The council yesterday approved the proposal to transfer governance from the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Trust board to the council to be included in its annual plan as the preferred option.
It still needs to have the support of the Southland and Gore District Councils.
Cr Biddle, who is also chairwoman of the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Trust Board, said this would be ‘‘the best outcome for the redevelopment of the museum’’.
The decision came after the presentation of a report from council chief executive Clare Hadley which suggested the council was actually the owner of the museum building.
It has long been thought that the trust owned the pyramid building, and the council owned the land on which the building sits.
However, she said research suggested this was wrong.
Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt said this was a ‘‘interesting situation’’.
‘‘We always thought that we didn’t own the museum, and that’s why we could not made decisions ... And this wasn't correct. This shows the importance of looking very carefully at issues that we take for granted.’’
In the report, Mrs Hadley suggested to the museum activity would be ‘‘brought in-house’’ to the council and the museum collection would be governed by the museum’s trust.
Cr Lesley Soper said it was ‘‘an elegant solution to an issue that has been going for a quite some time’’.
The building was closed to the public in April 2018, because of earthquake safety concerns, and since then discussions about its future have taken place throughout the region.
A report from strategic planner Tim Walker would be made public in the next few months.
The recommendation was approved unanimously.
The council also approved additional funding of $300,000 for each of the next three years to Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust.
For the past two years, councillors have granted one-off $300,000 increases.
Trust financial manager Mel Montgomery, during the public forum,
said the trust needed the funding for maintenance and repair works.
‘‘A venue of this magnitude comes with significant cost.’’
Acting finance director Dave Foster said this would mean an increase of 0.5% in rates.
He said the matter should be included in consultation on the long-term plan, which would start next month.
Crs Ludlow and Soper supported a long-term solution.
They suggested approving funding for the next year, but asked the council to consult the public about future funding.
The council approved the funding.
