But Central Otago District Council managers have said the programme and festival were never meant to be funded by the waste levy the council provided for the programme.
That funding will be reallocated into other sustainability education and programmes.
The council recently announced the withdrawal of $54,000 for the sustainable living programme, which is run by the Central Otago Rural Education Activities Programme (Reap).
The funding cut meant one part-time staff member would be made redundant and threatened the annual thyme festival.
Reap’s two sustainable living facilitators were the main co-ordinators of the festival, Reap manager Bernie Lepper said last week.
Mrs Lepper confirmed this week the festival would not be held this year.
She said the festival cost about $18,500 to run each year.
The festival also last week lost a $10,000 Vincent Community Board grant, which had been given annually to the festival since 2008.
A report from council media and marketing manager Alison Mason recommended the application for 2019 festival funding be declined, in line with council policy about the need for events to eventually become self-funding.
Staff had held the February 2019 application pending the receipt of reports from festival organisers for the 2017 and 2018 events, Ms Mason said.
The report for 2017 was subsequently supplied, but not the 2018 report, nor additional information about making the event self-funded.
However, festival spokeswoman Beverley Thomson and Central Otago Reap chairman Roger Browne hoped there would be a way to reintroduce the programme and festival and that the council would re-evaluate its decision.
Council infrastructure services executive manager Julie Muir said $17,000 of the funding previously given to the sustainable living programme was being reallocated to the Enviroschools programme, which is also delivered by Reap.
Other educational initiatives would also be increased, she said.
The sustainable living programme was funded from a government waste levy, but did not meet the requirement for funding from the levy, Ms Muir said.
