Avantidrome expected to bring multi-million dollar benefit to Waipa

1 August 2013

The outlining of the multi-million dollar economic benefit the Avantidrome is expected to bring to the district has come with an assurance the Home of Cycling Trust will not be seeking any additional funding from Waipa District Council.

In response to a question from Mayor Alan Livingston during a presentation to councillors, trust chief executive Geoff Balme said he was happy to give that assurance.

Our operating model is underpinned by tenancies, the Avanti sponsorship, and guaranteed track revenue which will help ensure our operating costs are pretty much covered before we even open the doors to the public, he said.

We are also on the right side of the budget in terms of the construction and we are not anticipating any surprises.

Waipa District Council had provided $1 million in funding to ensure the National Cycling Centre of Excellence was established in the Waipa District but had placed a number of conditions on the funding.

One of those was that the net cost of borrowing to service the grant does not impact on existing Waipa District ratepayers.

In a report , Waipa District Council Chief financial officer Ken Morris said the Avantidrome was now well into the construction phase by Waipa building company Livingstone and they had engaged a number of locally-based sub-contractors.

This was providing a big boost to the economy both at a district and regional level, he said.

Council had been informed that 11 families directly associated with the Avantidrome had already moved to the district, six months prior to the facility opening. Seven have already bought homes and two others were looking to build.

It has been estimated there would be $3 million in salaries and $1 million in athletes living cost grants paid out each year for activities based at the Avantidrome and the potential for good health and social benefits once the community programmes began.

Based on conservative estimates of a minimum of 39 new homes in the district directly attributable to the Avantidrome, the result should be a significant financial surplus in Council's books after meeting our own costs, said Mr Morris.

While there is a budgeted deficit of $52,790 for the 2013/14 year this is a temporary position, it was expected, and even here growth is shielding the existing ratepayers, he said.

Rating base growth had generated $260,000 in additional income in the last financial year, $90,000 in additional targeted rates and $170,000 directly attributable to capital value growth.

This essentially equated to a $15 benefit including GST per rateable property. The National Cycling Centre rate requirement for the 2013/14 year is $7.39 (including GST).

Mayor Alan Livingston said the project had been very closely scrutinised and every issue and opportunity looked at.

I am totally confident we will achieve the best possible outcome both now and as we head into the future, he said.

ENDS

For further information contact

Lisa Nairne

Senior Communications Advisor

Ph: 07 872 0062 or 027 532 1760

Email: lisa.nairne@waipadc.govt.nz