Five projects in the Mangawhai area will receive $55,104 from the Mangawhai Endowment Fund.
Acknowledging the fund's association with the harbour, the Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society was granted $30,000 for stabilising the distal sand spit and channel maintenance, $13,200 was allocated to the Mangawhai Historical Society for completion of the genealogy room at its new museum, $4604 to NZ Fairy Tern Charitable Trust for predator control at breeding sites, and $860 to the Mangawhai Riparian Planting Group to continue a planting project in Devich Rd.
The fund committee also granted $6500 to the Mangawhai Plunket Group to cover the children's play area.
The fund was formed following the dissolution of the Mangawhai Harbour Board in 1965 with the board's property assets being vested in the former Otamatea County Council.
Until recently the county council's successor - the Kaipara District Council - determined grants through a committee of the three Otamatea Ward Kaipara district councillors and the Kaipara mayor as an ex officio member.
However, in line with public submissions which sought greater local community involvement, for the first time the Mangawhai Endowment Fund Committee now has two community members - Joanna Roberts and Alan Russek - who joined commissioners John Robertson and Colin Dale on March 4 to decide the distribution
of the available $55,000.
Eleven applications totalling $266,000, almost double last year, vied for consideration. chairman, for consideration. The chairman, Mr Dale, said the committee members were impressed by the quality of all applications.
The committee will meet in a few months to review the funding criteria and clarify the status of the Mangawhai Endowment Fund in the council's financial records .
The next round of applications will be called around October this year.