Ruapehu District Council invites applications from community enhancement projects for Pride of Place Fund

The Pride of Place Fund helps community projects in the Ruapehu district with materials, equipment and other project expenditure.

Small scale community beautification projects in the Ruapehu District could benefit from a new funding scheme.

Ruapehu District Council has $50,000 a year available through its Pride of Place Fund (PPF) for revitalisation projects that need a relatively small amount of funding support to complement voluntary input.

Customer services group manager Pauline Welch said discussions with local communities revealed that many of the smaller towns did not have or want large scale capital revitalisation projects.

"For these communities we wanted a simple and effective way in which council could support the people with the ideas, energy and passion who wanted to undertake beautification and enhancement projects for their town," Welch said.

"The type of projects that council envisages being supported by the PPF include such things as township beautification, new community assets, entranceways, cycle and walkways, river and stream-side clean-up and landscaping, picnic tables and seats, signs and artworks."

The fund would support projects of long-term benefit to the community with materials, equipment and other expenses.

"We are imagining that the average level of financial support will be around $5000 per project; however, groups can apply for more or less than this with the maximum allocation to any one group being $20,000 per year for no more than two consecutive years," Welch said.

Applicants need to be a legally constituted and registered community group or organisation, such as a not for profit, charitable trust or incorporated society, that has community development and capability building as a core function.

"They will also be required to report to their community board or ward committee on their project each year they receive funding," Welch said.

"If anyone is involved with a group that has a township beautification or enhancement project in mind needing a little bit of financial support, we would encourage them to put in an application.

"It is all about having ongoing conversations and seeing where council and communities can work together in support of their aspirations."

Applications for the first round of Pride of Place funding close on October 31.