But the council is thinking about prising its key Oamaru tourist attraction off Tourism Waitaki. That is among a suite of options to be considered at its meeting on Tuesday.
Councillors will be asked to consider restructuring Tourism Waitaki into a new entity.
That could subsume its charitable entity status and involve it being restructuring as an "at arms-length" economic development agency via a new council-controlled organisation (CCO).
On Thursday, in an apparent salvo to quell any sniff of controversy, the council issued a statement about the possible carve-off of the penguin colony.
"Waitaki District Council would like to make it absolutely clear that none of the proposals being considered ... involve plans for the sale of the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony," chief executive Alex Parmley said.
However, Tourism Waitaki being made "a stand-lone" agency with a new identity would also enable the colony to be more focused on its environmental aims.
Under the proposal, Tourism Waitaki would be a "stand-alone" economic development agency outside the council’s day-to-day function with a broader mandate than just tourism.
The colony would also become "a stand-alone" CCO.
"This would allow it to reinvest its profits in expanding a vital environmental and tourist asset for the district," Mr Parmley said.
Tuesday’s meeting papers say the colony has a forecast operating profit of $916,000 to June 30, 2025.
Tourism Waitaki Ltd (TWL) is expected to be in the red by $625,000 at June 30, 2025.
Community and economic development manager Melanie Jones outlined legal options to disentangle the current TWL and Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony set up.
Previous legal advice was the charitable status of TWL was "immovable," she said.
But newer advice suggested the council, as the shareholder, could seek an amendment to the Tourism Waitaki constitution to reconfigure it as an economic development unit.
Ms Jones’ nine-page report is peppered with "learnings" and "partnership vehicles" among other management speak.
She said the penguin colony had until now been used "as a funding mechanism" for Tourism Waitaki.
"As a result there has been limited investment in product and experience development opportunities to enable it to grow its revenue."
Carving off the penguin colony would give it a more autonomous focus.
Ms Jones said the proposed options aligned with the council’s economic development strategy.
The Uplifting Waitaki: Hapaitia te Waitaki Development Strategy had proposed an economic development agency.
It was adopted in September 2022.
It would be "a partnership vehicle" to engage with community and business entities to deliver the strategy and to ensure it was "a vehicle for securing additional resources," Ms Jones said.
Rather than "seeking to retain control" by delivering the strategy alone, the council wanted to be more collaborative.
Ms Jones said the council was "not always best placed" to meet the aspirations of the district.
