$5.5 million to ensure future of cultural heritage

The government has addressed several urgent priorities in the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector – providing funding to ensure the future of significant heritage sites, film and taonga, Arts Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson announced today.

Creative New Zealand agreed to the Government’s one-off reprioritisation of $5.5 million from its baseline funding in 2009/10. This was made possible by a significant extra allocation of funding from the NZ Lottery Grants Board to Creative New Zealand, which was $9.271 million greater than expected for the 2009/10 year. This means that urgent priorities elsewhere in the cultural sector can been addressed, while Creative New Zealand’s budget will still be $3 million greater than anticipated this year.

“The cultural and heritage sector faces some urgent challenges in preserving some of our most important heritage sites, as well as our cultural record on film, because of historical underfunding,” Mr Finlayson said.

“The Historic Places Trust has had to defer significant maintenance and critical repairs on some of our most important and precious heritage sites because of under-funding over the last decade,” Mr Finlayson said. “Wellington's Old St Paul’s alone faces deferred maintenance costs of $1 million.”

“Budget 2010 allocates $3 million to fix these urgent issues, which bear not only on the preservation of the past, but the health and safety of visitors who should be encouraged to enjoy our history.”

The New Zealand Film Archive will also receive a grant of $2 million to start the second stage of its Saving Frames project to preserve the country’s cultural heritage in film.

The one-off funding injections to key heritage institutions are:

• the New Zealand Historic Places Trust will receive a grant of $3 million to address critical repairs and maintenance to NZHPT heritage sites and buildings, improving visitor safety and tourism opportunities
•
• New Zealand Film Archive will receive a grant of $2 million in 2009/10 to address urgent film preservation needs
•
• Pukaki Trust (Rotorua) will receive $100,000 in 2010/11 to investigate options for a permanent and sustainable long term location for the carving known as Pukaki, which features on the New Zealand 20 cent coin.
•
One-off additional funding of $400,000 in 2010/11 has been allocated to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s Cultural Diplomacy International Programme to assist Rugby World Cup initiatives.

ENDS

© Scoop Media