to generate the funding to do so.
Yours sincerely
Sharon O’Loughlin
What other ideas should we be thinking about to include in future plans for our city?