Merged council agency named Auckland Unlimited

Tuesday, 27 October 2020

2020 got off to a flying start with a fireworks display from the Sky Tower.

Auckland’s new economic and culture agency is to be called Auckland Unlimited.

The name will be used by the merged council agencies Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) and Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) from December.

“Auckland Unlimited conveys a sense of our city’s huge and unending potential,” said the mayor Phil Goff, on the merger recommended by a review of the five council-controlled agencies (CCOs).

The new body will be responsible for tourism promotion, major events, economic development, and the city’s major facilities such as Aotea Centre, Mt Smart Stadium, the Zoo and others.

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Nick Hill, CEO of Auckland Council's economic development agency ATEED, who will head the merged Auckland Unlimited.

“Significant research and engagement has gone into developing this name, which reflects what our new organisation will be all about: enriching cultural and economic life in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland,” said the incoming CEO Nick Hill, who heads the current agency ATEED.

The two entities had combined budgets this year of $175 million and in February had a total of nearly 800 permanent staff.

The merger was expected to increase efficiency, and to save on average nearly $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.

The model of having major council agencies, delivering 70 per cent of the council’s business, is unique and was enshrined in laws creating the amalgamated Auckland Council in 2010.

The CCOs are technically companies, with their own boards of directors, which act in accordance with targets and guidelines set annually by councillors.

Plans for the independent review of how the CCO model is working, were first flagged as an election pledge in 2019, as Mayor Phil Goff launched his campaign for a second term in office.

'Public entities must act in the public good and must be accountable to the public – it's as simple as that,' Goff told the audience at his campaign launch.