Ashburton Guardian, Monday, March 2, 2020

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Monday, March 2, 2020

Since Sept 27, 1879

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Monster of a sale

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FULL STORY Beau Muff, 4, at the monster garage sale on Saturday.

PHOTO HEATHER MACKENZIE 290220-HM-0118

Battle for Welcoming Communities funds By Sue Newman

sue.n@theguardian.co.nz

Fairfield pip Rebels P18

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It might have been a highly successful pilot project, but Ashburton’s district councillors are angry they’ve been left carrying the can after the Government pulled funding from its Welcoming Communities programme. When the Ashburton District Council signed on to the project in 2016, the Government agreed to fund it to the tune of $50,000 for two years, providing the council chipped in with another $50,000. This arrangement continued for a third year, but the Government has

now signalled it wants out, leaving the council with the choice of funding the project to the tune of $100,000 or letting it drop. Staff included $100,000 to continue the project in the council’s budget for next year, but when councillors discussed that budget last week, they questioned the programme’s value and the council’s new role as its sole funder. Welcoming Communities is about newcomer services and how a community receives and welcomes new arrivals from within New Zealand or overseas. One of its objectives is to encourage peo-

ple to feel they are part of their new the community. Several councillors were not keen to see the council pick up the full cost of the programme. “I see the beginnings of bureaucracy here. We started out subsidising it by $50,000 and now the poor old bloody ratepayer gets left to fund the lot. For a council to have to fund something like this is a complete and utter waste of money,” John Falloon said.

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