The Queenstown Lakes District Council has changed its proposed new fee structure for use of council-owned facilities after feedback from the community and sports organisations.
Giving clubs and charitable organisations a further helping hand will in turn cost the ratepayers an extra $78,000 for the next financial year.
QLDC community services manager Paul Wilson said the challenge had been to strike the right balance between ratepayer funding and direct user charges.
He said the application of charges and rental for facilities had been inconsistent.
"Historically, it lacked fairness but that issue had to be weighed with things like affordability and membership for existing clubs in a reasonably challenging economic climate," Mr Wilson said.
When the council unveiled its draft community facility funding policy in October, with the aim of creating a more consistent framework for its fees, it received a mixed reception from the public.
While it strove to make youth sports free and give charitable organisations a discount, many smaller sports clubs and arts organisations were up in arms over increased rentals and commission on coaching or on income generated by sale of food and beverages at events.
The first draft was sent out for public consultation and received 64 submissions. Hearings in Wanaka and Queenstown in April were well attended by the public.
The hearing panel formulated several recommendations as a result. One of the most drastic has been to set a threshold for club profits on food and beverage.
Many smaller clubs had said in their submissions they relied on fundraising from sales at their events. A $300,000 limit (excluding GST) has now been set, so they will only pay 5% on the value of the trade when they exceed the limit.
To make the rentals affordable for clubs, fees may be waived for small community clubs, which will instead be granted licences to occupy the facilities.
Clubs which occupy small areas of reserve of less than 1ha will not have to pay rental. A modest rental will still apply to those with larger reserve areas.
This will mean most clubs will no longer pay rental for reserve land, and the rental for most golf clubs will be reduced.
The changes will come at a price. To meet this new approach, Mr Wilson will tomorrow ask the council's community services committee to approve an additional $78,000 operational subsidy to Lakes Leisure to make up for its deficit in revenue from fees.
"I think it is a very positive outcome that reflects the value that our communities place on sport and recreation, particularly around youth participation," Mr Wilson said.
Once the committee has decided on a final draft of the policy, it will have to be accepted by the full council at its next meeting on June 29, for the funding to be included in the annual plan for 2010-11.
