No rent holiday for flower show says ARC

By ANNE BESTON

Ellerslie Flower Show organisers pledged more money to charity than was likely to be generated by this year's show and were refused a rent holiday during secret negotiations with the Auckland Regional Council.

The Rotary Club of Auckland and show staff went cap-in-hand to the ARC in March asking for the rent at the council-run Botanic Gardens at Manurewa to be waived after the sums to stage the show didn't add up.

The Botanic Gardens are rented to the Ellerslie Flower Show at a commercial rate understood to be around $80,000.

The ARC told organisers it would waive the rent but it would have to be paid back in subsequent years.

The source said TVNZ's sponsorship amounted to $250,000 a year, which Rotary would have had to do without after the state broadcaster chose not to renew the deal.

TVNZ would not comment.

Auckland event management company IMG wants to manage the show and hopes to know if it is successful by the end of the week.

"We believe it's an iconic event. It is widely regarded as one of the top five flower shows in the world," general manager Dean Calvert said.

IMG also ran the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show and started Sydney in Bloom.

When Rotary announced the show's cancellation, in this its 10th anniversary year, it said TVNZ's decision to cancel the sponsorship deal was a major factor.

The show attracted around 70,000 visitors a year and organisers believe it put around $12 million into the Auckland region's economy and raised almost $700,000 for charity.

Rotary has put the show up for sale and may already have a taker.

Hamilton City officials said yesterday that they would consider taking it south of the Bombay Hills.

City marketing staff will approach Rotary with the idea.

Hamilton Mayor David Braithwaite backed the plan.

"It perhaps could be done in a different way, but I certainly think we should initiate an investigation," he said.

- additional reporting Rebecca Walsh