Community climate action fund recipients announced

Published on 16 February 2023

Working towards a predator-free Whanganui and lowering the carbon emissions of a historic riverboat are just some of the projects that have received funding from Whanganui District Council’s Community Climate Action Fund. After receiving a high standard of applications for the fund last year, eight grants have been awarded.

The council’s climate change advisor, Caroline Arrowsmith, says, “We were really impressed with the applications that we received, and we’re excited to support such a wide variety of climate change-focused community projects from food growing, fixing bikes and tree planting through to home consultations on retrofitting.

“Community benefit was an important consideration alongside climate change impacts,” she says. “The panel were focused on getting the best outcomes for Whanganui.”

The fund was made available for not-for-profit projects within the Whanganui district that will either reduce greenhouse gas emissions or build the community’s resilience to the effects of climate change.

Some projects that received funding include:

• education around food growing skills and food resilience
• feasibility study to reduce CO2 emissions from the Paddle Steamer Waimarie
• launching Predator Free Whanganui
• growing the Fruit Trees in Schools programme
• developing the Green Bikes project which empowers the community to fix and ride bikes
• consultations to look at a home’s overall climate resilience
• beach dune restoration.

“This is a trial fund for two years. The second round will open in the middle of this year so keep an eye out for announcements. We encourage anyone interested in applying to get in touch and talk to us about their project idea,” Caroline Arrowsmith says.

The recipients of the eight grants were chosen by the council’s climate change fund advisory group, which is made up of council staff, community and hapū representatives. The panel made decisions based on alignment with criteria and strategic outcomes, and applicants were invited to attend the panel meeting and answer questions.

Groups or individuals can put an application in for one project per year, up to a maximum of $20,000. The fund has $100,000 to allocate each financial year and the following round will open in July 2023. Funding for this initiative comes from existing funding allocated to climate action in the council’s Long-Term Plan 2021-31.

The full list of recipients as well as more information on the Community Climate Action Fund can be found at: www.whanganui.govt.nz/climate-fund