Naming rights policy considered

BY TRACY NEAL

Community assets owned by the Nelson City Council might one day bear the names of commercial sponsors, if a naming rights and sponsorship policy gets the go-ahead.

City councillors were poised yesterday to approve the naming rights policy for community services venues, which would help the council raise money from selling advertising space.

However, some fine-tuning was needed to avoid creating a "double standard" because commerical buildings in Nelson were subject to tight controls on signage, councillor Aldo Miccio said.

Councillors were told that an application would be made for a blanket resource consent to cover signage at Saxton Field.

Council community policy and planning adviser Chris Ward said current signage at Saxton Field was "uncontrolled", but other groups were seeking naming rights at the venue.

There was currently no policy to guide staff when applications were made, which made it difficult for them to respond when approached by potential naming rights sponsors, he said.

Mr Ward said in a report to the council that community assets it owned, and which could be of interest to organisations seeking sponsorship exposure within Nelson, included Saxton Stadium, the athletics track, cricket oval, hockey and softball pavilion, athletics, football and cricket pavilion at Saxton Field, Trafalgar Park, and the Trafalgar Centre.

The Tasman Regional Sports Trust was recently awarded the contract to manage the newly opened Saxton Stadium.

Trust chief executive Nigel Muir said the council was right to try to bring some structure to the debate, but there was a lot of detail behind the matter that various sports codes were still trying to "get their heads around".

"The important thing from here is that the codes and the council continue to speak freely and frankly about this."

Mr Ward explained that naming rights were allocated and based on a contract between the sponsor and the owner of a venue. The ASB Aquatic Centre in Richmond, a Tasman District Council project that attracted corporate sponsorship, was a good example of the type of agreement that might be sought.

He said the value of naming rights was primarily related to the media exposure that a venue was like to receive. "Venues that stage televised events will attract a premium." However, Trafalgar Park would be out of the equation during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

For the period of the tournament, "clean zones" and "clean transport routes" will be in place, meaning Trafalgar Park would not be able to display any advertising other than that linked to exclusive marketing rights, The Nelson Mail reported in September.

Councillor Pete Rainey warned against potential confusion over different kinds of signs and the potential for conflict over sponsorship of a venue, and a commercial entity sponsoring an activity at the venue.

Councillor Derek Shaw questioned whether the council would support any approach by a fast food chain that might want to buy space on a council venue.

Councillors agreed yesterday that the draft policy needed some fine-tuning.

Councillor Gail Collingwood suggested an amendment might include a "catch-all" to protect staff when members of the public might approach offering to pay to have their name on a venue.

An amended policy will be brought back to the next Nelson City Council meeting, in December.

- © Fairfax NZ News