Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Christchurch City Council staff signed off on $125,000 of funding for this year's Canterbury A&P show without consulting councillors.
It comes after the council reached a $5 million deal with the association in April, which would see the association surrender its lease on council land on Wigram Road and receive $4m in a protected investment fund.
The revelation of the funding emerged during a briefing to councillors from Canterbury A&P Association board members on Tuesday morning and took councillors by surprise.
"Was it anticipated at that time [of the $5 million deal] that there would be additional funding going to the show?" Papanui ward councillor Victoria Henstock asked, during the briefing.
Councillors were told by Christchurch City Council citizens and community general manager Andrew Rutledge the money had come from the council's City Identity Fund.
In response to queries from RNZ, the council said a funding request came in from the Canterbury A&P Association and "was managed by staff under urgency due to the very short timeframe to enable the show to take place".
"This was an extraordinary circumstance as the CAPA Board has only been in existence for a short time," the response, atttributed to Rutledge, said.
"The funding of $125,000 in FY 24/25 is being made from the new City Identity Fund with an underwrite proposed for FY25/26 which will convert to a loan if drawn down. The decision was made on Friday 6 September by staff who have delegated authority to make decisions around this fund.
"The City Identity Fund is a new fund and councillors are scheduled to receive an information report on Events Funding at the Wednesday 18 September Council meeting."
RNZ has asked when the association's funding request came in, when the City Identity Fund was established and what role councillors had in its establishment.
The fund is being established to address the gap that iconic community events fall into. They are important to the city but do not quality for major events funding and require greater funding than what is available through the Council's Events and Festivals Fund.
These events must have significant evidence that they contribute to the city's identity and have strong community outcomes.
It has been a tumultuous year for the Canterbury A&P Association.
In April the board announced the cancellation of this year's New Zealand Agricultural Show.
The show was then resurrected - though in a downscaled and different format - by an events management company and most of the board was replaced.
Tuesday morning's briefing to councillors marked the first time the new board had fronted councillors since their appointment.
Board member Peter Engel said the $125,000 funding for this year and the underwriting for next year would support the show's viability until returns started coming in from the protected investment fund.
Rutledge would also sit as an observer and advisor to the association's board.
Board chair Sir David Carter said he was certain this year's show - branded the Christchurch Show - was going ahead and that was the board's focus.
"What we're keen to do as a board is put the past behind us. There's no point in post-mortems - the past is the past. What we want to focus on is Show 24 and Show 25," he said.