Rotorua Lakes Council announces latest partnership agreements

Eleven local community organisations have been granted partnership agreements by the Rotorua Lakes Council. Photo / File

Eleven local community organisations have been granted partnership agreements by the Rotorua Lakes Council for the next three year period.

The council said partnership agreements were established with organisations it recognised as significantly contributing to Rotorua 2030 goals with a focus on improving equitable outcomes in the community.

In February, council adopted a new Community Funding Investment Policy which covered the three types of community grants available for community groups - partnership agreements, community grants, and neighbourhood matching fund grants.

Partnership agreements are the highest level of investment under the policy.

Partnership agreements and community grants are available once every three years and provide recipients with guaranteed funding each year for three years.

The council said the agreement supported the chosen community organisations to effectively carry out their core work.

An agreement could be a commitment to working collaboratively on areas of common interest as well as a funding grant.

Accountability was achieved through standard documents including Annual Report, annual audited accounts, and Strategic and Annual Plans which demonstrated the organisation's effectiveness.

Rotorua Lakes Council Strategy Development Manager Rosemary Viskovic said applications were received from organisations that had been previous recipients as well as from a variety of new applicants.

"This is fantastic to see, as earlier in the year council held community workshops to explain the funding policy and application process to ensure eligible organisations were aware of the funding opportunity available to them and how to access it.

"We were very impressed with this round of applications and feel confident that we are partnering with organisations that are delivering valuable and innovative initiatives in our community, which align with Rotorua 2030, address inequity, and benefit our people.

"It's been great to see such a variety of local organisations apply for partnership agreements," she said.

The council this year received 21 applications for partnership agreements with the total value of requests exceeding $700,000.

It said the total budget for partnership agreements was $210,000 per annum and all applications were carefully reviewed and assessed against the policy criteria by the funding panel.

The application deadline for community grants 2018-2021 has passed with the grants to be allocated in October.

Community grants are administered by the Geyser Community Foundation on behalf of the council.

Partnership agreements have been reached with the following organisations:

- Linton Park Community Centre ($15,000 each year)
-Rotorua Multicultural Council ($10,000 each year)
-St Chads Communication Centre ($10,000 each year)
-Rotorua Youth Centre (Commitment to collaborative development of Rotorua Youth Village and youth employment initiatives)
- Citizens Advice Bureau Rotorua ($40,000 each year)
-Mokoia Community Association ($25,000 each year)
-Te Waiariki Purea Trust ($30,000 each year)
-Ka Pai Kai ($30,000 each year)
-Arts Village ($30,000 each year)
-Parksyde Older Persons Community Centre ($10,000 each year)
- Neighbourhood Support Rotorua ($10,000 each year)