Two weeks ago, Auckland Council released a report from an independent panel that has been reviewing the operations of all Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) over the past six months. 

One of these recommendations was a proposed merger between Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) and Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED).

On 27 August, Auckland Council’s Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors) approved the proposed merger. The process to merge our two organisations will now begin, with a targeted ‘go-live’ date of 1 December 2020.

As the Council report on the merger says, the merged entity will undertake all the current functions and activities of RFA and ATEED. This means RFA’s business units, venues, events and programming will operate as usual (taking into account Covid and border restrictions).

We would like to reassure all our partners and stakeholders that all current agreements for programmes, events, exhibitions and projects that are underway remain in place. We will continue to work with you all to enrich the lives of Aucklanders.

Any potential changes to our new merged organisation’s functions, activities and service levels would be considered as part of Council’s process to finalise the new Long-Term Plan next year.

RFA’s board and leadership team fully support the final decision made by elected members; and we are excited about the potential of our combined agency to deliver even greater outcomes for Auckland.

 

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Thank you for your support for RFA over the last ten years since our inception as a CCO. We are looking forward to a new era of collaboration with all our stakeholders as a merged entity.

Chris Brooks, RFA CEO