Environmental groups avoid funding axe

Trust, were informed by the local board late last week that the funding plug will be pulled for 2023-24. This is due to be ratified at a board meeting on 4 July.

The DPT employs a part-time manager, Nigel Bioletti, who has been in the role for 18 months; a part-time community events manager, Abby Jones; and a part-time summer events co-ordinator, calling in other help as required.

Local-board chair Toni van Tonder said the board, with less money to distribute, had looked hard at its community-development strategy and decided on a less events-based, more “grass-roots” model to better connect with changing communities.

The plan was to bolster the role of the Devonport Community House and the Sunnynook Community Centre, with a community coordinator based at each. This would be funded with around half the money saved by defunding the two trusts.

“I feel dreadfully for the people who are impacted, when there are redundancies,” van Tonder said.

Trust staff were valued contributors and decisions had been tough, she said. Conversations with the DPT had been held over months, and those about winding down its operations were ongoing.

Auckland Council has required cuts of $126,000 to the board’s discretionary spending.

Environmental groups Restoring Takuranga Hauraki and Pupuke Birdsong Project look like being the winners in the subsequent contest for funding.

This has been partly due to community feedback that rated the environment and water quality as top priorities. The two groups also receive money from regional budgets.

Bigger arts groups that operate venues, including the Depot Artspace and Rose Centre, have been provided bridging finance from the board for the first quarter of the year, while their ongoing allocations are finalised.

The chair of the DPT, Iain Rea, said he was unable to discuss the trust’s situation, due to an undertaking that this would remain confidential until decisions were ratified. But the organisation was in any case looking at its next chapter.

A public meeting would be held on 4 July at the Devonport Yacht Club, 7.30pm to discuss its options.

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