News of a $240,000 grant over three years for ''grassroots'' projects in the Teviot Valley has been welcomed by community leaders.
''This is going to be excellent for Roxburgh and the wider district. It'll really help in getting a few things going and making things happen,'' Teviot Valley Community Board chairman Raymond Gunn said yesterday.
The successful application for Department of Internal Affairs funding was made by the Central Otago District Council.
The grant, through the community development scheme, will provide funding for a community development project worker, or workers, to help get community-driven projects off the ground.
Projects mooted in the application included the greater integration of seasonal workers into the community, exploring ways to celebrate Teviot Valley's heritage values, understanding and using digital technology, developing events to attract visitors from outside the region, and making the most of increased visitors through the new cycle trails in the area.
''Projects developed through this scheme will utilise and develop local skills and will enable the Teviot community to work together on initiatives that will be sustainable beyond the three years of funding,'' council community services manager Anne Pullar said.
''It's about the community working together on projects to future-proof a vibrant valley.''
The aims of the scheme were to empower communities so they could be self-reliant and resilient into the future, she said.
Mr Gunn said it would be great to have funding for a paid project worker, rather than having to rely on volunteers all the time.
''It's often the same volunteers working on more than one event, the same people stepping up all the time, so I'm sure they'll appreciate having some new blood and someone seeing things from a new perspective, and help getting things done,'' he said.
A grant from the scheme was also used in the Maniototo in 2009, when Amie Pont was hired as a community development co-ordinator.
• Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew also announced a grant of $80,000 a year for three years to Wanaka's Alpine Community Development Trust to fund a community development officer.
Ms Goodhew, in a press release this week, described the Upper Clutha as an ''isolated, rural area with one of the fastest growing populations in the country''.
She acknowledged growth ''stretches resources'' and the officer would ''engage'' across all community segments, from business to local government and social services.
