Tauranga Golf Club and the racecourse are going to be under new management later this year.

The Racecourse Reserve Operation & Management Committee, which has managed the Crown reserve since 1994, is now considered outdated in its process and structure by Tauranga City Council staff.

The city council decided this week the committee will no longer operate after September 1. Council staff are to work with the affected clubs to decide upon the next arrangement – possibly an incorporated society.

The review is ahead of the council's governance structure review to be conducted following the triennial election in October 2016.

The racecourse committee doesn't fit in with the other committees. It does things they cannot and is largely outside the control of bureaucrats.

'Anomalies” noted in this week's council agenda include the fact the committee operates six separate bank accounts, that only racecourse committee members can access.

The city council is not involved in the financial administration of the committee other than to collect and pass on the annual rental of $39,000.

The committee is a combination of council appointees and members of the clubs. There's a council appointed chairman and secretary, a councillor and council appointee. There are three user group representatives, one from the gold club, the racing club and Tauranga Equestrian Sports Association.

The staff report presented to councilors states that issues with committee include:

*Some members of the Committee may not be familiar with legislation and/or Council's Policies and Procedures. Therefore, decisions can possibly be made that do not comply with these.

It's unusual to provide a dedicated Committee for an established reserve which is under the jurisdiction of a local authority.

*There are concerns about the blurred divide between governance and operational elements of administering the reserve.

*The racecourse committee is different to other council committees in that it directly approves or engages contractors to conduct maintenance and physical works.

Councillors on the committee are 'officers' and have due diligence responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015.

The 83 ha of land for the racecourse and golf links was set aside by the Crown in 1878 and a Domain Board was established - a publicly appointed group authorised by The Crown.

The Domain Board survived until 1989 and the local government amalgamation process and a transitional reserve subcommittee was established to oversee the change in administration.

The subcommittee was disestablished in 1994 and the Racecourse Reserve Operation and Management Committee.

It was set up as a special committee of the council in 2013, bringing together the two lease holders of the Racecourse Reserve, Council appointees and club representatives.

Thirty four Ha is leased to the BOP Racing Club and 44.8 Ha leased to the Tauranga Golf Club. The balance of 4.2Ha and is managed through Council.

All maintenance and physical works are conducted by the two clubs on the reserve and governed by the committee.

Tauranga City Council doesn't pay for any operational or capital funding on the leased areas of the site, but helps out by occasionally using TCC contractors to keep costs down, but charges the committee for it.

Staff are going to work with the committee going forward to consider options; an incorporated society, a charitable trust, a memorandum of understanding.

Governance structure for all committees is normally reviewed as part of the process which is undertaken following each triennial election.