SIMON WATTS

northshore@parliament.govt.nz simonwattsmp

Axe hangs over local events as charitable trust defunded

A raft of community events are under threat with the complete withdrawal of local-board funding from a local charitable trust.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board has told the Takapuna North Community Trust (TNCT) that all board funding will be cut for the next financial year, throwing its future into doubt.

The trust runs events such as those underway this month for Matariki. It also puts on children’s playgroups, mother-and-bub fitness sessions and art classes, along with senior and youth forums, and other community-building exercises.

It received $120,000 in local-board funding for 2022-23. It also gets smaller amounts to run specific events and seeks grants from other non-council sources.

The TNCT board, and that of its southern counterpart, the Devonport Peninsula Trust (DPT), were informed by the local board late last month that the funding plug will be pulled for 2023-24. This was due to be ratified at a board meeting on 4 July, shortly after this issue went to print.

The TNCT, which covers the area from Hauraki Corner north to Sunnynook, employs a manager, Natasha Geo, who has been in the role for less than a year, along with two part-time co-ordinators.

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, including those from ethnic and migrant groups.

The plan was to bolster the role of the Sunnynook Community Centre and the

Devonport Community House, with a community coordinator to be based at each. This would be funded with around half the money saved by defunding the two trusts which are housed separately in other council buildings.

“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,

Conversations with the TCNT had been held over months, she said. Those about winding down its operations were ongoing.

Auckland Council has required cuts of $126,000 to the board’s discretionary spending. While this was down from the $810,000 initially flagged the board had stuck with its decision on the trusts, because it believed the new model was better, said van Tonder.

Environmental groups Pupuke Birdsong Project and Restoring Takuranga Hauraki 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. Pupuke Birdsong has operated under the wing of the TNCT, with its Devonport peninsula counterpart having recently established itself as a separate entity.

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

It is understood the TCNT is keen to explore options to keep operating.

Authorised by Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.

Ceiling cave-in forces meeting move

A ceiling collapse at the local board’s meeting room in Takapuna has seen members and staff shifted to other council facilities on the North Shore to hold meetings.

This included the board’s final deliberations in its first open budget workshop on Tuesday this week which was rescheduled to the Kaipatiki board offices in Glenfield.

Another meeting was held at the Upper Harbour board’s offices in Albany.

The collapse of ceiling panels occurred on Thursday 27 June at the leased offices on The Strand and was due to a leak. No one was injured as the room was not in use.