Many organisations rely on the goodwill of others to keep operating.

That’s the case for most of the 25 or so community transport groups. They offer a lifeline, ensuring our ageing rural populations have a vital connection to services like health and education, where no other suitable public transport options exist.

But the sector is fragile. They told us during our long term plan consultation last year that funding is unreliable.

We couldn’t do anything to help address the issue at the time, but regional councillors did agree, with funding support from Trust Waikato, to recruit a dedicated regional coordinator to better support existing providers, encourage the formation of new community transport initiatives where there is community need and a lack of transport options, and partner with and work across multiple organisations to develop shared transport solutions.

We also agreed to investigate a regional grant funding framework.

So setting up a contestable $200,000 fund from 1 July 2022 was a no-brainer when it came before councillors at our annual plan budget setting meeting in February. It amounts to around $1 per property and will be charged by way of a uniform annual general charge.

I’m especially pleased that we’ve been able to do this within the threshold of the 7.9 per cent rates rise we signalled 12 months ago. Based on our proposed budget, the annual plan for 2022/23 will see total rates revenue of $121.9 million and a proposed increase from current ratepayers of 7.8 per cent.

There’s still some work to be done on the criteria for the fair allocation of the community transport fund, but I anticipate it will help with vehicle, technology and administration costs.

I’m proud of this council’s commitment to supporting community-based transport initiatives and I know this fund will make a tangible difference for people in this region. But we couldn’t have got to this point without our partnership with Community Waikato, Trust Waikato, Waikato DHB and others.

The big dry

As I write, areas of the Waikato region are still cleaning up after record rainfall and devastating winds from Cyclone Dovi. Our council’s river and catchment management staff were out over that weekend to assess damage resulting from the event. They’ve since been providing assistance to landowners with damage to streams and rivers, including bank erosion and blockages, and hill country erosion.

Despite the recent rain, stock welfare is a critical issue for many farmers due to the potential shortage of feed. Unfortunately, the situation will have been exacerbated by the winds. While out and about I’ve seen a lot of damage to maize crops which were getting close to harvest, adding another stress to farmers who rely on this as a supplementary feed.

The cyclone comes on the back of a very dry January, and predictions from NIWA that there’ll be a number of dry weeks to follow.

For a long time now I’ve been passionate about the importance of water storage – whether you’re on farm or living in an urban area – and now is the time to start planning for next summer.

Smart use of water is also critical. Getting it right can reduce pressure on the environment, and on farm it can help to cut pumping costs.

There’s some useful information around this prepared by staff that’s on the council website, at waikatoregion.govt.nz/drought.

• Russ Rimmington is Chair of Waikato Regional Council. The views are his own.

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