Who doesn’t like lazy, quiet days, right? Our town centres, that’s who.
The hustle and bustle have been missing from our town centres on most days, courtesy of the pandemic and resulting economic challenges.
To bring the cheer back to these town centres, Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board has announced a new grant for local community groups, social enterprises and business associations who intend to deliver activities in the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local town centres.
The Revitalising Town Centre Programme will fund local initiatives, events and activations that increase economic activity and contribute towards building thriving local town centres.
Local board chair Tauanu’u Nick Bakulich says: “our town centres have always been more like community hubs which now look very different from the pre-pandemic time."
“We want to revive these much-loved community hubs, once again making them welcoming and bringing shoppers and families back to our town centres. It’s important not just for our economic recovery but community’s well-being too.”
Outcomes
The local board wants to achieve the following outcomes through this programme:
- Revitalising town centres
- Neighbourhood or community events or activations in the town centre
- Beautification of town centres
- Business development workshops that benefit local business owners
- Mentoring on strategic thinking and planning for business associations
- Safety initiatives
- Building kai resilience around town centres
- Cultural reflection of communities within the local board catchment area.
Funding priorities
This new grant programme will award between $5000 and $30,000. The project must align with Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board’s funding priorities:
- Promoting economic development in the town centres and strengthening their roles as community hubs
- Celebrating the heritage and cultural diversity of our communities
- Building capacity and empowerment in the community.
Local groups that have ideas for initiatives in the arts, community and environment categories can apply from 29 August to 9 October 2022. The decision on successful applicants will be made on 7 December and the activities will be expected to start after 1 January 2023.
For full details about the grant programme and to apply, visit the Auckland Council website.
