Community gardens, like this one, could be used not only to help residents but as a commercial venture. Photo / NZME
Developing community gardens is just one project Tararua District Council is proposing in an application for a grant fund.
Councils nationwide were invited to apply for funding under the Three Waters Better Off Grant Fund.
In the report tabled at last week's council meeting, it was stated the Government was continuing on the programme of Three Waters reform and an investment had been made by the Crown into the future for local government and community wellbeing.
The projects applied for had to meet certain criteria, such as supporting communities to transition to a sustainable and low-emissions economy and delivering infrastructure and/or services that enabled housing development and growth.
The council held two workshops that included iwi leaders as well as members of local community boards and committees.
Chief executive Bryan Nicholson said there were two tranches for the funding, with council allocated $3.8 million for the first tranche.
The council would have until the end of September to submit the application.
The second tranche of funding, $11.93 million, would be available in two years' time, should Three Waters go ahead.
Nicholson said it was a bit of an "unusual situation for council in terms of the criteria for funding as it includes both operational and capital funding".
He said it was also occurring outside the annual plan and long-term plan processes, making consultation with the public difficult, along with the time constraints.
There were four other projects proposed as part of the funding application, along with three backup projects.
The other four were: building capacity with iwi, growth strategies for each town, urban water assets and recreation and sport strategies.
Group manager of economic and community development Mark Maxwell spoke at length on the community garden project.
Last year, council was looking into food security and community gardens was part of that project.
Councillors asked whether this new project was going over the same ground as the food security project, but Maxwell said the garden project was a business case and a new initiative "over and above that".
Some great volunteer work had been going on around community gardens, but they tended to "ebb and flow".
"Where I see the opportunity here is to bring a bit of commercial reality to these things."
Maxwell suggested some of the food grown in the community gardens could be sold, but at a lower cost to residents.
He said there was potential to sell some of the produce through the markets and there was a lot of interest in establishing a market.
People could also pick up some new skills through the market, or the gardens could provide opportunities for training rangatahi and giving back to the whenua.
"We had EIT training at the community garden here in Dannevirke, but that closed down."
Councillor Carole Isaacson asked if by selling the produce it would be undercutting shops like Shires Fruit and Vege Mart.
Maxwell said he had talked with Suresh Patel of Shires and he was open to the idea, particularly in terms of being able to source local produce instead of trucking it in from locations hundreds of kilometres away.
He said other communities, such as Norsewood and Ormondville, were also interested in the initiative and it was something that had been bubbling up due to the cost of inflation.
It was felt there had to be a certain amount of revenue coming from the sale of produce and while profit wasn't the primary motive, it still needed to be profitable.
"And self-sustaining," Maxwell said.
The gardens didn't necessarily have to be in the same place and even residents could grow produce for the community in their backyards.
There could be other initiatives coming from that further down the track, including events such as community meals in town halls, he said.
"It's not all about selling. It's about creating events where our people can come together and share over kai."
Maxwell said there were some big challenges around food poverty in the Tararua district and the country as a whole.
He said initially it was about seeing if the project could stack up to grow and sell food and support the local foodbanks.
Councillor Shirley Hull said councils in the future would be charged with collecting green waste and food waste.
"This is where this will link in nicely into this set-up.
"We're being pushed in this direction for our own good."