Yates Dianne: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — First Reading 
Yates Dianne: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4015] 
DIANNE YATES (Labour) 
 on behalf of  
Steve Chadwick (Labour) 
: I move  
That the Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Local Government and Environment Committee. The first reading today will be welcomed by the Rotorua District Council and the Rotorua Public Library. I have agreed to give this speech today on behalf of the MP for Rotorua Steve Chadwick who is attending the tangi of Guide Bubbles in Rotorua. This bill is non-controversial and in effect realises the intention of the deceased Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson as expressed in her will which was probated in 1936. We do not know a lot about Elizabeth Seddon-Johnson but we can assure her descendants that her desire to support the library will be honoured by this bill almost 70 years later. 
The current library building is located in Haupapa Street Rotorua. It is located on the ground and first floors of a four-storey building. The top floors are currently leased out though those leases terminate at the end of this calendar year. The library desperately needs the additional space that will be freed up as a result of the leases’ expiry. The drafters of the bill have been advised by Jane Gilbert the library manager that effectively the library has been in a holding pattern for the last 5 years or so due to the shortage of space. It is proposed that the library will occupy the whole of the building and the additional two floors will increase the space available at the library by around another two-thirds. In that regard the two top floors provide less space than the two existing floors occupied by the library. The council has allocated a budget of around $1 million for its 2006-07 year commencing on 1 July 2006 towards the necessary renovations refurbishing fitting out and provisioning of the library as a result of the top two floors becoming available on the expiry of the leases. 
The essential and primary purpose behind the bill is therefore to enable to council to access the capital of an endowment currently vested in it pursuant to section 31 of the Local Legislation Act 1937. In that regard I refer members to the explanatory note of the bill which spells out the basic background details. The fundamental difficulty the council currently has in administering the endowment vested in it pursuant to the 1937 Act is that it does not have the ability to apply the capital of the endowment for the purposes of the library; rather it is only the income that can be so applied. Further the purposes for which the income can currently be applied are arguably not sufficiently specific to enable the income let alone the capital to be applied in the way the council intends. 
There is no doubt that the primary and fundamental purpose—and the driver—behind the bill being promoted by the council is the need to access the capital to enable the work intended to be carried out once the leases of the top two floors expire at the end of this year. Members will note that clause 5(2) enables both the capital and income of the endowment to be applied for a range of purposes including any expansion of the library. It is fair to say that the bulk if not necessarily all of the endowment will be applied for that particular purpose. However that is not inconsistent with the basic thrust of the bill. There may or may not be excess funds available for the other stated purposes covered in clause 5(2). 
The endowment has a rather tortuous legal history. Members will note from the explanatory note that the endowment can be traced to the will made on 30 December 1932 by Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson. That will probate of which was granted on 1 September 1936 provided for certain legacies and then directed the residue to be held in trust for the then Rotorua Borough Council to be used for or towards the erection of a new wing for the Rotorua Public Library. It is fair to say therefore that the purpose intended to be achieved by the bill effectively restores the legal position to one whereby the original intent of Miss Seddon-Johnson is achieved. In that regard although what is contemplated by the council is not the erection of a new wing to the existing library it does involve an expansion of the existing library. 
The residue of Miss Seddon-Johnson’s estate comprised a Crown lease situated in Rotorua. The purpose of section 37 of the Local Legislation Act 1937 was to enable the then Rotorua Borough Council to acquire the lease and to borrow a sum for the purpose of paying out the legacies provided for in those provisions of Miss Seddon-Johnson’s will that needed to be satisfied. As a result of the Rotorua Borough Council acquiring the land under the power conferred by the 1937 Act revenue was derived by it. Accordingly further provision was made in the 1937 Act whereby the income it so derived could be applied for certain specific and relatively narrow purposes associated with the Rotorua Public Library. The 1937 Act did not however go so far as to enable the capital of the endowment to be applied for the purposes of the library. 
The council has on at least two to three occasions over the last 20 years or so approached the drafters of this bill seeking advice as to whether it was able to apply the capital of the endowment for the purposes of the Rotorua Public Library. The advice the most recent of which was given in 2005 has consistently been that the council does not have the power under the 1937 Act to apply the capital but can apply only the income for certain particular purposes associated with the library. The purpose of the bill is therefore to enable the council to access the capital and to apply it for a wider range of purposes than is currently available but in a way that seems to be entirely consistent with the original intentions of Miss Seddon-Johnson. 
In conclusion as is the case when member promote local bills I request the support of the House for this bill. However I did make an error in my speech. The bill should be referred to the Government Administration Committee not to the Local Government and Environment Committee.