NATIONAL

NATIONAL Incentive Fund grants helping to meet conservation needs

The National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund, which opened for grant applications in April this year, is helping private owners of heritage-listed properties to meet significant conservation repair work on their properties.

WORDS: David Watt

Interested parties have until 24 June to lodge their application for this year’s funding round with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga regional offices, with the Board convening in mid-August to consider applications. The Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Board and Māori Heritage Council have agreed on investment priorities for this year’s funding round. The priorities for funding grants are: conservation and preservation of sites of significance to Māori; conservation work to increase resilience of heritage places against the impact of climate change, including stablisation of land and archaeological sites; seismic strengthening and risk management planning; and all other eligible work. While funding is not available for routine maintenance work, applications should demonstrate significant added heritage costs to qualify for consideration. Last year, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga agreed to give Fund grants to private owners of Category 1 and 2 heritage listed properties, with a total grants value of around $600,000. The National Heritage Preservation Incentive Fund has been in existence since 2004, with a large number of private heritage property owners receiving funding support for a range of conservation projects. Until 2018, only owners of Category 1 heritage listed properties were eligible for funding assistance. The Fund was then extended to cover Category 2 heritage listed properties. Wāhi tapu and wāhi tapu areas in private ownership also qualify for grants from the Incentive Fund. The Fund will not pay more than 50 percent of the cost of conservation work in any particular case, and individual grants will not normally exceed $100,000. Private property owners of heritage listed properties can go to the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga website (www.heritage. org.nz) for details regarding this year’s grant applications and funding criteria, or contact regional office staff for assistance to help with application forms, further explanation around funding and other documentation required to accompany an application to the Fund.

Regional offices are located in Kerikeri, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. n

Hawke's Bay Club, Category 1 Listed, on the Marine Parade, Napier, a recipient of an Incentive Fund grant.