At its meeting in Wanaka yesterday, the council adopted a recommendation from general manager, community services, Paul Wilson that it appoint a part-time "commercial events facilitator" to work alongside the council's arts and events co-ordinator - "together creating an events office".
The office will be reviewed after one year.
In a report to the council, Mr Wilson said having the office within the community services department would make it relatively easy to establish, modify and disestablish if circumstances changed.
He did not favour a structure recommended by a task force set up to consider ways the Southern Lakes district could become a more "event-friendly" destination.
The task force suggested the events office be a charitable trust independent of the council with a board made up of council, tourism, business and community representatives, and similar in structure to the Film Otago Southland Trust.
Mr Wilson believed setting up another organisation would "add further confusion" for event organisers already likely to encounter "council, APL [a property management company], the RTOs [regional tourism organisations] and Lakes Leisure [a council-owned recreation services company]".
Cr Trevor Tattersfield said the office needed to be visible and he was concerned it might become "buried" in a back office inside the community services department.
However, Mayor Vanessa van Uden said setting up the office was a starting point rather than the "final solution" and it was necessary to "get the wheels spinning".
Several councillors expressed a desire for rapid progress and the council decided the terms of reference and membership of an events advisory group should be reported back to its next meeting.
