Compliance Costs Crippling for Small Education Provider

Compliance Costs Crippling for Small Outdoor Education Provider

The escalating cost of compliance is one of the main factors forcing the Peel Forest Outdoor Pursuits Charitable Trust to seek Expressions of Interest from organisations that may be interested in forming a strategic alliance to help it to continue, develop and run its programmes and facilities. The Trust was established in 1994 to provide outdoor and environmental education to schools and the wider community. It owns a unique 24 Ha block of protected native forest, adjoining the Peel Forest Park Scenic Reserve, where accommodation for up to 48 people has been developed using sustainable principles and runs outdoor programmes from the old Department of Conservation buildings in the Peel Forest Village.

While the Trust has significant assets, the small provider is finding it increasingly difficult to source funding in the face of increasing costs, especially around compliance. “We have always been dependant on funding grants to purchase and maintain our equipment and facilities, but audit and compliance costs have to come out of our operations budget and have a direct impact on our bottom line” says Trustee and interim Centre Manager Blue Forsyth. The introduction of the Adventure Activities Regulations in 2011 has been the catalyst for a rapid escalation in compliance cost for the Centre. In the Regulatory Impact Statement prepared for the Government by the Department of Labour prior to the introduction of the legislation, the estimated cost of the 3 yearly audit for medium risk activities was about $1,500. According to Mr Forsyth, the cost to the Centre for their first audit under the new requirements in 2013 was $2,400 and excluded the cost of auditing one of the Centres main activities, rafting, which is independently audited by Maritime NZ. The estimate provided by the auditor for the 2016 audit is around $8,000 and again does not include rafting, nor does it include the considerable staff time and resources needed to prepare for such an audit. This represents a 230% increase in 3 years. These costs, combined with the increasing difficulties in obtaining funding, have left the Board of Trustees questioning the long-term viability of the Centre. “Business as usual is not an option” says Mr Forsyth. “We are probably too small to continue to go it alone so have decided to look for alternative management structures that will allow the Centre to continue to grow and serve the community we are passionate about. With this in mind, we are keen to talk to other like-minded organisations with a view to forming an agreement to govern, manage or support our operation. We have no preconceived ideas of what any agreement should look like, but we do need to keep faith with previous supporters, maintain our charitable status and ensure students of the region continue to have access to safe, inspiring and fun activities. With increasing environmental degradation and climate change, it is critical that we continue to stimulate an understanding and awareness of the outdoor environment and issues of sustainability, especially among the generations who will inherit these problems”.

The Trust would be pleased to hear from any organisations interested in exploring this opportunity via email to director@peelforestoutdoors.org.nz with Request for Expressions of Interest in the subject line.

ENDS

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