ORC to consider 32 eco funding requests

OTAGO regional councillors will consider giving more than $500,000 to 32 communityled Otago environmental projects today.

Requests in the latest round of Eco Fund funding were for more than double what was available.

Otago Regional Council biodiversity partnership lead Richard Ewans said the nearly 5yearold Eco Fund was once again ‘‘heavily oversubscribed’’.

In the latest funding round, 49 applications were received, seeking a total of $1,173,509 from only $568,000 available, Mr Ewans’ report to today’s council meeting said.

The council’s Eco Fund assessment panel met early this month to assess the applications and recommended the council approve 32 applications worth $536,470.

The 32 applications recommended comprised 16 applications to the Eco Fund (worth $328,000) and 16 to the newer Incentives funding (worth $208,470), he said.

The relatively new, contestable Incentives funding, established in the 202131 longterm plan, offered ‘‘ringfenced’’ money for: sustained rabbit management ($150,000); native planting after plant pest removal ($30,000); native planting for water quality ($30,000); and biodiversity enhancement on protected private land ($30,000), Mr Ewans said.

As the money available for the Incentives Fund was a separate fund for specific purposes, it had been undersubscribed.

Native planting for water quality was undersubscribed by $5564 and sustained rabbit management was undersubscribed by $25,967 after an ineligible application was eliminated.

However, the broader Eco Fund was oversubscribed.

Since the first funding round in 2018, there had been 237 applications for about $3.7 million.

After the last funding round in

April 2022, 101 projects had been funded, amounting to nearly $1.2 million provided by the council, his report said.

‘‘There have been eight previous rounds of the Eco Fund, all of which have been heavily oversubscribed,’’ Mr Ewans said.

‘‘The number of applications and level of oversubscription per round suggest there is significant demand for communitydriven environmental projects in Otago.’’

A threemember council staff panel individually reviewed and scored applications, before meeting last month to produce a single staff score for each application.

Then, the councillorled assessment panel, made up of Crs Alan Somerville, Alexa Forbes and Kate Wilson, as well as one mana whenua representative, also individually scored each application.

They then met to decide upon their final recommendations, Mr Ewans said.

Four of the 49 applications were deemed incomplete or inconsistent with the Eco Fund terms of reference and were not considered, he said.

Councillors will be asked to approve the recommendations, and to note the forthcoming annual review of the Eco Fund will be completed by December, in time for the next funding round in March next year.

❛ The number of applications and level of oversubscription per round suggest there is significant demand for communitydriven environmental projects in Otago