2020-09-08 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            8 SEPTEMBER 2020


The comparison of the past five years’ financial performance above reveals a trend of strong
revenue growth which started reversing in 2018/19 as the maintenance closure loomed. In
2019/20 revenue suffered significantly as a result of 5 months’ worth of closures. Controllable
expenses stabilised the past few years and decreased in 2019/20 while the centre was closed.
Changes to Council’s cost allocation methodology led to an increase in internal charges in
2017/18 however these expenses have since plateaued.

1.   CUSTOMERS
The NAC recorded 159,721 attendances for the year which was a 34% decrease on 2018/19’s
figure of 240,893. This reduction correlates closely with the percentage of the year for which the
centre was closed and shows that visitation held up well during opening periods despite
operating disruptions.

                         NAC full year attendance comparison
                                  2015/16 to 2019/20
 260,000
                               245,308         242,922
                                                                240,893
 240,000       235,037


 220,000


 200,000


 180,000

                                                                                159,721
 160,000


 140,000


 120,000


 100,000
              2015/16          2016/17         2017/18         2018/19          2019/20

Traditionally the NAC has had limited lane availability during peak times, although this hasn’t
been a major issue under the restricted operating arrangements post-COVID closure. Demand
for space will continue to be managed carefully as the centre progressively reopens and
patronage returns to more normal levels. The recent opening of the St Andrew’s pool may
alleviate some pressure on space as select activities, including some water polo sessions, shift
away from the NAC.

2.   STAFFING
The NAC remains a seasonal operation and therefore a large percentage of its team are
employed as casuals, with staff levels fluctuating throughout the year.
During the maintenance shutdown, several staff elected to take an extended break, while others
pursued redeployment opportunities in other areas of Council. During the COVID closure a
majority of staff were provided with redeployment opportunities across other Council teams
and/or with local community organisations in need of additional assistance.
Staff were extremely grateful to Council for the deployment opportunities on both occasions and
there have been some really positive stories coming from all parties regarding the success and
value of these redeployments.

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