A shared bike and pedestrian path, CCTV upgrade, town regeneration and enhancing, and building resilience to natural hazards are some of the projects being presented to Central Government as part of Whakatāne District Council’s application to the ‘Better off Funding’ opportunity to support community wellbeing.
At today’s (8 September) Ordinary Council meeting Elected Members voted to formally apply for the funding for seven projects, all of which will benefit communities across the Whakatāne District.
The funding has been pre-allocated to councils based on a nationally consistent formula that considers population, the deprivation index and land area.
The Whakatāne District has been allocated $22.66 million, with the first tranche of funding ($5.66 million) available now and the remaining portion ($16.99 million) becoming available in 2024.
The seven projects and the amounts allocated to them are:
• planning for Murupara and Minginui regeneration, and amenity projects ($700K)
• developing shared-use cycle trail from Edgecumbe to Thornton ($900K)
• enhancing Civil Defence preparedness and strengthening Waimana and Te Teko community halls ($1.36M)
• commencing a two-year commitment for a collective Iwi Policy Hub ($1M)
• Delivering Hono Hapori - mobile community outreach for Council services ($500K)
• providing for a CCTV upgrade and expansion ($1M)
• accelerating the Whakatāne-Kawerau Spatial Plan ($200K).
Chief Executive Steph O’Sullivan said the allocated funding package is designed to boost local amenity and outcomes for residents.
“This funding provides huge opportunity for councils to progress and accelerate projects while ensuring minimal impact to ratepayers.
“In a District such as ours, with so much potential and opportunity this funding will augment and innovate and, in some cases, speed up key projects that will have benefit across all communities,” Ms O’Sullivan said.
Council followed a robust process to identify project options and finalise a short list of successful projects.
This included consideration of equity, inclusiveness, outcomes for Māori, alignment with community aspirations and District priorities, value for money and whether projects can be delivered within the time limits of the fund.
Ms O’Sullivan said the seven projects will have District-wide benefit ensuring better outreach into rural and remote communities, improving access and recreational activities across the District, support Iwi to achieve their tribal visions and engage in strategic projects, and more generally support business and employment.
“Although the funding has yet to be negotiated specifically for these projects, staff have been given strong indications the projects would qualify for funding under the criteria.
“Once applications close Government will then assess the requests and enter into a funding agreement with Council.”
Initial funding is expected to be available at the end of the year once the Department of Internal Affairs has approved the submitted projects.