ATEED chief Nick Hill to head merged Auckland Council agencies
Thursday, 22 October 2020
The head of Auckland Council’s event and economic development agency, Nick Hill, is to head the new entity which merges his organisation with the council’s facilities arm.
The merger of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) and Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) was recommended by a review of the council’s five major subsidiaries.
Hill currently heads ATEED and will now also assume responsibility for major facilities such as the Aotea Centre, Mt Smart Stadium and Auckland Zoo, which have been run for a decade by RFA.
The future for RFA’s chief executive Chris Brooks, who came from Melbourne for the job in February 2015, is not known.
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The appointment was announced by Mark Franklin, the chairman of ATEED and of the board setting up the merged – and so far unnamed – entity.
Hill said the new organisation would have a key role as Auckland moves from the Covid-19 crisis into recovery mode.
“The breadth and depth of our new organisation will be a key catalyst for Auckland’s recovery, while also reanimating our region as a world-class place to live, work and play,” he said.
The merger was proposed by an independent review of the council-controlled-organisations (CCOs) which reported back in July, with a new merger board appointed in August.
The two entities had combined budgets this year of $175 million and in February had a total of nearly 800 permanent staff, with the merger expected to save an average $6.7 million a year over the next decade.
“Both have far more in common than they have differences. Both focus in one way or another, to use their words, on ‘enriching the lives of Aucklanders’,” the reviewers said in recommending the merger.
“ATEED through economic development (including tourism) and attracting, funding and delivering events, and Regional Facilities Auckland through arts, cultural, entertainment and sports experiences, which have obvious social and cultural benefits but also investment and employment spinoffs.”
The merger was the largest single recommendation by the three-person review panel, but a raft of other improvements were called for in the way the council and agencies work together.
“The council’s governance of, and liaison with, CCOs is not working as it should. Problems include a failure to recognise the importance of relationships with CCOs,” the report said.
“There is insufficient face-to-face discussion and meaningful dialogue between CCOs and the governing body, especially in relation to the council’s strategic planning processes for CCOs.”
Hill’s salary in the bigger role has not yet been determined and will be announced later. The highest-paid executive shown in ATEED’s annual report in 2019 earned between $420,000 and $429,000.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff acknowledged the work done by Brooks and RFA.
“Chris and his team have delivered world-class experiences for Auckland, substantially increasing our region’s cultural and events calendar,” Goff said.
The merged agency brings together challenges facing both the ATEED and RFA entities.
RFA has presided over the politically-sensitive long-running strategy to rearrange the sporting codes using major stadiums, with Mt Smart Stadium likely to be downgraded and a new speedway venue built.
That work is evolving to bring the trust-owned Eden Park stadium into a closer relationship with the council, after ratepayers put in a $63 million bailout package including a loan and grants.
ATEED has seen its portfolio of major events, as well as tourism, hit hard by Covid-19, along with the temporary suspension by the council of the targeted rate on visitor accommodation properties, which helped fund ATEED’s tourism promotion work.
The new entity formally comes into being on December 1.