Marlborough Lines is an important participant in the Marlborough community. We are a significant employer, we supply a vital service to every dwelling and commercial building in the province and our staff are very visible within the community.
In a public sense the Company is still considered to be community owned (electricity consumers are the beneficiaries of the Marlborough Electric Power Trust) and there is an expectation that the Company will contribute at many levels within the community.
For a number of years, with the support of the shareholder and the community, the Directors have adhered to a policy to provide support for youth education within the region. We provide tertiary study scholarships to secondary school pupils, and sponsor annual Science Fairs, which are designed to foster scientific study and learning from intermediate school upwards. The Company has regularly sponsored audio/visual/computer equipment upgrades in secondary schools.
On a continuing basis we also support numerous cultural and festival type events, which draw visitors into the region and contribute to the region's economic turnover.
We continue to support the Marlborough Wine Festival, the Blues, Brews and BBQ's, and the biennial Omaka Classic Fighters Air Show. Marlborough Lines staff provide sought after expertise in the temporary installation of power supplies for such events. The Company owns a large inventory of equipment that we make available for these events.
In 2006, we entered into a five year arrangement to become the principal sponsor (with naming rights) of the Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000. This is an indoor sports stadium that also caters for conferences and concerts and is the most widely used sports facility in the region.
We also support the preservation of Marlborough's heritage, with significant contributions towards display lighting in both the Omaka Classic Fighters Museum (2008) and also the Brayshaw Park based Wine Museum. The Wine Museum opened to the public for the first time in 2008. It showcases the development of the wine industry in Marlborough from 1973 to today (when approximately 70% of New Zealand's total wine production comes from our region).
We continue to support the Blenheim and Picton Christmas Parades, the Marlborough Business Excellence Awards, Christmas Carols by Laser Light, and to maintain the garden lighting at Blenheim's Pollard Park.
Each year we receive a large number of requests for donations and sponsorship, and the Company's response varies from providing sponsorship dollars, to assisting with the provision of electrical reticulation. During the past year we assisted with new power supplies for the new Renwick Sports Ground facility and the new Blenheim based Alzheimer's Society headquarters.
On an annual basis Marlborough Lines currently provides community support to a level in excess of $150,000 per annum and the Company is continually mindful that support should be directed for the greatest good of the whole community.
We have recently been approached and have agreed to support the establishment of a further building at Blenheim's Brayshaw Park (a founders village). The new building will be used to house a range of old machinery and equipment, including a 1928 White truck (the first truck used in Marlborough for constructing electric lines) donated to the Park by the Company's predecessor, the Marlborough Electric Power Board. The Company and the previous Board have donated four vehicles into the custody of Brayshaw Park. In addition to the White truck, these comprise a Second World War Ford Quad (4 by 4), a 1960s Bedford J1 truck and a 1990s Ford Falcon Fault utility. These vehicles are in the care of the Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society and the Company contributes towards maintenance costs to keep the vehicles in operating condition.
As well as the rolling exhibits at Brayshaw Park, we maintain the first diesel generating engines operated by the Marlborough Electric Power Board (in the 1930s). These are sited at Springlands in Blenheim. While they no longer run on load, they are started up when the Company holds open days, to provide a demonstration of the way electricity generation used to be.
