Visitor Information Services

We have internet, do we still need visitor information services in the district?
Kei a mātou te ipurangi, engari tonu, kei te haere tonu ngā rātonga pārongo?

There are no council funded visitor information services on the Plains, while Waihi has an i-SITE and Paeroa has an Information Centre.

Our preference is to provide information services in all three wards. Information services provide a single location for visitor information and this supports our principle of connected people/tūhono – looking after each other and being proud to say we live here. They also support our principle of having a strong economy/oranga ōhanga and helping local businesses by providing information to visitors and making them feel welcome.

One of the issues here is that we’ve reviewed our visitor information services and we’d prefer to provide equal services in Paeroa and Waihi and ensure information is available to visitors arriving in the Hauraki Plains as well – but we want to know what you think.

Should we…

Option 1: stick with the same

We would continue to fund an i-SITE in Waihi and an Information Centre in Paeroa. Businesses on the Hauraki Plains could continue to display flyers, but they still wouldn’t receive any funding. All  ratepayers would continue to contribute to these services through a rate based on the capital value of their property. Waihi and Paeroa ward ratepayers would also continue to pay an extra annual charge on their rates bill, and Waihi and Paeroa ward businesses would continue to contribute through business rates. Operators have indicated they may need more funding in future to provide the same level of service so these rates may increase.

Option 2: provide information centres in all wards

This would mean replacing Waihi’s i-SITE with an information centre, keeping Paeroa’s information centre the same and setting up a new information centre in the Plains ward. It would mean an increase in the overall funding we provide for information services. We would also change the way we fund it, and it would be paid for by all district ratepayers – 50% from capital value rates (commercial and industrial properties would pay a bit more) and 50% funded from our Uniform Annual General Charge, which is the same for everyone regardless of property value. Because of the change in funding, it would mean a decrease in some rates, event though we’re spending more on information services.

Option 3: provide information kiosks in all wards

Kiosks, or a similar innovative solution, could replace visitor information services in Paeroa and Waihi, and provide a new service in the Plains ward. Local businesses would apply to host the kiosks, for which they could receive funding. Overall, it would mean a decrease in the funding we provide for information services.

Option 4: develop a visitor information network

This would see information services managed across the district, potentially in collaboration with other areas, such as Coromandel. An example of how this might work could be information centres in key locations such as Waihi and Whitianga, with kiosks in other locations. This option needs more fleshing out with input from Destination Coromandel and Thames-Coromandel District Council, so for the first year we would keep the status quo.

Option 5: don’t fund visitor information services

We don’t legally have to fund visitor information services, so we could stop funding them altogether. This would mean there would be no visitor information services in the district at all, unless they were provided by a private business.

⇐ Back to more about Alice in Our Place Nā Alice i tā mātou rohe

Read the documents | Pānui ngā tuhinga

• Visitor Information Services Options Report  (PDF, 214KB)
• Manaaki Toiora Activity (PDF, 552KB)