Community Board Update

We’re seven months into the triennium and we’ve been thinking hard about how we can deliver lasting, positive change for the Martinborough Ward community. We have made two big decisions over the last couple of months.

Firstly we reviewed the way we allocate our discretionary funds and have developed a new strategic grants policy. We will now only take grant applications twice a year, this will allow us to compare applications and make sure funds are allocated to those projects with the greatest community benefit.

Previously the maximum grant allowable was $500, we have increased this to $5,000 to enable us to consider more significant projects for funding. The first round of applications opens on the 1st August 2014 and closes on the 30th September for consideration at our November meeting.

The criteria and application form are available from www.swdc.govt.nz/MCB. If you want to discuss a potential project we would love to hear from you.

The second big decision was to pledge $25,000 to the Martinborough Community Centre project. We strongly support this proposal, it has the potential to deliver significant benefits and it makes sense to group our core community functions together into one site, as well as being a sensible long-term solution for our library and other key community services such as Plunket and the Toy Library.
Martinborough Community Board will, along with many others, be presenting the case for this project during Council’s Annual Plan hearings. Personally, I am proud to be part of such a proactive community and wish to acknowledge all those who have given their time or their experience or pledged funds (in some cases all three) to make this project happen.

Follow us on Facebook: MartinboroughCommunityBoard. Check out our web page: www.swdc.govt.nz/MCB. If you have any feedback or suggestions please e-mail me on martinboroughlisa@cornelissen.co.nz