Rudman's city: Actors and musicians wait and wait for cue

At the risk of overexciting those of an artistic persuasion, it appears there could be signs of life at ART, the Arts Regional Trust being established by Auckland and Manukau City Councils.

Trustees have finally been selected to administer the $6 million honeypot and it seems that, after a private bonding session, their names will be unveiled and the funding requests can start flowing.

And not before time, I can hear the actors and musicians muttering.

Who would have thought, 2 1/2 years ago when Parliament reluctantly agreed to direct $10 million of the $900 million assets of the disappearing regional services trust towards Auckland arts and culture, that the process would take so long?

Much of the delay, of course, has been caused by the mad distribution method ordained by the Shipley Government. It was as if, piqued at being forced to give any of this money to the arts, the Government went out of its way to delay and complicate the process.

If that wasn't the intention, it was certainly the outcome.

In 1998 the arts community had campaigned for the creation of a regional arts foundation to administer the proposed regional services trust handout.

The Government seemed to go along with this by setting aside $10 million, which was to be held in trust "to be applied to significant projects in the Auckland region in the area of arts and culture."

But instead of setting up one regional trust to administer the one nest-egg, Parliament dolloped out the money on a per head basis to Auckland's seven local councils. Each had to set up a separate trust. When the big four councils contemplated establishing a joint trust, they were told it would be illegal.

It took nearly a year to get the law amended to allow a joint trust, but by then only Auckland and Manukau were interested. It has taken them a year since then to establish a trust and select trustees.

The other five councils went their separate ways. How they each interpreted the two statutory imperatives - that the grants go to regionally significant artistic enterprises and that they be new projects - is intriguing.

First off the blocks was Papakura District, which started off with $358,098. It decided to donate $100,000 towards shifting the district museum into the long-planned, but still under construction, library.

Chief executive Tom McLean says they wanted to spend the money "in our local area." He adds that "some of our facilities are sub-regional" in that people from Manukau and Franklin also use them. The rest of the money sits in a reserve fund accumulating interest because no one has suggested any other projects to spend it on.

North Shore City, on the other hand, has stuck to the spirit of the legislation. It had $1.6 million to administer and set up a distribution committee which last November, after considering applications, distributed $194,500 to organisations both local and Auckland-wide.

The biggest single grant was $25,000 to the Auckland Philharmonia, and $20,000 went to both the Auckland Theatre Company and the North Shore Operatic Society. The Waitakere Playhouse Theatre Trust - outside the city bounds - had $10,000.

Waitakere City received $1.45 million and decided to put aside $1 million and distribute the rest. With interest, that totals about $600,000. More than 80 applications have been received and who gets what will be known by June.

As for Rodney District, things have been so chaotic there that not a penny of its $628,181 has been touched.

That leaves Franklin District, nestling in the shadow of the Bombay Hills with its $317,542, which is $356,400 with interest. It is seeking applicants, but don't apply if you live outside the district.

Communications manager Ken Dyer says "the idea was to have it for the benefit of Franklin." And not all of Franklin at that. For regional government purposes, Franklin is split between Auckland and Waikato regions. Only those living within the Auckland bit are eligible.

If it sounds confusing, spare a thought for the applicants. You have only to read about it. The Philharmonia and the Theatre Company and the rest have to prepare not one submission but four or seven.

Surely it didn't need to be this hard.