24 August 2005

Major District Initiatives

From 2006, every three years each of the West Coast’s three district councils will be eligible to nominate high priority projects to receive up to $1 million of support from The West Coast Development Trust to help them finance a major district initiative in their region, such as sporting or community facilities.

Chief Executive of The Development Trust, Mike Trousselot, says The Development Trust has designed its new ‘Major District Initiatives’ fund in such a way that the Buller, Grey and Westland district councils can pool their individual allocations over a nine-year funding period making a maximum $3 million available for a single project.

“This funding is specifically for significant projects that meet The Development Trust’s objectives to promote sustainable economic and community development,” says Mike Trousselot.

As part of the funding process, The Development Trust has asked each of the three local councils to collate information to establish and prioritise local needs. This will also help assure The Development Trust that any subsequent requests for funding accurately reflect the community needs for that district.”

According to Maureen Pugh, Mayor for Westland, the funding will be a huge boost for the region. “Having access to this sort of extra funding to add to our own contributions will make a significant difference to the types of community projects we can undertake. We are going to be able to bring real benefits to our communities through initiatives that may have otherwise taken years to get underway, or never have got off the ground at all.”

The availability of the funding is subject to The Development Trust continuing to receive a minimum 3% growth in its returns from its investments and to the specific approval of the project by its Advisory Body and Trustees.

ENDS

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