MEDIA RELEASE

27 November 2014

Three grants worth $67,000 approved

Three grants worth $67,000 in total for environmental projects have been approved by Waikato Regional Council’s finance committee.

The grants from the Environmental Initiatives Fund include:

• $24,000 to Ngāti Hauā Mahi Trust for development and expansion of a native plant nursery.

• $23,000 to the Hamilton Gardens Festival Foundation to include environment awareness and sustainability programmes at the 2015 summer festival.

• $20,000 to Te Awa River Ride Charitable Trust for vegetation removal along the Te Awa (Waikato River) cycleway between Ngaruawahia and Horotiu.

Details of the projects to be funded include:

• The grant to Ngāti Hauā Mahi Trust will help develop and expand its year-old native plant nursery in Morrinsville. The charitable trust, which works to connect young people with job training and employment opportunities, provides horticultural training programmes in collaboration with WINTEC, and has also undertaken several environmental restoration projects with funding from the Waikato River Authority.

• The grant to the Hamilton Gardens Summer Festival Foundation will help build part of the 2015 festival programme around environment education, sustainability and the Waikato River.

• The $20,000 to the Te Awa River Ride Charitable Trust will help clear vegetation removal along the Te Awa (Waikato River) cycleway. The cycleway, when complete, will stretch from Ngaruawahia in the north to Horahora at the southern end of Lake Karapiro, where it will connect with the existing Waikato River trail.

Finance committee chairwoman Jane Hennebry said after yesterday’s meeting that the grants were to worthwhile projects run by well-established organizations.

“They have added value to our region already and these grants will help them build further on that success.”

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