Improving environments a funding decision theme
Creating better environments for children, along streams, at local halls and along cycle trails was the theme of many funding decisions made by Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board last week.
Despite being plunged into darkness by a Northland-wide electricity outage, the board powered on with a packed agenda of funding applications during the last meeting of the financial year held on Thursday 20 June.
Restoring the habitat of Wairoa Stream in Kerikeri is part of the kaupapa of Vision Kerikeri, a group which has an agreement with the council to manage this work. Maintaining the track includes tree felling, carried out by the Friends of Wairoa Stream. The group was granted $7935 by the board to employ a contractor to clear seven large and highly invasive privet trees. Two spray-proof suits for volunteers to use on smaller jobs and a St John First Aid course will also be covered by the funding.
Employing a tree specialist was also the focus of a funding application by the Ōpua Hall Society. Its representative said that in the 100 years since the group began, it had never asked for funding support before. Ōpua Hall is used daily for an array of community activities from yoga classes, midwife services, and dance groups to waka ama training and local markets. But a large pine looming above the building on a steep hill area is creating a safety hazard. Because of the steep terrain, the job requires professional expertise and will cost $5000. The application was granted.
Enriching the lives of children and their families will be the focus of an activity day at Kāeo Primary School on Thursday 27 June. The day of educational, child-centred workshops about Matariki and Puanga is a collaboration between local schools, businesses and marae. The activities which celebrate children and shared cultural experiences, is the brainchild of Te Runanga o Whaingaroa. The $8000 grant will go towards equipment hire, signage, advertising and supporting volunteers.
Children at Oromahoe Kindergarten will benefit from a grant of $4000 for a one-of-a-kind 'tee-pee' structure that includes the whakiro (carving) of six pou at the school’s rural location south of Kerikeri.
The multi-use playground structure will promote respect for other cultures, particularly tikanga Māori, and an understanding of local whakapapa and whanaungatanga. The six pou will include depictions of Tane Mahuta, local maunga (mountains), animals and insects, Atua Māori (Māori gods) and ancestors. The pou are being carved at the Northland Region Corrections Facility in Ngāwhā.
A playground project was also on the minds of those from the Kerikeri Sports Complex Inc. The organisation was granted $28,024.52 for the building of stage one of a planned playground at Te Amo Pūtoro Kerikeri Sports Complex. Most of the grant came from the board’s Placemaking Fund, with $9000 allocated from its community grant funding.
The board also granted $71,500 to the Bay of Islands Walkways Trust for the construction of a 7.5km shared pathway from Russell to the Ōpua Ferry Terminal at Ōkiato. More information on this story will be available our website next week.
Photo caption - Te Wairere Waterfall on the Wairoa Stream (source - Friends of Wairoa Stream Kerikeri Facebook page).