13 August 2008

To: Chief Reporter From: CCC Communication Team

CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE
BP residents part of Neighbourhood Week celebrations

With the inclusion of the Banks Peninsula, Christchurch Neighbourhood Week this year is truly going city-wide. Residents of Banks Peninsula can now apply for funding from either the Akaroa/Waiwera or Lyttleton/Mount Herbert Community Boards to host a gathering of their neighbours.

This year Neighbourhood Week will be held from Saturday 1 November - Sunday 9 November 2008. Less than three weeks remain for individuals to apply for Neighbourhood Week funding to host an event that encourages local residents to get to know the people who live close to them. Neighbourhood Week is a Christchurch initiative that was first held in 1998. It is now promoted throughout Canterbury by Neighbourhood Support.

This is the tenth year that the Christchurch City Council through the Community Boards have been making funding available for neighbours to celebrate Neighbourhood Week, says Patrick Creasey, Christchurch Coordinator of the Canterbury Neighbourhood Support.

"The aim of Neighbourhood Support is to help make our homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer and more caring places in which to live and Neighbourhood Week does so much to help promote those ideals," says Mr Creasy.

"It is a wonderful initiative which is the envy of other centres. Stories abound about the different types of celebrations that neighbourhoods have, and it really does bring them closer together," he says.

Christchurch City Community Boards are again fully supporting Neighbourhood Week by providing funding for individuals to apply for a small subsidy to support their event.

"We have made applying for Neighbourhood Week much easier this year with an updated website with lots of inspiration, helpful ideas and invitations," says Marion Gillanders, Council's Community Engagement Adviser - Burwood/ Pegasus. "Also new this year is that you can apply online to be part of Neighbourhood Week."

Online applications for funding from individuals can be made at http://www.ccc.govt.nz/programmes/NeighbourhoodWeek/Apply/form.asp.

Applications for funding close at 5 pm on 5 September 2008.

The Lyttelton/Mt Herbert Community Board represents almost 5,500 people and some 2,200 households in an area bounded by the Port Hills ridge line in the north and west, the ridge line running across Gebbies Pass, Mt Herbert, Mt Fitzgerald and Big Bay in the south, and the coastline from Big Bay to Godley Head in the east encompassing Lyttelton Harbour and Port Levy. The community includes Lyttelton, Diamond Harbour, Governors Bay, Port Levy and Quail Island.

The Akaroa/Waiwera Community Board represents almost 3,100 people and some 1,200 households in an area extending from the ridge line running across Gebbies Pass, Mt Herbert, Mt Fitzgerald, Big Bay in the north, along the eastern and southern coastline of Banks Peninsula, including the Kaitorete spit and the south eastern part of Lake Ellesmere. The area is bound in the west by the southern tip of the Port Hills ridge line and the Halswell river. The community includes Akaroa, Little River, Okains Bay and Inlets-Banks Peninsula bays

ends

© Scoop Media