Organisations are relieved the council has backed down on proposed “nightmare” fees at Tauranga’s Historic Village.

The village is home to dozens of community organisations including The Incubator Creative Hub and The Men’s Shed.

Tauranga City Council proposed raising the rent by 31 per cent for some retail buildings and 23.5 per cent for some of the buildings classed as warehouses.

The community organisations would have been given a 20 per cent discount on their licence to occupy/rent.

After huge backlash from creatives and village tenants, the council created a new community category, which provides a 35 per cent discount on standard rent.

Larger venues will also have their rent capped at 100m2.

Incubator director Simone Anderson says they are “very relieved” and the community rent category means they are no worse off.

“Some other tenants, they’re definitely much better off and it’s now proportionate with what the funding environment is for most of us.”

If the fee increases went ahead, The Incubator would have had to scale back their services and redundancies were likely, says Simone.

“It would’ve been extremely difficult, sort of a nightmare situation.”

Other organisations in the village would have had to leave, says Simone.

The rent increases were part of the council’s 2024-2034 Long Term Plan.

During the February hearings Historic Village tenants and Incubator staff and supporters filled council chambers urging them not the “kill” the village with fee increases.

The council also proposed a new operating expenses structure.

The average fee would have been $29.48 per square metre of space rented each year.

Operating costs at the village for 2024/2025 are expected to be $204,104 and the council intended to get $167,023 from tenants.

Historic Village supporters filled council chambers to protest the proposed fees during LTP hearings. Photo: Alisha Evans.

During LTP deliberations in March the council changed this to $50 a year for tenants with a sink, $100 per year if they had a toilet, and electricity would be charged based on use.

Simone says the operating costs would have been more of a “serious issue” for tenants than the rent increase.

“We are quite relieved that they’ve actually changed their mind on that.”

Council manager venues and events Nelita Byrne says the proposed operating costs were not part of the LTP but were brought into the conversation through the submission process.

With the new structure the council expects to recover $52,248 in operating expenses including electricity, says Nelita.

During LTP deliberations commission chair Anne Tolley said ratepayers would be subsidising the rest of the costs not covered by village tenants.

Simone says this is fair because the village is a community facility.

“Everybody enjoys the lawns being mowed and uses the public toilets, it’s not just the tenants.

“You can see council’s thinking initially in terms it’s [The Historic Village] a commercial space, but it’s really not.

"I see it as a community space.”

Simone applauds the council for listening and making changes to the proposed fees.

“It’s been really refreshing to hear that they’ve [council] made that decision.

“You like to think that when people do exercise their democratic rights and speak up, that they are listened to and it does seem that they have been listened to.”

The fees will be formally adopted as part of the 2024-2034 LTP late-April.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.