Rodney Local Board is “tearing its hair out” after new Auckland Council rules threaten its ability to award community grants.
Each year, the board sets aside money that local groups can apply for to progress community projects.
Typical projects might include playgrounds, walkways, cycleways and fitness trails.
But at a workshop on June 1 to discuss the disbursal of about $150,000 of remaining grant money for this financial year, a Council advisor informed the Board that if the project created a capital asset – such as a playground – then a grant could not be awarded.
But Board chair Beth Houlbrooke said the Council approach is frustrating, especially given that the directive has come at the end of the financial year with precious little time to find a solution before the grant money is lost.
“They have thrown up a hurdle at the 11th hour and we are tearing our hair out over it,” she said.
“We’ve put it in our plans that we want to work with the community in this way. Now they are telling us we can’t do this even though we’ve budgeted for it.”
The Board will try to find a solution to the problem at its next meeting on June 15. If it is unable to do so then money earmarked for asset-creating grants will disappear into Council’s general fund and will be lost to Rodney.
Ms Houlbrooke said in the past the annual grant programme has proved an excellent way to meet Board and Council objective of empowering communities and securing new assets at a modest cost.
For example, a community group might apply for a grant to build a playground, but will then do their own fundraising and provide volunteer labour to ensure completion of the playground. Hence, a $100,000 playground might only cost council $50,000.
At the beginning of the financial year the Board allocated $269,000 for its annual grants programme. Grant money that has already been awarded is unaffected by the council rule change.
Council general manager of corporate finance and property Kevin Ramsay said grants were appropriate for an activity that council would not ordinarily undertake. But if the activity was to build a path or playground, or other type of physical asset on Council land, grants, with some exceptions, were generally not appropriate.
“There needs to be a proper procurement process to ensure we have full compliance from a quality control perspective and a health and safety perspective. This process also ensures adequate budgets are provided for ongoing maintenance of the completed asset,” he said.
